enchodus

September 22, 2018 - Cretaceous Fossils, Dallas and Perry County, Al.

On Saturday, Sept. 22, a nice-sized group of BPS members and guests gathered in anticipation of a gully and creek exploration and discovery. The day was predictably hot but spirits were high – fossils out there, waiting to be found!! After a brief orientation and explanation of potential finds, the group moved into the gullies and began searching. Finds from this site included shark and enchodus teeth, shark and fish vertebrae, shell fragments, worm tubes, shrimp burrows, and ubiquitous, sparkly pyritized organic material (still hard for me to resist). While talking to another member, James spotted a string of shark vertebrae (5-6) on an adjacent gully which he carefully collected and wrapped for transport. Still really spectacular and incredible to me that an animal used those vertebrae to swim around and live his life and here we find them 80 million years later. And, they are still in pretty good shape (considering)!

After a lunch break, we moved to the second site (my personal favorite) which is the very productive creek in the next county. After the hot gullies, a cool wade through a very fossiliferous creek is just what the group likes! Before we made it to the creek, I had the opportunity to meet the owner and express gratitude for his hospitality and generosity in allowing us access to this treasure on his property. He told me he was glad we were enjoying it and that he was also glad that so many fossils were being found and appreciated. Me, too!!

In the creek, my first screen yielded 5 shark teeth! How can this not be a favorite location?!?! James and several others went upstream to find gravel bars and while some stayed at the downstream spot that seemed to be yielding nice and plentiful teeth and bone fragments. Also found were 3 ptychodus teeth of unknown species, 1 Ptychodus polygyrus tooth (way to go LEISA!!!) a piece of Native American pottery (also Leisa) and other interesting fossil, geofact and late hominid artifacts (vintage glass, metal, pottery mostly). If someone leaves this site empty-handed, it’s because he or she chooses to do so! There’s something here for everyone! So, a little before daylight started dimming, the group called a halt to the searching, changed into dry clothes and shoes and bid the lovely creek site good-bye until next time.

pyritized organic material

shrimp burrow

September and October, 2010 - Cretaceous Fossils - Dallas Co, AL

During September and early October, BPS members had several field trips to find fossils and help excavate in the Cretaceous gullies of Dallas County. Over a period of several days (September 19, 24, 26, October 1, 2, 3) a turtle and mosasaur were excavated. Also, a number of other fossils were found, including shark teeth, upper and lower Xiphactinus fish jaw with teeth, a variety of shells, shark coprolite, shark vertebra, fish vertebra, and enchodus teeth. Most of the important finds will be used in exhibits at the (now in development) Black Belt Museum in Livingston.

Each field trip is similar to a class, in that participants are taught proper collecting techniques, how to find and identify fossils, and how to excavate fragile fossils out of the ground intact and make plaster jackets.

2010-07-vl-8722

Fish vertebra, enchodus tooth and several shark teeth found in the gullies. Notice the whiteness of one of the shark teeth - many have deteriorated under the hot sun.

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.

fish vertebra

Fish vertebra

bone

Piece of fossil bone

shark tooth, enchodus tooth

The long pointy tooth is an Enchodus tooth, and the others are shark teeth

mosasaur jawbone

Mosasaur jawbone with tooth sockets clearly showing.

Collecting in the creek

Collecting shark teeth in the creek

mosasaur

Mosasaur bones

turtle

Turtle bones

shark teeth

Shark teeth

Watching James excavate a bone.

Collecting shark teeth in the creek

shark teeth

Shark teeth

Shark teeth found in the creek.

mosasaur

Mosasaur vertebra found down the hill from the jaw bone

tooth, mosasaur jaw

Excavated mosasaur jawbone with embedded tooth

View of the gully. These gullies are huge!

Headed to the dig site, to remove the tarps and frame, and stabilize the excavation.

shark tooth

Shark tooth

Watching James excavate part of a mosasaur.

The gang showed up in spite of the 110 degree heat!

May 29, 2010 - Cretaceous Fossils, Union Co, MS

This month's trip was to northern Mississippi, where we collected in the Coon Creek formation. The area was once a bay in the Gulf of Mexico. This is a Late Cretaceous site, where we found numerous turritella (most in an extremely fragile condition), and even more crab and lobster parts, mostly looking like they had exploded, though several intact "bellies" and a couple of claws were found. The finds of the day had to be the mosasaur tooth found by Don H., and the fragment of a duck-billed dinosaur (hadrosaur) tooth found by David. This site is being studied by George Phillips, paleontologist at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, who will be reviewing our finds for anything of scientific interest. The hadrosaur tooth fragment has already been sent to him for inclusion in his research.

Don C. had this to say about his collecting efforts for the day: "I'm very happy with my haul of crabs and shrimp (7 different genera and species in all), plus I got quite a few gastropods and bivalves, a squashed nautilus, a good piece of an ammonite with sutures, an Enchodus fang, and a small shark tooth. I brought home a bag of clay to sift and I'm still finding all manner of micro goodies too."

