DinoMike Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Here's the haul from my last trip to the North Sulphur River. The riverbed was covered in a LOT of broken shale from back-to-back heavy rains sending the river level on a roller coaster ride. Made it hard to spot stuff, but once that rock dries out & starts breaking down, a light rain will show some stuff, I'll bet! The first thing I came across in a side creek was this little Scaphites in matrix. Next, in the same creek, I found this little gastropod with classic Ozan formation red coloring. Same creek, another find: This odd little bivalve cast, with some contrasting matrix on the inside. Even though it was broken, I picked it up because the contrast was rather cool looking. Next up, the find of the trip! (Continued... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoMike Posted April 28, 2016 Author Share Posted April 28, 2016 The side creek was getting a BIT too hard to navigate, the further upstream I went... so I wandered back to the Sulphur riverbed, sat on a limestone outcropping & refueled with a Clif bar & water. I was thinking about packing it in & heading out, but decided to hit 2 more gravel bars a little way upstream before I left. Good thing I did! I made my first mosasaur find from the Sulphur that WASN'T a vertebra! (Continued... ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoMike Posted April 28, 2016 Author Share Posted April 28, 2016 I wasn't sure WHAT this was, other than it was most likely marine reptile. REALLY heavily mineralized, this thing shines in the sun! I finally got an ID for it... mosasaur splenial bone, part of the mid-jaw hinge. My first piece of mossie jaw! (Unless you count my tooth find at Martin Marietta quarry! ;D ) That was it for the day. I didn't find much else but some broken Baculites, which I left behind. Got too many of those as is. I did accomplish 1 more thing. 2 years ago, when I started hunting the North Sulphur, I had NO idea of what a mosasaur vertebra looked like, other than photos. I mentioned this to another hunter as I wandered the gravel bars at the fossil park in Ladonia. She gave me a small mosasaur vertebra that she had just found under the bridge there. Studying that vertebra helped me tune my eye for mosasaur verts. On the way back to my exit point, I encountered a fairly new hunter who had brought his family out for a day of hunting. In the course of discussing the day's finds, I asked if he had found any mosasaur vertebrae. He echoed the statement that I had made to that other hunter 2 years ago, that he had only seen them in pictures. I had the little Lucky Mosasaur Vertebra in my backpack. I dug it out & gave it to him, so he could use it as I did, to tune his eye for mosasaur. I told him the story, and he said that he'd also pass it on someday. That little vert may end up doing a lot of traveling. The Lucky Mosasaur Vertebra 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 I'm am gkad you had a good hunt. I really enjoyed the story. Also it is nice to see that you reached out to someoneas had been done for you. Kudos! I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossiladdict Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Gotta love the red layer out there. I'm always amazed at how quickly it erodes. Fossils are simply one of the coolest things on earth--discovering them is just marvelous! Makes you all giddy inside! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Diggin' that scaphite...nice find! "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDudeCO Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Nice finds and great story! Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John S. Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 That is a great story Mike thanks for sharing! some of our most special finds are not always the biggest. North Central Texas Eagle Ford Group / Ozan Formation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JarrodB Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Nice finds Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David E. Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Nice story and awesome gesture Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharko69 Posted April 29, 2016 Share Posted April 29, 2016 Great finds. I am still looking for time to go out there and find my first mossy vert. Great story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoMike Posted April 29, 2016 Author Share Posted April 29, 2016 Thanks, folks! I hope the Lucky Vertebra brings good luck to many more people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barerootbonsai Posted April 30, 2016 Share Posted April 30, 2016 Wow lovely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koldsimer Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 That's a great story about the lucky vert. Cool of you to pass it on. Nice finds as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoMike Posted June 9, 2016 Author Share Posted June 9, 2016 UPDATE: The "mosasaur splenial bone" ID was negated by Mike Polcyn. His verdict is that it's too worn to ID. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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