TNCollector Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 I decided that for here on out, I will be posting all of my trip reports here, just because it is easier and I like to be able to see all of my finds in one area. Entry 1: Bangor Limestone Mississippian (Chesterian series) March 5, 2016 Today, me and Jim (JimB88) went to the Bangor Limestone in search of paleozoic shark's teeth (and whatever else!). We arrived mid morning and began the hike into the quarry. At our first stop, I looked at a rock that contained what I call the "flakey red layer", which consists of a thin layer (about 1") of red crinoidal matrix. I immediately spotted two tiny little teeth poking out of the crinoid's midst and extracted them with my hammer and chisel. These two teeth were so small that the only good pictures I could get are under the microscope. Please understand, I am not an expert at ID'ing these (Jim is), so these are simply my best guess IDs and many will probably updated. Length:~4mm Tooth 1: Helodus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 Length: ~6mm Tooth 2: Helodus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 After a while I came across this little guy, which I have no ID for, because I have no idea what it is... Eventually I will figure it out. The ripple pattern is what's throwing me off. It is about 1cm across. Tooth 3: Update: Thanks to Dan, this is now identified as a Poecilodus, a new genera for this site! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 As I was walking around looking for blastoids on the ground, I spotted this tooth just sitting on the ground on its little pedestal. It is not 100% complete, but it is still a nice tooth, with good color. It is about 3/4" across. Tooth 4: Psephodus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 Finally, as I was walking along the pile of rocks, I spotted this one from about 25 feet away on a large flat boulder. I have been wanting one of these for a while now, so I was quite excited, a petalodus! I spent nearly an hour (maybe more?) busting this thing out of the hard limestone,...Jim can attest to this. 4 bloody cuts, multiple dulled chisels, and a smashed fingernail later, I finally busted the round pedestal I trenched out off of the boulder. Thankfully, the tooth stayed intact. I am really happy about this, its length is about 1.25". Tooth 5: Petalodus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Those are some really nice finds!!! Tony Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey P Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Beautiful, rare finds, exquisitely photographed. Big congratulations. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 "... Thankfully, the tooth stayed intact...." Tooth 5: Petalodus petalodus1.jpg I keep some masking tape in my bag to stick over things like that so if they do pop they don't fly off. Any sticky tape will do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 After a while I came across this little guy, which I have no ID for, because I have no idea what it is... Eventually I will figure it out. The ripple pattern is what's throwing me off. It is about 1cm across. Tooth 3: Unknown unknownPZ.jpg Compare this one with Poecilodus. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimB88 Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 That was a fun trip! I'll photograph my stuff soon, we both found some good ones. I agree with Dan, its a partial Poecilodus. Great find, yet another Genera to come from that site..that place was really Shark infested; I wouldnt want to be a shell fish in those waters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manticocerasman Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Nice finds TNCollector, that's quite a lot of Mississippian teeth. In my area they aren't as common, I have a lucky day if I find one. Kevin growing old is mandatory but growing up is optional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Thanks everyone for your kind words! These teeth are indeed very special. I also agree with Dan on the poecilodus ID. From what I have read, it seems that poecilodus is a type of chimaera! I still have a few more vert fossils to post from this trip, and then some inverts, I will get to that as soon as I can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 That's a pretty fine assortment of Paleozoic sharks. You had an excellent day! Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 I only knew that tooth by lucking into one once upon a time... Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Thanks Don and Dan, that tooth has a special place in my display case, I may never find another again. I have more things to post now! The first is a find I came upon a few minutes after Jim left. I noticed the dark color and immediately grabbed it thinking it was a tooth, but it certainly is not. From the research I have done, it appears to be a partial fish spine. I am not sure of the genera however. Vert find 6: Partial fish/shark spine: It measures 1 inch long Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Next up is the nice flattened horn coral that came out of the red crinoid matrix. Invert, Horn Coral: Measures 2.5 inches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Now we have two tiny little blastoids, the largest one is 0.4" and the smallest one is 0.25". Blastoids (pentremites): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 and finally a tiny crinoid calyx measuring about 0.25" Crinoid calyx: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 The new post show some neat fossils , but I still am amazed by the early shark teeth! Tony Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 Thanks, Tony! I have probably a dozen more to post pics of from past trips, I will do that this weekend! The diversity of bradyodonts and kin at this site is fascinating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 I made a trip across the state (TN that is) recently to visit family. Of course, on the way back I had to stop and fossil hunt at various locations. The first site was a large roadcut overlooking an artificial lake in East Tennessee. I saw the characteristic look of the Mississippian aged Ft. Payne formation, and stopped for 10 minutes or so to check it out. I didn't find any fossils at this site, but I did find some nice geodes. The Ft. Payne formation is pretty well known for its geodes, so I grabbed some, along with a rock that had what appears to be a geodized horn coral, but I am not sure. It has the shape and is the right age, but there is no fine detail to definitively tell if it is a horn coral or just a geode shaped like one. Here it is: Possible geodized horn coral. To break or not to break open? I drove down the hill less than a mile away and saw some grey limestone (unlike the yellowish sandy limestone of the Ft. Payne) and stopped to take a look. I immediately began spotting lots of fossils, mostly brachiopods and bryozoans piled together in the limestone, and they appeared to be Ordovician in age. I did not have time to stay for long, so I grabbed a nice slab and left. After future research, I discovered that this is the Sequatchie Formation, and is indeed Ordovician. Here is the slab: Brachiopods and other bivalves with a few bryozoans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 While searching for the Pennington Formation in East Tennessee, I stopped at an enormous roadcut of grey and brown limestone. This is the Monteagle Limestone, which I had been wanting to collect in for quite a long time after seeing some of the awesome fossils that people have been pulling from it (Mississippian tetrapods anyone??). To my surprise, I didn't really find a trace of any fossils in the first 20 minutes or so, but I eventually figured out where the fossils were. There was a large crack in the limestone that continued for the entire length of the roadcut (~0.5 km). Inside this crack was a layer of green clay and shale, only 3 or 4 inches thick, that was full of fossils. Here is a picture of the crack, note the thick limestone above and beneath it. Here is a closer image of the green layer, note the loose horn coral sticking out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 Unfortunately, by the time I had started finding fossils, it started to get dark and snow, so I had to leave, but I did not come home empty handed. I found lots of nice horn corals, a tiny goniatite nautiloid, a large sponge, and various bivalves! But no vert material this time.... Here are the horn corals: Here is the goniatite, it needs some prepping. And finally the sponge, and a smaller sponge bit next to it: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 I am enjoying seeing your finds and reading your trip adventures. Thanks for posting these. I agree the early shark teeth are awesome. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNCollector Posted April 26, 2016 Author Share Posted April 26, 2016 I have many updates to this thread! I just haven't had much time to post stuff. Hope everyone enjoys. This first one is not very special, but I like it. I spent a few minutes playing around in a Pennsylvanian exposure not far from where I live and found this little guy. It is a cast of a calamite. I am not 100% sure of the formation, but it is probably from the Middle Pennsylvanian. It was found on the top of a mountain. Literally all the way at the top... Calamite Cast Front Back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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