fossilseeker1 Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 I have found many pieces and most are not in the best of shape...all found in the same site located in a dry creek bed in Hondo, Texas. My best guess is this may be the head of something...I have many guesses...I can take more pictures to help narrow it down. I think I have collected pieces from different species so I was hoping to start with the largest piece I have which I am most curious about...anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Welcome! Your large piece looks like weathered limestone to me. It looks like it has a few suggestive fossil shapes, but im not convinced that they are. But that's just my $0.02. Im not familiar with your location, so hopefully a few local Texans can chime in and shed some light on these. Good luck with your ID. ~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...
tmaier Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 The big piece is eroded limestone. Limestone takes on strange shapes as the water, carrying acids, erodes the limestone away in some places and then creates mineral crystals in other places. It can take the shape of skulls, limb bones, and other suggestive shapes. I can't quite tell, but it looks like there might be some small fossils in that limestone. A closer shot of the bumps might show you have some snails there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Just for some information, Hondo Texas is right on the borderline of Cretaceous and Tertiary bedrock, so the formations you are picking around in are in the late ages of dinosaur age (about 60 to 80 million years old). BUT, that area was submerged at that time and was part of the ocean. It was a shallow sea. It also looks like you are close enough to some hills that you should get some good erosion exposures of the bedrock, so it looks like good fossil hunting area. http://www.paleoportal.org/index.php?globalnav=time_space§ionnav=state&name=Texas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilseeker1 Posted September 29, 2014 Author Share Posted September 29, 2014 What about this one...same site? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 What about this one...same site? This one reminds me of a cavern formation. "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...
Xiphactinus Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 I agree with Auspex....looks like something out of a cave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Yep, that one is a stalactite. You can tell it is a stalactite and not a stalagmite because it has that "curtain" formation on it, or sheet-like calcium buildup. It looks like it has fallen down and had secondary deposits of loose limestone packed into it after formation. http://www.google.com/images?q=stalagtite&btnG=Search&hl=en&gbv=1 It can come from a cave or cavity in the limestone bed. All the limestone you show has heavy weathering and erosion, and there are probably cavities in the bedrock. It's a marine limestone formation that you are finding this stuff in, so even though these things are not fossils, you are poking around in the right stuff, more than likely. Get familiar with the late Cretaceous marine fossils of Texas. Vertebrate fossils are much more rare than invertebrates, so get familiar with the inverts (clams, snails, ammonites, sand dollars, sea biscuits). Those are what you might already have found, but don't realize it. http://www.google.com/images?q=fossils+texas&btnG=Search&hl=en&gbv=1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 The Edward's Plateau is highly karstic, shot-through with caverns and dissolution pipes and chambers. 1 "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...
Missourian Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 That dining room table utilization looks familiar.... The question isn't whether or not all our dining rooms look like this. The question is for how long. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 As a bachelor, I would be embarrassed to show how I live. So many hobbies, so little surface area available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 That dining room table utilization looks familiar.... The question isn't whether or not all our dining rooms look like this. The question is for how long. The DRT Formation holds an amazing, ever-changing variety of fossil goodness! I outcrops in just about every member household, I'll bet. "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...
fossilseeker1 Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Lol on the dining room table....for sure I am now paying $100 a month to house all of my "finds" in...I don't know if that is such a smart thing...but I just cant let go of any of it for some reason I attached a pic of the site and thanks sooooo very much for the input....I have no idea what I am looking at but all I have collected has been the most fun I have had my entire life...I'm such a nerd! It was a beautiful place to explore and yes...I do believe ya'll are right...it was a cave...the opening after years of erosion was only about 8 inches before I began digging and pulling what I could out Andrea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now