Mississippi Hunting Tour (Fossils, Ancestors and Ghosts)

[JamieLynn]

My husband and I went on a little "tour" of Mississippi on a three part "hunting" trip....for fossils, ancestors and ghosts. Before you get all grammatical,  I didn't hunt my ancestors, but I did hunt for their gravesites.  I have ancestry 7 generations back in the Natchez area of southern Mississippi and had been there a few times for family reunions while growing up. But it's been at least 35 years since I was last there.  So we decided to make a little road trip around the state to visit not only my ancestors, but also a tour of as many Native American mounds as we could fit in the trip - from Vicksburg to Natchez (Emerald Mound and Grand Village) to Clarksdale (Winterville Mounds and the "Crossroads" if you are a blues fan) to Tupelo and back to Texas (via Toltec Mounds in Arkansas.)

 

And of course, my husband did his ghost hunting (we always stay in haunted hotels and B&Bs- we both hunt old dead things....in our own way hahahah) and I did a little bit of Fossil hunting....not as much as I would have liked because THREE of my scouted spots were bunk. Nothing in two spots, just some busted oysters in a third spot. But I did make it to the Browning Fossil Park and while I was not exactly prepared for the very very cold and muddy waters, I did at least bring a hand shovel and a sieve so was able to get myself a half bucket of matrix to bring home to look at at my leisure. AND I found two little crinoids on the Mississippi river because it was historically low and you could walk out quite a ways. 

 

So here are some of my fossil finds and some random Mississippi pics for you to enjoy. 

 

My VERY BEST FIND:

1. Shark Odontaspis sp.   1/4 inch

 

2. I think this is a Scyliorhinus sp. but the tip curves WAY up, so I may be wrong on my ID. 

Size 1/8 inch

 

 

3. A few Sawfish Ptychotrygon triangularis 

1/8 inch

 

4. Another Ray Top Row: Brachyrhizodus mcnultii

Bottom Row: not sure...maybe fish tooth

 

5. More Fish Teeth: 

Top L: Hybodus or Pycnodonte,  Top R: Xiphactinus sp

Bottom L : Unknown   Bottom R: Enchodus sp.

6. Top Row: Unknown...couldn't find any info. If anyone knows, please enlighten!

Bottom Row: might be Barnacle Zeugmatolepas sp. ?

7. Top Row: I love these things...I'm guessing they are a worm tube of some kind

Bottom Row: Echinoid Spine

 

8. I think the top row black one is a Crinoid...I thought it was a vertebra at first, but the ring on the outside makes me 

think crinoid...plus I did find the one little yellow crinoid. 

 

SO not a lot of finds, but I am happy with what I ended up with....at least I ended up with something! 

 

Here's the crinoid I found on the Mississippi river...it's a nice big one!

 

the mighty Mississippi at sunset in Natchez

 

a turtle at the cemetary

 

our sharecroppers cabin in Clarksdale (The Shack Up Inn is a great place to say, y'all)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Al Dente]

42 minutes ago, JamieLynn said:

Odontopristis

I think this is a spelling error, it should be Odontaspis.

 

43 minutes ago, JamieLynn said:

I think the top row black one is a Crinoid...I thought it was a vertebra at first, but the ring on the outside makes me 

think crinoid

This is a dermal denticle. Years ago it was misidentified as a fish tooth. You can find these in the publication on the Frankstown site by Manning and Dockery.

[historianmichael]

7, top row is Hamulus onyx

[Meganeura]

Were any ghosts found???

[JamieLynn]

@Al Dente  thank you for the catch!  And I have the publication but I guess I missed that one. Thanks again!

@historianmichael Thank! I knew it was probably a worm...I love the 6 part symmetry. So unusual.

 

@Meganeura - yes indeed! Even I felt one of them...I'm not usually sensitive to that kind of stuff but this one was so strong it was like I

had stuck my finger in a light socket. Just standing in the middle of the room in the Anchuca Mansion in Vicksburg and this heavy

energy just started going up and down from head to toe. So weird. I've only felt it once before at another haunted place. Dave got all kinds of 

interesting EVPs - especially at the Native American mounds....even heard some chanting. And we were the ONLY ones there. Crazy cool.

 

[Meganeura]

4 minutes ago, JamieLynn said:

@Al Dente  thank you for the catch!  And I have the publication but I guess I missed that one. Thanks again!

@historianmichael Thank! I knew it was probably a worm...I love the 6 part symmetry. So unusual.

 

@Meganeura - yes indeed! Even I felt one of them...I'm not usually sensitive to that kind of stuff but this one was so strong it was like I

had stuck my finger in a light socket. Just standing in the middle of the room in the Anchuca Mansion in Vicksburg and this heavy

energy just started going up and down from head to toe. So weird. I've only felt it once before at another haunted place. Dave got all kinds of 

interesting EVPs - especially at the Native American mounds....even heard some chanting. And we were the ONLY ones there. Crazy cool.

 

I'm a huge skeptic - but my wife is more a believer, and we both love going on ghost hunts/tours together, so totally understand how awesome that must've been!

[grandpa]

Welcome back!  Your absence has been noticed.  Nice finds on this trip and great scenery.  Looks like a great time.

 

BTW.

Got'ta ask, "Will fossil a 'day' continue into 2023?"  Inquiring minds (OK actually fans) want to know.

[JamieLynn]

thank you @grandpa!!  I have had a crazy busy fall and am really looking forward to slowing down a little, so yes, I will get that Fossil A Day rolling again, thank you for the encouragement! 

[grandpa]

38 minutes ago, JamieLynn said:

I will get that Fossil A Day rolling again

[Jared C]

8 hours ago, JamieLynn said:

Top L: Hybodus or Pycnodonte,  Top R: Xiphactinus sp

Bottom L : Unknown   Bottom R: Enchodus sp.

 

 

Thinking the top left may be a Hadrodus sp pharyngeal tooth:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 22, 2022 by Jared C
tried to upload an image, getting an error

[FossilNerd]

13 hours ago, JamieLynn said:

THREE of my scouted spots were bunk.

 
Been there, done that! It’s always a bummer when you put in the effort to research a site and find that it was all for  nothing. It’s especially painful when you are in a totally different state! Ouch!  
 

I’m glad you were able to a least get a bucket of matrix at Browning Fossil Park that proved productive. Nice finds!

[Carl]

5 top left: pyncnodontid branchial tooth. These are often called Hadrodus or Stephanodus, but if Anomoeodus is also in the fauna, I'm pretty sure that is the favored name for any of them.

6: probably a worn Ptychotrygon tooth.

 

[JamieLynn]

oh jeez, that's what I get for doing it off the top of my head. I know it's not Hybodus.....and it's Hadrodus.  At least I got the Pycnodontid part right.  Thanks @Jared C and @Carl for the catch.