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Hello, I just signed up here because I am looking for fossil data on the Cenomanian North African hybodont Distobatus nutiae. Information on it has proven to be elusive and I do not have the means to access the article in which it was first described. I am particularly interested in information relevant to the potential size and diet of this species. While I'm at it, in my research I've also noticed that hybodont reconstructions even of the same genus (such as Hybodus) are variously reconstructed with either one or two pairs of cranial claspers. Is it clear from the fossil data how many pairs of cranial claspers male hybodonts were equipped with? Did it vary at the family, genus, or even species level? Hopefully this is the right area of the forum to seek this information, thanks in advance.

Hi all, it's been a minute since I've written a report and I think I'm due To start: This last January I got to be a part of two special discoveries in the marine reptile realm. Though not made directly by me, I'm still glad I got to be there. I'll detail them below: Early January: Last summer, I spent two weeks in North Dakota on the Hell Creek formation, and made some lifelong friends. Two of them (Harry and Piper) arranged a trip down from North Dakota and Florida, respectively, upon the discovery of cheap flight tickets, with the intent of catching up and taking a tour of the Texas Cretaceous. Our weekend was spent well - many laughs, drinks, mishaps (like my catalytic converter getting stolen ), long drives admiring the city lights in my parent's car that they graciously lended me for the remainder of the weekend, and of course....plenty of fossils. The first day was spent gravel hunting - not much came to show from it save for a well preserved (for these creeks) mosasaur vertebra. I was of course very happy to see this, as verts in this watershed are a rarity. The next two days were devoted to the Eagle Ford - one site being a bust on stuff that's worth flying down for - but the next site which we attacked on Sunday produced the best find of the trip. This site is my "if we get skunked, it's our last resort" site - there's always something wonderful to be seen there, and when you have a site like that in your back pocket, it's not something to pillage - best kept for special occasions like this! My hope was that I could get Piper and Harry hooked on some beautifully preserved Cretoxyrhina and Ptychodus, and, if we were lucky.... a Pliosaur tooth. What Piper actually ended up finding was so rare it wasn't even one of my list of realistic goals for seeing that day... We arrived at the site, and while I tried to isolate the elusive fossiliferous layer, I put them on some sections that still had some promise. For both of them, all of their prior field experience is in the North Dakota badlands - so even the act of tapping actual rock and flipping slabs made for an enjoyable and novel approach. After 20 minutes or so, I eventually found the sweet spot - that thin, ephemeral, densely packed layer was underwater. Making a huge mess (mud and water everywhere ), I pulled out some great slabs and passed them out to be picked at, and then picking at some of my own. Here's a fun selection of finds prior to "the big one" Above: Cretoxyrhina mantelli tooth from Piper in the less rich layers. She found this nearly immediately! A gorgeous Ptychodus occidentalis that I was happy to see A Protosphyraena sp. I was happy to see as well. Largely complete teeth from this taxon are not too common for me. a PERFECT Squalicorax falcatus. It may be a common shark, but I love finding a beacon that can just define an entire species in my collection. I have some other smaller, perfect condition teeth for S. falcatus, but they take on a more posterior position in the mouth. For now, this tooth is my Squalicorax pride and joy. Some microteeth showed themselves as well, like this one above. With that size it's hard for me to make a judgment on genus here. Finally, one rock had a trip-maker. I handed a slab to Piper, turned my back to continue "mining", and immediately hear a casual "I think this is something cool". Laying loosly on the slab, ready to come flying off with the slightest disturbance, was THIS: A Coniasaur jaw! That's code for "stupid rare". Here is the specimen under better lighting. Those familiar with North American Coniasaurs may notice something unusual - that it's definitely not the North American Coniasaurus crassidens that most Coniasaur finds here get thrown into. With what's described, that leaves the more conventionally European C. gracilodens, and that doesn't look like a definitive match to me either. For Coniasaurs, it wouldn't be saying anything very extraordinary, as Coniasaur taxonomy has not been properly recorded, but this might belong to one of those coniasaur morphologies floating around without a description. This specimen needs to be looked at under a microscope before a definitive assessment is made though. Here's a graphic I composed for it (note none of the pictures are mine though). On the left (A, B, and C) is Coniasaurus gracilodens, on the right (E and F) is Coniasaurus crassidens. Notice that Coniasaur paleoart is even rarer than the actual animal, so I used art of some other Dolichosaur. It does a good job of representing what Coniasaurus would have looked like anyway. It was a wonderful find to wrap a wonderful weekend, and this fossil will probably make its way to SMU next. If the folks there don't find it useful for the Coniasaur research they have rolling, it'll make its way back to Florida with Piper. Fast forward a week: After one weekend spent fossil hunting a hard, another good one was on the way. This time, my weekend would be devoted to exploring the cenomanian Plesiosaur digsite from July, in search of more bone. My dig partner for the weekend was George, who I met briefly at SMU once by chance, where he was asking around on how to get involved. Unfortunately @Ptychodus04, who (with Joe) I found the specimen with in July, couldn't make it out this time. With his current prep project of a one of a kind green river bird, I can't blame him . It was suggested I show George the ropes the next time I go to my plesiosaur digsite. That might have been a little cruel and unusual, considering how difficult and dangerous that site is, but as you'll soon see, it was well worth it - but not for the reasons you'd expect. We spent two days on the site - one half day digging away overburden, followed by a night in a smoky motel-8, and then the next day more tediously removing small chunks of matrix from the cavity at the bone level. In short, we moved maybe 8 inches further into the cavity, with no bone spotted. As I was hunched over, chipping away, George moved further to the right by some feet to explore for a wayward flipper. This was his first field experience, and he crushed it, breezing through the first slabs as he moved in. It did not take long until he let out a triumphant yell. Thankful to stand up, I came over to take a peek at what he had found in his slab, and went completely silent. It seemed to me that we were looking at a mosasaur tooth... As a reminder, this is (middle?) cenomanian strata - several million years older than the oldest american mosasaurs. Before we call it though, Polcyn is going to evaluate and prep the tooth personally. But, from photos and my own