Finally Found A Honey Hole! Central Texas

[JamieLynn]

I havn't been fossil hunting a very long time....I've only been really serious about if for the last 6 years. And in Central Texas, there ARE a lot of fossils, but it is hard to find a new spot that has not already come under the hunting radar of the many fossil hunters in this state! And some of them have been at it for a LONG time so they've usually found all the really good spots! Which is one of the reasons I love the Paleo Society of Austin, because I learned of some of these good spots from them....they are typically still productive, if not over hunted, so I love finding stuff there. BUT....

 

I've been hoping to FIND A NEW SPOT. Somewhere no one has found, at least not that I know of in my limited engagement with fossil hunters in this area. New hunting grounds are far and few between unless you are near an area that is being built upon, and there are some of those, definitely. but not near me. However, I'd been finding interesting "potholes" of Del Rio Formation in a local river and the other day, I decided to go a little further upstream than I normally do and LO AND BEHOLD.....the motherload! A whole wall of the grey blue mud I'd been looking for! Now, whether it was productive or not was the next question. There were millions of Ram's Horn Oysters (Ilymatogyra arietina). Maybe a billion. It's hard to count that high. A lot, suffice it to say. So, was there anything other than oysters?? After a bit of trying to see past the oysters, I found a good sign: a little Plicatula bivalve. They are lovely little cat paw looking oysters. 

 

A little more searching and I found one of the things I was hoping to find - a heteromorph ammonite called Mariella worthensis. So that gave me a big clue that I had indeed found the Del Rio Formation that I had found chunks of further downstream. 

What's interesting is it is very similar in fauna to the Waco Research Pit stuff, but with more oysters and less of all the other stuff typically found there, so it is not quite as productive as the Waco site, but it's yielding some nice stuff. I havn't found any Cretolamna shark teeth or Goniophorus echinoids yet (but I have found plates and spines of Gonio, so they are there somewhere....). 

 

So I hauled home a bucket of dirt to look for the little stuff and I found some really lovely tiny things!! 

The next week I went again, trying to get a little hunting in before the REAL summer heat set in (we've had 45 days of over 100 degree temps. It's been brutal, even to use "used to hot summer" Texans). 

And Happy Day - I found a nice "large" ammonite Otoscaphites subevolutus and a very nice Mariella (the "biggest" I've collected so far), and something interesting, what I would not have known to look for except a friend clued me in that I might find tracks in this formation....and I did! An arthropod I'm assuming.  And of course, I took home another bucket of matrix! 

 

1/2 inch Otoscaphites subevolutus

Mariella worthensis 3/4 inch

 

Tracks

 

Here are some of the nice micro matrix finds. Lots of tiny crab claws! And the floating Crinoid Roveocrinus....

 

 

 

 

Some neat little gastropods:

 

 

 

but my favorite thing to find is the starfish stuff. In prior spots I have found more brittlestar stuff, but here, not so much. These I think are regular asteroidea fragments. Nothing so great as a whole one...YET!

 

 

 

I did find one little shark tooth - possibly Leptostyrax? 

 

And one final nice find that is sadly only a section - an ammonite Engonoceras serpentinum  - which in all honesty, I didn't even realize what it was till I go home and cleaned it up. I thought it was just a chunk of bivalve till I saw the sutures! 

 

 

Unfortunately, I am not going to post any pics of the area because I want to keep it to myself for a little while at least. I know there are people always searching for signs of a new spot...heck, I was one of them till I figured out how to read a geological map. Someday I'll post some pics of the river...it's quite pretty.  Hopefully my honey hole will continue to surprise me! 

 

 

[grandpa]

29 minutes ago, JamieLynn said:

I am not going to post any pics of the area because I want to keep it to myself

Absolutely!!  Wise decision.

[debivort]

congratulations, lovely spot and finds!

[Mikrogeophagus]

Congrats! Del Rio is such an awesome fm. Paraptychodus, Paraisurus, Cretodus, and super rare inverts are among the possibilities. Keep up the good work

[Wrangellian]

Yay! Great to find a spot that hasn't been picked over by others, isn't it? Most spots only need one previous collector to be deprived of all the good stuff, it seems.

