It was hiding for years!

[FossilDAWG]

Back in 2020 I went with a university paleontology class to a quarry in Alabama where the Mississippian Bangor Formation is exposed.  Much of the formation is massive pure limestone, which is used for cement production.  However at the top of the quarry there are thin limestone layers separated by shale.  As this is unsuitable for cement, it is stripped off and discarded adjacent to the quarry, and we are allowed to search this.  Crinoids and blastoids are common finds, and other fossils including chondrichthyans ("shark" teeth and spines) are found occasionally.  On the 2020 trip I found a partial large edrioasteroid, the first the professor had seen and they had been leading trips to the quarry for many years.  (BTW edrioasteroids are known from other Bangor exposures, just not this quarry).

 

Last weekend I was trimming up some fossils with a tile saw to make space in the cabinet.  The edrioasteroid was still on a fairly big slab partly wrapped in aluminum foil.  The back had a centimeter or so layer of dried mud and broken down shale covering it.  Before I started to cut up the slab I decided to clean off the back, in part to make cutting less messy, and also just to make sure there wasn't anything interesting on that side.  In the past I have cut right through good fossils because I didn't know that they were there.

 

As I took a toothbrush to the mud and broken down shale, a bit of black appeared.  This was interesting, as about the only thing in these rocks that is black are the fish teeth.  A bit more scrubbing, and a beautiful Chomatodus tooth appeared, the best I have seen personally.  There is a small bit (maybe ~2 mm) missing on one end, but otherwise it's all there and perfectly exposed.  The taxonomy of these fish is quite confused, and even experts are declining to put species names on specimens until the genus is properly revised, so I am labeling this specimen as Chomatodus sp.  Just for fun, I will be entering this one for Fossil of the Month.

 

The edrioasteroid (Hypsiclavus huntsvillensis):

 

 

The tooth (Chomatodus sp):

 

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Both of these gorgeous specimens in one rock!

Plus some pretty nice fenestellids.

Wow!

[FossilDAWG]

I'm surprised you missed the brachiopod next to the tooth.  I do have to get sharper photos though.

 

Don

[Tidgy's Dad]

Yes, and I need to get better glasses.

[piranha]

Zuppa di Fossili....Congrats!

[Jaybot]

Wow, very nice tooth. 

[ziggycardon]

What an absolute beauty!

[erose]

Cooly Cool!  it's always a bonus when you find fossils already in your collection you didn't see when you took them home.  I found an edrio on a brach from the Cincinnatian that. was covered in mud as well. It was years after I brought it home.

 

[Nimravis]

Very nice, it is always great to find something special.

[old bones]

What a gorgeous tooth! Neat surprise.

[Danielb]

Thats a beauty, best finds are on accident.

[Psittacosaur9]

Awesome!