fossilsonwheels Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 I recently acquired some matrix via trade from @will stevenson. This matrix is from Hallencourt France. Just the second time we gotten to go through the entire process of breaking down matrix to a searchable form. I am still in the process of breaking it down and only have searched probably less than 20%. I wanted to begin the post now as I had a few minutes to write. The material is Early Campanian in age and from the North of France. Unlike my first experience breaking matrix down which was from a location with no publication, there is a publication. Sharks from the Late Cretaceous of France and England by Guinot, Underwood, Capetta, and Ward. There is an additional publication on the Batoids. The publication covers the Anglo-Paris Basin. Hallencourt has a pretty diverse fauna according to the paper and gives us an opportunity to explore Cretaceous micros from Europe for the first time. Most of what we got were pretty small pieces with 4 I’d call medium sized. It is very hard chalk and is pretty challenging to actually break down. It has given me the opportunity to experiment with different methods for breaking down matrix. I’ve used hot water treatments, vinegar and for the largest piece, freeze and thaw for the first time. It has been an exercise in patience lol It is also proving to be an invaluable experience going forward. We haven’t searched enough to really have a full sense of this particular matrix but the early results are mostly Chiloscyllium and Anomotodon. So far, 22 Chiloscyllium teeth and 11 Anomotodon though almost all are partial. Very few complete teeth except the Bamboo teeth. Most surprising find so far is easily a Synechodus. Only one tooth was found during the study according to the paper. We have also found Squalicorax (1), Carcharias (2), Scyliorhinus (1), Squatiscyllium (3) and our first ever Eoptolamna tooth ! There is A LOT of dermal denticles in this matrix and at least 5 distinct types. We also found one small Shark vert. Its a grind. Quite a bit of work. Way less dense in shark teeth than our Mesaverde stuff was and not real diverse so far but there is a lot of searching left to do. The lack of density does make any find pretty cool though. I will update this with better pictures after everything is completed and I have the final results. I’d like to thank Will for the trade that brought the matrix. Very cool TFF Member!!!! 1st pic the bag of matrix before breaking down 2nd pic Anomotodon hermani 3rd pic a slide with a few of the finds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Galasphere Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 Nice. Look forward to seeing more. How are you processing the matrix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 Would love to see some close ups Glad to see you’re finding some good stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilsonwheels Posted March 25, 2022 Author Share Posted March 25, 2022 57 minutes ago, will stevenson said: Would love to see some close ups Glad to see you’re finding some good stuff I may try to photograph some this weekend Will. I should add the IDs are tentative on a couple. Yeah finding some interesting stuff and a lot of searching left. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilsonwheels Posted April 4, 2022 Author Share Posted April 4, 2022 I will be taking some detailed pictures next weekend but wanted to give a quick update. We average 1-2 teeth per dish of matrix searched. Most are Chiloscyllium as previously noted but we did find three teeth that were from two genera we didn’t previously have in our collection. One was Palaeotriakis. The paper describes these are very similar to Galeorhinus. We also found two Paratriakis. We have been working on finishing our Triakidae display. Those teeth help that so I’m pretty happy. The haul so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilsonwheels Posted April 29, 2022 Author Share Posted April 29, 2022 I’ve finally gotten to a point where about 95% of the matrix is broken down and probably 40% searched. The largest piece did give me two of the genera I had been hoping to find. Neither complete but excellent finds nonetheless Pic 1 Paraorthacodus conicus Pic 2 Cederstroemia havreensis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilsonwheels Posted April 29, 2022 Author Share Posted April 29, 2022 Pic 1 Chiloscyllium frequens This is probably half the Chiloscyllium teeth I’ve found. Pic 2 Palaeotriakis subserratus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilsonwheels Posted April 30, 2022 Author Share Posted April 30, 2022 Pic 1 Scyliorhinus antiquus Pic 2 Paratriakis robustus Pic 3 various dermal denticles. I just took the picture with the denticles in the bag. Too lazy to take them out just to put them back in lol I’ve found several morphologies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notidanodon Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 You sure have found a lot more genera than me from there! Congrats it’s a very interesting fauna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilsonwheels Posted May 2, 2022 Author Share Posted May 2, 2022 On 4/30/2022 at 1:33 AM, will stevenson said: You sure have found a lot more genera than me from there! Congrats it’s a very interesting fauna Thanks Will. I’ve found some variety for sure. Very interesting fauna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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