erose Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 After driving out to the Hill Country west of San Antonio to help friends with house building I had a morning and afternoon to hit some spots I seldom get to collect. They are all rather small and generally never need more than an hour or two each. All were Glen Rose Formation (early Albian). The first can produce some interesting stuff including weird stemless crinoids, two types of heart urchins and large cidarid spines. Found squat. Second is a great spot at the "Salenia Zone" and generally good for lots of neat stuff. Someone beat me to it and I only found found one or two Salenias and not much else. Third is known for micros (you TX folks know it) and again was pre-picked and a waste of time. So final stop was a bit higher up in the Glen Rose at the "Orbitulina Marker Bed" and a tiny little road side spot in a non-discript subdivision. Bingo! It looked virgin. only a hoof print or two and well worked by the last month's rains. Loriolias, heart urchins, at least one other regular urchin, brachiopods! Then I start to find small straight urchin spines, all small and there are no Salenias present...so it has to be Gonipygus. And a few minutes later , sure enough, there it be. Not a great specimen but my ONLY specimen of this genus so far. About that time the phone rang and my sweety was wondering where I was... I went home happy. ...ARGH! Uploads keep failing! And files are not big. What's up? Will try again when I get home from meeting later today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 kudos on your success. i too have only picked up one g. guadalupae. the brachs may be terebratulina (sp) Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Please post pics of the spines as well as I'd like to see how they compare to Salenia spines and cidarid secondary spines. One of my friends recently laid hands on a Goniopygus from the Weno/Pawpaw transition, and its flattened, paddle shaped spines are articulated. Crazy cool. In Texas we don't often get to see articulated spines with our regular echies, so when in zones where multiple species show up, I get a bit confused what spines go with what tests. From your site, it shouldn't be too hard to distinguish between Loriolia and Goniopygus spines. Again, good job. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 (edited) Just got home...first let me try and get the photo to work... Good. Worked that time (what's up moderators? Did exactly the same thing three times this morn'g to no avail.) Dan, the spines are small and I will need some bright sun tomorrow to get decent photos. But I should also be able to clean a few other fossils as well and have a handful of stuff to add to this post. But off-hand the spines at first look like Salenia spines, smooth but appear to taper a bit faster. But then I have never looked closely at the spines on the few articulated rock shop specimens I have seen. I'll be showing them to Danny Harlow here in Austin at one of the next PSA meetings and he might know the differences. Edited April 16, 2012 by erose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 ...(what's up moderators? Did exactly the same thing three times this morn'g to no avail.) Dunno...same 'puter? "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Dunno...same 'puter? Yup. nuttin different than this evening... gremlins most likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Wow, great story with a great ending! Can't wait to see the pics. -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 OK, more photos in batches of two. Although it was almost too bright this morning and the low angle casts hard shadows... These are more from the last site. The Goniopoygus sp. and rest of the urchins: Loriolia rosana, Heteraster obliquatus and a fragment of a Plagiochasma texanum. There are also a few of the "Terabratulid" brachiopods. Second photo shows the usual mix of molluscs and other bits from this layer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Next two: The tiny spines I was finding and a complete Plagiochasma texanum from an earlier visit. This site has also produced Coenholectypus and at least one other regular urchin yet to be cleaned enough for ID. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 (edited) Last two: The first is of the small handful of stuff from the very first stop near Bandera, TX. The heart urchin Pliotoxaster comanchei is common there but it can be hard to find specimens that are not crushed and shattered. I suspect the large spine is from a Leptosalenia texana of which I have found a few at this site, and all large. The second photo is some of the mix from the second site that day. Normally very productive for large Leptosalenias but on this day only two were found, one crushed & one mostly decent. I believe the large heart urchin is Heteraster obliquatus and the other two are Pliotoxaster. The big large round thing is the algae Porocystis globularis, the "scallops" are Neithea (Neitheops) occidentalis, the long dark bivalve is Pinna sp. and think the oyster is one of the Liostrea species. That about does it...let me know if you have any questions. Edited April 17, 2012 by erose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 You've grabbed some rarities. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 You've grabbed some rarities. That's why I go back to that site despite how small it is. A friend took me there once and I will try and not hit it too often for his peace of mind. He has a partial Goniopygus from there as well and Plagiochasma from another site. Most of the brachiopods are poorly preserved but I would still love to find an ID for them. Hey did you notice the band of ribbing near the base of those tiny spines? I didn't see it until I enlarged the photos. Definitely(?) different than Salenia spines I think... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 yes i did notice some surface topography at the base of your spines. in the L./S. texana zone (sorry i'm a slow adopter) i've encountered smooth and "corn cob" spines but never any with basal radial crenulations or "knurling" like yours anywhere in the fm. however i do have some small "juggling pin" shaped spines from the "itty bitty echie spot", and i'm not sure what genus they belong to due to multiple regular echie genera present there, none in my experience w articulated spines. always learning, thanks for the visual. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 I also have a few of those "odd" spines from the micro site but still no Balanocidras? "bowling pin". I've never found a good book or reference with echs and their associated spines identified. I can think of a few obvious ones that are known from lagerstattes. This would be good gallery for the forum: "MIssing Parts Associations" for things like echinoid spines, crinoid columnals, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve71 Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 i justed to tell my better half, that at least i'm not out looking for chicks.arrowheads and fossils less trouble,lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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