Day 1 of South Dakota- 7/22/19

[PaleoNoel]

I spent the day hunting the badlands of the Hell Creek formation in northwest South Dakota. It was beautiful outside. The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing and the insects were mild. The group started the day working the amber microsite- a spot where a phenomenal amount of amber is produced from lignite rich exposures mixed in with a deposit of smaller fossils. I spent several hours picking up amber bits along with a variety of other fossils.  

Here are some photos from the first few hours of the day

Views of some of the collecting area

A shot of the gravel where many of the fossils lie.

Some pics of the amber- a small fraction of what I picked up.

Several Brachychampsa alligator teeth.

Left: A small Edmontosaurus tooth 

Right: A small digit, potentially turtle or crocodile

Left: Small vertebra- amphibian? squamate?

Right: Crocodilian osteoderm

Left: One of my best Brachychampsa teeth to date

Right: Awesome crocodilian tooth

 

I left the amber microsite around noon to go prospecting with some other people, here is a view from atop a butte we found some fossils on.

 

I found this awesome turtle claw after finding some shell pieces eroding from near the top of the butte. Since I found it among many pieces of softshell turtle shell I would assume it's a trionychid.

 

As we moved away from the butte, we explored a dried creek bed which created a small valley with some exposures on the side. We found a few fossils including a champsosaur vertebra another cool claw.

It belongs to another species of turtle, although I'm not sure what variety.

 

I returned to the microsite to wrap up the day and was not disappointed by my finds.

I found this Paronychodon tooth below the main amber site .

My last big find of the day was this cool section of crocodile jaw.

 

I found a ton of great fossils today and I'm crossing my fingers that  tomorrow will be just as productive!

[caldigger]

You are certainly on the right trail.

There has been mention in your posts of being with other people. I may have missed this in a previous post, but are you in a traveling group touring several states or just happen to be visiting popular sites?

[PaleoNoel]

1 hour ago, caldigger said:

You are certainly on the right trail.

There has been mention in your posts of being with other people. I may have missed this in a previous post, but are you in a traveling group touring several states or just happen to be visiting popular sites?

To clarify, I'm traveling with PaleoProspectors, an organization which takes groups onto private ranches to hunt for fossils in the White River, Lance, Hell Creek and Judith River formations across NE, WY, SD&ND and MT.

It's an absolute blast and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in hunting for dinosaurs and other fossils. What's even better is that you keep everything you find unless it's deemed scientifically valuable.

[Ludwigia]

Excellent finds! Looks like you're having a great week with your group. Is there any chance of finding inclusions in that amber?

[Troodon]

Looks like a good day one in SD from the weather and especially your finds.    What county are you collecting in?

Good luck today.  

 

 

I leaning toward this being a salamander vert...Scapherpeton tectum verts are common in the HC

 

Caniniform teeth could be a Borealosuchus or Brachychampsa..Anterior teeth of these two croc species are indistinguishable from one another, so says a paper I read a while back.

 

I would say the same thing about this one