Jackito Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 My kiddo and I made a trip to our favorite cretaceous spot in central Texas. We've been hoping to find a certain type of rock with the hopes of finding a coniasaur or other cenomanian or turonian treasures. This trip a found a medium sized slab in about 8 inches of water. The slab showed white shells and was crumbly. I gently overturned it and took a look. I was very surprised to see a pliosaur tooth. I knew it was possible at this site but I didn't expect to find one. Unfortunately, my faithful assist had slipped and fallen in the water and was now shivering so I decide to pack up the rock and take it home. To give it a shower. In the bathtub. I then sorted through the flaky, sandy dark shell-filled shell. It really smelled like petroleum, and was loaded with teeth and bits. Long story short. I found a nice pliosaur tooth, what I think is a plesiosaur tooth and plesiosaur paddle bone. I also found a knobby, circular-ish dark bone piece, and some sort of fang/claw... The knobby thing is probably a mosasaur kneecap or fossilized snake head. We also found some shark teeth, and hunk of flaky fish bone. It was a fun hunt and I hope I'm right about the plesiosaur tooth and paddle bone, and the mosasaur kneecap or fossilized snake head! Jackito 20 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historianmichael Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 @Jared C might want a look since he hunts the Eagle Ford in Central Texas 2 Follow me on Instagram (@fossil_mike) to check out my personal collection of fossils collected and acquired over more than 15 years of fossil hunting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Praefectus Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 Nice finds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared C Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 So, so cool. Hoping your Pliosaur tooth or potential plesiosaur teeth make an appearance in the VFOTM competition. No snakes heads or mosasaur knee caps. Snakes have delicate skulls with many thin bones, and I'm not even sure one can find snakes in the Texas cretaceous. Also, mosasaurs didn't have knees, so no knee caps. 1 hour ago, Jackito said: Can we have several angles with close looks at the fossil below the Pliosaur tooth? Also, I see Plesiosaur as reasonable for the fossil tooth still in matrix to the left of it - but for plesiosaurs I would trust @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon before you trust me 1 “Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think” -Werner Heisenberg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikrogeophagus Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 Really looks like that skinny tooth is plesiosaur in my amateur opinion , but of course it'll be best to have an expert chime in. The pliosaur tooth is also great. So sad I couldn't stick around in town long enough to see it in person! As for the fang/claw, it has a "root" that reminds me of a sawfish rostral, but that could just be the pic's angle and the curve of the blade throws me off. I think there's a chance it could be a second plesiosaur tooth, but don't get your hopes up on an ID from me . Some more pics with different angles would help a lot, especially around the base of the specimen. The entire haul is really impressive! You've got that site figured out that's for sure. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guns Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 very nice finds ! i am a bit jealous tbh hahaha Guns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 Wow! What an amazing haul! You really hit the jackpot with this one, with two of my wishlist fossils in it: a US pliosaur and US plesiosaur tooth! That's just crazy to come out of a single slab of rock! 10 hours ago, Jackito said: I do indeed belief your initial identification of this tooth is correct in it being an elasmosaurid tooth. For I believe I see remnants of anastomosing enamel ridges, can't see any carinae, but do see a suggestion of lateral (i.e., buccolingual) compression. These are all hallmarks of elasmosaurid teeth, so that's very, very cool! 10 hours ago, Jackito said: While not complete, this is an amazing tooth! I've long dreamt of finding my own pliosaur tooth at some point! The striations on this are beautiful and leave no doubt about this being a brachauchenine pliosaur, possibly even Brachauchenius lucasi itself 10 hours ago, Jackito said: While this does appear to be marine reptile bone for its density, it's not a knee-cap, as marine reptiles, as Jared already mentioned, didn't have knees. I wouldn't have an easy answer to what I might be otherwise, but the bulbous shape most reminds me of a basioccipital bone, i.e., part of base of the skull of come critter or another. 10 hours ago, Jackito said: To me this looks like a piece of fossilised wood, which would make perfect sense seeing as this slab of yours seems to represent an accumulation deposit, where water currents wash various materials together either into a depression, of up against a larger object that block the water flow from pushing the various bits and pieces any further. You'll often find wood trapped in such deposits as well, as can be seen in the many beautiful pieces from Lyme Regis where one or more calcite ammonites lie up against a piece of fossil wood. 10 hours ago, Jackito said: I'd need better photographs of this one. But it is possible that this is another plesiosaur tooth, as suggested above (in which case, it's possible that what you've found could be the remnants of a pliosaur attack on an elasmosaurid, with bits and pieces of the elasmosaur skull being preserved in addition to its teeth, and the pliosaur having damaged and lost one of its teeth in the process; isn't it nice to imagine and speculate ). My initial thought, however, was fish tooth, something like an Enchodus-fang, but it's not entirely clear to me what's going on with the tooth in terms of dental ornamentation, compression, and what appears to be a smooth transition zone between the ornamented tooth and the jaw bone. Compare against the below examples: Enchodus sp. fangs from the Ozan Formation of the North Sulfur River in Texas 10 hours ago, Jackito said: I'd need better photographs of this too, but this doesn't look like a paddle bone to me. The thing about paddle bones is that they are completely smooth on their flat surfaces and have a bone texture that radiates out from the middle to the sides. I'm not seeing that here... What else it could be, I don't know, however. Hope this helps! 2 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoPastels Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 Oh wow, some very interesting finds! The teeth are very cool! Im not an expert to ID that but contrats on the big cone marine reptile tooth! Keep it safe forever- very special find! If I ever bump into you or your son in the field (I'm up in north Texas) I can present you a special display container for for it- I keep lots handy. I have yet to find one here in Texas myself! The shark teeth are also nice! (Looks like a Cretolamna anterior and/or Cretodus too in there!) ***that “snake head” is such an oddity! xD I don’t think its a snake personally- but it has personality! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 Great finds! You have a wonderful spot to explore. MY wife would kill me dead if I did anything like that in the bathtub! Plastic / rubber tubs from farm & ranch stores arent too expensive! 1 1 1 "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 Very nice indeed. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heteromorph Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 Wow that looks like quite the site! Great finds and report! Have you run across any ammonite material at this site? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mart1980 Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 I'm late responding, couldn't respond sooner due to jealousy . what a wonderful find, well found. Cherish that place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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