PaleoPastels Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 (edited) Hey forum! It’s now spring break for me and we’re out road tripping and camping all over Texas Since I’ve got time to burn between destinations I’d love to reflect on some cool fossils Ive found over the past few chilly months! *So first of all I want to throw this out there: I followed heart and I started college! Last year in summer I found out everything about how I’ve been a brain trauma victim with amnesia and when I came back to Texas after some time in Iceland the first thing I wanted to do was go back to college to be a paleontologist like I originally planned to years ago. A LOT has changed. I was tired of doctors and family telling me behind closed doors “she’s not ready yet, its only been ___months” or “she needs more time to process” so I took lessons, read, studied my tailfin off to make SURE that I WAS ready! Trying to learn again to restore lost knowledge from high school during the holidays was the hardest thing I think I’ve ever done. My amazing scuba/nat geo filmer/dental assistant mother especially believed in me and taught me to use spite to fuel my passion. In January I took my TSI tests and passed! I was enrolled in classes 3 days later, whatever seats were available for classes I signed up. I proved everyone who doubted me wrong! It’s going to be a LONG journey but I’m excited about college. I’m working a FT job and a side hussle out of pocket for each class to pay upfront and avoid loan interest rates. My science/biology undergrad is at campus & online classes mixed and then for a masters Austin is looking promising for vert & invert paleontology AND marine biology. Wish me luck! So incredibly thankful to anyone who has helped me- especially the forum people who remembered me. I WON’T forget such kindness and I’ll make ya’ll proud. ——— Moving into fossils, the reason ya’ll are here, I had SO many fun trips and already made some great friends! The end of January we had a small winter storm here in North Texas. So of course for me that means as soon as it was just warm enough to melt the ice I was going to hit up the river- no competition from other Texans still warming up! I went out camping again actually that weekend even though it was miserable. I threw on my best Icelandic wool, grabbed my rock climbing gear, and slinged down the 30ft cliff into the North Sulphur. I got VERY muddy and a little stuck on the way back up but I made it out! Me actually 90° on the cliff! Scapanorhynchus texanus I have no idea about mammals but this tooth find was cool! I held onto it just in case it’s something interesting. Pachyrhizodus tooth? Doesn’t scream mosasaur at me- not even a pterygoid. (I’m actually taking a few teeth & verts down to a friend soon in late March including ones I have questions about! ) A tooth shard of Globidens alabamensis fishy jaw Shark coprolite Quality Enchodus fang Pretty sure these are just Pachy teeth but cool finds! Later that week, my good friend @EPIKLULSXDDDDD wanted to hang out again! He also wanted to bring a friend along, @Aidan Campos would be joining us in some Grayson Marl & PawPaw adventures! I’m still regaining lost knowledge, and need to learn how to drive all over again. I was SO proud I drove with confidence from Mckinney to Denton at the meetup spot with my roommate Cole in the car- 4th time ever driving since I’ve been “back.” We drove out to the locality and it was seriously a beautiful sparkling place with crystals everywhere! The four of us marched out onto the soil: an entomologist, a botanist/photographer, an aspiring dentist, and future marine paleontologist. A diverse rainbow of scientists out to save some old dead ocean life before construction covers them to be lost again under concrete. I liked to think of us as heros out there! Little regular urchin test plates all over the place! I was happy with the amount of tiny Mariella ammonites everywhere! Despite these being common around the Fort Worth & Denton area, these were my first finds of them ever! I bet they were stinkin’ adorable when they were alive, I imagined them swimming and clinging onto things stuck to the seafloor the entire time we were here. I found this tiny little ammonite! I still have yet to ID this little one, but I know this formation is one of the “last call!” places in age for Mortoniceras here in Texas. It looks a bit like the bigger Mortoniceras I have but could be wrong. Anyone who has a better guess on baby ammonite feel free to chime in your thoughts! All the fossils here are minis so nothing big found here except oysters and urchins. Like a bright shiny penny in the sun, I spotted this fish tooth out of the corner of my vision! We’re looking in