I hope you're bringing home a few extra Ilymatogyras since there are so many, tho I guess you've got tons already from other places? 

[JamieLynn]

@Wrangellian  They are so plentiful in a few spots I frequent that yes, I have JARS full. I still love them...they are one of my favorite fossils and I can't help but pick up at least a few each time I go! This is one from the last time I was out...I like the striations on it...kind of unusual.

[JohnJ]

I'm happy for you, Jamie!  Spots like that are earned and the rewards are sweeter.  

[patelinho7]

Great to hear that your hard work has paid off! Also good of you to consider showing pictures of your site someday, despite wholly deserving the all the fruits of your labor. Sharing is caring 

[Ludwigia]

Yay!  Congratulations on your honey hole and have fun digging up more treasures!

[digit]

Congratulations! Well earned.

 

Honey holes are way more precious than any fossil you'll find there. My recommendation would be to keep any photos of the area limited to nice in-situ imagery or maybe images of the exposure of the blue-gray mud. It may be a pretty site but photos of the landscape may just be too telling and could give away the keys to this kingdom. We've seen lots of nice landscape images of hunting areas before on the forum and we'll simply have to take your word for it an imagine this place is as pleasant on the eye as it is exciting for the brain. Happy that you are investigating it at a micro level as well and being rewarded there too. Look forward to seeing more of what comes from your new favorite spot.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[JustPlainPetrified]

19 hours ago, JamieLynn said:

@Wrangellian  They are so plentiful in a few spots I frequent that yes, I have JARS full. I still love them...they are one of my favorite fossils and I can't help but pick up at least a few each time I go! This is one from the last time I was out...I like the striations on it...kind of unusual.

Very nice!

[Mark Kmiecik]

Those who work hardest seem to have the best luck. I wonder if anyone has studied this correlation.  Congratulations on your honey hole.

[DPS Ammonite]

19 hours ago, JamieLynn said:

@Wrangellian  They are so plentiful in a few spots I frequent that yes, I have JARS full. I still love them...they are one of my favorite fossils and I can't help but pick up at least a few each time I go! This is one from the last time I was out...I like the striations on it...kind of unusual.

I especially like the ones with both shells which suggests that they were rapidly buried in a sudden event. 
 

Have you found any that still have clearly visible color patterns? Yours may still have traces.

[Tidgy's Dad]

Nice finds. 

Nice spot.

 

[JamieLynn]

Thanks y'all!  I am just waiting for this heat to break a bit,,,,supposedly a cool front is coming through next week and hopefully the mornings will be a little more pleasant! I can't wait to get out there and really spend some time. 

[Rock Hound]

23 hours ago, JamieLynn said:

I havn't been fossil hunting a very long time....I've only been really serious about if for the last 6 years. And in Central Texas, there ARE a lot of fossils, but it is hard to find a new spot that has not already come under the hunting radar of the many fossil hunters in this state! And some of them have been at it for a LONG time so they've usually found all the really good spots! Which is one of the reasons I love the Paleo Society of Austin, because I learned of some of these good spots from them....they are typically still productive, if not over hunted, so I love finding stuff there. BUT....

 

I've been hoping to FIND A NEW SPOT. Somewhere no one has found, at least not that I know of in my limited engagement with fossil hunters in this area. New hunting grounds are far and few between unless you are near an area that is being built upon, and there are some of those, definitely. but not near me. However, I'd been finding interesting "potholes" of Del Rio Formation in a local river and the other day, I decided to go a little further upstream than I normally do and LO AND BEHOLD.....the motherload! A whole wall of the grey blue mud I'd been looking for! Now, whether it was productive or not was the next question. There were millions of Ram's Horn Oysters (Ilymatogyra arietina). Maybe a billion. It's hard to count that high. A lot, suffice it to say. So, was there anything other than oysters?? After a bit of trying to see past the oysters, I found a good sign: a little Plicatula bivalve. They are lovely little cat paw looking oysters. 