The diehards of the group had an evening of BBQ at a local restaurant, and as everyone headed home, two additional sites were scouted, neither of which appeared promising.

hadrosaur

Part of a tooth from a duck-billed dinosaur (hadrosaur)

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A collection of teeth, including shark and enchodus, along with an internal mold of a gastropod.

September 20, 2008 - Cretaceous Fossils, Dallas County, AL

Once again, BPS took a trip south to Dallas county, Alabama, to search in the extensive Cretaceous chalk gullies found there. This was our last gully trip of the season, since hunting season is about to start, so we were in a frantic hurry to collect the items we had previously flagged, and find as much as we could so it could be preserved, and not get washed down a gully, and potentially lost for research. In addition to the normal variety of shells, shark teeth and vertebra, fish including enchodus, and turtles, this month a baby crocodile was found, the first one found in Alabama, so we were quite excited.

(Photos courtesy Joey Golson and Vicki Lais)

A hot day in the gullies, but we had a good turnout.

After a slight delay, well, a very long delay, due to a mixup in who was going to call who, we finally gained access to the site. To get to this new set of gullies, we had to drive in, then park and walk the rest of the way.

We've just gotten into the gully, and are preparing to survey in different sections so we can cover the entire gully several times.

When we first arrived at the gully, it was difficult to find anything. No matter where we looked, it didn't seem like there was anything other than rocks and broken shells.

shells

A couple of shells common to the area, though most are broken in pieces.

Overview of the large gully where we first collected today.

teeth, fish, jaw

Part of a fossil fish jaw, with several teeth still embeded in the jaw.

Part of what makes it difficult to find fossils is the large quantity of rubble on the ground, that all looks like fossils. One has to tune out the "trash" and tune in to the correct shapes before being able to spot vertebra and teeth.

shark teeth

Squalicorax on left, Cretolamna appendiculata on right

This large slab of calcite or selenite crystals was found near the entrance to the gully.

shark vertebra

Three shark vertebra

crocodile

This tiny bone found by Vicki turned out to be one of the most important finds of the day. At first thinking it was a very large bird, after closer examination, James realized it was a baby crocodile, the only baby one found in Alabama! After waving us all away from the area, he proceeded to search on hands and knees, finding at least 8 tiny scutes, which had been missed when the bone was flagged. He even hiked back to the cars to get a screen, so the area below the find could be searched. If you examine the photo carefully, the small items that look bits of broken shell are actually parts of scutes.

fish

Fish bone

shark teeth, enchodus teeth

Shark teeth and a couple of enchodus teeth

enchodus

Enchodus fish tooth and part of the jawbone

bone

Fossil bone, possibly a very weathered mosasaur vertebra.

An unknown item, but it certainly looks interesting. Might be a horned coral.

enchodus tooth

Pieces of fish bone, probably enchodus.

shark tooth

Cretoxyrhina shark tooth

An area that has been flagged to mark several areas of fossil fish.

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Enchodus fish tooth and part of the jawbone

August 17, 2008 - Cretaceous - Dallas and Perry Counties, Alabama

Day 1 Friday Day 2 Saturday Day 3 Sunday

A weekend trip to the Cretaceous chalk gullies of Dallas County Alabama and a creek in Perry county turned up numerous fossils. Ancient creatures, including shark, turtle, mosasaur, ptychodus, fish, clam, and ammonite were found during the three day weekend trip.

DAY 3 - SUNDAY

After a good night's sleep, we headed off to a set of larger gullies early Sunday morning. A lot of fish bones, shark vertebra, shark teeth, enchodus jaw/tooth, nice piece of turtle shell, and even crocodile bones were found. As usual, we stayed in the gullies until darkness made it impossible to collect any more.

(photos courtesy Claire Smith and Vicki Lais)

Overview of one of the gullies surveyed on Sunday.

fish

Fragments of fish bone.

Unidentified item

enchodus

Enchodus tooth still connected to bony part of jaw.

shark tooth

Cretoxyrhina mantelli shark tooth (ginsu - ecologically similar to the great white shark).

shark vertebra, shark tooth

Scapanorhynchus shark tooth and shark vertebra.

ammonite

Part of ammonite replaced by iron pyrite.

fish

Fish vertebra.

bone

Protestega (turtle) bone

James examines mosasaur rib bone fragments found by Don.

burrow

Distinctive burrow internal molds, probably made by ghost shrimp, were common in the gully.

mosasaur vertebra

Mosasaur vertebra.

Bob is assisting James with wrapping of specimens so they will make it back to the museum safely.

shark vertebra, fish

Fish bone in lower left, broken shark vertebra in upper right.

bone

Small bone in area filled with bone and shell fragments.

bone

Mosasaur rib bone fragments found by Don.

As the sun gets low in the sky, we're still going around to the marked items, surface collecting or excavating as needed, trying to finish before dark.