pre-prep observations, we're both optimistic that it's mosasaur. Next up will be some sampling of bentonite layers for a more precise date. Here are some photos: With that find, the day was a success, even though we didn't find more of the Plesiosaur. George and I turned around and started heading home. We had time, so I wanted to make a pit stop to explore a different creek which seemed to have interesting geology after I cross referenced google and geological maps. Fortunately, it didn't take along to find a perfect access point, and from there it didn't take long to find a large shale exposure. This was in the upper eagle ford formation, close to the contact with the Austin chalk, so I was hoping to find the legendary Kamp Ranch shark tooth lenses. We got stopped short by mud and private property though, and we were anyway making slow progress because the geology up until that point was just too interesting. So, we settled down and begin moving into a hill. Much to my surprise, we began finding in abundance one of the last fossils I expect to see in the eagle ford - ammonites. The average ammonite we'd see looked like this - detailed but otherwise in poor condition: Some other good specimens began appearing, thought still flattened: After 30 minutes, we eventually came across a a partially 3D specimen: This was a welcome change from being hunched over for hours in hard rock searching for a humongous marine reptile. This day, we got the best of both worlds! For now, I'm stuck between Colignoniceras woolgari or Prionocyclus sp. as Prionocyclus hyatti also looks convincing. Suggestions are welcome Those were the January highlights, but I would like to take a moment on a February find as well- my first Saleniid ever. Other male fossil hunters might relate to me with this one. When you're this hopelessly obsessed with the hobby, your brain can come up with few date ideas more appropriate than dragging a pretty girl through some muddy creek to look for sea urchins with you. In retrospect, always a terrible idea, but if she sticks it out you found the one Fortunately we didn't get skunked, so she didn't think I was crazy - because we actually made a good find I wasn't expecting. This site is the legendary Comanche Peak shale micro site that I've praised on a few trip reports before. Between my step brother and I, two Tetragramma (one of them gargantuan) have been found, and dozens of Heteraster - but all in the tiny shale section. The shales are encased in limestone, which I noted to be decidedly more barren in previous visits. But, this time - I almost immediately noticed a wonderful geometric pattern in the limestone roof above me: BOOM! I was definitely ecstatic about this. Careful chiseling got it out safely, in a condition to be prepped at home: Pre-prep, I'm tentatively assigning it to Leptosalenia mexicana. For the prep, I think I'll have to use acid for the first time, painting the exposed urchin in paraloid and dunking the rest in vinegar for a day, water for a day, and then repeating. If anyone has a tip or trick that they like for acid prepping urchins, I'm all ears On a total side note, we made an even rarer discovery soon after - though not a fossil. After moving on from the sea urchin spot, we found a newly made walkway that ran by the most perfect, untouched climbing boulder I have ever seen. For anyone reading this who also boulders, you would agree that boulders that have flat landings, excellent top-outs, and solid holds, all while being aesthetically beautiful... are very rare. To find one that is easily accessible and undiscovered by other climbers? That's like finding a unicorn. Here's the unicorn in quesiton: The day after I threw myself at this boulder for a few hours, cleaning the holds and finding routes. I had a dream about it for two nights in a row And so, that was my month. I've been busy, but thankfully not nearly as busy as last semester, so many weekends still give me time to get back out in the field. I have a killer Coniacian spot in mind I want to explore soon, so hopefully I'll be back with a success story. Hope you all get a chance to kick it in the field soon!

Hi all, it's been a minute since I've written a report and I think I'm due To start: This last January I got to be a part of two special discoveries in the marine reptile realm. Though not made directly by me, I'm still glad I got to be there. I'll detail them below: Early January: Last summer, I spent two weeks in North Dakota on the Hell Creek formation, and made some lifelong friends. Two of them (Harry and Piper) arranged a trip down from North Dakota and Florida, respectively, upon the discovery of cheap flight tickets, with the intent of catching up and taking a tour of the Texas Cretaceous. Our weekend was spent well - many laughs, drinks, mishaps (like my catalytic converter getting stolen ), long drives admiring the city lights in my parent's car that they graciously lended me for the remainder of the weekend, and of course....plenty of fossils. The first day was spent gravel hunting - not much came to show from it save for a well preserved (for these creeks) mosasaur vertebra. I was of course very happy to see this, as verts in this watershed are a rarity. The next two days were devoted to the Eagle Ford - one site being a bust on stuff that's worth flying down for - but the next site which we attacked on Sunday produced the best find of the trip. This site is my "if we get skunked, it's our last resort" site - there's always something wonderful to be seen there, and when you have a site like that in your back pocket, it's not something to pillage - best kept for special occasions like this! My hope was that I could get Piper and Harry hooked on some beautifully preserved Cretoxyrhina and Ptychodus, and, if we were lucky.... a Pliosaur tooth. What Piper actually ended up finding was so rare it wasn't even one of my list of realistic goals for seeing that day... We arrived at the site, and while I tried to isolate the elusive fossiliferous layer, I put them on some sections that still had some promise. For both of them, all of their prior field experience is in the North Dakota badlands - so even the act of tapping actual rock and flipping slabs made for an enjoyable and novel approach. After 20 minutes or so, I eventually found the sweet spot - that thin, ephemeral, densely packed layer was underwater. Making a huge mess (mud and water everywhere ), I pulled out some great slabs and passed them out to be picked at, and then picking at some of my own. Here's a fun selection of finds prior to "the big one" Above: Cretoxyrhina mantelli tooth from Piper in the less rich layers. She found this nearly immediately! A gorgeous Ptychodus occidentalis that I was happy to see A Protosphyraena sp. I was happy to see as well. Largely complete teeth from this taxon are not too common for me. a PERFECT Squalicorax falcatus. It may be a common shark, but I love finding a beacon that can just define an entire species in my collection. I have some other smaller, perfect condition teeth for S. falcatus, but they take on a more posterior position in the mouth. For now, this tooth is my Squalicorax pride and joy. Some microteeth showed themselves as well, like this one above. With that size it's hard for me to make a judgment on genus here. Finally, one rock had a trip-maker. I handed a slab to Piper, turned my back to continue "mining", and immediately hear a