BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Share Posted December 16, 2021 (edited) I spent yesterday morning at the North Sulfur River. I had never made a trip to the upper part of the river, and decided to do that yesterday. I spent all morning walking (and crawling) the river, but found nothing. When I try out a new spot, I've made it a practice to find a nearby second spot to look at, in case the first one doesn't pan out at all. Sherman isn't too long a drive to the west of this upper river spot, so I designated a new section of Post Oak Creek that second spot, and drove there after I left the river. I wasn't too optimistic about what I might find in this new section of Post Oak Creek. The conditions and cirmcumstances seemed all wrong. I didn't arrive there until after noon. Post Oak Creek is a long enough drive from home that I knew I wouldn't be able to stay long. Plus, it's been quite a while since there was a good rain here. Post Oak Creek gets very picked over when there isn't new water uncovering stuff. But I figured if I found anything at all under these conditions, that would let me know this is a good spot, and I should return after a good rain. I also had the thought that if I didn't find much on gravel bars, I would spend some time searching matrix here. I had never done that at all at Post Oak Creek. I hiked down the creek and hunted a single gravel bar. I never made it past that gravel bar, and ended up finding much more than I expected, and only briefly looked at matrix there. For those so inclined, here's today's version of "Find the fossil". Edited December 16, 2021 by BudB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 (edited) I actually took 14 in situ photos, but culled to these 8 to post. Edited December 16, 2021 by BudB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 Here is what I brought home. I shouldn't pick up so many broken teeth, but I can never seem to resist a fossilized tooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 Here is the first of the two largest teeth. These are among the largest teeth I've found in my short time fossil hunting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 And here is the other larger tooth. Neither of these teeth is in perfect condition. But, considering how many teeth I've found this year that were so small they required a microscope to photograph, I was still thrilled about finding these two. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 Lots of cracks in this one, but it's in one piece, with the root intact. A real beauty, I think. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 The only Ptychodus tooth of the day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 Half the root missing, but still a pretty tooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 (edited) Other teeth from the day. Edited December 16, 2021 by BudB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 (edited) This looks to me more like a crinoid segment than anything else, though I've never found crinoids in this area before. Thoughts? Edited December 16, 2021 by BudB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 (edited) This bone is as brown as any fossilized bone, but the porous part of it hasn't become completely filled in yet, so I assumed it must be a modern bone. It seemed like a good candidate to take home and do the flame test on. A flame didn't produce any smell, but I did eventually get smoke. Edited December 16, 2021 by BudB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 (edited) And this is obviously a modern bone, but it was so interesting looking I picked it up anyway. I have no idea what it is. Anyone recognize it? Edited December 16, 2021 by BudB 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 With my short time at the end of the day looking at matrix, I found these two teeth. I also spotted a couple of gastropods in giant rocks, but freeing them would have taken more chiseling than I was willing to tackle that late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted December 16, 2021 Share Posted December 16, 2021 18 minutes ago, BudB said: And this is obviously a modern bone, but it was so interesting looking I picked it up anyway. I have no idea what it is. Anyone recognize it? It is the pharyngeal teeth from some type of fish. Not sure which species. Doesn't match common carp or grass carp, the usual ones found. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted December 16, 2021 Share Posted December 16, 2021 1 hour ago, BudB said: This looks to me more like a crinoid segment than anything else, though I've never found crinoids in this area before. Thoughts? It is a crinoid section. Probably brought in by humans for construction since the Paleozoic rocks west of there are much more durable than most Cretaceous rocks in the area. 1 1 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 I forgot about this. It's plainly a bone, but I can't tell what it's from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted December 16, 2021 Author Share Posted December 16, 2021 (edited) 29 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said: It is a crinoid section. Probably brought in by humans for construction since the Paleozoic rocks west of there are much more durable than most Cretaceous rocks in the area. You are probably right. I never thought of that. There is massive construction on Hwy 75 right now, and plenty of signs in the creek of earlier construction. Edited December 16, 2021 by BudB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared C Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 Those cretodus teeth are nice! Especially for POC “Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think” -Werner Heisenberg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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