the Albian and the first fish genus that came to my mind was Aidachar- a predatory fish from over in Asia I recognized from a book. I showed the boys and after a quick google search this actually might be a little Xiphactinus a. tooth! Being so used to them in my Campanian grounds (and a bigger size!) I didn’t realize they also lived during the Albian too. All of these other fossils we were finding were “new faces” to me…so the idea of an X-fish find made me feel more at home. I found a second baby ammo! Back at home: I grabbed this at the Grayson site without an in-situ pic but I suspected this was a chunk of urchin with spines still attached! After a muddy cleanup turns out I was correct! ID’s are most welcome. Magnified 40x : After a great afternoon at the first site, all four of us hopped over to some PawPaw territory! EPIK was very kind to guide us to a new spot he found that would also be lost under concrete someday soon. The pickings were slim but it was a memorable hunt! I’ve got an eye for nodules after watching videos of people in the UK and Illinois break them open so when I find something suspiciously small & round- I break it! I managed to find my first Engonoceras s. ammonite in this nodule! Unfortunately it was so fragile, however, I managed to save it because it has that beautiful iridescent sheen to it from the aragonite layer. “Iridescent” or “pearl” is my favorite color next to periwinkle. Aidan found a nice crab carapace! It wasn’t long before I found my own as well! My books or sources could be outdated but an ID I had in mind for this is Xanthosia aspera. EDIT: Steorrosia aspera Thanks, EPIK! I was at this point bent over dying of laughter at all of us doing the “muddy shoes scrape-off dance” in the street on the walk back- we must have looked SO silly. I was so happy to hang out with friends and explore some fossils in western formations that felt a little unknown to me! Amazing learning experience and I had a blast! (Thanks again you three!) Back at home: I’m happy I held onto that Engonoceras nodule because 40x on a microscope I was rewarded with these beautiful views which would have never been appreciated. My dad who loves nautilus and ammonites would be over the moon if he could see these! PART 2 SOON- to be continued! Edited March 10, 2023 by PaleoPastels Updated taxon 2 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpa Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 17 minutes ago, PaleoPastels said: Wish me luck! I'm of a mind that you don't need "luck". You have the will, the drive, and the ability to achieve your goals all on your own. So I will simply wish you the best and encourage you to enjoy every step of your journey, however long it may be, all the way to the end. Really enjoyed the fossils and the report, BTW. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 Great tale, and good luck in your college career. Iceland? Head injury? We a love a good story but if you don't want to talk about, that is understood. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 3 minutes ago, jpc said: Head injury? We a love a good story but if you don't want to talk about, that is understood. Members' News & Diversions is a better venue (IF...Larsa decides to share further details) rather than Fossil Hunting Trips. 1 2 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 I recall that Laura posted about this in the past. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advantage Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 I enjoyed your post and wish you a great future. The locality looks amazing for collecting by the way. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikrogeophagus Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 (edited) Glad you had a good time! I was worried we weren't gonna find any crabs, but you and Aidan had good eyes. Happy you each came away with one. The crabs are now considered to be Steorrosia aspera as opposed to Xanthosia aspera FYI. The other finds are very impressive as well! Make sure to take the time to study hard for your classes. I have no doubts you will accomplish great things in the paleo world! I look forward to reading your papers Edited March 10, 2023 by EPIKLULSXDDDDD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoPastels Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 (edited) Part 2 Early February had a few nice warm days and with Val-day approaching I wanted to help a friend find the perfect valentine- heart urchins! We headed out to the Fort Worth area to one of my favorite spots. I was also looking for more miniature fossils to use as wrap beads for my bohemian bracelets I make so this was perfect. We managed to pick out a few nice valentine