Metafossical Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 Newbie Notes Long story short. September 2020 I decided to become a fossil hunter. I searched the internet and found the North Sulfur River. My first three visits I found coral fragments and small fossil wood. I was still hopeful. I then reviewed several maps of the area and decided on the road less traveled by. Went there November 2020 and found my first fossil. I followed the strata in which that fossil was found. The strata led me up a creek and that creek was laden with fossils. I hunted that creek countless times and found a bunch of nice fossils. On my last two visits they were scarce, so I stayed away for six months. I returned this May and it was the same as it ever was. I searched the internet and I have an idea of what these fossils might be . . . but as a newbie I’m not so sure, so I need help to ID. The following first set of pics include the first fossil and one of the latest. Thanks in advance for your time to ID. I hope you find these fossils as interesting and fascinating as I have. ~ 1 Clarity of meaning and brevity ~ Nothing endures but change. ~ Heraclitus (c.535 - 475 BC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 Photos are awfully small. 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 I agree. Try to get better focus and a larger image. Your first nine images show a nice pair of mosasaur cervical (neck) vertebrae. Wherever you found them could produce skull elements too. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metafossical Posted June 28, 2022 Author Share Posted June 28, 2022 1 Clarity of meaning and brevity ~ Nothing endures but change. ~ Heraclitus (c.535 - 475 BC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metafossical Posted June 28, 2022 Author Share Posted June 28, 2022 2 Clarity of meaning and brevity ~ Nothing endures but change. ~ Heraclitus (c.535 - 475 BC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 11 minutes ago, Metafossical said: Thanks; these are much easier to view. The first six images look like a fish bone to me. The next piece is most likely a mosasaur scapula...a very cool find. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metafossical Posted June 28, 2022 Author Share Posted June 28, 2022 4 Clarity of meaning and brevity ~ Nothing endures but change. ~ Heraclitus (c.535 - 475 BC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metafossical Posted June 28, 2022 Author Share Posted June 28, 2022 I'm still learning how to use your system. I'll make the necessary adjustments as I move forward. I may have to reprocess the photos of the "mosasaur cervical (neck) vertebrae." Clarity of meaning and brevity ~ Nothing endures but change. ~ Heraclitus (c.535 - 475 BC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metafossical Posted June 28, 2022 Author Share Posted June 28, 2022 19 minutes ago, JohnJ said: Thanks; these are much easier to view. The first six images look like a fish bone to me. The next piece is most likely a mosasaur scapula...a very cool find. Thanks for the nice words I appreciate it. i'm gonna be processing and posting some more photos soon. i didn't realize how much "work" it is get to take all the photos and process them. I'm still new at this so I hope to improve over time. Clarity of meaning and brevity ~ Nothing endures but change. ~ Heraclitus (c.535 - 475 BC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 38 minutes ago, Metafossical said: This is a partial rudist known as Durania. The disk like shell is the flat valve of an Exogyra oyster. 2 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 It would be better to put different fossils in separate replies. 1 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metafossical Posted June 28, 2022 Author Share Posted June 28, 2022 1 hour ago, JohnJ said: I agree. Try to get better focus and a larger image. Your first nine images show a nice pair of mosasaur cervical (neck) vertebrae. Wherever you found them could produce skull elements too. Nice ID. I have a mosasaur anatomy diagram (I think that 's what it is) here that I downloaded from the internet. I thought for sure they were pygal or post pygal. I see now they are cervical. Interestingly, and thanks to your ID I have another one that fits right in there that is similar. And yes, you are correct I believe I have found skull elements. Clarity of meaning and brevity ~ Nothing endures but change. ~ Heraclitus (c.535 - 475 BC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metafossical Posted June 28, 2022 Author Share Posted June 28, 2022 39 minutes ago, JohnJ said: The disk like shell is the flat valve of an Exogyra oyster. Thanks again, nice ID. I was wondering about that one. I took a look at it on the internet . . . I've found a great many and large Exogyra; a couple of field photos . . . So the flat valve you have identified in the photo is the bottom? 1 Clarity of meaning and brevity ~ Nothing endures but change. ~ Heraclitus (c.535 - 475 BC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 21 minutes ago, Metafossical said: Thanks again, nice ID. I was wondering about that one. I took a look at it on the internet . . . I've found a great many and large Exogyra; a couple of field photos . . . So the flat valve you have identified in the photo is the bottom? They pair in this manner. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metafossical Posted June 28, 2022 Author Share Posted June 28, 2022 Nice . . . I now see how it fits. Clarity of meaning and brevity ~ Nothing endures but change. ~ Heraclitus (c.535 - 475 BC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metafossical Posted June 28, 2022 Author Share Posted June 28, 2022 With respect to the “fish bone” fossil. I remember quite distinctly finding that one. It was so thin and delicate. I took off one of the t-shirts I was wearing and wrapped it up loosely and stuck it in my back pack; it made it out in one piece after about 90 million years. I found it quite fascinating. It’s different from any of the other fossil I’ve found. When I tap on it with my fingernail it sounds of porcelain and it doesn’t have the “honeycomb” ( I don’t know if that is the correct term) features most of the other fossils possess; it appears dense and “fibrous.” Clarity of meaning and brevity ~ Nothing endures but change. ~ Heraclitus (c.535 - 475 BC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 40 minutes ago, Metafossical said: Nice ID. I have a mosasaur anatomy diagram (I think that 's what it is) here that I downloaded from the internet. I thought for sure they were pygal or post pygal. I see now they are cervical. Interestingly, and thanks to your ID I have another one that fits right in there that is similar. And yes, you are correct I believe I have found skull elements. This may help. Pick up a copy of Russell's Systematics and Morphology of American Mosasaurs and Finsley's A Field Guide to Fossils of Texas. Both will give you a solid base for further research. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metafossical Posted June 28, 2022 Author Share Posted June 28, 2022 10 minutes ago, JohnJ said: This may help. Pick up a copy of Russell's Systematics and Morphology of American Mosasaurs and Finsley's A Field Guide to Fossils of Texas. Both will give you a solid base for further research. Quote Good stuff. Just so happens that the diagram that I possess is the same one you referenced in the post . . . diagram by D.V. Grigoriev. And I've reviewed and read a great many parts of Dale A. Russell's Systematics and Morphology of American Mosaurs for quite some time now. I'll be referencing that bulletin in the near future. I've been doin' my homework. Quote 1 Clarity of meaning and brevity ~ Nothing endures but change. ~ Heraclitus (c.535 - 475 BC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metafossical Posted June 28, 2022 Author Share Posted June 28, 2022 2 hours ago, JohnJ said: It would be better to put different fossils in separate replies. Thanks for all the good advice this morning. ~ The following pics are of the cervical vertebrae I referenced earlier. I didn't know what it was until you identified the other two. The pieces are now starting to fit together. It is one of the few fossils that I've clean 100% (or best I could). As you wrote in your referenced post, "The easiest way to identify most mosasaur cervical vertebrae is the presence of a peduncle on the underside surface. These peduncles diminish in size as the cervical vertebrae transition to the thoracic." Based on your post, the peduncle on the underside of this cervical vertebrae is pronounced and therefore must be getting close/closer to the skull. I took another look at Grigoviev's diagram and this one here looks to be right up against the skull. 1 Clarity of meaning and brevity ~ Nothing endures but change. ~ Heraclitus (c.535 - 475 BC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 The large flat bone in your first set of pix looks like a mosasaur scapula. Give that a look if you do have Russell's mosasaur monograph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metafossical Posted June 28, 2022 Author Share Posted June 28, 2022 21 minutes ago, jpc said: The large flat bone in your first set of pix looks like a mosasaur scapula. Give that a look if you do have Russell's mosasaur monograph. Nice . . . Thanks. I do see the fossil in the manual, page 86: Text-fig 45. Scapula-coracoid of Tylosaurus (after Williston, 1898b,pl.46,x 1/3). That fossil is one of my most recent finds. I knew it as a coracoid, but I failed to reference the manual. Clarity of meaning and brevity ~ Nothing endures but change. ~ Heraclitus (c.535 - 475 BC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 coracoid and scap on these things are very similar, but the coracoid has a hole in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 On 6/28/2022 at 10:31 AM, Metafossical said: And yes, you are correct I believe I have found skull elements. Any photos? The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 Nice finds! The Dallas Paleo Society has a reasonably price book on fossils of the North Sulphur River that might be helpful to you if you don’t already have it. https://www.dallaspaleo.org 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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