Are there fosssils on South Padre Island?

[Benjaminpb]

Hello everyone!

I'm taking the wife and kids to South Padre Island in a couple of weeks. Of course I'm hoping to find some fossils while I'm down there.

I've read about people finding some Pleistocene fossils while on the beach. Does this seem far fetched? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[JarrodB]

I've found a bison tooth down that way so it's possible. 

[-AnThOnY-]

They're certainly there, your best bet would likely be to drive as far north along the beach as possible to increase your odds a bit. If I recall correctly, somewhere up around 'big shell beach' you can find echinoids if the tides are right. Google search around and you should see a trip/blog report about that location.

[Benjaminpb]

Thank you. I have done some google searches but haven't found much that far south.

 

[Uncle Siphuncle]

There are Pleistocene finds made down that way, but locals are understandably tight lipped.  Best bet would be for you to send a storm ahead of your trip.  During Pleistocene times, water levels fluctuated widely, and at times the mainland extended as far out as the continental shelf, so terrestrial animals lived way out past the current shoreline.  Their remains are sometimes washed ashore by big storms.  7 1/2 Fathom Reef is one example of in situ Pleistocene bones that can be viewed by divers to this day, I'm told.  As for the barrier islands themselves, if recollection serves, they are only about 5000 years old, so any fossil finds on the islands would be redeposited.  All that said, scout the more gravelly patches of shell hash that the tides push up on the beach.

[-AnThOnY-]

2 hours ago, Benjaminpb said:

Thank you. I have done some google searches but haven't found much that far south.

 

 

http://www.gcgms.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Fossils-at-Padre-Island.pdf

[Uncle Siphuncle]

38 minutes ago, -AnThOnY- said:

 

http://www.gcgms.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Fossils-at-Padre-Island.pdf

Interesting article.  I’ll put my reputation on the line and call all those fossils Lower K Glen Rose or Walnut from the Hill Country, 5-6 hours’ drive from Big Shell.

[-AnThOnY-]

1 hour ago, Uncle Siphuncle said:

Interesting article.  I’ll put my reputation on the line and call all those fossils Lower K Glen Rose or Walnut from the Hill Country, 5-6 hours’ drive from Big Shell.

 

I agree with that completely and thought the same thing. I guess someone could have dumped them there but its something that popped up from my searches around.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

1 hour ago, -AnThOnY- said:

 

I agree with that completely and thought the same thing. I guess someone could have dumped them there but its something that popped up from my searches around.

I think I came across this last year before a trip down yonder.  I wonder if the author found this stuff that was dumped, mixed up notes with another trip, or was given the fossils with bad provenance.  No matter.  We called it.

[Benjaminpb]

Thank u all for the tips and info. I had no idea that the island was that young. Maybe I'll luck out and find something interesting.

[erose]

23 hours ago, Uncle Siphuncle said:

Interesting article.  I’ll put my reputation on the line and call all those fossils Lower K Glen Rose or Walnut from the Hill Country, 5-6 hours’ drive from Big Shell.

Those are definitely NOT from South Padre Island. Classic Lower Cretaceous of Texas (GR?) would be my guess as well.  Whoever wrote that article may have been just scrounging for images.  

 

I have a good friend who lives down there and tells me she has heard of a few shark teeth being found over the years. I walked the beach last time we were there with no luck. Tides were wrong and there wasn't even much modern shell material. 

 

I had better luck 20 years ago on Jamaica Beach just west of Galveston. Found both shark and mammal teeth, including a large extinct armadillo tooth.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

4 hours ago, erose said:

Those are definitely NOT from South Padre Island. Classic Lower Cretaceous of Texas (GR?) would be my guess as well.  Whoever wrote that article may have been just scrounging for images.  

 

I have a good friend who lives down there and tells me she has heard of a few shark teeth being found over the years. I walked the beach last time we were there with no luck. Tides were wrong and there wasn't even much modern shell material. 

 

I had better luck 20 years ago on Jamaica Beach just west of Galveston. Found both shark and mammal teeth, including a large extinct armadillo tooth.

Any xenarthran tooth in Texas is rare.  They seem weaker than enameled teeth, so they don't hold together well, and don't stay in the jaw well either.

[erose]

17 hours ago, Uncle Siphuncle said:

Any xenarthran tooth in Texas is rare.  They seem weaker than enameled teeth, so they don't hold together well, and don't stay in the jaw well either.

The ID was by an armadillo expert but still tentative. Don't have a photo, but the tooth is almost an inch long.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

1 hour ago, erose said:

The ID was by an armadillo expert but still tentative. Don't have a photo, but the tooth is almost an inch long.

Sounds like a fortuitous encounter.

[Benjaminpb]

I'm jealous!