Episode 1-Quest for the NJ Cretaceous Mosasaur

[Trevor]

Hello fellow fossil forum members this is Trevor. This is the first episode of hopefully many displaying my hunts into the Cretaceous streams of New Jersey. Within each episode there will be five stories (in this case four since I was too impatient) that are five of my hunts. I will title each hunt according to how I felt on it and I will title each episode based on my expectations or what I desire to find.

 

Mechanized Depression (Hunt 1): Duration, 3.5 hours. My grandma and I drove up to a small cretaceous stream on April 22nd. The forecast predicted rain and the forecast was correct. While my grandma read in the car, I sifted and surface scanned and came away with a considerable amount of finds for such a short time. I almost sifted continuously throughout the entirety and it seemed as if I was working on a production line. The rain and loneliness caused the situation to feel very dreary and I eventually went back. I also had a bad blister. My best finds were a Meristodonoides sp. (hybodont) tooth and a fragmented hadrosaur tooth.

 

It's a Trap! (Hunt 2): Duration, 5 hours. Date, April 23rd. I went with my father to Ramanessin Brook and walked for about 25 minutes before finding the spot I had sifted at a few weeks ago (where I found a decent Ischyodus bifurcatus plate). The spot yield little but I did come out with some nice condition shark's teeth. In a futile attempt to find a better place to sift I just keep digging in a bunch of random spots. I finally decided on a place and told myself that I will stay in the place till I find some good. After about 6 sifts I called my father and said that it was going really slow. He wished me luck and hoped that I find a mosasaur. I hung up and in the next sift I found a small, half inch mosasaur! I instantly called him back up and told him the pretty cool story. I stayed for a little longer craving more but I did not find anymore, well next time I said. My best finds were the mosasaur tooth and a 5.5" bone I found.

 

Bright Exploration (Hunt 3): Duration, 5.5 hours. Date, April 29th. My father drove me to Ramanessin Brook again and I went to the same spot I had found the mosasaur. I did the exact same thing as I had done before: I dug some random holes in the stream and surveyed the area. It was after a little while that I noticed there were finds on the gravel bars. I have continually been so unfortunate as to have someone always search the bars before me. I don't typically surface scan because I never think I will find anything. This time was different and I was the first one there. I walked upstream and continued. On one gravel bar I spotted what at first I thought was a weird piece of rubber but upon further inspection I noticed it was a 3" really worn Ischyodus bifurcates plate. I was overjoyed because I had not found one this large before. After exploring a little I decided to turn back and sift some more. The day was slow other than some bones or teeth. I went back to my dad and he showed me a mosasaur tooth he had found. Since he never really searches and never really cares much this was incredible. He said it was just sitting on the surface. I was so angry for not having searched them. Well alas, it was okay.

 

Hearing Noises (Hunt 4): Duration, 6.5 hours. Date, May 10th. I went to Ramanessin again with my father. I was really tired since within the two days prior (Mon. and Tues.) I had three AP exams that made me extremely stressed and tired. I had gotten little sleep and had not eaten breakfast. I went to where I found the mosasaur on trip two and after about half an hour I found a mosasaur tooth with about half the enamel on, okay I was confident. My confidence plummeted with time as I found less and less. There were bumps such as when I found a small piece of cartilage. I decided to move on and sifted haphazardly. I kept finding worn teeth and enchodus jaws and then I found a worn baby mosasaur. I was surprised I had spotted it. I looked in the water since the day was clear and sunny and found some nice goblins. I ended up at a larger gravel bar and decided that is was where I would spend my time. I was tired and decided to eat some food and lay down. As I ate I had the urge to roll on the gravel bar as a soldier does and I came away with two larger goblin teeth by seeing them on the ground. They were right next to someone's footprint. I thought I hear someone call my name and kept looking behind me on this ridge. Two or three times gravel sloshed into the hole I dug and made me jump; I thought someone was behind me. After this I decided to leave. At the end I found a really nice Xiphactinus tooth and a really worn mosasaur tooth. 

 

 

 

Trip four is on top and trip one is on the bottom.

 

Various Bones

Larger Bone

Ratfish Jaw Pieces

Enchodus Jaw Pieces

[Trevor]

[Trevor]

 

 

Better Teeth Not Included In Photo #1

[RandyB]

looks like you've been doing pretty well Trevor.  Wish I lived close enough to get there with some regularity

[Fossilian]

Wow! Nice finds Trevor!

 

Is the first picture of the second post Mosasaur teeth?

[Trevor]

Yes, Fossilian. Good luck tomorrow.

[Peat Burns]

Nice finds and trip report(s).  Thanks for posting.

[RCW3D]

Very cool finds! I need to make it up to Jersey sometime!

[Jeffrey P]

Really nice finds and great story, Trevor. Especially love the ratfish jaw pieces, the big bone piece and the gastropod internal molds. That's a large number of mosasaur teeth for just a few short days. Congratulations.

[squali]

Great trip reports Trevor!  You are really kicking it up on those North Jersey creeks.

Thanks for posting.

[erose]

OUTSTANDING! 

[wetwilly]

Nice variety of finds Trevor. Great job!

[njfossilhunter]

You did great Trevor. As usually....

[ynot]

Hey Trevor,

Looks like You are doing pretty good on those trips!

Thanks for sharing.

Looking forward to seeing what the future trips bring.

[Fossilian]

Hope you add more!

[Trevor]

8 minutes ago, Fossilian said:

Hope you add more!

 

Thanks! I have two out of five trips already for the next segment.

[Darktooth]

Nice finds so far!

[Kurt Komoda]

Great finds and I love hearing the stories behind them. I live in Central Jersey but haven't been to Ramanessin yet.

[Shazuren]

Awesome post, finds and great idea!!!

[Fossildude19]

Wow! 

How did I miss this??? 

What a great trip report and finds. 

Thanks for posting this. 
Regards,

[sharko69]

Great finds! Congratulations.

[Ludwigia]

Thanks for sharing not only your finds, but also your experiences and the related feelings involved. I think a lot of us can easily identify with that.

[gavialboy]

congrats on the very cool finds.