Ammonite in matrix.
mosasaur vertebra
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Five or six baby mosasaur vertebra were found in the roots of the tree.
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Shark teeth, enchodus tooth and tiny mosasaur vertebra.
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Shark teeth, enchodus tooth, mosasaur vertebra
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)
ammonite
echinoids
Shells and echinoids in matrix. These rocks are pretty hard, so these were left in place.
gastropod
Melanie found a nice gastropod in the same area where the tiny shark teeth were found.
permineralized wood
Tree trunk breaking into pieces on the bank. Numerous pieces like this were scattered everywhere.
ammonite
An ammonite impression in the matrix.
permineralized wood
Forget that, look at the size of that permineralized tree trunk!
Worm burrows and shell impression.
First we need the canoe way down the bluff to the river bank so we can paddle downstream. Well, now wait a minute. This river has always been much higher, all the way into the weeds, and you couldn't walk here, summer nor winter. What's going on here? We don't need the canoe after all!
echinoid
Echinoids in matrix.
shark tooth
Several tiny shark teeth were found.
Melanie is examining her latest find. She found quite a few tiny shark teeth in this area.
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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.) 
Getting to know you . . .
Checking out the show and tell.
No, it didn't come from last months Cherokee County trip, dang it!
Even the Easter Bunny came!
Arrival at the collecting spot (+ Steve, behind the camera!)
Some of Steve's finds.
Bobby and grandson Noah.
Lea and Paige, dilligently searching for more shark teeth. What's in your bucket, Paige?
Some of Paige's finds.
Carl and grandson Daniel, enjoying the day.
Claire, Leisa, and Bill. Notice the variety of "tools" being used.
Ramsey and Sarah came prepared!
Marjorie examining a recent find. What's in your bucket?
Some of Marjorie's finds. Nice fish vertebra.
Len and Daniel, way down the creek.
An untouched stretch of sand and gravel bars, no footprints in sight. All Right!!
Mosasaur vertebra found by Vicki, this makes 3, one per trip! Nice find!
Bone is about 5 inches long along the longest side, possibly plesiosaur. (Vicki plans to call it a plesiosaur until someone convinces her otherwise!)
Steve and Steve, with some of their finds.
Closer view of Steve and Steve's finds.
July 26, 2003 - Cretaceous and Pleistocene Fossils, Greene Co, AL
We had so much fun at this site back in May, we wanted to do it again, and search for more mosasaur bones. And we were in luck! 2 more large vertebra were found, and 2 pieces of jawbone, one with pieces of the tooth still there, however, we did not find where they were washing out, but we all had a great time scouting. This site in Greene County, AL is characterized by large quantities of pea gravel. Going east along the creek one is in Pleistocene age material, while going west moves one through an area of Mooreville Chalk (Cretaceous).
A number of teeth from Scapanorhynchus Texanus were found by all. This shark, also known as the Goblin shark, was thought to have been extinct until it was re-discovered in the late 1800s off the coast of Japan. Its living relative is referred to as Mitsukurina Owstoni. The sharks most dominant characteristic is its long protruding snout. Living species frequent the greater depths around 1000’ or more. Scapanorhychus is estimated to have reached lengths between 3-5 meters (10-17 feet).
Its teeth are varied in shape depending on their position within the jaw. Anterior teeth are identified by their high arched bilateral roots, as shown in figure 1 below. The teeth themselves have prominent longitudinal striations running from the top of the cusp up most of the way of the inner curve. According to some sources, some anterior teeth may have tiny lateral cusplets, however not which were found exhibited this characteristic. Many of the anterior teeth (excluding root) found ranged between 2.5 to 3.5cm.
Lateral teeth, shown in figure 2 below, are much different than the anterior teeth. They are triangular in shape and have cusplets on each side of the tooth. The roots are more flattened and lack the arch that the anterior teeth possess.
--Edited by Vicki Lais
(Photos courtesy Ron Beerman and Vicki Lais)
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| Figure 1 | Figure 2 |
The second type of tooth found at this site was identified genus Squalicorax. Not enough information nor specimens were collected to specify the species at this time. Squalicorax, or crow shark as it is commonly known as, was believed to be both a predator and a scavenger. Fossil evidence seems to indicate that this shark grew to a length or 4.5 meters (15 feet) or more. Fossil teeth from this shark have been found in Europe, North Africa and North America. Some of the Squalicorax teeth found are shown below in figure 3.
Figure 3
More photos of the trip:
Jawbone found by Vicki.
Greg describing the geology of the site.
Claire's stash, above.
And Vicki's stash, below:
Tiny teeth; fish tooth on left found by Vicki, tooth in jaw bone found by Claire.
View up the creek.
Another jaw part with portion of tooth.
Way down the creek. Mooreville chalk can be found in this area.
