screweduptexan Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Okay y'all--I have searched everywhere for the identification of this fossil and I give up! I have seriously checked website after website and even an online book to no avail...surely someone out there knows what this fossil is?! Here is what I think I know about it: 8 inches long 4.5 inches wide Denton Formation (found east of I-35 off of North Tarrant Parkway in Fort Worth/Keller area.) Any ideas at all? The pics really do not do the fossil much justice. Honestly, it looks like a fossilized cornish hen! I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screweduptexan Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 Here is one more pic I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ordovicious Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 A type of bivalve mollusk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Hmmm, weird how it has the two different textures. I have no ideal, but I know little of that area, or time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Funny how people perceive things differently, perhaps bone material? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSRaddict_1 Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Look at letter "H" , partial cast of one ? Texas Fossils Hunting fossils is fun , but discovering is better ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screweduptexan Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 Look at letter "H" , partial cast of one ? Texas Fossils "letter H" ? Huh? I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screweduptexan Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 Okay...I got it right after I posted the reply. It does look very similar to the deer heart. Do the deer hearts get to be this large? Just curious. I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 I believe that it is a "steinkern" (an internal mould), in this case of a bivalve. It also looks like it's been through a lot! In the mid-atlantic, we have hugh internal moulds of a Miocene clam. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 I believe that it is a "steinkern" (an internal mould), in this case of a bivalve. It also looks like it's been through a lot! In the mid-atlantic, we have hugh internal moulds of a Miocene clam. 8 inches though? I thought that was far too large. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screweduptexan Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 Well, I suppose we could call it a "buffalo heart" instead of a "deer heart". Yes, I think it did go through a lot as I found it at a construction site near some new apartments. Lots of construction going on everywhere. I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 In the first picture, I can see the hinge line. Compare: "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSRaddict_1 Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Okay...I got it right after I posted the reply. It does look very similar to the deer heart. Do the deer hearts get to be this large? Just curious. Sorry should have said "click on linky" and then look . Yes , they can be rather large , not atypical . Hunting fossils is fun , but discovering is better ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screweduptexan Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 Yes, I definitely see the hinge-line now. I guess this rules out my fossilized cornish hen theory... Anyone have any idea what the shell would have looked like? What are some good books for my area (North Texas/Dallas/Fort Worth areas). I have so many fossils, I've been giving them away. I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screweduptexan Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 Yes, I definitely see the hinge-line now. I guess this rules out my fossilized cornish hen theory...Anyone have any idea what the shell would have looked like? What are some good books for my area (North Texas/Dallas/Fort Worth areas). I have so many fossils, I've been giving them away. Or website links. I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkfoam Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Go to the website www.cretaceousfossils.com then look up the Genus Cardium. The family Cardiidae are also called "heart clams". JKFoam The Eocene is my favorite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSRaddict_1 Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Click Link : Book Hunting fossils is fun , but discovering is better ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 From one screwed up Texan to another...look up the genus Pachymya from the Mainstreet formation and let me know what you think. Welcome to the forum! Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Murphy Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Dan beat me to the identification. It looks like Pachymya austinensis Shumard, which is found in the upper Washitan. This i.d. is based on the outline, the hingeline and the size of the specimen. Welcome to The Fossil Forum, a bunch of great people interested in (you guessed it!) FOSSILS. Regards, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Owens Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Possiblely Arctica roemeri, Glen Rose fm.? -----"Your Texas Connection!"------ Fossils: Windows to the past Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screweduptexan Posted October 6, 2008 Author Share Posted October 6, 2008 Click Link : Book I will have to get that book...I've needed a reason to spend my gift card at Barnes and Noble and here it is. Let's just keep our fingers crossed B&N has it. Tracer: You're hilarious! I am looking up the other names right now and will get back with y'all. Danw...: "Pachymya. austinensis (plate 11). This is the largest of the clams preserved in the lower Cretaceous rocks of Texas. It is readily recognized by its large size and characteristic contours. In Central Texas the mud cast often shows the shell markings but in Denton County the specimens are usually smooth." This specimen clearly (perhaps not in the photos) shows the shell markings, which I think looks really neat. Also, on Lance's map page, it shows the location that I found the specimen in as the Denton, Weno, Pawpaw Formations (undivided on map). This is in northeast Tarrant county. There is a lot of construction going on, so perhaps the construction dug this up from another formation? I did find next to a big pile of dirt. There were lots of little and med size oysters laden in the other material. Also a couple fairly good preserved echinoids. The specimen is the same color as the pic of Pachymya austinensis on Lance's page though. **Come to think of it, now the fossil is taking on a brain shape...This just might make a good Halloween table centerpeice. Then for Thanksgiving I'll display it as the Cornish game hen. I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bmorefossil Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 looks like some kind of bivalve mould to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Murphy Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Chuck Finsley's book is one of the best general fossil references for Texas. Depending on how detailed that you want to get with your identification, you might want to consider this BOOK from the Houston Gem and Mineral Society. This is a very detailed collector's identification guide for Cretaceous pelecypods and has been updated (as of 2002). If you go to the HGMS website, they have a series of collector's guides to Texas fossils available for sale. Regards, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screweduptexan Posted October 7, 2008 Author Share Posted October 7, 2008 Thanks. I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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