Masonk Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) This was my first winter fossil hunting in NJ (or anywhere, as a matter of fact). Definitely a different experience from summer and fall. Less people, and much better fossils! Although the people I have run into were pretty devoted, which I can appreciate. Thought I would document my 4 hunts between December and this past weekend. First up, 12/16. On of my favorite Cretaceous brooks. Found an awesome variety of fossils, one of which turned out to be a Theropod tooth! Group Shot Devonian glacier erratic with Crinoids, Bryozoan and Brachiopod or Bivalve impressions. Gastropod Steinkern Ammonite Steinkern Crustacean claw piece A. phasolus Crusher Tooth Enchodus sp. Tooth w/Jaw fragment Squalicorax sp. (Crow Shark) A. kopingensis (Mackerel Shark) Theropod Tooth Edited February 13 by Masonk 1 19 Eric Instagram - @philly_fossil_collector Reddit Community - r/MidAtlanticFossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brevicollis Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Nice finds! The theropod tooth is nice, has it been identfied so far? My account and something about me : My still growing collection : My paleoart : Im just a guy who really loves fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masonk Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 (edited) A little bout with Covid at the end of the 2023 into the beginning of 2024, coupled with weather not cooperating, my next visit wasn't until 1/24. Again, I was back at my favorite Cretaceous spot. Some highlights include my first confirmed piece of Turtle material from NJ, and my first pathological tooth. Group Shot Gastropod Steinkern Crustacean Claw Piece A. phasolus Crusher Tooth - Pycnodont Fish A. phasolus Crusher Tooth - Pycnodont Fish Enchodus sp. Tooth Enchodus sp. Tooth w/Jaw Piece Enchodus sp. Tooth w/Jaw Piece S. texanus (Goblin Shark) S. texanus (Goblin Shark) - Pathological Tooth S. texanus (Goblin Shark) A. kopingensis (Mackerel Shark) C. appendiculata (Mackerel Shark) Squalicorax sp. (Crow Shark) Turtle Peripheral Shell Bone Possible Mosasaur or Croc Tooth Fragment Edited February 13 by Masonk 2 11 1 Eric Instagram - @philly_fossil_collector Reddit Community - r/MidAtlanticFossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masonk Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 18 minutes ago, Brevicolis said: Nice finds! The theropod tooth is nice, has it been identfied so far? Thanks! I took it to the NJ State Museum. Curator confirmed Theropod, however was unable to confirm species. Dryptosaurus is one of the confirmed species previously found in the area. Eric Instagram - @philly_fossil_collector Reddit Community - r/MidAtlanticFossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masonk Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 (edited) Next trip was on 2/5. Day started out cooler than previous trips, so mostly surface hunting at first. Which worked out well because I found two vertebra and my largest Squalicorax tooth to date. Group Shot Rugose Coral Steinkern (Devonian) Favosites Coral (Devonian) Crustacean Claw Piece Crustacean Claw Piece Enchodus sp. Tooth Ischyodus (Chimaera) Jaw Fragment Squalicorax sp. Squalicorax sp. Shark Vertabra Shark Vertabra A. kopingensis (Mackerel Shark) C. appendiculata (Mackerel Shark) Edited February 13 by Masonk 1 13 Eric Instagram - @philly_fossil_collector Reddit Community - r/MidAtlanticFossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Hi, Beautiful crushers (triturators) of chimera ! Coco 1 ---------------------- OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici Un Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Great report(s) and excellent photography! Thanks for posting. Good to see someone getting out there. 1 4 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 IPFOTM -- MAY - 2024 _________________________________________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masonk Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 (edited) And this past weekend, I took a trip out on Saturday, 2/10. Started out in the Cretaceous, and ended my day in the Eocene. Found a nice Enchodus jaw fragment with multiple teeth in place and a whopper of a lateral Goblin Shark tooth. Eocene was a tough hunt as always, but I ran into another collector while out and about, and hunted for a couple hours together. Good times, and he gave me some tidbits on finding NJ points. Group shot Rugose Coral Steinkern (Devonian) Favosites Coral (Devonian) Crustacean Claw Piece A. phasolus Crusher Tooth - Pycnodont Fish Enchodus sp. Jaw w/Teeth Enchodus sp. Tooth I. mira (saw Skate) - Rostral Tooth S. texanus (Goblin Shark) A. kopingensis (Mackerel Shark) S. Kaupi (Crow Shark) Unidentified - Bone or petrified wood (fairly certain top is bone) Eocene V. perantiqua (Bivalve) Carcharias sp. Bone or Petrified Wood? Edited February 13 by Masonk 14 Eric Instagram - @philly_fossil_collector Reddit Community - r/MidAtlanticFossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPrice Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) Last pics...I love to throw out whatever comes to mind right or wrong. I say wood..possibly Palm species? Thanks for getting out there and motivating the rest of us. I went out the end of January for a Cretaceous ammonite hunt. Crossing the mountain pass my car thermometer dropped to 9 F degrees. I thought - oh boy, big mistake. But the high altitude sunny day on the other side of the mountains warmed up to a balmy 47 F. Mostly surface hunting, only one dig with half frozen soil. Soon , very soon we'll thaw out and get out there. Amazing finds, congrats ! To borrow and play on words from the movie " Jaws " ... 'you're gonna need a bigger display case!' Edited February 13 by SPrice 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patelinho7 Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Great finds and great photos, as usual! Glad to see some great productivity from East Coast Cretaceous. You've reminded me to get my rear moving to post my own trip reports from January. Keep up the good work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey P Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Congratulations on all of those finds and excellent photos. Wow! A therapod tooth! Those are well beyond rare in New Jersey. I liked all those crustacean pincers and fish jaw parts, especially the E. jaw with the teeth. Marvelous! Thanks for posting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Excellent photography! Thanks for the report. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 1 Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masonk Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 1 hour ago, SPrice said: Last pics...I love to throw out whatever comes to mind right or wrong. I say wood..possibly Palm species? Thanks for getting out there and motivating the rest of us. I went out the end of January for a Cretaceous ammonite hunt. Crossing the mountain pass my car thermometer dropped to 9 F degrees. I thought - oh boy, big mistake. But the high altitude sunny day on the other side of the mountains warmed up to a balmy 47 F. Mostly surface hunting, only one dig with half frozen soil. Soon , very soon we'll thaw out and get out there. Amazing finds, congrats ! To borrow and play on words from the movie " Jaws " ... 'you're gonna need a bigger display case!' Thanks! I immediately thought bone when I found the piece, but I'm still a novice. A few other suggested wood, which after looking online, I can see that as well. Ooof, 9 degrees! That's rough. I bet there wasn't another soul in sight. Glad the sun saved the day! Has been my saving grace on most of my winter trips. LOL I'm up to 8 Riker style cases. Maxed out my Cretaceous shark tooth case. Going to have to separate them out by species. I've been giving away little sample fossil kits to friends for their kids. I do a little print out with photos of the fossils and ID's. Kids love it (most do), and it helps keep me somewhat in check. 2 Eric Instagram - @philly_fossil_collector Reddit Community - r/MidAtlanticFossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masonk Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 1 hour ago, Fossildude19 said: Great report(s) and excellent photography! Thanks for posting. Good to see someone getting out there. Thank you! Appreciate it! Eric Instagram - @philly_fossil_collector Reddit Community - r/MidAtlanticFossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masonk Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 1 hour ago, Coco said: Hi, Beautiful crushers (triturators) of chimera ! Coco Thanks, Coco! Eric Instagram - @philly_fossil_collector Reddit Community - r/MidAtlanticFossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masonk Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 1 hour ago, patelinho7 said: Great finds and great photos, as usual! Glad to see some great productivity from East Coast Cretaceous. You've reminded me to get my rear moving to post my own trip reports from January. Keep up the good work! Thanks! Appreciate it! Ironically, I read another members trip report, and it reminded me I hadn't posted in a while lol 1 Eric Instagram - @philly_fossil_collector Reddit Community - r/MidAtlanticFossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masonk Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 35 minutes ago, Jeffrey P said: Congratulations on all of those finds and excellent photos. Wow! A therapod tooth! Those are well beyond rare in New Jersey. I liked all those crustacean pincers and fish jaw parts, especially the E. jaw with the teeth. Marvelous! Thanks for posting. Thank you, Jeffrey. I was beyond ecstatic when the Theropod tooth was confirmed. I wasn't sure what it was at first (actually thought it might be a talon), and some local collectors suggested Mosasaur. A few folks suggested Theropod, and a quick trip to the museum confirmed. Love taking close-ups of the Crustacean claws. They're always very "ornate" looking. Eric Instagram - @philly_fossil_collector Reddit Community - r/MidAtlanticFossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masonk Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 35 minutes ago, Mark Kmiecik said: Excellent photography! Thanks for the report. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks, Mark! Eric Instagram - @philly_fossil_collector Reddit Community - r/MidAtlanticFossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjohn170 Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 What a great group of finds, and amazing photos! Thanks for sharing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masonk Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 3 hours ago, Bjohn170 said: What a great group of finds, and amazing photos! Thanks for sharing! Thank you! Eric Instagram - @philly_fossil_collector Reddit Community - r/MidAtlanticFossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andúril Flame of the West Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Looks like you've amassed quite a collection there and developed some fantastic photography skills to showcase it. A huge congratulations on the theropod tooth! A very rare find and quite inspirational for any who hope to find dinosaurian remains here on the east coast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Thanks for sharing your finds. I'm just curious and wanting to learn. What does the "A" stand for in A.phasolus? I tried googling that but other than beans, came up with null results. 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 37 minutes ago, Ludwigia said: Thanks for sharing your finds. I'm just curious and wanting to learn. What does the "A" stand for in A.phasolus? I tried googling that but other than beans, came up with null results. It is Anomoeodus phaseolus. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masonk Posted February 16 Author Share Posted February 16 11 hours ago, Ludwigia said: Thanks for sharing your finds. I'm just curious and wanting to learn. What does the "A" stand for in A.phasolus? I tried googling that but other than beans, came up with null results. 10 hours ago, Al Dente said: It is Anomoeodus phaseolus. Oops! I missed a letter, and unfortunately I copied and pasted for each entry. Sorry for any confusion! 1 Eric Instagram - @philly_fossil_collector Reddit Community - r/MidAtlanticFossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masonk Posted February 16 Author Share Posted February 16 (edited) 18 hours ago, Andúril Flame of the West said: Looks like you've amassed quite a collection there and developed some fantastic photography skills to showcase it. A huge congratulations on the theropod tooth! A very rare find and quite inspirational for any who hope to find dinosaurian remains here on the east coast. Thanks! It's been pretty crazy the past 8 months since I started collecting. Definitely not he hobby I thought I'd be taking a dive into. Not because I never wanted to, but because I didn't think I could, living where I live. And of all the things I never thought I'd find, Theropod tooth would be #1, especially in NJ. Edited February 16 by Masonk Eric Instagram - @philly_fossil_collector Reddit Community - r/MidAtlanticFossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now