heart urchins very fast- and I was even given one as a friendly “thank you” for helping him out. I also gave my best one out to a young couple we saw walking on the jogging trail holding hands and they thought it was the coolest thing ever! A lot of these are likely going to be Pliotoxaster whitei After a fast successful trip made in minutes we played around the woods! There’s a hill my friend wanted to run down for a Kate Bush tiktok/reel vid thing and I helped. What I didnt expect is that I found an ammonite on the way down- one of the best Goodland ammos Ive found! I asked my friend to crop the vid of the discovery, send it to me, and I posted it on my IG stories. I’m slowly using potassium flakes and my mini scribe to remove the limestone matrix! (I’ll take a pic when I get back from camping!) I also found yet ANOTHER Leptosalenia mexicana at this site- everytime my Fort Worth urchin pal “The ECHxpert” doesn’t come with me I find them! He has yet to find one here. Unfortunately this is the same fossil that caused a big misunderstanding with another person over my social media… I’m still so embarrassed and weirded out by people’s imaginations that I’m actually going to be putting it back in nature when we swing around back to DFW on my spring break trip. It’s quirky, wonky, imperfect like me but maybe someone will notice it and appreciate it. It hurts to look at tbh. No worries- I’m about to go pull out like 5-10 or more from my favorite spot later on! Been dreaming of it for days…. The week leading up to Val-Day was an absolute nightmare week for me. I lost a friend who took their life and one of my good friend’s parents aren’t doing well either. Friends being quiet, funeral stuff, laptop not working, work drama, roommate got too busy to talk to me about anything and was usually gone, and on top of that- I unfortunately had a queue of admirers lining up. Being the new girl on campus thrown into classes last second and a new employee at a bigger district work branch with everyone there aware of my life in Iceland, status, schedule modifications to meet my modeling gig I knew I caught a lot of attention. I turned down 16 hearts that week, mostly on campus, which is a personal record. Dodging unwanted valentines and phone numbers from strangers like Spongebob and Patrick in the perfume store scene for a whole week it was finally the weekend when I got out of my Saturday AM class. I decided to hide myself away from crazy Superbowl drivers/shoppers and Val-Day drama by staying outside in nature for days. Arguably the best way for a mental break. I went out to my FAVORITE area of creeks in all of north Texas- one was actually the first place I ever visited in Texas that actually sealed the deal of me having the option to move here a decade ago to study paleontology. No better place for an exhausted paleo bachelorette to spend Valentine’s Day than with Cretaceous marine life- the one loyal love that always welcomes me. I have several creeks I visit in the area, not just POC, but several that I can access through swimming or wading for several miles- with most of the land here being private property traveling by creek is the safe and legal way. I had a GREAT day with lots of spoils! Valentines given up from the Mid Cretaceous soils are the best and mother nature was very generous to me. I finally felt safe because I could be myself out here. I did keep my phone on loud just in case any friends got turned down devastated and needed a friend to talk to/needed date last second or any invitations from people I actually knew but I wasn’t focused on the opportunity. I was outside in my element and was happy either way! So glad I went outdoors because I found some VERY good stuff. So Im actually long-term working on constructing a Ptychodus whipplei “frankenplate” to donate for a display and this weekend trip has brought me so much closer to that dream! First day I found 11 teeth. !!?!?? TWO Cretodus c. anteriors back-to-back finds eeeek! * So I found a third tooth!!!! The most perfect prized specimen but like a monster…. I left it for another time. Having found 2 amazing ones already, one to keep one to donate, I’ll save this one only for a true friend willing to come out here and deal with my wild shenanigans! It’s rained since then but I still know right where it’s at due to the geology. No way it washed far! Usually I never leave a great spot- but this gravel bar with fossils bleeding out of the source was too much of a hotspot to handle atm! Another time- would be even more fun to come with a friend and watch each-others reactions because I know there’s some good stuff here. I moved onto a different spot half a mile down. I finally found a lateral Cretodus