casual "I think this is something cool". Laying loosly on the slab, ready to come flying off with the slightest disturbance, was THIS: A Coniasaur jaw! That's code for "stupid rare". Here is the specimen under better lighting. Those familiar with North American Coniasaurs may notice something unusual - that it's definitely not the North American Coniasaurus crassidens that most Coniasaur finds here get thrown into. With what's described, that leaves the more conventionally European C. gracilodens, and that doesn't look like a definitive match to me either. For Coniasaurs, it wouldn't be saying anything very extraordinary, as Coniasaur taxonomy has not been properly recorded, but this might belong to one of those coniasaur morphologies floating around without a description. This specimen needs to be looked at under a microscope before a definitive assessment is made though. Here's a graphic I composed for it (note none of the pictures are mine though). On the left (A, B, and C) is Coniasaurus gracilodens, on the right (E and F) is Coniasaurus crassidens. Notice that Coniasaur paleoart is even rarer than the actual animal, so I used art of some other Dolichosaur. It does a good job of representing what Coniasaurus would have looked like anyway. It was a wonderful find to wrap a wonderful weekend, and this fossil will probably make its way to SMU next. If the folks there don't find it useful for the Coniasaur research they have rolling, it'll make its way back to Florida with Piper. Fast forward a week: After one weekend spent fossil hunting a hard, another good one was on the way. This time, my weekend would be devoted to exploring the cenomanian Plesiosaur digsite from July, in search of more bone. My dig partner for the weekend was George, who I met briefly at SMU once by chance, where he was asking around on how to get involved. Unfortunately @Ptychodus04, who (with Joe) I found the specimen with in July, couldn't make it out this time. With his current prep project of a one of a kind green river bird, I can't blame him . It was suggested I show George the ropes the next time I go to my plesiosaur digsite. That might have been a little cruel and unusual, considering how difficult and dangerous that site is, but as you'll soon see, it was well worth it - but not for the reasons you'd expect. We spent two days on the site - one half day digging away overburden, followed by a night in a smoky motel-8, and then the next day more tediously removing small chunks of matrix from the cavity at the bone level. In short, we moved maybe 8 inches further into the cavity, with no bone spotted. As I was hunched over, chipping away, George moved further to the right by some feet to explore for a wayward flipper. This was his first field experience, and he crushed it, breezing through the first slabs as he moved in. It did not take long until he let out a triumphant yell. Thankful to stand up, I came over to take a peek at what he had found in his slab, and went completely silent. It seemed to me that we were looking at a mosasaur tooth... As a reminder, this is (middle?) cenomanian strata - several million years older than the oldest american mosasaurs. Before we call it though, Polcyn is going to evaluate and prep the tooth personally. But, from photos and my own pre-prep observations, we're both optimistic that it's mosasaur. Next up will be some sampling of bentonite layers for a more precise date. Here are some photos: With that find, the day was a success, even though we didn't find more of the Plesiosaur. George and I turned around and started heading home. We had time, so I wanted to make a pit stop to explore a different creek which seemed to have interesting geology after I cross referenced google and geological maps. Fortunately, it didn't take along to find a perfect access point, and from there it didn't take long to find a large shale exposure. This was in the upper eagle ford formation, close to the contact with the Austin chalk, so I was hoping to find the legendary Kamp Ranch shark tooth lenses. We got stopped short by mud and private property though, and we were anyway making slow progress because the geology up until that point was just too interesting. So, we settled down and begin moving into a hill. Much to my surprise, we began finding in abundance one of the last fossils I expect to see in the eagle ford - ammonites. The average ammonite we'd see looked like this - detailed but otherwise in poor condition: Some other good specimens began appearing, thought still flattened: After 30 minutes, we eventually came across a a partially 3D specimen: This was a welcome change from being hunched over for hours in hard rock searching for a humongous marine reptile. This day, we got the best of both worlds! For now, I'm stuck between Colignoniceras woolgari or Prionocyclus sp. as Prionocyclus hyatti also looks convincing. Suggestions are welcome Those were the January highlights, but I would like to take a moment on a February find as well- my first Saleniid ever. Other male fossil hunters might relate to me with this one. When you're this hopelessly obsessed with the hobby, your brain can come up with few date ideas more appropriate than dragging a pretty girl through some muddy creek to look for sea urchins with you. In retrospect, always a terrible idea, but if she sticks it out you found the one Fortunately we didn't get skunked, so she didn't think I was crazy - because we actually made a good find I wasn't expecting. This site is the legendary Comanche Peak shale micro site that I've praised on a few trip reports before. Between my step brother and I, two Tetragramma (one of them gargantuan) have been found, and dozens of Heteraster - but all in the tiny shale section. The shales are encased in limestone, which I noted to be decidedly more barren in previous visits. But, this time - I almost immediately noticed a wonderful geometric pattern in the limestone roof above me: BOOM! I was definitely ecstatic about this. Careful chiseling got it out safely, in a condition to be prepped at home: Pre-prep, I'm tentatively assigning it to Leptosalenia mexicana. For the prep, I think I'll have to use acid for the first time, painting the exposed urchin in paraloid and dunking the rest in vinegar for a day, water for a day, and then repeating. If anyone has a tip or trick that they like for acid prepping urchins, I'm all ears On a total side note, we made an even rarer discovery soon after - though not a fossil. After moving on from the sea urchin spot, we found a newly made walkway that ran by the most perfect, untouched climbing boulder I have ever seen. For anyone reading this who also boulders, you would agree that boulders that have flat landings, excellent top-outs, and solid holds, all while being aesthetically beautiful... are very rare. To find one that is easily accessible and undiscovered by other climbers? That's like finding a unicorn. Here's the unicorn in quesiton: The day after I threw myself at this boulder for a few hours, cleaning the holds and finding routes. I had a dream about it for two nights in a row And so, that was my month. I've been busy, but thankfully not nearly as busy as last semester, so many weekends still give me time to get back out in the field. I have a killer Coniacian spot in mind I want to explore soon, so hopefully I'll be back with a success story. Hope you all get a chance to kick it in the field soon!

