fish vertebra

March 11, 2007 - Cretaceous Fossils, Greene Co, AL

The March field trip was graced with perfect weather for playing in a creek. The morning started out pleasantly cool but was shorts and T-shirt weather by the time we got to the site.

We met at a rest area then caravaned to Greene County where we met our host who guided us to his property. We parked most of our vehicles then piled into several pickups and SUV's for the last 2 miles to the site. The site was a beautiful 80 acre parcel of high land on the Sipsey River which was underlain by late cretaceous sediment. A nice creek ran through the property and emptied into the Sipsey. The owner took us from the parking area to his camp which sits on a bluff high above the river. As we hiked to the collecting site, we observed turkey scratch marks, early blooming wild flowers, listened to woodpeckers and other birds and and then down a razor back ridge to the creek that was to be our collecting area for most of the day... a creek filled with sand and gravel bars and unknown treasures. We soon got our feet wet and split up into wandering singles and groups of hunters, assuming the bent-over position familiar to every fossil hunter. Sharks teeth were being found within moments of stepping in the creek.

Many varieties of sharks teeth were found including Otodus, Squalicorax and Ptychodus. Besides shark teeth the group found Oyster, petrified wood, fish vertebra, a mosasaur vertebra and other items of interest.

We had an "early leavers" group and an "it isn't dark yet" group; both groups stopped to enjoy dinner and continue the fossil discussions, fill their bellies, and wind down before the long drive home.

--Leisa Whitlow, Contributor

--Edited by Vicki Lais

(Photos courtest Jan Novak and Vicki Lais)

people on fossil trip
Most of the gang!

hike to creek to collect fossils
The long hike down the hill to the creek.

another young fossil hunter
Are you sure we're supposed to go here, Aunt Mel?

searching for fossils in creek
The creek was quite low, and shark teeth were immediately found.

fossil shark teeth

proud father of a young fossil hunter
Start 'um early, and they love fossils for life! (Or maybe it's just the rock throwing . . .)

fossil shark tooth in pebbles

searching for fossils in creek

Leisa discussing fossil find
The easy way to hunt fossils . . .

fossil mosasaur vertebra
Mosasaur vertebra.

searching for fossils in creek
A perfect outing for our future paleontologist!

fossil stash pile
What did you find, young lady? A nice collection of shark teeth, ptychodus teeth, petrified wood, coral, and pretty pebbles.

searching for fossils in creek

fossil ptychodus teeth

searching for fossils in creek

fossil oyster shells
Quite a few oyster shells were found.

searching for fossils in creek ]

fossil skute
Appears to be a tiny crocodile scute.

searching for fossils in creek

fossil wormtube
Nicely preserved worm tube.

searching for fossils in creek

fossil shark teeth
More shark teeth.

fossil shark teeth

searching for fossils in creek

fossil from creek
Not sure what this is, any ideas?

fossil from creek
Another unidentified fossil.

fossil fish vertebra
Tiny fish vertebra.
fossils

searching for fossils in creek

tired fossil hunters
Decisions, decisions.. . . Do we want to collect in those gullies over there, or head out for supper? How about both?

June 24, 2006 - Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery and Elmore Co, AL

A relatively small group of BPS members went to a creek in Montgomery County for today's trip - could it be some people were scared off by the thoughts of 95 degree weather in the sweltering sun? To get an idea of our weather, go to your bathroom, turn the shower on the hottest it will go, close the door so steam can build up, turn off the A/C, then take your laptop in there and view our trip photos - you will have a good idea of our day! Leisa brought her canoe, and she and Claire floated/pushed/dragged it upstream and then back down. This late Cretaceous site once again yielded numerous echinoids and ammonites, though most of the ammonites could only be "collected" via photos, due to their fragile composition. We also found huge quantities of shells, a few shark teeth, a couple of mosasaur vertebra, two large vertebra, possibly shark, and pyritized coprolites.

Several people decided to call it a day after getting too hot for comfort. After a refreshing afternoon lunch in an air conditioned restaurant, the die-hards brains began coming up with another potential collecting site in Elmore county. Since we have a canoe, lets go look for petrified wood. Now understand, we had one canoe, one paddle, 3 life jackets and 4 people to go on this escapade. After a quick stop at the local discount store for an additional paddle and PDF, we scouted access points. The put-in we decided on was steep. Really steep. Really really steep. But we finally got it down the several hundred feet to the water, only to find a boat wasn't necessary, the water was low, the shore was easily walkable, and petrified wood was everywhere. So we collected it (ask Jan how much his pack weighed!), took some pictures of a tree that was about 4 feet in diameter, and noticed it was getting darker. And windy. And there was thunder. And lightning. And lots of cold rain (boy, did it feel good!) And we had the canoe at the bottom of a huge hill. But Leisa, resourceful as ever, had a plan; just hook the boat to her van, and pull it out.