crassidens! Bonus: an old bottle with original cork still in it! With that I called it a great day, took a kip, went to Taco Bell up the street for a bite that evening. Most of my day was actually spent up just walking to get to my spot. Spot 2: Waking up in the morning with shark-related dreams, packed up and made my way to POC. The land owners know my face very well and after exchanging friendly hellos let me park close to my favorite spot most people can’t easily get to; always goes to show upfront honestly and asking permission first can take you far. This day I found 14 Ptychodus whipplei to add to my plate project! Durophagy marine vertebrates from the Mesozoic are what I want to specialize in so I was keeping my eye out for any other Ptychodus species or pycnodont teeth. Crossing my fingers for my favorite: Ptychodus mortoni… the one that eludes me here. They are frequent in other locations of Texas of course but I’ve always wanted to find a complete one here like other locals sometimes do! I was happy to spend Valentines Day on a prehistoric beach. I kept my phone notifications turned on, felt a little hopeful and had a nice outfit ready in the car… just in case. Nothing came up that day- except some great finds! I did wish I had a friend to spend that day with but I wasn’t in any way sad. Mother nature again was very kind to me, bearing lovely gifts from the ancient sea for me to take home and use for my projects. I spent a whole horizon out here! As I kept finding more Ptychodus teeth- a fun thought occurred to me! A heart shaped box of chocolates- but chocolates replaced with different Ptychodus teeth. Now THAT would be romantic to receive on Val day! A paleontologist’s dream. I then imagined what it would be like if there WERE edible chocolates out there shaped like 3D Ptychodus teeth and what flavors & filling they would have: milk chocolate P. whipplei…. fudge ganache filled P. mortoni…. praline swirl P. rugosus…. caramel filled P. occidentalis…. dark chocolate P. actoensis (like Midlothian colors!) Hmmm that would be so cool to see someday! Embarrassed of my own daydreaming I went back to looking at the ground. How did I celebrate that night? I had a date with myself, a spoon, and this sundae! A great way to end a personal best haul! The next week was so busy it was stressful. Weather related madness, my roommate’s pet spider had babies and I had to run around his house standing on furniture surfaces with a spoon catching naughty spiderlings separating each one in a condiment cup for DAYS, more funeral talk, 8-day work week, a friend who I’ve been talking to online casually about nature stuff secretly helping me stay sane went very quiet for a while…. but luckily a long-time friend of mine came back to DFW for the first time in a decade! Subaru WRX-loving Jake. He’s like a brother to Cole & I and….loves Suburu cars. While C went to take his girlfriend out to the Heard Museum, Jake wanted to hang out later like old times. After shopping like teenagers for clothes and going out to Torchy’s ordering $35 worth of different tacos to try we did a lot of talking which I absolutely needed being so bottled up in person. He was interested in fossils and while my tickets to Permian Fest were for the next day, I was given money to cover the cost of my ticket and told me to take him to my favorite spot for fossils instead the next morning. Another NSR trip was in store! We set out for Bonham lake at the very sandy campsite- I love herping there for water snakes and bird watching. There were many Brookshire’s muffins eaten that day. It was a little rainy and foggy that morning at NSR with bad storms in the PM forecast but I found some neat things before we went home! So again, I don’t know much about mammal teeth! No idea what this is. This jaw is definitely fossilized- rock solid everything. What is this- camel or bison? I actually held onto this one and have it at home in case I can donate it somewhere! I actually can’t wait to get home to clean it and ID it. I found this other neat grazing mammal tooth as well! Another tooth that I suspect to be a Pachy tooth. Im taking this down to an old friend later this month for a proper ID- hopefully get a quick personal lesson! Some of the coolest finds were these Baculites a. found specifically here at this location! Usually in the NSR these straight-shelled ammonites are phosphatized jet-black or iron-red from the red zones but here I find them in this gorgeous grey-green color and they have that iridescent sheen to them that is noticeable when it gets wet! I wonder if these are from the Pecan Gap wash and not the Ozan. Gorgeous no matter what- I definitely held onto them. The storms were rolling in and Jake managed to find