Return to the Badlands of North Texas At long last, rain graced the lands of North Texas this past week. For many of us, that meant it was time to finally crawl out of bed and beat the crowd to that one particular site desperately needing a refresh. In my case, I set on my way to explore a newer spot in the Grayson Marl while the ground was still nice and muddy. I'd been to this place once before, but it had already been thoroughly picked over. It's a popular site, but even then, it managed to pull through and produce some fine specimens for me to take home. With that in mind, I suited up in preparation for a very wet and very, very cold day in the "badlands" of North Texas. As I took my first step out of the car, my foot was immediately enveloped by a Grayson Marl pudding. I don't own boots, so my measly tennis shoe was suctioned off as I tried to wriggle free. Although the moistened marl was a hassle to trudge through, I quickly reassured myself that such a characteristic would be a benefit in terms of eroding new fossils and continued on my way. By the time I reached the spot, I was practically walking atop 6-inch platform shoes made of the stickiest mud known to man. It was no use shaking it off, so I accepted the burden of having to walking like a newborn giraffe for the rest of the day. Out in the distance, I could just make out a person with a bright orange beanie. Clearly, they too were chasing fossils after the rain. Luckily, the site was quite large, so there was plenty of room for both of us to graze. Still being unfamiliar with the locality, it took a while for me to adjust my eyes to hunting. The ridiculous number of fragmented shell bits and corroded pyrite fossils made it difficult to filter the noise out. However, the knowledge of what could be found kept me motivated. Eventually my efforts were rewarded with the first decent find of the day: A nicely sized Cretalamna Cretalamna catoxodon Soon after, I happened upon an area with a mess of brittle star limb fragments. I searched very thoroughly for a central disk, but nothing could be found, so I decided to swipe only a single piece. Keeping in the theme of weathered finds, I also spotted the most complete Coenholectypus I'd ever come across there. Though it looked nice, I again decided to leave it be. Few fossils are worth that much of a headache to consolidate! Coenholectypus castilloi? Already, a decent chunk of time had elapsed and I was a little discouraged with the lack of weight to my baggie. Meanwhile, the man in the bright orange beanie had steadily made his way closer to the area I had been working. It seemed he was about to finish up his session, so he walked over and introduced himself as Mike. Apparently, he is an admin for the Texas Fossil Hunting group on Facebook. Though he hunts all over the place, the site we were standing in was his main spot he had been visiting for three years! We had a nice conversation about the Grayson Marl as well as a handful of famous places around the state. Since ptychodus was my ultimate goal for the location, I also inquired as to how many he had found here in the badlands. For the span of three years, only two small specimens were to show. With numbers like that, I figured I better not get my hopes up. He showed off a few of his nicer finds from the morning, including dozens of tiny Goniophorus scotti, before saying goodbye and heading out. I still had a final stretch I wanted to check out, so squatted down and quickly got back to work. I think something about seeing his collection helped me to see things more clearly. I rapidly spotted several more C. catoxodon teeth after our encounter. However, I was most excited to find my first Squalicorax from this formation, despite its miniscule size. I know identification for this genus is quite convoluted, but I felt it had a likeness with S. baharijensis because of its broad neck, well developed serrations, and other features. Squalicorax baharijensis? To round off the day, I looked through one last mound of marl and spotted a very strange and distorted figure. It looked as though some larger fossil had been broken into rubble. I picked up a chunk and observed a texture I was not used to seeing. After taking a moment to process what exactly I was looking at, I realized it was the surface of a heart urchin, likely Hemiaster calvini, with the spines still articulated! I quickly began gathering the pieces in the immediate area in case they were from a single organism I could puzzle back together. At the time they were covered in mud, so I did not realize that they were from many individuals likely eroding from a single layer. At home, I put them under the microscope and found some interesting features generally unobservable in most spatangoid specimens. Have a look: A lot of times it's easy to forget how deeply similar irregular urchins are to their regular counterparts. With the naked eye, it's impossible to observe this level of detail in the tubercles of a spatangoid. However, at the microscopic level, we can see that they are alike. These tubercles, in my amateur opinion, are just like that of a salenia or cidarid species. My favorite observation was the presence of the articulated spines of course. Something I did not expect was their morphology. The bottom 2/3 of the spine appears to be longitudinally ridged and has a black color. The top 1/3 transitions to a yellow coloration while also beginning to flatten out into the shape of a shovel. Also, the spines seem to generally point away from the front of the urchins. I'm sure some of the resident echinoid experts on here are already well familiarized with the shovel shape of these spines, but I was quite intrigued. I already knew that irregular echies travel under substrate, so I began to wonder if these spines perhaps served a function that related to their lifestyle. If you haven't yet had the "aha moment", it appears that spatangoids use these shovel spines to help dig and move their bodies while buried! Hopefully this little tangent helped to enrich your appreciation for irregular echies as it did for me ! Anyways, by then I had had enough of the Grayson Marl and was ready to check out some other sites that were preferably a little easier to navigate. So I packed my things and headed for the car. But first, here is an overview of the Grayson Marl Finds: Hemiaster calvini with articulated spines. The one at the top seems to be complete, though completely flattened. The bottom chunks are from many individuals. I have many smaller pieces not pictured. From afar, they have a "fuzzy" texture. Top L to R: Ophiura graysonensis limb frag, Stereocidaris hemigranosus plates, S. hemigranosus spines (cool), and Parasmilia graysonensis solitary corals. Bottom L to R: Bivalve, bivalve, Neithea texana scallop, unknown fossil with interesting bumpy texture (perhaps decapod), and Mariella bosquensis heteromorph ammonite. Top L to R: Cretalamna catoxodon, Squalicorax baharijensis?, Cretoxyrhina vraconensis? (more on this at end of the topic), and Cretalamna catoxodon. Bottom L to R: Various verts, Xiphactinus tooth? (no