Browning Cretaceous Fossil Park 2022

[Tales From the Shale]

Dug into this park on Tuesday for a few hours. I really have no experience with Mesozoic strata, aside from Coon Creek of Tennesse. The water was inconsistent in it's depth due to a local beaver dam causing higher than normal water levels.

Material here consists of unconsolidated clays, gravel and sand. 

 

 

Here are two large bivalves I recovered from the upper beds containing clams. I believe these are Exogyra costata which are common at this location.

 

 

 

 

This tooth belongs to Scapanorhynchus texanus in which the teeth are referred to as belonging to goblin sharks. This is untrue, as this taxa is distantly related to modern goblins but I believe they are within the same family?

 

 

 

This is a pair of small bivalves, species possibly being miniscule Gryphaeostrea vomer? 

 

 

 

A single Agerostrea mesenterica.

 

 

 

Finally pictured below, an unknown, based on corrected advice it is a worn Pycnodonte.

 

 

 

This trip was long, but the report ended up being brief due to the difficulty I had getting into the productive zones at this site. In which happened to be straight down, through the toughest clay I have ever seen. I did however end up meeting one of the park volunteers named Doug, who was more than helpful, he frequents the area and is very friendly.

 

[historianmichael]

I believe your last shell is a worn Pycnodonte rather than an Anomia

[Tales From the Shale]

8 hours ago, historianmichael said:

I believe your last shell is a worn Pycnodonte rather than an Anomia

Thanks, they get difficult for me to identify when they're that worn.

[historianmichael]

8 minutes ago, Tales From the Shale said:

Thanks, they get difficult for me to identift when they're that worn.

It is definitely an oyster-oid, either Exogyra or Pycnodonte. Anomia is smaller and has a much thinner shell