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Mosasaur jawbone immediately after being excavated from the chalk.
Digging out a mosasaur vertebra
Visitor
mosasaur
July 31, 2010 - Cretaceous Fossils, Dallas and Perry Co, AL
BPS members defied the extreme heat and went to south Alabama to assist in collecting fossils and close down the dig site until the weather cools off some. A number of mosasaur bones were found, and a mosasaur jaw still containing a tooth. Other fossils found included shark teeth, shark vertebra, various varieties of fish, turtle bone, and enchodus jaw and teeth. The thermometer read 110 degrees, so after lunch under a covered pavilion, we headed to a nearby creek to cool down. The creek yielded numerous shark teeth, brachiopods, and a few cephalopod pieces.
cephalopod
Piece of a cephalopod
Gully view
mosasaur vertebra
Mosasaur vertebra
The thermometer read 110 degrees in the gully.
mosasaur jawbone
Mosasaur jaw bone with tooth sockets
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July 11, 2009 - Cretaceous Fossils, Greene Co, AL
BPS members and guests headed down to Greene county, Alabama for our July trip. This site is a creek covered with pea gravel - making screening for shark teeth and other fossils quite difficult. However, most found it fairly easy to spot the fossils lying on top of the gravel. Numerous shark teeth were found, a couple of mosasaur teeth, several ptychodus teeth, a gar vertebra and tooth, crocodilian bone, clams, oysters, and bryozoan. Vicki found a tooth so tiny (about 1/8 inch), that when she put it on her finger to get a closeup, it rolled off. The next 45 minutes was spent digging through the gravel in an ever widening circle, trying to find the tiny tooth again. As we finally gave up, she rolled the gravel around again, and there it was! It went in a medicine bottle for safekeeping, until a photo could be taken in a "safe" location! It has been identified as a gar tooth, which is more rare than mosasaur teeth in this area.
--Photos courtesy Vicki Lais
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A better view of the Clidastes mosasaur jaw found by Claire.
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Part of the Clidastes mosasaur jaw found by Claire.
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Claire has found a Clidases mosasaur jaw, including several teeth, literally laying on the surface of the gully, in eyesight of where we parked our cars.
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After a brief overview of the geology of the area, and a review of collecting and flagging procedures by James Lamb, the group headed out into the gullies. Almost immediately, fossil mosasaur vertebra and turtle pieces are found and marked with flags.
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Mosasaur bone of an adult or larger juvenile found in the roots of the tree.
May 31, 2008 - Late Cretaceous Fossils, Dallas County, AL
This Saturday in late May was HOT! A large group of 27 people met at a private site in central Alabama to search several very extensive gullies for fossils. BPS has not visited this site in at least 10 years, so we were excited about this opportunity. This gully has been a treasure-trove of fossil material over the years, most of which is currently housed at the Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This day was no exception, and a number of important finds were made, including various mosasaur bones at several locations, including a juvenile vertebra, at least two fish skeletons, turtle bones, several partial and deformed starfish replaced with marcasite, Enchodus teeth of all sizes, a bird tooth, and another fossil bird. From the items being shown for photo documentation, it seemed that most people found at least one shark tooth, oysters, shell material, and plenty of shrimp burrows. Claire even found an echinoid.
Several people decided to brave the tall grass and poison ivy to check
out a gully off the beaten path. Along with the fossils were plenty of
chiggers!
Did I mention that it was HOT? James Lamb's thermometer in the middle of the gully registered 115 degrees. Coupled with the lack of vegetation, the stark white chalk of the gullies made this day almost unbearable, though we attempted to get in early to avoid the heat. When one is not accustomed to heat, hyperthermia can set in quickly, with symptoms of dizzyness, dehydration, confusion, and a feeling of exhaustion. Also, the gullies were so steep, once deciding it was time to go find a cool drink and some shade, just climbing out of the gullies was a major undertaking. A number of people decided to leave by early afternoon, or sit in the shade of the trees to cool off. One group took off to tour Old Cahawba, with a swim afterward, and Becky was headed out to North Dakota to hunt fossils for a couple of weeks. A smaller group managed to stay late; once it starts cooling off around 5pm, the late evening sunlight is often polarized, which makes it much easier to spot fossils, and collecting is very pleasant.
Photos courtesy Jan Novak and Vicki Lais