Benjaminpb Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 I have a question that I've asked before but it was never answered. Maybe it's a dumb question. Why are there no shark teeth in the Austin area? There's are soooo many marine fossils here but seemingly no shark teeth. Am I looking in the wrong places? Please, any info is much appreciated. Thank's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 They had a good dentist, so they didn't lose to many teeth locals may know more about the geology of the area, but keep in mind sharks are the top ecological niche, an ecosystem can't support a ton. Sharks are rarer in Paleozoic deposits if that's what your looking in. Typically Cenozoic will have the most. You could just be not getting them by luck, or you may be looking in the wrong formations with the wrong depositional enviroments. Again locals may be able to give you some tips to find the slippery chondrichyians. “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 Several years ago I visited a friend in Houston and we drove to Austin. We hit a creek in Austin and found a few teeth. They were crowns missing the roots. We found several nice examples of Exogyra ponderosa there that I still have. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjaminpb Posted July 27, 2017 Author Share Posted July 27, 2017 Hhhhhmmmmm, I've heard/read about people finding them here but I've never found a single one. I'm 35 and have been collecting here since I was a small child. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustinFL Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 Make the drive to Ladonia fossil park. That place is a blast and you find everything from arrowheads to Mosasuar teeth... Along Duluth shark teeth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjaminpb Posted July 27, 2017 Author Share Posted July 27, 2017 I found this there about three weeks ago :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailingAlongToo Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 More pictures from different angles would be helpful, but it looks like a vertebrae. Don't know much about history Don't know much biology Don't know much about science books......... Sam Cooke - (What A) Wonderful World Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjaminpb Posted July 27, 2017 Author Share Posted July 27, 2017 I'm pretty sure it's a mosasaur vertebrae. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 There are shark teeth to be found here in Austin. But you have to be in the right formation and often the right layer within that formation. With that said I have found teeth in other formations not known for teeth on occasion. Examples are the Glen Rose, Walnut, Grayson/Del Rio, etc. So to answer part of your question it was all marine and yes there were sharks and yes there are teeth to be found. The best formation/layer in the Austin area for teeth is the contact between the Atco Formation, Austin Chalk Group and the Eagle Ford Group below. For a handful years there were abundant exposures with loads of teeth at the Terra Vista Golf Community there in Round Rock. Unfortunately most of the exposures were eventually built over or graded under. But that area between University and Westinghouse east of I-35 was prolific. The problem is the Eagle Ford strata is soft and erodes away or gets grown over quickly. Productive exposures around here come and go with new construction. But there are other places to look. Shoal Creek near Northwest Park has an exposure of the contact and teeth can be found there and down stream. Walnut Creek Park also has similar exposures. I have found teeth in the various creeks that cut east of town thru the rest of the Austin Chalk and layers above that. There are supposed to be some spots along Brushy Creek with teeth as well. Look in the gravel bars at Loyola Rd and Walnut Creek just east of 183. I found twi nice Scapanoryhnchus there a few years back. Look for exposures of the Dessau Formation in particular. You should get your hands on some geological maps. Check out what is available from the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology: http://begstore.beg.utexas.edu/store/ And here is a great paper available online and will be very local: https://www.lib.utexas.edu/geo/roundrockbedrockgeology/bedrockgeologyoftheroundrockarea.pdf and map: https://www.lib.utexas.edu/geo/roundrockbedrockgeology/bedrockgeologymap.pdf Good luck! Erich 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjaminpb Posted July 28, 2017 Author Share Posted July 28, 2017 Thank you sooo much Erich!!! I live about ten minutes from Terra Vista. We looked at houses there but they already have foundation issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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