Shartooth Hill

[makoken]

Makoken,

If you want to do a TX trip we are hitting Whiskey Bridge on the SW side of College Station a week from Today (next Friday). See MikeD's post on Hunting trips.

Nice thread on STH too!

Anyway, Whiskey Bridge does have teeth, but it takes a good bit of technique, luck and skill with a wire strainer to find them. Most of the teeth are small with the only exception being Makos to about 2 inches. Otherwise, there is a ton of shell material.

The locale is only about 1.5 hours away for you, maybe shorter.

Take 79 east, then 36 north, then 21 east/north. We'll be on the left right before you cross over the Brazos River!

Oh-Man

I would love to hook up on a TX trip, but I wont be back until around the 8-10 of dec. If anyone has anything scheduled for then I'm in!! Thanks for the invite.

[Mudguard]

absolultely,IF you are interested Gaviota beach has some nice mineralized whale bone (which means sharks must have been present. STH is definetly the best place for teeth. I will probably be going out between thnx giving and christmas if you are interested!

Yeah, definitely. Please let me know when you are going; it would be very helpful to go with someone who knows what they are doing!

I'm actually driving from OC to Sacremento for Thanksgiving, so I'm passing through Bakersfield twice. I might give Ant Hill a try on the way back, just because I'm very curious and it's on the way home. But I'm not sure how much success I'll have since I only know the little bit I've been able to glean from the internet and the Gem Trails book.

[makoken]

Yeah, definitely. Please let me know when you are going; it would be very helpful to go with someone who knows what they are doing!

I'm actually driving from OC to Sacremento for Thanksgiving, so I'm passing through Bakersfield twice. I might give Ant Hill a try on the way back, just because I'm very curious and it's on the way home. But I'm not sure how much success I'll have since I only know the little bit I've been able to glean from the internet and the Gem Trails book.

The ant hill location listed in the gems trails book is the place to go. But, when you arrive at the location you now have to hike in. The military style entrenchments will show you where to dig. As you get closer to your trip let me know, if I'm of work we'll go.

[Mudguard]

The ant hill location listed in the gems trails book is the place to go. But, when you arrive at the location you now have to hike in. The military style entrenchments will show you where to dig. As you get closer to your trip let me know, if I'm of work we'll go.

I'm stopping by Ant Hill on Sunday. I'm hoping to get there by 1pm. Made a sieve and got some tools, so I think I'm ready to go.

[makoken]

I'm stopping by Ant Hill on Sunday. I'm hoping to get there by 1pm. Made a sieve and got some tools, so I think I'm ready to go.

I'll be there on sunday also. I have a green jeep commander with TX plates. I'll post my cell # in the window. See ya there !!

[mommabetts]

Ya'll make sure you post pics when you get back, good hunting!!!!!!

[makoken]

Here are 2 pics from STH on sunday. the heavy rains a couple of days earlier made for a lot of digging, before I could get to the bone layer. I'm having some camera problems, but hope fully will post a couple pics tomorrow. I had to split the days finds with a friend. Still came away with a couple nice makos, tiger, and one really nice cow shark tooth along with a couple porpoise teeth.

[Auspex]

That is some different than shark's tooth hunting in the East!

Thanks for the site and in-situ pics; I look forward to more.

[Kratos]

Thanks Makoken for the help at STH, after you left I was able to get acouple nice makos out of your hole.

[Mudguard]

Thanks Ken for your help. Attached is a pic of the shark teeth I found in the short time I was there. The soil was a lot harder and compacted than I was expecting. Next time I'm bringing a pick axe to loosen and break up the soil.

[Auspex]

Bloody awesome!

[mommabetts]

Thanks Ken for your help. Attached is a pic of the shark teeth I found in the short time I was there. The soil was a lot harder and compacted than I was expecting. Next time I'm bringing a pick axe to loosen and break up the soil.

Very nice looking teeth you have there.

[makoken]

Thanks Makoken for the help at STH, after you left I was able to get acouple nice makos out of your hole.

Very cool I'm glad you had some luck. The conditions we not the best after the rains. I cleaned up my teeth, and found a basking shark tooth along with the cow shark ! My camera seems to have died , I'll get a new one this weekend and post some pics. If you can upload a couple of yours I'd love to see'um !!

[makoken]

Thanks Ken for your help. Attached is a pic of the shark teeth I found in the short time I was there. The soil was a lot harder and compacted than I was expecting. Next time I'm bringing a pick axe to loosen and break up the soil.

THat snaggletooth is an exellant find ! although common in some areas. I've only found 2 in my many trips to the hill !!! that's great.

[makoken]

That is some different than shark's tooth hunting in the East!

Thanks for the site and in-situ pics; I look forward to more.

My camera died and I'll pick up a new one this weekend, and upload some pics.

[makoken]

My camera died and I'll pick up a new one this weekend, and upload some pics.

Ipicked up a new camera! the first pic is os the cow shark. I'm not sue if it is notorynchus or hexanchus. they are not that common at STH. The second pic is of makos and tiger sharks. I split my finds with a friend who came along. When he gets his teeth cleaned I'll upload a couple more pics.

[Auspex]

Schweeeet! STH colors are wonderful

[makoken]

Schweeeet! STH colors are wonderful

Thanks the colors are extraordinary. Thats part of the hunting/collecting addiction. That and the exitement of never knowing what you might discover.

