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Showing results for tags 'Ladonia'.
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I found this fossil(?) at Ladonia in May 23. Can anyone help me identify it, Thank you Torben from Denmark
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I was at Ladonia in May 23, and I found some nice fossils, Enchodus tooth, Tylosaurus teeth and snails. But I also found 2 fossils? that I cant identify. Foto 1+2+4+5 is the same fossil in different angles. Foto nr 6 : the fossil is 2cm. Can anyone help me Thank you Torben (Denmark)
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With my limited time in North Texas before my move south, I decided to revisit my favorite sites as opposed to scouting new ones. The NSR is a classic locality, but I had never actually gotten to check out the famed red zone for myself. Yesterday, I made the drive to the fossil park. I was supposed to hunt with a couple others, but it unexpectedly turned into a solo hunt. I won't complain though. The vast river emanates a magical aura that is uniquely felt when you're exploring on your own. The primary goal of the day was to snag a decent specimen of the red zone ammonite, Trachyscaphites spiniger! In an attempt to beat out the stiff hunting competition and high afternoon temps, I arrived to the site in the early hours around seven. Unsurprisingly, I was far from being the first car in the lot. As luck would have it though, none of the people there before me had their sights set on the distant red zone exposures. It's a long and taxing trip that only so many people (the crazy ones) are willing to undertake. After crossing under the 2990 bridge, I took in the view and tried to visualize where the destination might be. It was quite daunting, but the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Red Zone Road It was gonna take a lot of walking to reach the mouths of the red zone creeks, so I tried to keep the gravel hunting minimal along the way. Nevertheless, my eyes were still scanning the ground around me and the vigilance steadily began to pay off. After a few Enchodus fangs and a Carcharias holmdelensis tooth, I came across the first prize of the day. Cemented together in red zone matrix was a mass of turtle shell that I had never before seen a similar specimen of. It has some good weight to it and cool three dimensional character. I don't know enough to identify it to a genus assuming that's even possible. I believe Archelon and Ctenochelys are known from the NSR as well as other genera I'm sure. Articulated turtle shell fragments in red zone matrix Some time later, I came across an interesting bone fragment that I don't have much of a clue about. The texture seems like fish. It has pronounced ridges running longitudinally and a U-shaped spongy cross section. I held onto it in case it might be something cool. Mystery bone Here and there I came across various red zone ammonite chunks to whet my appetite. None of them were keepers in part because I had high hopes for what lay ahead. Maintaining my steady pace brought me to the mouth of the first creek I had circled. Yesterday's 25 foot rise was still draining and the sound of rushing water filled the air with occasional thuds from falling shales. In the high cliffs I could see a distinct red band of matrix slicing through the grey shales. Tracing it with my eyes, I followed the line upstream until it was within reach. It was absolutely filled with phosphate chunks and nacre-covered Baculites. After a short time, I locked onto a Trachyschaphites that was just poking out. Excitedly, I threw out my tools and began excavating. My enthusiasm was quickly washed away as I realized the chunk sticking out was just a chunk. This sequence of events repeated itself along the entirety of the creek and before I knew it, I was exiting with a bag of assorted Trachyscaphites pieces. The only interesting things to show were a beat up red zone mosasaur vert and some snails. Red zone mosasaur vert Gastropods from the red zone Now the temps had crossed into the 90s and beads of sweat were covering my face. Wanting to take a break from the red zone, I began a thorough search through the massive gravel bar outside the creek. It took awhile to warm up my hunting goggles, but eventually I spotted the first keeper of the bar: A big ole worn mosasaur tooth. Sadly, it was sliced in half and had chunks busted out of it. Not too long after, though, I got it a smaller, much more complete friend. Likely Tylosaurus proriger After these mosasaur teeth, I scored what I like to call a "pseudo-mosasaur" or its other name, Pachyrhizodus. It was pretty easy to spot the difference since a little bit of bone was attached beneath the crown. Still a cool little fish tooth. Pachyrhizodus I'm not very good at spotting artifacts despite having spent many hours in the creeks of Austin. Now and again though, I manage to blindly stumble my way into a killer point or two. Wedged into the sand beneath the receding waters, was the unmistakable base of a Gary. Haven't found one of these before, so I was pretty happy to add this NSR classic to my collection. Gary in situ Gary point The last and most interesting find of the bar was a huge chunk of Xiphactinus jaw! It seems to match up exactly with the very distal end of the lower jaw. Within two matrix-filled tooth sockets are a couple of emerging teeth. Distal end of a Xiphactinus lower jaw with a couple of teeth. Finally, it was time to set my sights on the creek across the river. To my knowledge it doesn't have a name as it is quite small. The disappointment of my previous red zone expedition set my hopes low. Although the tree cover was nice, with it came swarms of mosquitos and some sort of biting fly. I spent most of my walk through it flailing my arms trying not to become a walking buffet. The red zone was much better exposed and I quickly spotted a couple of Squalicorax that sadly weren't keepers. There were many Trachyscaphites fragments to waste my time, but at long last I ran into exactly what I was looking for! With careful swings, I worked the heteromorph out of the shale and quickly stored it safely in its own private Ziploc bag. With the primary objective met, it was time to quickly evacuate the mosquito hellhole and return to the safety of the sweltering sun. Trachyscaphites spiniger heteromorph (my favorite ammonite). There is a significant crack that hasn't completely split. Hopefully the b72 will hold. It was about 4 pm and I was close to my limit. There was another spot further ahead known for arrowheads that I wanted to see, but I was saving that for the people I was intending to meet (no cell service so I didn't know plans had changed). It became apparent no one was coming, so I gathered my bucket and pack for the long trek home. The adrenaline of fossil hunting had definitely carried me through the day. The river now seemed endless and every step of foot sucking mud taxed me more and more. After retracing my route at home, it seems I river walked at least 5 miles! As I crawled into my blistering hot car, I told myself one red zone hunt was enough for the rest of my life. But after a good night's rest and cataloguing my finds, I'm ready to go again . I guess we'll see how I feel next summer. Thanks for reading!