only a few shark teeth and countless oysters on his own but loved my finds. I was happy to spend a day out with someone and have a heartfelt deep conversation with an old friend about some things Ive been struggling with as I’ve not had anyone to fully vent to 100%. The storms weren’t too bad luckily! Just a lot of wind. ….to be continued! Edited March 10, 2023 by PaleoPastels “slider” -> “spider” 1 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoPastels Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 Ya’ll, feel free to call me Larí! It’s Larísa but back then I couldn’t get the “old forum” to type the special character when I signed up so I left it out. No worries! I have a few nice microfossils and microscope pictures to share as well! I think they also count as “Wintermester finds.” You can still fossil hunt indoors after all! I don’t know the names of most of these but I find them interesting and they deserve some love! Turonian/Cenomanian: Arcadia Park/Acto(?) Personally love this Ptychotrygon t. rostral! Sooooo tiny! Pycnodont micro plate ^ dermal denticle! Campanian/Maastrictian: Pecan Gap & Ozan formation Bonus: Globidens alabamensis surface! Looks like steak…. That’s pretty much the highlight of my finds this season! I started off Spring Break the best way with my friend @EPIKLULSXDDDDD at the river and he has a whole thread for that amazing day! Ya’ll take care! ~Larí 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoPastels Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 (edited) 5 hours ago, jpc said: Great tale, and good luck in your college career. Iceland? Head injury? We a love a good story but if you don't want to talk about, that is understood. I’ve got a less dark version of that story in a thread over in Member News. I’ve been through a LOT. I’m here now and all I can do is look forward and pick up where I left off! I have Icelandic heritage and spent some time over there. At the time, this time last year, I was remembering everything about paleontology and already started collecting again instinctively. Inbetween the event of 2014 and then I was a different person because I didn’t know who I was… slowly got back into my favorite things out of instinct during the pandemic. It was fate that I accidentally brought my new Ptychodus finds with me overseas. I finally “remembered” over there and those “HD dreams” I had I realized were my own memories. It was….. intense. I love those sharks sooo much and they played a massive part in my life- pre trauma and now so much I want to study them and contribute some kind of science to Ptychodus. I used to apparently LOVE them when I first visited Texas and I do actually remember P. whipplei being my first shark tooth here! I’m SO happy I remembered in time and chose to go back and stay here in Texas. Hilarious memory unlocked… but I seem to recall…. about a decade ago maybe it was you that asked me if “I was the mother of the girl in that avatar” when I first asked about colleges here in Texas? That girl in the photo was MEEEEE! I was 17 but I know I looked about 12. I was working at the science center after graduating high school early. I just physically age super slow. Edited March 10, 2023 by PaleoPastels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 Thanks for the tales.... and those little forams (if that's what they are) are so cool. Yes, indoor fossil hunting can be rewarding as heck. I wonder if that was me, back ten years ago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey P Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Great finds, story, and pics. Love the echinoids and crabs. Congratulations and thanks for sharing. Best of luck in college. You're clearly a bright young lady will go places. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoPastels Posted March 11, 2023 Author Share Posted March 11, 2023 (edited) 11 hours ago, jpc said: Thanks for the tales.... and those little forams (if that's what they are) are so cool. Yes, indoor fossil hunting can be rewarding as heck. I wonder if that was me, back ten years ago. Oh my stars it was you! xD EDIT: Nov 19 2010. LOL No worries! I got a giggle out of it! The other person in my old photo was my best friend xD Like I said… I physically age incredibly slow for whatever reason, I suspect I’m a decade behind my peers as I lost my last primary teeth when I was 17 going into 18. I hope this means I have more time to look for fossils in my life! I’m as energetic as a teenager still climbing trees and running around fields. There’s two ages correct with me- the one that is in paper and the one my doctors tell me they think I am when they do physicals- the age that I truly feel! Happy to reread that thread and