cutting edges - always wonder if these could be pterosaur), and fishy bits. ~ ~ ~ Some Say Lightning Doesn't Strike the Same Place Twice... Well, the original plan was to scope out two new Pawpaw sites in the area, but, in my exhausted state, I decided to say screw it and take a trip to my favorite spot in the Pawpaw. It's been said that you shouldn't go looking for fossils when you've already found them, so what was the point in risking my time and energy when I could see what the rain had swept out at ole reliable. When I got to the exposure, I went straight for the productive layer and instantly had a field day with a plethora of micro ammonites. I'm guessing since they had limited exposure to the atmosphere, they were still shiny and easily spotted. It was definitely the best luck I'd had for cephalopods so far at the place. The first picture-worthy find was an exceptionally preserved central disc to a brittle sea star. I could tell it had eroded from a layer different to the previous starfish I had found. Unfortunately, there was not even a single associated limb fragment in sight. The aboral side appears to differ from that of Ophiura graysonensis. It is difficult to compare with O. texana of the Weno since the only picture I could find of the type specimen is blurry and the fossil itself hard to make out. So, I'll stick with Ophiura sp. for now. Periodically I came across more fantastically preserved crab carapaces. It seems every hunt at this site, I find one beautiful Feldmannia wintoni carapace and this visit was no different. In the past, the better Steorrosia crabs I gathered tended to be S. aspera, but this time, I finally collected a couple great S. pawpawensis specimens including my second carapace with preserved eyes! The fierce compound eye of Steorrosia pawpawensis! Vertebrate fossils are tough to come by, so any shark tooth is a welcome site. The one pictured below had an amazing purple tint that sadly did not stay after being cleaned. It was my first Squalicorax from the Pawpaw, so I knew I was adding a new species to my collection. After some research online, I believe it to be Squalicorax priscoserratus on the basis of its thin neck, dense root, and well-developed serrations. Squalicorax priscoserratus I hadn't been hunting for long when I began to tire. Since the ground was so muddy, I didn't have the chance to sit and hunt like I usually prefer to do. On top of all the squatting, staying right side up on the slippery muck created additional strain. I decided to finish up a little early and save some of the site for a future day when the conditions were drier. I set a location in my mind for where I would call it quits - the area I had found the articulated brittle sea star in my last visit. Of course, I would be crazy to expect a repeat of such a legendary find, but I would be lying if I said the thought wasn't hanging over my head throughout the final 15 minutes of the day. In parts of medieval Europe, heart urchins were once known as "thunderstones" for their supposed creation at the place of a lightning strike sent by a god. They were magical items collected and often cherished by those who hoped to find connection with the heavens. In modern times, such beliefs are easily dismissed, but that isn't to say that the same curiosity and admiration those distant peoples felt for these treasures has eroded away in the slightest. As I approached the location of where the last articulated sea star had been found, I began to wonder if the fossil gods may have cast another bolt in my favor. Kneeling down for one last time, my eyes were embraced with the sight that sent me straight back to my feet. Although the ground didn't show any apparent signs of burn marks sparked by the wrath of Zeus, I was face to face with something I thought I would only find in dreams. A horde of 15 brittle star limb fragments surrounded a single yellow central disc. For reference, my last star had only 4 limb fragments! To any passerby, I looked crazy with the number of fist pumps I was doing. I made sure to gather as much as I could and headed for the car, though I was definitely not in the right head space to be driving . In situ. Doesn't look like much yet! The consolidating process was tedious as expected. Thankfully, my last project had given me some much-needed practice that made the process much easier than it could have otherwise been. With each attachment, the delicate figure of this animal could be more thoroughly appreciated. Once it was complete, I took way too many pictures, but can you really blame me ? Brittle sea stars old and new This is my new favorite in my collection! I'm almost afraid to return to the spot because I know it'll be a let down from this... though on second thought I guess I'm not afraid enough to stay away. Overview of Pawpaw Formation Finds: Top L to R: Cantabrigites wenoensis, Engonorceras serpintinum, and Stoliczkaia asiatica. Bottom L to R: Neophlycticeras sp., Enigmaticeras riceae, Scaphites hilli, Stoliczkaia worthense, and Conlinites wrighti. Not 100% on some of these IDs but based off of overall morphology and suture patterns shown on a publication, these are the names I've somewhat confidently come up with. Top L to R: Steorrosia aspera (the one on the right is oddly shaped and could be something entirely different), Feldmannia wintoni (beautiful blue coloration), and Steorrosia pawpawensis (The one on top has the preserved eyes). Bottom L to R: Various decapod fragments. A look at the undersides of (L to R) Steorrosia aspera, Feldmannia wintoni, and Steorrosia pawpawensis. A close up of the spines on one of the claw fragments: Top L to R: Squalicorax priscoserratus, and Haimirichia anomensis (Even though this is upper Albian and not Cenomanian, I assume this newly described genus applies to this tooth since Eostriatolamia anomensis/Carcharias anomensis were previously known from the Pawpaw). Bottom: Fish parts Brittle stars of the day, oral and aboral sides: ~~~ Questions Just to round off the post, I have some questions regarding identifying teeth from the Pawpaw and Grayson (Late Albian and Early Cenomanian). Specifically, I have confusion when distinguishing between Cretalamna and Cretoxyrhina. About a month ago, I found a tooth in the Pawpaw that I think strongly resembles Cretoxyrhina vraconensis. During my recent hunt in the Grayson, I picked up a couple of damaged teeth that seem to usually be identified as Cretalamna online, but I think share a resemblance with my Pawpaw Cretoxyrhina specimen (similar tiny splayed cusplets and a large, protruding root). So, I am wondering if any of you can help to clarify. Are these teeth also Cretoxyrhina or simply more Cretalamna? I may even have my Pawpaw tooth misidentified for all I know. L to R: My Pawpaw "Cretoxyrhina vraconensis", two unknown teeth from the Grayson (Cretalamna catoxodon or possibly Cretoxyrhina denticulata/C. vraconensis), and lastly a pretty obvious Cretalamna catoxodon from the Grayson. Feel free to let me know if you would like additional pictures or @ some who might know a thing or two! Thanks for reading!