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I was finally able to take a trip to the NSR in 2023. We had a good 11 foot rise so I was optimistic. My whole goal this trip was to find a point, I couldn't find one to save my life, I however did find a few cool fossils. I don't know if i just don't have the eye for it or if i am just looking in the wrong places. The last two pictures are of an item im not sure about anyone have an idea? Possibly a set of fused vertebrae with the two end ones broken off? The haul The vert The mosasaur thing The in-situ And the I don't know what this is
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- ammonit
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Follow up to my previous post on the mosasaur jaw. Wanted to get my prelim IDs seconded on some other finds. I'm thinking mosasaur teeth--any thoughts on species? Left tooth fragment 3cm long, right tooth 4cm long. Tylosaur, platecarpus and clidastes are possibilities. Can any one point me towards diagnostic marks to differentiate? The other piece I interpret to be a rib (2.5 x 1.5 wide, 10 cm long), with many scavenger shark marks on it. Thanks for your input. Found near ladonia fossil park, Fannin Co, Texas. Late cretaceous.
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From the album: Squamates
A tooth from a large mosasaur that inhabited the Western Interior Seaway during the Late Cretaceous. Tylosaurus was an apex predator with thick teeth that allowed it to predate on anything in its ecosystem from large turtles to sharks. This particular tooth has clear feeding wear on the tip.- 2 comments
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My daughter and I went hunting in the North Sulfur River near Dallas, Texas. She pulled this strange bean looking bone out and I had no clue what it could be. After lots of googling, it seems clear that it is a patella of some sort given the faces on the back. The closest looking thing I have found was a black bear patella for sale, though that specimen was significantly smaller than ours. I did run a "burn test" to check for extant collagen and didn't detect any burning smell. Any thoughts?
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From the album: North Sulphur River
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From the album: North Sulphur River
Made my first trip to NSR since construction began. There's a significant accumulation of mud, much less ground for hunting fossils.-
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From the album: North Sulphur River
The only way I can find fossils - if they're right out in the open! This one conveniently perched itself on a rock. -
From the album: North Sulphur River
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From the album: North Sulphur River
A large turtle - over 0.5" in thickness. Note the porosity of the interior and the relatively uniform thickness.-
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From the album: North Sulphur River
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From the album: North Sulphur River
An incomplete tooth (just the crown) sitting in the red layer. Likely from Cretolamna.-
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- ladonia
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From the album: North Sulphur River
Likely sand tiger (Carcharias sp.).-
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Finds from North Sulfur River in Ladonia Texas. Baculite part of a nautilus. Baculite Bits of Baculite All the layers of a huge gryphea On left 2 huge gryphea. Red and black baculite. the algea covered thin over TX I thought could be the underside of a sea urchin. Sorry a few rocks snuck in there and at the top at first I thought it was a chunk of petrified wood but now am thinking it could be a wore down bone fragment.
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Hi Everyone, I've found several Mosasaur verts but this one doesn't match the anatomy of any that I've found before. I know it's damaged, but any ideas on what this is? 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: Thanks!
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From the album: North Sulphur River
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From the album: North Sulphur River
Small vertebra. -
From the album: North Sulphur River
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From the album: North Sulphur River
Small vertebra. -
Sorry I have been crazy busy lately and unable to post. Here's a few of Northeast Texas finds my last couple of trips. Pleisosaur partial girdle, silver spoon, artifacts, xiphactinus tooth, mosasaur verts, old door knob, enchodus jaws, old hard hat, old bottles, ammonite, exogyra and my first crocodile scute.
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I had a great half day at the North Sulphur River Texas before the rain got me. I found a mix of everything to include artifacts, Xiphactinus vert, swordfish tooth, coprolite, turtle shell, partially rooted mosasaur tooth, killer mosasaur paddle bone, Enchodus jaws, shark teeth and old toys. My buddy racked up on mosasaur verts.
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From the album: North Sulphur River Texas
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From the album: North Sulphur River Texas
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