Some nice echinoids.
May 19, 2007 - Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery Co, AL
Another
hot day found the troops begging for a "water field trip" so we could
cool off. We had mixed feelings about
what we saw
when
we got there and found that drought conditions had virtually dried up
the creek-bed. On the other hand, a good deal more fossils
were exposed. This is our favorite spot for collecting
echinoids
and viewing too-fragile-to-collect ammonites. A few
ammonites were retrieved, echinoids, cretaceous wood, worm tubes and a
few shark teeth and numerous shells were found, and Becky found a
turtle
bone. With the exposure of the
creek-bed, we could
see near-perfect circular holes in the rock where the last bits of the
ammonite fossils had washed away over time.
In spite of the heat, we all found some nice fossils (or drooled over
other people's fossils!), and had a
chance to get a good look at the underlying rock
formations. Our finds made all participants feel
the
day was truly worth it, including the largest shark tooth that this
group has seen at this site, two very large shark vertebra, an
unusual looking pycnodont fish tooth, and what might be a plesiosaur
bone. Then off for some dinner at a wonderful BBQ
restaurant where all expressed delight
with the trip and made our plans for future visits.
--Edited by Vicki Lais
(Pictures courtesy Claire Smith
and Vicki Lais)