Show us your favorite Waco Pit finds!

[Jared C]

Well, with the seemingly permanent closing of the Waco Pit/ research area, I figured why not start a thread that summarizes the best experiences the members here have had with it. As they say - don't be sad it's over, smile because it happened! 

 

I feel close to the site because it was my first anchor when I began fossil hunting. If not for the generous richness of the site, I may have burnt out in my early days with the frustration of not being able to find my targets locally. So, here are some of my favorite snap shots of the time I spent romping up and down those big exposures.

 

My very first shark tooth, ever. Cretolamna appendiculata (It's still one of my best representatives of the species)

 

and in situ:

 

 

And what is the Waco Pit known for if not its fantastic array of invertebrates? Not only are the ammonites famous for their preservation, but their insular dwarfism also makes them biologically interesting.

It's also known for its echinoids, which I was oblivious to in my early days of exploring the pit. Cidarid plates are an occasional find, and collapsed tests of other echinoids litter the landscape. Unfortunately, I never took a closer eye and hunted the site with the technique one is supposed to - inching by just a few square feet at a time, on your hands and knees. Who knows how many echinoids of a variety of species I missed.

 

 

Fossils are cool because they were alive once, and so It would be wrong to ignore some of the living members of the Waco Pit. Here's a juvenile plain bellied water snake (nerodia erythrogaster) that my friend and I found on a hardcore, all-day romp spent in the furthest areas of the pit.

 

I'm glad I got familiar with this site before it closed. I know it peaked in the first couple decades after opening, but even catching it on its tail end was a pleasure. Let's see what ya'll have found!

Edited May 20, 2022 by Jared C
typos

[historianmichael]

Interesting thread, Jared. I too always had fun at the Waco Pit. I was sad to hear about its closure. Here are my two favorite finds from the site:

 

On my last visit I found the exploded remains of what would have been a large sea star (probably Betelgeusia reidi). Sadly the elements had gotten to it before I discovered it, so it was in a million pieces and unfortunately few of them went back together. 

 

 

Perhaps because ammonites seemed to be much more prevalent at the site than nautiloids, I have also treasured this tiny Paracymatoceras texanum since I found it on my first ever trip there.

 

[Mikrogeophagus]

I don't have anything jaw-dropping from the site, but I nevertheless found a few things that I cherish in my collection. If I had known it was going to close down so abruptly, I probably would've made a few more trips with a more careful eye. Here are my two favorite micro ammonites. 

[Jared C]

6 hours ago, EPIKLULSXDDDDD said:

I don't have anything jaw-dropping from the site, but I nevertheless found a few things that I cherish in my collection. If I had known it was going to close down so abruptly, I probably would've made a few more trips with a more careful eye. Here are my two favorite micro ammonites. 

 

"beauty is in the eye of the beholder" - I think those are great fossils, and you can bet my small finds had my whooping and hollering. I remember you mentioning before that the pit was a faithful starter for you too, and that's what counts. It's no secret that young people like us are a minority in the fossil hobby, but nonetheless the accessibility and excellence of the site inspired quite a few like us. 

 

Speaking of which, everyone under this thread so far is in their 20's. Anything the old timers also want to chip in?

[aek]

It's too bad the Waco pit closed. I too found my first shark tooth  and ammonites when visiting the area a number of years ago.

 

 

[GPayton]

I'm fortunate enough to be attending college only a short ten minute drive from the pit, so I was able to visit it a number of times before it got closed down. One of my best finds is what I'm 95% positive is a hermit crab trackway - at least an invertebrate paleontologist that I spoke to about it seemed to think so. 

But without a doubt the main draw of the site (at least for me) was the number of shark teeth that could be found. I've found more Cretalamna appendiculata teeth over the last several years in the pit than I know what to do with. My best teeth, though, are the lesser represented species - Carcharias amonensis, Scapanorhynchus raphiodon, Squalicorax sp., and a whopper of a tooth from Cretodus semiplicatus. I found it broken in half and just happened to be lucky enough to find the missing half only a short distance away (in the in-situ picture below you can actually see the broken segment of root at the bottom of the frame, taken before I even noticed it was there). 

An honorable mention also has to go to the squid beak and isolated pycnodont fish tooth I found. 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2022 by GPayton

[Jared C]

That Cretodus tooth is mind blowing, I had no idea they're there

[GPayton]

9 hours ago, Jared C said:

That Cretodus tooth is mind blowing, I had no idea they're there

I'd never heard of them being found either, which is why I was so surprised to see it and even more surprised when Roger Farish confirmed my ID at one of the Dallas Paleo Society's monthly meetings. It kills me that the site has been closed down because there is still definite potential for rare finds there even after the several decades since it was first opened.  

[Mikrogeophagus]

1 hour ago, GPayton said:

I'd never heard of them being found either, which is why I was so surprised to see it and even more surprised when Roger Farish confirmed my ID at one of the Dallas Paleo Society's monthly meetings. It kills me that the site has been closed down because there is still definite potential for rare finds there even after the several decades since it was first opened.  

Someone that travels to a Grayson site here in DFW, that I also visit, recently posted a cretodus tooth on fb. I'm not sure he realized how rare it was given they look like common cretalamna. Anyways it seems they can show up here as well, though extremely rare. I really need to catch the site right after a good rain (it's a bit popular)...

 

I don't even want to think about all those rarities in the Waco Pit withering away. I sent a message to DPS to suggest organizing a field trip there (I'd guess DPS would get SOME privilege right?), but didn't hear back. I'm going on a trip with them this weekend, so maybe I'll try mentioning it and get the ball rolling. It would be a field trip for the record books if we can make it happen.

[erose]

GREAT MEMORIES. And MUD, I remember lots of MUD! I visited the site mostly with the Paleontological Society of Austin. But I also had a few adventures on my own or one of the best trips was on a rather wet day with three FF members: John, Gary and Mike.  Boy did we have fun. Found some extra cool stuff. John found the infamous. "Popeye" on that trip and I ran across a nest of Goniophorus.  And the variety of really cool stuff was always good. Attached are a few of the memories....

[JohnJ]

2 minutes ago, erose said:

GREAT MEMORIES. And MUD, I remember lots of MUD! I visited the site mostly with the Paleontological Society of Austin. But I also had a few adventures on my own or one of the best trips was on a rather wet day with three FF members: John, Gary and Mike.  Boy did we have fun. Found some extra cool stuff. John found the infamous. "Popeye" on that trip and I ran across a nest of Goniophorus.  And the variety of really cool stuff was always good. Attached are a few of the memories....

 

I remember us sitting in the parking lot waiting out the severe thunderstorm vibrating the car in blinding lightning and deafening thunder....  It was a great day.