[siteseer]

Well what do you know? I had been told that Shark Tooth Hill was closed to hunter now? If not I am glad to hear that. Might need to take a trip to visit my dad and sister in law to Calif. in the spring.

Conflicting statements about Sharktooth Hill lead to confusion for people out of the area and even for locals. First of all, there is an actual hill north of Bakersfield called "Sharktooth Hill." Collectors used to dig there right up to the late 1960's (some just parked there) but it is now owned by a local college which does not allow anyone to collect there. I don't think even any paleontologists have been there since the late 60's/early 70's.

The tooth-bearing bed that runs through it and other hills in the area is called the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed, which is within the upper part of the Round Mountain Silt. Some people say the formation is the Temblor but that is an old name (goes back to at least the 1940's), which is still used mistakenly on occasion by some paleontologists which adds another layer of confusion for anyone trying to make an accurate label. There is a Temblor Formation but it applies only to another unit farther north.

I sounds like makoken knows where to go these days. Most of that land is private and you don't want to push your luck by trespassing. California has a reputation for being liberal, but it doesn't get more conservative than the central part of the state.

[siteseer]

You could go to Lawrence Canyon at Oceanside - a tad younger than Calvert Cliffs or STH, but some of the same sharks...

Bob,

Lawrence Canyon is just on the Pliocene side of the Miocene/Pliocene boundary as far as I was able to judge based on the horse teeth from there. I did some research and looked at the area in the late 90's or maybe 2000-2001. It looked a lot different than how it was described to me by collectors who hunted it in the 70's to early 80's. It was all overgrown and there was a "No Trespassing" sign at one area of access. Even if you could get permission, I'm not sure it would be worth it. Someone told me the area was scheduled to be developed during the 90's but some deal fell through, putting the plan on hold indefinitely.

I've seen some great stuff from there: great whites (C. carcharias) in colors that range from gray to steel blue as well as some brown ones; some other shark teeth (I. oxyrinchus, Carcharhinus, Hexanchus, and even Prionace); some dolphin periotics; seal teeth and bones; bones of an extinct auk; nice Dinohippus teeth of a species close to the transition to Equus.

[siteseer]

Ipicked up a new camera! the first pic is os the cow shark. I'm not sue if it is notorynchus or hexanchus. they are not that common at STH. The second pic is of makos and tiger sharks. I split my finds with a friend who came along. When he gets his teeth cleaned I'll upload a couple more pics.

The cow shark from STH is Hexanchus. Bruce Welton stated that Notorynchus is not known from the Miocene of the west coast of North America (Welton, 1979: p. 497). I have looked at a lot of cow shark teeth from there and have yet to find a tooth that contradicts that statement. I haven't seen a Heptranchias from there either.

I've had good luck with sixgills there, once finding at least one identifiable (though maybe not complete) tooth three trips in a row. I would certainly say a complete lower anterolateral is rare and of course the symphyseals are super-rare, but you should find a good parasymphyseal or half-to-most of a lower anterolateral at least every other trip.

Welton, B.J. 1979.

Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic Squalomorphii of the Northwest Pacific Region. Unpublished Ph.D dissertation. University of California, Berkeley.

[Dare2Dream]

Bob,

Lawrence Canyon is just on the Pliocene side of the Miocene/Pliocene boundary as far as I was able to judge based on the horse teeth from there. I did some research and looked at the area in the late 90's or maybe 2000-2001. It looked a lot different than how it was described to me by collectors who hunted it in the 70's to early 80's. It was all overgrown and there was a "No Trespassing" sign at one area of access. Even if you could get permission, I'm not sure it would be worth it. Someone told me the area was scheduled to be developed during the 90's but some deal fell through, putting the plan on hold indefinitely.

I've seen some great stuff from there: great whites (C. carcharias) in colors that range from gray to steel blue as well as some brown ones; some other shark teeth (I. oxyrinchus, Carcharhinus, Hexanchus, and even Prionace); some dolphin periotics; seal teeth and bones; bones of an extinct auk; nice Dinohippus teeth of a species close to the transition to Equus.

Lawrence Canyon is still accessable from the Hwy 78 side, but I haven't spend too much time to check the various areas. The one spot we did dig yielded a nice 2" GW. But overall, the layer was sparse (perhaps just the area we dug). I'd be very interested to know if anyone else has hunted anywhere in the Oceanside area.

[makoken]

The cow shark from STH is Hexanchus. Bruce Welton stated that Notorynchus is not known from the Miocene of the west coast of North America (Welton, 1979: p. 497). I have looked at a lot of cow shark teeth from there and have yet to find a tooth that contradicts that statement. I haven't seen a Heptranchias from there either.

I've had good luck with sixgills there, once finding at least one identifiable (though maybe not complete) tooth three trips in a row. I would certainly say a complete lower anterolateral is rare and of course the symphyseals are super-rare, but you should find a good parasymphyseal or half-to-most of a lower anterolateral at least every other trip.

Welton, B.J. 1979.

Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic Squalomorphii of the Northwest Pacific Region. Unpublished Ph.D dissertation. University of California, Berkeley.

Check out my cow shark teeth in my gallery. I was lucky to come away with one nice parasympheal tooth and a couple nice uppers.