flyingpenut Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 I recently found a construction site in a productive layer of the Eagle Ford. I found several ptychodus and other shark teeth as well as some pachyrhizodus teeth, a possible mosasaur tooth, and a couple of items that i cant figure out. Here are a few pictures of my finds as well as the items im not sure about. 1. The haul 2. possible Mosasaur or other reptile tooth? It is skinnier than a mosasaur and it is oval like as well so i cant figure it out. 3. I have seen this before on TFF but cant find the post. Anyone know what this is? 4. Fish bone for sure. Maybe a jaw segment? 5. I have no idea about this one. Anyone? 6. This is just a rock i'm pretty sure but don't think it would have formed this way coincidentally. Geological? 1 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 The skull is a Quarterdollarus twentyfivecentus. But seriously -- Nice finds. Thank you for posting. 1 Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSCHNELLE Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Nice finds. I am a little jealous that you got an Eagle Ford construction site. They are so rare, but usually so worth it - if you can hunt them safely, respectfully, and off-peak. Looks like Turonian age Ptychodus whipplei. I would defer to @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon for the possible mosasaur or pliosaur tooth ID. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSCHNELLE Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 On 3/18/2022 at 2:22 PM, flyingpenut said: I recently found a construction site in a productive layer of the Eagle Ford. I found several ptychodus and other shark teeth as well as some pachyrhizodus teeth, a possible mosasaur tooth, and a couple of items that i cant figure out. Here are a few pictures of my finds as well as the items im not sure about. 1. The haul 2. possible Mosasaur or other reptile tooth? It is skinnier than a mosasaur and it is oval like as well so i cant figure it out. 3. I have seen this before on TFF but cant find the post. Anyone know what this is? 4. Fish bone for sure. Maybe a jaw segment? 5. I have no idea about this one. Anyone? 6. This is just a rock i'm pretty sure but don't think it would have formed this way coincidentally. Geological? @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Is this a pliosaur or mosasaur tooth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 Sorry for not responding sooner! The first mention appears to not have come through... While the tooth appears rather tall, straight and slender for a mosasaur tooth, making it difficult to identify, I do believe it is mosasaurian: not only does the tooth appear unornamented (which would be rare for pliosaur tooth), but the shallow depression at the base of the tooth seems to fit with a mosasaurian interpretation as well. Above all, however, I'm basing myself on how thick the enamel and coarse the layering are in the apical view. The enamel on plesiosaurian teeth is much thinner, as are the layers that make up the dentine. Compare A (Polyptychodon interruptus, a pliosaur) with B (Globidens alabamensis, a mosasaur) in below diagram, for example (figure 4 from McCurry et al. [2019]). Also compare how thin the enamel on the teeth of the elasmosaurian Scanisaurus nazarowi in the below figure 4 from Kear, Larsson, Lindgren and Kundrát (2017) are when offset against those of the mosasaurian ones below. Sectioned teeth of Mosasaurus lemonnieri (fig. 2, Owocki and Madzia 2020) Cross-sectioned tooth of Dollosaurus sp. (fig 2., Gren and Lindgren 2014) Cross-sectioned tooth of cf. Platecarpus (fig. 3, ibid.) Cross-sectioned tooth of Tylosaurus ivoensis (fig. 4, ibid.) 2 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSRhunter Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 Reminds me of Prosper stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 For a more proper identification of the tooth, a video may help to give it more dimensionality. It's just a very odd shape that's hard to get a grip on... 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudB Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 Very nice finds! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dimitris Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 Great finds for a construction site. I mean not just great, perfect. I drive more than 200kms for similar finds and in less quantity. In my area, your best case scenario is oligocene wood, some late miocene freshwater gastropods and usually... just rocks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suvi Posted March 31, 2022 Share Posted March 31, 2022 I would need the exact location and coordinates for the site to identify these...... J/K, outstanding finds! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingpenut Posted April 1, 2022 Author Share Posted April 1, 2022 On 3/18/2022 at 2:46 PM, Mark Kmiecik said: The skull is a Quarterdollarus twentyfivecentus. But seriously -- Nice finds. Thank you for posting. Thanks. Haha I do sometimes get criticized for my measurement marker but it works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingpenut Posted April 1, 2022 Author Share Posted April 1, 2022 On 3/19/2022 at 2:25 PM, LSCHNELLE said: Nice finds. I am a little jealous that you got an Eagle Ford construction site. They are so rare, but usually so worth it - if you can hunt them safely, respectfully, and off-peak. Looks like Turonian age Ptychodus whipplei. I would defer to @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon for the possible mosasaur or pliosaur tooth ID. Thanks. Yes I have been looking in the area for a long time, I have actually heard people mention it on here, and I covered almost every creek with little success and then I was driving home and stopped to check a couple of construction spots. The first spot was all austin chalk and not a trace of any organic material in tons and tons of piled up material but then i found the second spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingpenut Posted April 1, 2022 Author Share Posted April 1, 2022 Thank you very much @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon I would never have known what to look for. After posting I was almost thinking fish but this does make sense. I also doubt pliosaur. I wish i would have looked around a little more to see if I could dig up the tip as that might have helped a lot but I will take a video and see what you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingpenut Posted April 1, 2022 Author Share Posted April 1, 2022 On 3/26/2022 at 1:52 AM, NSRhunter said: Reminds me of Prosper stuff Haha sounds like you know the spot. Unfortunately, as with all construction sites, this one will not be around for much longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingpenut Posted April 1, 2022 Author Share Posted April 1, 2022 Here are the last of my finds at this spot as i don't expect it to be available by the next time im able to visit. Several more Ptychodus, a few small shark vertebrae, one really large but really poorly preserved shark, and lastly an in situ picture as well. 1. 2. 3. 4. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingpenut Posted April 1, 2022 Author Share Posted April 1, 2022 On 3/30/2022 at 8:24 PM, Suvi said: I would need the exact location and coordinates for the site to identify these...... J/K, outstanding finds! Haha it’s pretty easy to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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