JamieLynn Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 You may or may not know that I have been obsessing over finding a mosasaur vertebra and tooth. I am lucky to live in Texas where fossils are plentiful in some areas but the most productive mosasaur area is still 6 hours drive from me. So I don't get there often and the few times I have.....no verts or teeth for me. I am not complaining (too much) because I have found other great things in the North Sulphur River, but not the mosie vert or tooth of my dreams. I am lucky to have friends who hunt there regularly who feel sorry for me and give me verts and even a lovely big tooth. But I DIDN'T FIND THEM. I do know that mosie stuff can be found in Central Texas where I live (thanks to @Jared C and his amazing adventures) I know they can be found (although very rarely) in our local creeks and such. So of course I keep an eye out while hunting but with no real hope of finding them. But I hope anyways! Which brings me to today....which I count as part of my birthday weekend (birthday was Friday, but you know.....weekend still counts! ). Went out on a little fossil hunt to a new site that a friend told me about...lots of baculites (which are relatively rare here in Central Texas) and lo and behold.....I FOUND MY VERT! And not two feet away....a little tooth! Mother Nature decided to gift me not just one, but TWO of my bucket list fossil finds today! Granted, they are pretty busted up and the tooth is not complete, but WHO CARES! I FOUND A MOSASAUR VERT AND TOOTH practically in my own backyard!!!! Turns out this little exposure is Ozan Formation and I can't wait to get back out there again....after a good rain! And, to top it off, found a complete ammonite in addition to some lovely gastropods and about a billion baculites. It's no mosie in situ, but I'll take what I am gifted. Thank you Mother Nature!!! 1 22 www.fossil-quest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 First off, Happy Belated Birthday! Secondly, congratulations on finding your Bucket list items! I am very happy for you! I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Kudos and congratulations, Jamie! The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieLynn Posted March 3 Author Share Posted March 3 thanks y'all! www.fossil-quest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Nice finds, JamieLynn! Congratulations, and a Happy Belated Birthday! 1 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...
Fin Lover Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 Congratulations and Happy Birthday! 1 Fin Lover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaybot Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 (edited) I’m happy for you! Nothing like finding something you’ve been looking for so long… seems like the longer something takes to find, the more meaningful it is. Edited March 3 by Jaybot 1 -Jay “The earth doesn't need new continents, but new men.” ― Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared C Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 that's a pretty red tooth, never seen or heard of coloration like that in the Ozan, reminds me of what's expected from the maastrichtian stuff. Nice find! “Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think” -Werner Heisenberg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieLynn Posted March 4 Author Share Posted March 4 @Jared C I have changed my assessment of the formation and I think it's Austin Chalk now. It says Ozan on the Texas USGS website, but according to the stuff I've found there, I am pretty sure its Austin Chalk 2 www.fossil-quest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyvaldez7.jv Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 Happy Birthday and congratulations on your finds! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikrogeophagus Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 Congrats! Nothing better than a mosasaur tooth! The fossils of your site are pretty interesting. I've never seen nautiloids out of the Ozan in Central TX, so maybe that does lend support for this being Austin Chalk as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieLynn Posted March 4 Author Share Posted March 4 @Mikrogeophagus good to know about the nautiloids. I am definitely leaning Austin Chalk, but if so, there are a LOT OF BACULITES there! 1 www.fossil-quest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historianmichael Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 (edited) The color of the matrix and the phosphatic molds remind me of the Corsicana Edited March 4 by historianmichael Follow me on Instagram (@fossil_mike) to check out my personal collection of fossils collected and acquired over more than 15 years of fossil hunting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieLynn Posted March 4 Author Share Posted March 4 @historianmichael yes, it is definitely that same yellowy stuff like Corsicana but none of the fossils I think of as representative of the Corsicana were there, no echinoids at all, no Plicatula bivalves. There were large Exogyra laevisculas, but no crostatas, some small Trigonias which were definitely not castrovillensis but looked more like thoracia which is Austin Chalk. The nautiloid and baculites are the only thing that were the same as Corsicana. But I agree, the matrix is what's really confusing me.....it looks nothing like any Austin Chalk I've encountered. www.fossil-quest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historianmichael Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 29 minutes ago, JamieLynn said: @historianmichael yes, it is definitely that same yellowy stuff like Corsicana but none of the fossils I think of as representative of the Corsicana were there, no echinoids at all, no Plicatula bivalves. There were large Exogyra laevisculas, but no crostatas, some small Trigonias which were definitely not castrovillensis but looked more like thoracia which is Austin Chalk. The nautiloid and baculites are the only thing that were the same as Corsicana. But I agree, the matrix is what's really confusing me.....it looks nothing like any Austin Chalk I've encountered. If you do not have Exogyra costata, you are not in the Maastrichtian, which rules out Corsicana Follow me on Instagram (@fossil_mike) to check out my personal collection of fossils collected and acquired over more than 15 years of fossil hunting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 Well done, congratulation! And Happy Birthday! You can easily have a birthday weekend, my daughters always try to claim the whole month! haha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSCHNELLE Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 It's always fun to find something new at a new site. Congrats! And nice to have that around your birthday time. I'm not an expert on the Ozan by any means. But the buff to yellow-brown color of the matrix in your field pics makes me think of the UT Bureau of Economic Geology designation by Keith Young as "Sprinkle Clay" (Lower Taylor Clay/Marl). I think most of you folks would use the USGS terminology Ozan Formation instead. Back from when I was in my 20's, I experienced directly the kind of fossils that might be found in the Sprinkle. My very limited experience with the Corsicana Marl (aka part of the USGS Navarro Clay Formation) is that it is often gray colored in an unweathered state and can be buff or yellow brown in an exposed and oxidized state. I don't know about the ammonite that you found, but I think that a Mosasaur tooth and vert would be possible in any of the above formations. The Del Rio Clay might also show that kind of buff coloring in Central Texas, but you certainly would NOT find mosasaur material in that formation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilNerd Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 Congrats and Happy Belated Birthday, JamieLynn! The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. -Neil deGrasse Tyson Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpa Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 A very happy birthday to you and congrats on your great finds. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 Hi, Happy birthday late ! 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...
Jeffrey P Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 A very happy birthday indeed. Adding to your collection has to be one of the best ways to celebrate it. Congrats and thanks for sharing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bockryan Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 Gorgeous, love the little ammonite too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie_1971 Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 Congrats! Happy birthday!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemipristis Posted March 12 Share Posted March 12 Congrats! 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' George Santayana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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