vertman Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 It rained hard Sunday morning and some again today so I decided to get out after work. Traffic was terrible and it took me over an hour to get to the spot I wanted to hit. When I got there I found bulldozers had ravaged most of the site. I took a brief look and started to leave but I had been in the truck an hour so I started to explore the remaining exposures. Most of the exposure contains the Austin Chalk. Sometimes, even after a couple of decades of collecting, I learn something. What I learned today is that in the lower part of the Austin Chalk, at least at this one location, is a zone which contains a lot of vertebrate fossils. I would say this zone is about 10-15 feet above the contact with the Basal Atco Formation. In a little more than an hour I was able to find a number of goodies including a nice mosasaur tooth, a Xiphactinus audax fish tooth, several nice shark teeth including Squalicorax falcatus, Scapanorhynchus texanus, and Ptychodus mortoni. A few fish verts turned up as did a small partial mosasaur caudal vert which I believe was injested and pooped out by some long ago predator. It was a good time and I learned something. Now...I have to go back to many Austin sites, find that zone, and see if the vertebrate concentration is an isolated occurence or one which is commonplace in that particular zone. Here are some pictures of the fossils, including in situ shots. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barefootgirl Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 Those are some great finds, congratulations! Is the ptychodus pictured? In formal logic, a contradiction is the signal of defeat: but in the evolution of real knowledge, it marks the first step in progress toward victory. Alfred North Whithead 'Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia!' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertman Posted April 3, 2013 Author Share Posted April 3, 2013 (edited) It is on the bottom right of the group image. I had trouble trying to photo it by itself. It is very small. Here are a couple attempts to show the Ptychodus mortoni tooth. Edited April 3, 2013 by vertman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickNC Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sward Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 Nice collection for an evening after work. Who knows, all of your other Austin Chalk spots may be just as productive. Wouldn't that be nice? SWardSoutheast Missouri (formerly Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX) USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squali Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 Wow there is a lot of vivianite in that zone... It's hard to remember why you drained the swamp when your surrounded by alligators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 good show, richard. the austin chalk is notoriously stingy in south tx as well, but i have grabbed a few ammonites, nautiloids and echs in discrete zones. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 and the shark teeth i find in it are enamel shells with the roots dissolved away. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 Very nice finds! I especially like that mosasaur tooth (been on my fossil "bucket list"). "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 You definitely hit the sweet spot. Love the mosasaur tooth. My first Texas collecting, 25 years ago, was in a spectacularly rich section of the Dessau and Burditt Formations. I flew back to NYC with two grocery bags full of oysters, steinkerns, bones and teeth and more! From that point on I had a hunch I would end up living here. I don't have access to the property any longer and most other Austin Group locations are spotty. But I keep my eye open for new construction sites and almost always find something new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zachj Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 those are some weird look squalicoax, what type of crow shark are they? one day i will find a tooth over 3 inches in good conditon haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertman Posted April 3, 2013 Author Share Posted April 3, 2013 those are some weird look squalicoax, what type of crow shark are they? They are Squalicorax falcatus. I think the ones you see on the east coast are probably mostly Squalicorax pristodontus. They do look pretty different from one another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zachj Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 yeh they are. Ive seen 3 differnt types in my screen but those look like mini megs haha. Wish i could find those here in NC. one day i will find a tooth over 3 inches in good conditon haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 Looks almost like the fossil material I have found at the contact zone between the Austin Chalk and the underlying Eagle Ford complex here in the Dallas area. I haven't found many vertebrate fossils in the Austin Chalk itself (like danwoehr...most of what I find are ammonites and nautiloids with a healthy dose of inoceramid clams thrown in for good measure). -Joe Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakoMeCrazy Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Cool finds. Congrats. That's a really good site; keep at it and see what it will produce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertman Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 Looks almost like the fossil material I have found at the contact zone between the Austin Chalk and the underlying Eagle Ford complex here in the Dallas area. I haven't found many vertebrate fossils in the Austin Chalk itself (like danwoehr...most of what I find are ammonites and nautiloids with a healthy dose of inoceramid clams thrown in for good measure). -Joe I agree with the similarity. This was definitely higher up in the Austin and common Ptychodus species like whipplei were absent completely but I did find the P mortoni at that level. The color of the teeth is also a little different than those found in the Basal Atco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boneman007 Posted April 4, 2013 Share Posted April 4, 2013 Ptychodus mortoni is about to be split into 5 species. The holotype is nothing like what is pictured here. Look for the paper in the next year or so. By the way, not too shabby my friend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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