Midlothian Tx Quarry Trip W/ The Dallas Paleontological Society

[mikecable]

Gary and I had the opportunity to hunt for Cretaceous fossils from the Atco member of the Austin Chalk formation at the TXI cement quarry just west of Midlothian, TX.

I was thankful to DPS for the opportunity to collect from this quarry, since only a handful of people get to hunt it each year.

But I was doubly thankful because I had spinal fusion surgery at S1-L5 on Dec. 7th. Gary and I managed two short trips--Callahan County and Wilson's Clay Pit, but this was the first full day trip I'd attempted.

I didn't venture far from the car. And I didn't find anything yet to show you.

But I will have finds. I spent my three hours turning big rocks rich in phosphate nodules into smaller rocks. I loaded them into sandbags, and hobbled on my cane several times back to the car. I came home with a about 25 kilograms of matrix very rich in micro fossils. I'm breaking down some of that matrix right now.

I'm sure I'll be posting pics of tiny teeth in the next week or two.

Edited March 3, 2013 by mikecable

[Uncle Siphuncle]

glad you got out, mike. i didnt find anything today either!

[NSRhunter]

Was a fun trip overall with you guys!!!! Some lucky people found killer stuff!!!!

[BobWill]

Those Midlothian quarries are always exciting to hunt. I know you'll find some teeth in those rocks, maybe not just micros. I still have some chunks from 2 years ago I've never broken down yet. Who me? Procrastinate? Nooo

[vertman]

It was good to get into the the quarry once again. I was able to attend my first DPS trip in almost a decade. Wow, how the membership has changed. If not for Roger and Linda Farish I would not have known a single person in attendance. I, too, did not find too much. I managed a nice Suqlicorax falcatus and a couple of slightly less than perfect Cretodus crassidens. Someone found an amazingly huge and beautiful Ptychodus latissimus. It was by far the nicest tooth I saw on Saturday. Thanks again to Polly for setting up and running the trip!

[Boneman007]

It was good to get into the the quarry once again. I was able to attend my first DPS trip in almost a decade. Wow, how the membership has changed. If not for Roger and Linda Farish I would not have known a single person in attendance. I, too, did not find too much. I managed a nice Suqlicorax falcatus and a couple of slightly less than perfect Cretodus crassidens. Someone found an amazingly huge and beautiful Ptychodus latissimus. It was by far the nicest tooth I saw on Saturday. Thanks again to Polly for setting up and running the trip!

It had to be better than our last trip out!

(We were hitting old sites, and found that 100% of the sites we anticipated hitting had been reclaimed. - 10 hours of fossil hunting, 1 bivalve!)

[vertman]

It had to be better than our last trip out!

(We were hitting old sites, and found that 100% of the sites we anticipated hitting had been reclaimed. - 10 hours of fossil hunting, 1 bivalve!)

C'mon man, what could be better than 10 fossil-free hours with the old Vertman? Besides, I did find 2 ammonites (Oxytropidoceras and Engonoceras).

[Boneman007]

C'mon man, what could be better than 10 fossil-free hours with the old Vertman? Besides, I did find 2 ammonites (Oxytropidoceras and Engonoceras).

YOU found...

[NSRhunter]

I was the one who found the peach colored Cretoxhyrina tooth and the black cretodus. My mom found a mortoni on the way back to the car .

[vertman]

I was the one who found the peach colored Cretoxhyrina tooth and the black cretodus. My mom found a mortoni on the way back to the car .

I remember you. Those are some very nice teeth you found, very nice indeed! Nicely done!

[jwcounts]

I did OK. Found this neat little fish jaw and a couple small teeth, and some pretty big pyrite nodules. Some people found some big teeth though. And that mosasaur tooth was really nice....

[Texas Fossil Hound]

I did OK. Found this neat little fish jaw and a couple small teeth, and some pretty big pyrite nodules. Some people found some big teeth though. And that mosasaur tooth was really nice....

That looks like an Enchodus jaw. I am cleaning one similar to it right now. They are always very cool to find all together. How long is the jaw?

jon

[jwcounts]

yeah, it was tenatively ID'ed as Enchodus. it's about 2 cm. Pretty small.

[NSRhunter]

Thank you Vertman. Very nice jaw you got John.

[CAT B]

On 3/4/2013 at 8:27 PM, BobWill said:

Those Midlothian quarries are always exciting to hunt. I know you'll find some teeth in those rocks, maybe not just micros. I still have some chunks from 2 years ago I've never broken down yet. Who me? Procrastinate? Nooo

Well, it seems all us paleo nuts have been preparing for the pandemic for years:  Maybe these shut downs will give us a chance to actually go through some of our backlogs of rocks!! 

 

My last visit to POC, I actually hauled  2 bags of gravel home, as I was unsure when I’d have my next chance to visit. So, if I get jonesing for a hunt while on self-quarter, I’ve got a nice bag to sort thru.... Maybe I’ll even break out my loupe & look for all those skate & ray teeth that are purportedly there! (That I’m normally too impatient to bother with!) Finally got around to buying “Shark & Rays of Texas Cretaceous” and can’t wait to see where I am on it’s check list of species!

 

Just trying to put a positive spin on things!  Stay safe, stay well my friends.

- CATB ... Midwest Mudlark 

 

#covid-19 #POC #backlog