08-09-vl-flower-4464
Wild flower. The chalk gullies are last places where ancient prairie grasses and flowers are found since European settlement and the practices of modern agriculture.
Visitor
Alabama
08-09-vl-fish-4520
Back half of a fish that was embedded in the chalk gully wall. According to James Lamb, it was only half there when it fossilized - none has been lost. After finding so many partial fossils, we are speculating that this was a shallow feeding ground.
08-09-vl-shark-vert-4588
Remember the pile of shark vertebra laying on the side of the gully? This is them after being cleaned up in the lab.
08-09-vl-gully-4534
After searching the first gully carefully, some of us moved on to the next large gully.
08-09-vl-collecting-fish-516
A fish is being carefully excavated from the side of this gully. It was found by accident, when the tooth part of an enchodus jaw found on top of the gully rolled down, and we were hunting for the broken off tooth.
08-09-vl-croc-4570
Back at the lab, James showed us the difference in size of the baby crocodile we found in the gully, and what is normally found in Alabama. This scute is the smallest one found in Alabama thus far.
08-09-vl-dirt-bag-4566
Gully season is over for the year due to hunting season. On a prior trip, parts of a fossil were found, and James is hoping to find more small bones in the large bags of dirt he collected from the same area. We had so many fossils to collect, it was dark by the time we arrived at this gully.
08-09-vl-collecting-4482
Searching for parts of a fossil fish