Is this really a mosquito, does anyone know it's taxonomy and does someone know the same for the spider ? This one looks like a genuine amber

Here's a specimen bought at the gem show back in the days when Moroccan vertebrate stuff was starting to appear at Tucson and other shows. It's from the Kem Kem Beds (Cenomanian), Taouz area, Morocco like that other crocodile-like tooth I showed here several days ago.. This one is just under 2 3/8 inches (59mm) long with long folds/ridges of what appears to be enamel along its length so I think it's a tooth. Some of the folds end part of the way to the tip. There are spots where these folds are chipped revealing a rather smooth layer. It shows wear at the tip. I think it's some kind of crocodile though it seems rather slender for that and I would expect it to be more hollow (view at the root end provided). I'm wondering it actually belongs to some large fish. Maybe it's an odd spine. @Troodon, @LordTrilobite

Here's a tooth I bought at the gem show back in the days when Moroccan vertebrate stuff was starting to appear at Tucson and other shows. I've been meaning to show it to people for years. It's from the Kem Kem Beds (Cenomanian), Taouz area, Morocco. It's about 61mm long with cutting edges that appear to be slightly crenulated rather than finely-serrated. It's oval in cross-section on the root end but the crown becomes blade-like toward the tip so it is somewhat labiolingually compressed. I assume it's a crocodile tooth but thought it might have a small chance at being from a dinosaur. I'll hit up the "Kem Kem regulars" for comment but am interested what others say as well. @Troodon @Haravex @LordTrilobite Thanks, Jess

Hi TFF, Last week the GF and I went for the holy trio (geological wise ), the turonian, cenomanian and albian. It's simply amazing that in a relatively short stretch of cliffs you can find all three. Driving our way there it seemed like the UK also had some decent weather that day as it was quite visible. We first hit the turonian. On the way there you can find santonian(?) deposits which produce some nice flint urchins. I'm usually looking for big ammonites like lewesiceras or mammites. Only two small examples were found that we did not take home. In-situ weathered lewesiceras. For the good eyes amongst us, an i-situ mammites nodosoides. Unfortunately a very flat compressed example At some point a nautilus 'belly' poked out, fairly uncommon and a pleasant find. I believe it's eutrephoceras. Not much later I made a little squeak. We don't find these often here. Meanwhile the GF was very pleased finding another nautilus. Albian deposits drift off towards cenomanian and turonian plates. The next day we were welcomed with a nice rainbow. You see why they call it the 'white nose / blanc-nez'. These visible layers are cenomanian. I hoped for the gault layers (which would be on the other side of the picture) but only some ex situ albian layers were exposed. These are full of pyrite and little ammonites (anahoplites). Sometimes bigger pyrite specimens can be found like this partial beudanticeras. To my surprise something else was just waiting to be picked up. Pretty rare and well sought after. Surrounded by pyrite and ammonites. On the way back we managed to pick up a little acanthoceras. And a final picture

Here are just some of my finds from a day spent in the Graysonites wacoense Zone, Grayson Marl Formation, Washita Group of north Texas (Lower Cenomanian, ~97mya) last Sunday, November 13th. This is my second visit to the site, which is equivalent to and faunally almost identical to the Del Rio micromorph exposures of further south, today only present at a couple sites in the DFW area. Starting off with the first find which happened to be my first complete (sans spines and Aristotle’s lantern of course), and largest Goniophorus scotti (Goniophoridae) urchin: Parasmilia graysonensis (Caryophyliidae) coral A beautiful little Haimirichia amonensis (Haimirichiidae) shark tooth: Ex-situ photo of the H. amonensis: A couple more Goniophorus scotti (Goniophoridae) urchins: Coenholectypus nanus (Holectypidae) urchin: Crushed C. nanus: The most abundant fossil to be found, progenic dwarf Mariella bosquensis (Turrilitidae) ammonites: Progenic dwarf Mariella rhacioformis (Turrilitidae) ammonite with distinctive strong ribbing: A very tiny Goniophorus scotti (Goniophoridae) urchin: Turritella irrorata (Turritellidae) gastropod: Two teeth of Squalicorax sp. nov. (Anacoracidae), an undescribed shark from the Grayson/Del Rio Fm. of Texas: Second specimen: Progenic dwarf Mariella bosquensis (Turrilitidae) ammonite: And another nice Goniophorus scotti (Goniophoridae) urchin to finish it off:

Hi everyone! Last week we went on a weekend trip with our fossil club the BVP to go on a fossil hunt to the jurassic clay cliffs "Falaises de Vaches Noires" between Houlgate & Villers-Sur-Mer in Normandy, France. https://www.paleontica.org/locations/fossil/68 The famous cliffs of Vaches Noires date back to the Jurassic period, and span both the Callovian & Oxfordian stages (166 - 157 mya) and the Cretaceous period spanning the Cenomanian (100 - 94 mya). Back in the jurassic this area was a rich marine environment and fossils that can be found here are many species of bivalves (like Gryphaea, Lopha & Myophorella), ammonites, gastropods, belemnites, brachiopods, crinoïds, sponges and other invertebrates. The cliffs are also known for marine reptile material and even dinosaur material, though these finds are rather rare but you'll see some nice pieces in the museum pics later. We arrived Thursday afternoon (november 3th) and stayed to Sunday (november 6th). We were very happy to join this trip organized by our club since it is probably the last year that fossil searching is allowed in this amazing location. We were with around 27 people I believe and met each morning at the entrance of the beach at Houlgate. We searched the cliffs for 2 days and went to the local museum "paleospace" on sunday. The weather was amazing for the 2 days of searching, it was even sunny the first day! The first few hours we mainly searched among the rocks on the beach which were littered with large Gryphaea fossils and other bivalves like Lopha gregarea. After our lunch break we moved on to search more near the clay to find smaller fossils. On our second day we again searched the clay, went through some interesting places in the sand which were littered with oysters, gastropods and had some ammonite and crinoïd fossils and we ended the day at the cenomanian rocks in search for some fossil urchins. The Cenomanian rocks on the beach A piece a chalcedony A partial ammonite Me very happy with my first complete ammonite, which I found next to me while having lunch One of the mystery fossils which nobody could really determine (we brought it home along another we found) The tubes seem to be pyritised. I believe it to be some kind of Echinoderm and someone suggested it might be a Crinoïd with a parasite on it. But eventually our top finding (and the best of the entire trip) was spotted by my girlfriend Elise and is this gorgeous fish (probably Lepidotes sp.)

