Fort Worth formation construction site

[Shaun-DFW Fossils]

I finally went over to a slow-moving construction site that has been in process for weeks, if not longer. With little hope due to a lot of bigger rocks being hauled off, I walked along the elevated slopes of plowed dirt and smaller rocks that remained. To my surprise, I found some nice Fort Worth formation echinoids (holaster and macraster sp) and some small ammonites of the mortoniceras sp. I also found a very well fed nautiloid, I’m nicknaming Fat Boy Lloyd (you know, respectfully like he’s a rapper). It weighed in at 5 lb 10 ounces! I thinks it’s paracymatoceras species given the visible lines that are very close together. I also found what I think is a nicely ornate trigonia clam. Tarrant county, Texas.

Edited February 28 by Shaun-DFW Fossils
Added pics

[trilobites_are_awesome]

Amazing!

I love your trip reports!

[Shaun-DFW Fossils]

58 minutes ago, trilobites_are_awesome said:

Amazing!

I love your trip reports!

Thank you James! I love it when I get lucky on the hunt 

[Ironhead42]

Very nice! Great nickname!

[PeterM]

Wow that is cool!

[hadrosauridae]

Great saves!  Every time I drive through the DFW area, I want to stop and search every construction area I pass, but never have time. I know they are destroying so many great fossils, and all the spoils are going to a landfill.

[Jeffrey P]

Great score on a temporary fossil site. Love your finds, especially the bivalves and echinoids. The Trigonia is a killer. Congratulations and thanks for sharing. 

[Shaun-DFW Fossils]

3 hours ago, Jeffrey P said:

Great score on a temporary fossil site. Love your finds, especially the bivalves and echinoids. The Trigonia is a killer. Congratulations and thanks for sharing. 

 

3 hours ago, hadrosauridae said:

Great saves!  Every time I drive through the DFW area, I want to stop and search every construction area I pass, but never have time. I know they are destroying so many great fossils, and all the spoils are going to a landfill.

Thank you! I don’t have much experience with construction sites, because the timing usually has to be fairly exact, so I was happy to save what I saved. I’ll keep my eye out for more!

[Jaybot]

Interesting, I’ve never looked at hunting construction sites before.  I like the line patterns on that hefty nautiloid, very neat.  Thanks for sharing 

[Andúril Flame of the West]

A slew of nice finds saved from an unfortunate demise in a landfill. I have considered investigating some construction sites in my area (sometimes it seems like the best way to access otherwise obscured fossiliferous strata) but have never tried doing so. Did you simply search through the overburden at the construction site or get specific permission from someone who was on site?

[Shaun-DFW Fossils]

3 hours ago, Andúril Flame of the West said:

A slew of nice finds saved from an unfortunate demise in a landfill. I have considered investigating some construction sites in my area (sometimes it seems like the best way to access otherwise obscured fossiliferous strata) but have never tried doing so. Did you simply search through the overburden at the construction site or get specific permission from someone who was on site?

I bought a yellow construction vest and I started walking the property like I knew what I was doing. lol! I did stay some distance from other workers. The way this site is currently being developed, I am away from the main development area, instead hanging around a huge man made mountain of rock debris and dirt that has been piled up on the outskirts ideally, I would have been present during the initial digging, but it’s been many weeks since then, so I went to the spot where everything was dumped (for now). Sometimes they haul away rock so fast you’ll miss it if you aren’t there a day or two surrounding the initial dig..I’m hoping to find some fresh digs one of these days!

[automech]

"I bought a yellow construction vest" Great Idea! I'll have to keep that in mind.

If you had an open area on your property, could you ask them for some "fill dirt" to bring back to your house? Why let it disappear?

[Shaun-DFW Fossils]

On 3/8/2024 at 11:04 AM, automech said:

"I bought a yellow construction vest" Great Idea! I'll have to keep that in mind.

If you had an open area on your property, could you ask them for some "fill dirt" to bring back to your house? Why let it disappear?

That’s a good idea! I think they end up using a lot of the rock and dirt removed for other purposes or they sell it, I know they pulverize the limestone and I assume that gets sold when they’re done

[Shaun-DFW Fossils]

We had a heavy rain, so I went back to the same site for the 3rd time. It was a half day affair, I ended up with about 25 mortoniceras ammonites (one of them is over a foot wide), a box full of macraster echinoids, a group of echinoids, and a nice clam (amphidonte walkeri), as well as a gastropod pleuritoma robusta. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

I also love your trip reports.

Great finds too!

[BobC]

This post reminds me how blessed we Central Texas  people are when it comes to marine fossils. Love the Macrasters, especially

[Shaun-DFW Fossils]

3 hours ago, BobC said:

This post reminds me how blessed we Central Texas  people are when it comes to marine fossils. Love the Macrasters, especially

Thanks Bob, I agree!