(photos courtesy Vicki Lais)

March 19, 2005 - Cretaceous Fossils, Greene Co, AL

BPS members and guests met in the parking lot of the rest area for a show and tell session prior to the fossil outing. Weather was fine, but as we got closer to our site, the rain started. After a drizzly start, the weather cleared, and it ended up being a great day. Surface collecting, or digging in one spot in the pea gravel, everyone found numerous shark teeth, several ptychodus teeth, fish vertebra, turtle shell, and a mosasaur vertebra. Another piece of bone found is likely part of a plesiosaur. The trip out on a slick muddy road was almost as exciting as the collecting!

(Photos courtesy Steve Corvin and Vicki Lais.)
gathering for the fossil trip
Getting to know you . . .

examining the show and tell fossils
Checking out the show and tell.

giant fossil trilobites

No, it didn't come from last months Cherokee County trip, dang it!

easter bunny outfit
Even the Easter Bunny came!

BPS members ready to collect fossils
Arrival at the collecting spot (+ Steve, behind the camera!)

fossil shark teeth

Some of Steve's finds.

hunting shark teeth in creek
Bobby and grandson Noah.

hunting shark teeth in creek
Lea and Paige, dilligently searching for more shark teeth. What's in your bucket, Paige?

fossil shark teeth
Some of Paige's finds.

hunting shark teeth in creek
Carl and grandson Daniel, enjoying the day.

hunting shark teeth in creek
Claire, Leisa, and Bill. Notice the variety of "tools" being used.

hunting shark teeth in creek
Ramsey and Sarah came prepared!

hunting shark teeth in creek
Marjorie examining a recent find. What's in your bucket?

fossil shark teth, fish vertebra
Some of Marjorie's finds. Nice fish vertebra.

hunting shark teeth in creek
Len and Daniel, way down the creek.

hunting shark teeth in creek
An untouched stretch of sand and gravel bars, no footprints in sight. All Right!!

fossil mosasaur vertebra and shark tooth
Mosasaur vertebra found by Vicki, this makes 3, one per trip! Nice find!

fossil bone
Bone is about 5 inches long along the longest side, possibly plesiosaur. (Vicki plans to call it a plesiosaur until someone convinces her otherwise!)

screen of fossils
Steve and Steve, with some of their finds.

screen of fossil shark teeth
Closer view of Steve and Steve's finds.

October 23, 2004 - Cretaceous Fossils, Tuscaloosa and Hale Co, AL

October saw the troops headed to Hale county, AL to a favorite creek. After meeting at a rest area, we headed South to Tuscaloosa where we made a stop at the Museum of Natural History on the University campus. Great fossil collections as well as a fun exhibit of bugs and bats caught everybody's interest. We were delighted to see that the Mosasaur is still on display. Stopping at the museum gave us a chance to get a visual fix on what we might find during the day, so it was a nice start for the day.

The creek was higher than expected when we got there, and it became clear that wading (sometimes in some over-the-knees water) would be on the menu. Part of our group chose to sift from a bank while standing in knee deep to thigh deep water while the other part of our group headed downstream. The downstream group discovered that mother nature's engineers had built a very nice dam, thus explaining the high water level. Below the dam sifting was very easy.

This creek runs through the Mooreville Chalk, producing mostly shells, bones, shark and mosasaur teeth. Numerous shark-teeth were found, also several ptychodus teeth, LOTS of fossil clam shells and exogyra, a few fish vertebra, bivalve steinkerns, and several gastropod steinkerns.

Almost everyone had a sieve of some kind. Only one of us managed to get completely dunked but claimed it was a refreshing experience! See, kids, we aren't kidding about bringing a change of clothing! You NEVER KNOW!

Some brave souls tested out MRE's at lunch. Interesting. Our fighting folk have our deepest sympathies! Actually they weren't that bad.

A long day was capped off by chowing down at a great local barbecue place! All in all, a fun and productive trip!

--Edited by Vicki Lais

(Photos courtesy Vicki Lais)

Ala Museum of Natural History
First stop was the Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa. Thousands of fossils, but none we could collect! We were pleased to find the large mosasaur specimen was still being exhibited.