Last weekend was an extended weekend and good weather forecast, that means a few field trips to the French coast for us The first trip was Friday, we got there early in the morning and planned to hunt the Turonian part of the coast. There was a lot of sand on the beaches so we didn’t find much, but quality is better than quantity and Natalie scored 2! Ptychodus teeth. I only found an ammonite that proved to be incomplete after extracting it :/ and a flint echinoid on the way back to the car. On Monday we tried our luck in the Cenomanian and Albian part of the site. Again lots of sand covering op the boulders but we did find a bit more and some really interesting specimens. The 1st interesting piece was a belemnite in the chalk, this might seen strange, but although the belemnites are common in the Albian gault clay, they are almost non-existent in the Cenomanian chalk and it was the 1st specimen I ever found in there. Not long after that It was Natalie’s turn, she found a complete irregular echinoid. The rest of the finds that day were mostly chalk ammonites, except on one spot were a little bit of gault clay was exposed on the beach were we found a nice little phosphate crab. 1st fieldtrip on Friday, early at the beach: little ptychodus 1: Ptychopdus 2: To bad for this one: A flint echinoid on our way back: Field trip on Moday: Belemnite : Neohibolites ultimus Natalie's echinoid: Tiaromma michelini The little crab in situ in the clay peeking out: All the stuff cleaned up:

Here are some of my finds from spending a few hours on Wednesday, October 26th, in the Graysonites wacoense Zone of the Grayson Formation, Washita Group of north Texas (Early Cenomanian, ~97mya). This particular site exposes a micromorph layer full of thousands of tiny dwarfed Mariella bosquensis and M. rhacioformis ammonites plus a wealth of other taxa like various urchins, brittlestar fragments, shark teeth, many gastropods & pelecypods, etc. Those familiar with the Del Rio exposures of further south in central Texas (particularly the now closed-to-public Waco Pit in McLennan County), should recognize much of the fauna to be found at this site as it is laterally equivalent to those and faunally nearly identical, differing only slightly in the rarity of homomorph ammonites at this site vs further south, as well as slight differences in preservation/lithology. The following is just a fraction of what I found: One of thousands of dwarfed Mariella bosquensis (Turrilitidae) ammonites: Cretalamna cf. catoxodon (Otodontidae) shark tooth, this species was first described from the Cenomanian of Western Australia by Siversson et al., 2015 where many species were split out of the broad C. appendiculata: Goniophorus scotti (Saleniidae) sea urchin fragment: A tiny Stoliczkaia texana (Lyelliceratidae) ammonite: Arm fragments of Ophiura graysonensis (Ophiuridae), a brittlestar. I hope to find a complete specimen or at least a central disk at this site soon: Another Goniophorus scotti (Saleniidae): Some more dwarf Mariella bosquensis (Turrilitidae) ammonites: Found in just a few seconds of searching in one spot: Neithea texana (Neitheidae) scallop: Praescabrotrigonia emoryi (Pterotrigoniidae) clam: cf. Margarites (Margaritidae) gastropod: A very small Cymatoceras hilli (Cymatoceratidae) nautiloid: Imprints of the pellet-lined burrows of mud shrimp (the ichnogenus being Ophiomorpha). These almost certainly belong to Meticonaxius rhacheochir (Micheleidae) which is known from both the older Pawpaw Formation and the younger Britton Formation, the latter of which contains abundant identical Ophiomorpha which have been found with the bodies of M. rhacheochir preserved inside: Chondrites trace fossils: Bivalve shell fragment conglomerate slabs consisting mainly of Texigryphaea roemeri oyster and Neithea texana scallop fragments: A mass of white nodules which I presume are likely fossilized rhodoliths, structures made up of the calcium carbonate secreted by coralline red algae which would freely roll around on the sea floor: Hundreds of Texigryphaea roemeri (Gryphaeidae) oysters: The layers above the micromorph zone abound with more typical Grayson Formation lithology & fauna, such as this Mariella rhacioformis (Turrilitidae) ammonite fragment. This species occurs in abundance in at the site in the more typical layers and occasionally as limonitic/pyritic micromorphs too: A portion of a typical non-dwarfed Mariella bosquensis (Turrilitidae) ammonite: Protocardia texana (Cardiidae) clam:

High-tech tools reveal opalized fossil skeleton by Flinders University, August 29, 202 Absolute gem of a find: Opalised dinosaur fossil studied using innovative 3D printing technology. The rare fossils may represent a new Australian dinosaur species Cosmos Magazine, August 29, 2022 Dinosaur Bones Shimmering With Opal Reveal a New Species in Australia A discovery in an Australian opal mine remained unexamined for three decades—it turned out to be the most complete opalized dinosaur skeleton in the world, Gemma Conroy, Smithsonian,June 3, 2019 “Opalized” Dinosaur Skeleton Discovered 30 Years Ago, Now Scientists Have Named the Species. One man was hunting gems and found a load of natural history instead. Rose Heichelbech, Dusty Ol Thing Bell, P.R., Brougham, T., Herne, M.C., Frauenfelder, T. and Smith, E.T., 2019. Fostoria dhimbangunmal, gen. et sp. nov., a new iguanodontian (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda) from the mid- Cretaceous of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 39(1), p.e1564757. Yours, Paul H.

