MarcoSr Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 (edited) I want to thank Dan for sending me two gallons of raw Cretaceous, Maastrichtian matrix from the Escondido Formation of Texas which contained the specimens in this post. This matrix had a good density of shark, ray and fish teeth. However most were damaged/broken and/or reworked. Specimens ranged in size from .5mm to 13mm. I am posting below pictures of a small number of the nicer and more unusual specimens which I found. If you place your cursor on a JPEG image you will see the file name which will have the specimen id as best that I can determine and the specimen size. Breaking down the matrix was very easy and consisted of just soaking it in hot water and then drying. The wide diversity of micros in many formations is one of the reasons that I am an avid micro tooth collector. If anyone has or can collect good matrix with shark, ray, and fish micros please send me a PM. I found a good number of shark teeth of multiple species but only posted the nicer ones. I also found a number of small shark vertebrae. Shark teeth: Carcharias: Galeorhinus: Ginglymostoma: Plicatoscyllium: Scyliorhinus: Squalicorax: Some shark vertebrae: Some ray oral and rostral teeth and what I believe is a ray dermal element: Tomewingia (Edited per name change) (I was really happy finding these specimens as they are pretty uncommon and I previously only had a single specimen from North Carolina in my collection): Ischyrhiza (rostral teeth): Ptychotrygon (oral tooth): Rhombodus: Dermal element (There is a possibility that this could also be a sawfish rostral tooth): Some Fish Teeth: Protosphyraena: Other Fish Teeth: Marco Sr. Edited June 21, 2014 by MarcoSr "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahom15 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Great collection!! And as usual great pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Nice specimens. Case and Cappetta had to change the name Ewingia to Tomewingia because the genus Ewingia was already taken for a type of mite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lissa318 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Great finds MarcoSr! Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Beautiful color range on those! They don't look too reworked. Good stuff as usual! Always nice and wild tooth shapes in the Cretaceous stuff. ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Great stuff as always Marco! Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Glad you enjoyed a benchtop hunt on me, Marco! I knew you'd appreciate the stuff and show me all the species that have been going though my window screen unchecked. Makes me wonder how many microteeth are scattered all over my yard! Clearly I'll need to send this stuff through a yet finer screen next round, as you secured several genera I've not personally seen in my own bulk sampling efforts. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanNREMTP Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Nice finds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 Nice specimens. Case and Cappetta had to change the name Ewingia to Tomewingia because the genus Ewingia was already taken for a type of mite. Eric Thank you for reminding me of the name change. I had read that a little while back but it slipped my mind. I edited my post accordingly. I just updated my Welton, Farish Fossil Sharks and Rays from the Cretaceous of Texas Guide with changes I was aware of. It is really difficult to keep track of the constant name changes. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bones Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Very interesting finds Marco. Some unusual things in there. I really like the Tomewingia! Which part of the Cretaceous would that matrix be from? I am not familiar with the TX formations. I have spent 3 hours each night for several weeks in the SD Cretaceous matrix, and your photos are invaluable in helping with IDs. Thanks for the great pics. I can't wait to post my newest finds! Julianna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 Glad you enjoyed a benchtop hunt on me, Marco! I knew you'd appreciate the stuff and show me all the species that have been going though my window screen unchecked. Makes me wonder how many microteeth are scattered all over my yard! Clearly I'll need to send this stuff through a yet finer screen next round, as you secured several genera I've not personally seen in my own bulk sampling efforts. Dan Thank you again for sending the matrix. I really do enjoy looking through new matrix. There were several other genus with really small specimens like Rhinobatos in the matrix that I didn't post because the specimens didn't have roots. A lot of the species in this matrix will get captured by window screen but it is worthwhile to look at the finer material once in awhile just to get a few examples of the smaller species. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 Beautiful color range on those! They don't look too reworked. Good stuff as usual! Always nice and wild tooth shapes in the Cretaceous stuff. Charlie I found over 200 specimens. There were so many specimens that were shamers. However there were some really nice specimens like the ones that I posted. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 Very interesting finds Marco. Some unusual things in there. I really like the Tomewingia! Which part of the Cretaceous would that matrix be from? I am not familiar with the TX formations. I have spent 3 hours each night for several weeks in the SD Cretaceous matrix, and your photos are invaluable in helping with IDs. Thanks for the great pics. I can't wait to post my newest finds! Julianna Julianna This matrix is Maastrichtian. It is younger than the SD matrix. The SD matrix that I looked through was mostly Turonian with some Cenomanian reworked specimens. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 Great collection!! And as usual great pics. Great finds MarcoSr! Thanks again. Great stuff as always Marco! Nice finds. Thank you for the nice comments. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bones Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Julianna This matrix is Maastrichtian. It is younger than the SD matrix. The SD matrix that I looked through was mostly Turonian with some Cenomanian reworked specimens. Marco Sr. Thanks Marco. That explains why your finds look so different from what I am currently finding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 Thanks Marco. That explains why your finds look so different from what I am currently finding. Julianna Most specimens will look different. Even where the genus is the same, most of the species will be different and look different. Marco Sr. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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