erose Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 (edited) After a brutally hot and rather dry June we started July with some good rain. Tropical disturbance up off the gulf dumped a few inches over a few days. Just what we needed to expose fresh material. One particular spot, well known to some of the locals, exposes a layer in the Glen Rose Formation (Albian, Lower Cretaceous) that has been dubbed the "micro-zone". Technically it is the lower meter of Unit 2, Lower Member, Glen Rose Formation. It is known for rare and generally tiny echinoids as well as other GR fauna. Collecting anything other than the odd large oyster or steinkern requires crawling around with your face inches from the clay. When I got there it was hot. 98+ degrees and pretty much full sun. So let's just say I didn't stay too long. The rains had already fallen a few days before so I wasn't surprised to see footprints where someone had searched out the more obvious spots while it was still mucky. So I concentrated on when of the "corners" of the site that has produced in the past but requires a bit more effort. Although nothing I found was spectacular with the exception of one really good specimen of Goniopygus sp. (Rader & Smith) it did produce a handful of things I was very happy to add to the collection. First here is the Goniopygus sp. Rader & Smith (2009) did not assign these to a species as they are small and immature (goniopores are not developed). This one at about 7mm is on the large side. My others from here are 2-3mm in dia. Next is Hyposalenia phillipsae (Whitney & Kellum) and a fairly large one at that. And here is one of the most common GR echinoids you can find, Heteraster obliquatus. But at this site they are always exploded into hundreds of shards. Edited July 14, 2018 by erose wrong photos 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 Some more... There are two known Cidarid echinoids known from the GR. We find spines of both at this location along with the scattered plate or two. Here is one of the largest ones I have ever picked up at over 5cm. and on the other end of the spectrum, some tiny spatangoid spines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 and on the other end of the spectrum, some tiny spatangoid spines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggedy Man Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 That first specimen is absolutely fantastic! ...I'm back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 Nice finds. Have You tried collecting some micro matrix from the site? 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...
Herb Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 nice finds Eric "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted July 15, 2018 Author Share Posted July 15, 2018 4 hours ago, ynot said: Nice finds. Have You tried collecting some micro matrix from the site? Yes, with limited results. The matrix is mostly a limey clay. Rain and water creates sorted tiny material that has formams and other stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 Feel free to pack up some of that tropical moisture and send it over this way. Its been way too hot and dry to do much of anything lately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 yep,same here.I've forgotten what rain looks like Doesn't it rise up out of the ground like lovely purple cubes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 What a sweet little echinoid - I love the Goniopygus sp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanNREMTP Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Awesome finds. I might have to try out there some day. Like when it's cooler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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