and know that it’s reassuring proof I’ve been the person I say I am and I really have been into Texas marine paleontology alllll these years. Still as passionate as old me I hope! Hmmm looking back at some old threads I have one from 2017 I don’t recall but luckily I now have an explanation for it. My roommate, posing as a spouse at the time, actually made that. I remember him taking me out with a biologist somewhere with concrete stairs and bringing toys out for photos. I asked and he was desperate to trigger a core memory about my old self without overstimulating me into a shock. I was asked over and over by the biologist if I knew what these bones were and how I felt about them. Unfortunately it didn’t really click deep enough for a trigger but I thought the fossils were pretty cool. Now during the pandemic- I heard something on the news that DID trigger a flashback, something very relevant to what I originally wanted to do. I THEN remembered all those fossils and became interested in finding more on my own. I started gradually having “flashback episodes” or “day dream movies” soon after. Edited March 11, 2023 by PaleoPastels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 I just looked it up... yes, it was me, and I now wear my glasses almost all the time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoPastels Posted March 11, 2023 Author Share Posted March 11, 2023 (edited) No worries, jpc! I take it as a massive compliment Update: So we sung back over to DFW (stopping for arguable the tastiest burgers along the way!) for my Midlothian trip which got bumped. I had a free day so I broke out the pneumatic chisel, hot water, and potassium (just in case!) and removed this cute little ”Kate Bush” Engonoceras or Metengonoceras sp from the matrix! I still didn’t expect to find one in the Goodland. I also got a few more NSR books from Dallas Paleo HQ to keep in the car Before: Edited March 12, 2023 by PaleoPastels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjohn170 Posted March 11, 2023 Share Posted March 11, 2023 Wow I love the mammal teeth and jaw! Very cool finds, I’m leaning towards camel. Love the ptychodus as well! Great finds! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoPastels Posted March 12, 2023 Author Share Posted March 12, 2023 4 hours ago, Bjohn170 said: Wow I love the mammal teeth and jaw! Very cool finds, I’m leaning towards camel. Love the ptychodus as well! Great finds! I’ll get photos of that jaw up hopefully soon! I was wondering in the back of my head if it was deer but camel seems like another possible candidate! I actually just got some new books earlier so we’ll see! Ptychodus is life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoPastels Posted March 12, 2023 Author Share Posted March 12, 2023 (edited) @Bjohn170 So without any chemicals or pneumatic tools this is how much of the mammal jaw I was able to clean. No way this thing is recent! Its super rock solid! *specimen is wet to see detail. I’d really love to donate this somewhere, cool part of Texas history. Camel or deer? Edited March 12, 2023 by PaleoPastels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemipristis Posted March 12, 2023 Share Posted March 12, 2023 On 3/11/2023 at 2:14 AM, PaleoPastels said: Dirty as heck, and ankle-deep in mud. A true collecting trip! 1 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' George Santayana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjohn170 Posted March 12, 2023 Share Posted March 12, 2023 8 hours ago, PaleoPastels said: @Bjohn170 So without any chemicals or pneumatic tools this is how much of the mammal jaw I was able to clean. No way this thing is recent! Its super rock solid! *specimen is wet to see detail. I’d really love to donate this somewhere, cool part of Texas history. Camel or deer? It’s definitely too large for deer, so I’m leaning camel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoPastels Posted March 12, 2023 Author Share Posted March 12, 2023 (edited) 6 hours ago, hemipristis said: Dirty as heck, and ankle-deep in mud. A true collecting trip! It’s not a trip from me if I’m not covered in mud or drenched in heavy clothes weighted by water! I think all the mud is great for my skin tbh. My secret! Edited March 12, 2023 by PaleoPastels 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoPastels Posted March 12, 2023 Author Share Posted March 12, 2023 3 hours ago, Bjohn170 said: It’s definitely too large for deer, so I’m leaning camel. Thank you for the suggestion! I’ll do some more comparing later. Camel jaw would be pretty cool to put up inside The Heard museum! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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