On Wednesday, October 12th, I took another trip to a nearby favorite spot of mine that I found a few years ago which exposes the Sciponoceras gracile Zone, Camp Wisdom Member, Upper Britton Formation of the Eagle Ford Group here in Texas (Late Cenomanian-Early Turonian, 92-95mya), and had probably my best hunt from this site, including several different ammonites, a few shark teeth, my first Enchodus, and 26 Ferroranina dichrous crabs! First find was this very nice Yezoites delicatulus (Scaphitidae) ammonite A very worn Ptychodus sp. (Ptychodontidae) shark tooth: Sciponoceras gracile (Baculitidae) ammonite, namesake of the zone: Dead modern Procambarus steigmani — this crayfish is endemic to northeast/north central Texas: Legs of a Linuparus sp. likely L. grimmeri (Palinuridae) spiny lobster: Metoicoceras geslinianum (Acanthoceratidae) ammonite: Pair of Inoceramus capulus (Inoceramidae) bivalves: Some of the 26 total Ferroranina dichrous (Palaeocorystidae) crabs found during the day: Selenite crystals: Opuntia macrorhiza (Cactaceae), as a botanist this genus is one of my focus groups: Cameleolopha bellaplicata subsp. bellaplicata (Ostreidae) oyster occurring here as overwash from the younger Turonian Arcadia Park Formation (89-91mya) which is otherwise long since eroded away in this area: Next into some things I decided to take nice camera photos of (and consequently some of the best finds of the day) A nice tiny Cretalamna appendiculata s.l. (Otodontidae) shark tooth: My first Enchodus (Enchodontidae) fish tooth, I’m not sure which species are known from the Britton: cf. Margarites sp. (Margaritidae) gastropod, the first of this family I’ve seen in the Britton: A very beautiful Ptychodus anonymus (Ptychodontidae) shark tooth, found while crawling on the ground beneath a slope: Worthoceras vermiculus (Scaphitidae) ammonite, the nicest one I’ve collected: Natica sp. (Naticidae) gastropod, this species is extremely common in much of the Britton: Ferroranina dichrous (Palaeocorystidae) crab: My first Nannometoicoceras acceleratum (Acanthoceratidae) ammonite, fittingly tiny: Another Inoceramus capulus (Inoceramidae) bivalve: Hesperotettix speciosus (Acrididae) grasshopper: Really interesting preservation on this Ferroranina dichrous (Palaeocorystidae) crab that I had never seen before, these are almost always found in orange to dark red concretions: The total Ferroranina dichrous haul: The Nannometoicoceras acceleratum after some cleanup showing the distinctive tiny, conical umbilicus and tubercle arrangement:

Recently, my good friend Carter ( @Jackito ) found my personal holy grail of Texas Cretaceous sharks - Pseudomegachasma comanchensis While I knew of the existence of the genus here in Texas, I didn't know much about the teeth themselves as I never was really that convinced I'd ever find one. But Carter's find proved it's possible, and what's better... he found it at a site we both knew of! So, we went out together in an effort to find another. What's better is that I had suspicions about that site's age for a while, and the finding of his tooth attests to the late cenomanian-early turonian (ish) range. Prior to this, I assumed it was middle Turonian like the exposures nearby, and while I find the middle Turonian a greatly interesting time, I've been keen to find cenomanian strata due to it's ability to produce very occasional Coniasaur, Pliosaur and Pseudomegachasma material. It was out first time hunting this area together, and it turns out my usual primary spot of interest is maybe 40 yards from his. He showed me the "giving boulder", and it rapidly started living up to its reputation. Carter may be "new" to fossil hunting, but his research ability and persistence is that of a seasoned veteran, and his knack for rare sharks (such as his Cretoxyrhina symphyseal, his maastrichtian nurse shark tooth, his Pseudomegachasma and huge maastrichtian saw shark rostral tooth) is astonishing. Rapidly, the finds started flowing - for the most part tiny Squalicorax falcatus and Ptychodus of various species, and some really nice teeth from other species began popping up as well: Lovely Cretoxyrhina mantelli with broken root lobes: Squalicorax falcatus. It's easy to imagine these as the Cretaceous equivalent to tiger sharks, both from tooth morphology and their opportunist natures. What looks like Cretolamna - personally an uncommon genus for me One of the larger specimens of the 15 or so Ptychodus Carter found in "the giving boulder" I then found the most unusual Ptychodus tooth I've encountered - perhaps partially digested? @LSCHNELLE It was soon after seeing this that I made a find I have long dreamed of... I was working on the same slab that produced the strange Ptychodus tooth, which I pulled from the bank not even 10 feet away from where Carter was making crazy finds of his own in the Giving Boulder.... when I saw this: It's like I was hit with a shock wave, it sent me absolutely reeling. I lost all inhibition, released a string of not so appropriate words, and fell to my knees, only to get up and start pacing in circles repeating the same not so appropriate words interrupted by cheers. With my explosive reaction, Carter at first assumed I smushed a finger under a falling hammer. I shakily said "no... Pliosaur tooth". He saw it, and while his reaction was much more controlled than mine, many subsequent curses still followed. We were delighted, but any random passerby wouldn't have known from looking at us This was absolutely electric. Most of my best finds I was unsure of upon discovery - but with this I instantly knew, so the subsequent adrenaline and then adrenaline crash meant I had to take a long recovery before I started poking around again. Right as I got back into it, Carter made another crazy find - this time a beautiful Ptychodus occidentalis of great size and fantastic condition. It's funny, because prior to the P. occidantalis I found at a different site a day or two before, I had never even seen one in person, yet on this day we found a couple - though Carter's was by many, many orders of magnitude the largest: Everything was carefully wrapped up and taken home, and so concluded my last hunt before moving to my new college. No Pseudomegachasma, but I cannot complain in the slightest with the bycatch of a long awaited goal of mine. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That was yesterday - today was trip number two.. which was moving into my flat in College Station, where I'm continuing my journey more formally as a student of paleontology (though my major is Biology, but you get what I mean) at A&M. It's intimidating moving out from home for the first time, and I had a harder time with it than I thought I would. But, then I remind myself why I'm here and what I'm here to do, and I'm newly determined. Here I am now, in my new room for the first time ever - all in the pursuit of a passion that started here on the forum. I cannot thank you guys enough - I know it seems silly thanking folks on the internet, many of whom I've never met, but without the community here I wouldn't be here either. I noticed the arrangement on my desk earlier - and I snapped a photo, because it captures the energy of what my next two years here will hopefully be like. In the photo are some paleo books I've brought, my field watch that has somehow survived every adventure and misadventure I've put it though in the last 8 months, and a travel box containing two specimens: The Pliosaur tooth that I'm ever so slowly prepping (updates on that will be in this thread), and my Hadrodus hewletti tooth. Update: The prep is finally finished! Very happy with this fossil. Only needed glue once, near the root. Soon I'll drown the whole thing in some 3% paraloid solution.