 

A little more searching and I found one of the things I was hoping to find - a heteromorph ammonite called Mariella worthensis. So that gave me a big clue that I had indeed found the Del Rio Formation that I had found chunks of further downstream. 

What's interesting is it is very similar in fauna to the Waco Research Pit stuff, but with more oysters and less of all the other stuff typically found there, so it is not quite as productive as the Waco site, but it's yielding some nice stuff. I havn't found any Cretolamna shark teeth or Goniophorus echinoids yet (but I have found plates and spines of Gonio, so they are there somewhere....). 

 

So I hauled home a bucket of dirt to look for the little stuff and I found some really lovely tiny things!! 

The next week I went again, trying to get a little hunting in before the REAL summer heat set in (we've had 45 days of over 100 degree temps. It's been brutal, even to use "used to hot summer" Texans). 

And Happy Day - I found a nice "large" ammonite Otoscaphites subevolutus and a very nice Mariella (the "biggest" I've collected so far), and something interesting, what I would not have known to look for except a friend clued me in that I might find tracks in this formation....and I did! An arthropod I'm assuming.  And of course, I took home another bucket of matrix! 

 

1/2 inch Otoscaphites subevolutus

Mariella worthensis 3/4 inch

 

Tracks

 

Here are some of the nice micro matrix finds. Lots of tiny crab claws! And the floating Crinoid Roveocrinus....

 

 

 

 

Some neat little gastropods:

 

 

 

but my favorite thing to find is the starfish stuff. In prior spots I have found more brittlestar stuff, but here, not so much. These I think are regular asteroidea fragments. Nothing so great as a whole one...YET!

 

 

 

I did find one little shark tooth - possibly Leptostyrax? 

 

And one final nice find that is sadly only a section - an ammonite Engonoceras serpentinum  - which in all honesty, I didn't even realize what it was till I go home and cleaned it up. I thought it was just a chunk of bivalve till I saw the sutures! 

 

 

Unfortunately, I am not going to post any pics of the area because I want to keep it to myself for a little while at least. I know there are people always searching for signs of a new spot...heck, I was one of them till I figured out how to read a geological map. Someday I'll post some pics of the river...it's quite pretty.  Hopefully my honey hole will continue to surprise me! 

 

 

It will be interesting to see, everything you are able to aquire from that site; after a few more trips.  Sometimes you may find more of one type of fossil, and sometimes you may find more of another type.  After a few trips, you will get a good understanding of what that site has to offer.  If you ever decide to share that spot; find someone relatively close to you, and offer to trade outings with someone who can introduce you to another good spot.  

[grandpa]

17 minutes ago, Rock Hound said:

If you ever decide to share that spot; find someone relatively close to you, and offer to trade outings with someone who can introduce you to another good spot.  

[JamieLynn]

hahhahah! You are indeed close to me @grandpa !!

[digit]

Just be really careful of sharing with others and if you do make explicit the need for not re-sharing with more folks or hitting the site without you there (as discoverer of the honey hole). Most fossil hunters who've been hunting long enough have stories about mislaid trust and sites being overshared or revisited without permission and stripped.

 

It's awesome to discover a honey hole but super disappointing to have it exploited by those who don't understand how rare they are.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[JamieLynn]

@digit  Yes indeed. I have heard quite a few stories of exactly that happening.  I appreciate all of y'alls advice! 

[digit]

Definitely best to keep it on the down-low till you know what this spot can produce (and then maybe on the DL for good).

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Captcrunch227]

Great writing, that was a fun read. 
 

I am glad you’ve got yourself a nice little honey hole. Nothing better than your own personal spot. Hopefully you find some more goodies that we can read about in the future!

[Ironhead42]

Awesome job Jamie!! Fantastic finds!

 

[sharko69]

Great finds. Keep your friends close and you hunting sites even closer.

[digit]

Worthy of printing on a t-shirt.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken