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.
Watching James excavate part of a mosasaur.
Visitor
shark teeth
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.
The gang showed up in spite of the 110 degree heat!
Digging out a mosasaur vertebra
Fossils: cephalopod
Piece of a cephalopod
Gully view
Fossils: mosasaur vertebra
Mosasaur vertebra
The thermometer read 110 degrees in the gully.
Fossils: mosasaur jawbone
Mosasaur jaw bone with tooth sockets
Searching for fossils in the gully.
Fossils: mosasaur
Mosasaur vertebra
Fossils: mosasaur
Mosasaur jawbone
Unusual vine in creek
Shark teeth and gastropod
Prairie flower
Creek
Bob and James haul out the tarps that were protecting the dig site and providing shade.
Mid-day lunch in a cool pavilion.
Excavating a mosasaur jaw bone. Several members carefully sifted the chalk down the gully from the main excavation, finding several vertebra.
Becky searching for more mosasaur bones.
Fossils: Shipworm
Shipworm
Don & Leah taking a shade break from the 110 degree heat.
Fossils: mosasaur vertebra
Mosasaur vertebra
Fossils: mosasaur vertebra
Mosasaur vertebra
Private creek where shark teeth are found
Fossils: shark teeth, Fossils: fish vertebra, Fossils: enchodus
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.
Fossils: mosasaur
Mosasaur jawbone immediately after being excavated from the chalk.
Fossils: fish vertebra
Fish vertebra
Leah and Jan cooling off at lunch.
Fossils: bone
Piece of fossil bone
Fossils: shark tooth, Fossils: enchodus tooth
The long pointy tooth is an Enchodus tooth, and the others are shark teeth
Fossils: fish vertebra
Fish vertebra
Collecting in the creek
Collecting shark teeth in the creek
Fossils: mosasaur jawbone
Mosasaur jawbone with tooth sockets clearly showing.
Fossils: turtle
Turtle bones
Fossils: shark teeth
Shark teeth
Fossils: mosasaur
Mosasaur bones
Collecting shark teeth in the creek
Fossils: shark teeth
Shark teeth
Watching James excavate a bone.
Shark teeth found in the creek.
Fossils: mosasaur
Mosasaur vertebra found down the hill from the jaw bone
Fossils: tooth, Fossils: 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.
Fossils: shark tooth
Shark tooth
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June 19, 2010 - Eocene Fossils, Covington Co, AL
This month the group went to a shallow river in Covington Co, AL we haven't visited for a long time. Our memory of this site is that the pickings were better in years past. It took a while to find fossils. We don't dig, as the landowner has requested "no digging", but most of our honey holes were empty, possibly from the recent rainy seasons or over-collecting by commercial collectors. Whatever the reason, everyone left with a small handful of shark teeth, and we had a great day visiting and keeping cool in the river. Jan and Lea decided to arrive at the site via kayak, making for an interesting upriver paddle.
Fossils: shark teeth, Fossils: ray teeth
Handful of shark and ray teeth.
Shark teeth.
Fossils: shark tooth, Fossils: bone
Shark tooth with part of bone still attached.
A tiny flounder kept getting caught in Carolyn's screen.
Shark tooth with part of bone still attached.
The group who met at the parking lot, but 6 more showed up.
Fossils: shark teeth, Fossils: ray teeth
Shark and ray teeth.
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April 17, 2010 - Cretaceous and Tertiary Fossils, Butler Co, AL
Our annual trip to Butler County turned up several shark teeth, fish vertebra, ray teeth, turritella in cochina, and a number of pottery pieces. The day was spent roaming the creek, playing in the sand and creek, or just hanging out sunbathing. Several members camped out for the weekend on the bald, where more fossils were found.
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June 13-14, 2009 - Cretaceous and Tertiary Fossils, Butler Co, AL
This month the group traveled to Butler County, Alabama, to a sandy creek which runs through early Tertiary and late Cretaceous material. The weather was overcast on Saturday, making collecting very pleasant. A number of members camped out for the weekend. Sunday the sun was out, and it made us grateful for the cloud cover on Saturday!
The sandy beaches and gravel areas yielded up shark teeth, ray teeth, some nautiloid sections, and recent mammal material which was sometimes as fasinating as the fossils.
We had quite a few young people on the trip who enjoyed both the fossil collecting and swimming, splashing and running in the shallow creek. There is an area of soft clay, and some enterprising young men fashioned bowls from it.
More about the artifacts found on the trip.
--Photos courtesy Claire Smith and Vicki Lais.
The whole group, except for one young lady who didn't want her picture taken.
Everyone set up for enjoying this wonderful creek in their own way.
Fossils: ray tooth
Tiny ray tooth
Collecting fossils in the creek.
Fossils: coral
Small piece of fossil coral.
Fossils: shark tooth
Shark tooth
Is it a fossil?
Fossils: gastropods
Several small turritella.
Sitting in the creek is sometimes the most effective and cool way.
Fossils: gastropod
Some tiny gastropods found on the flat limestone "bald", and an unkown black item with serated edges.
Noah has found a large piece of soft, grey clay and fashioned himself a bowl.
Fossils: gastropod
This nice gastropod was found at this site several years ago, and was brought to the trip to display.
Fossils: shark teeth
A handful of mostly shark teeth.
Fossils: oyster
Fossil oysters
Checking out the latest finds.
Screening for fossils in the shallow creek.
We found several areas where tadpoles had taken over shallow pools of water.
Fossils: coquina
Coquina, a very hard "stone" composed of compressed shells, used in many parts of Florida as building stone.
Fossils: coquina
He's holding a very large piece of coquina found in a pile of boulders.
Shell from a recent turtle.
Making ones way up the creek took a very long time. First you have to play in the water, feel the sand between your toes. Then you have to stop at every gravel bar and see what's there. It takes most people hours to get less than 1/4 mile.
Hanging out on the large sandy beach. This is like a crossroads, everyone passes this way, or returns here to rest.
Nancy neck deep in a swimming hole.
Martha screening for shark teeth
Picking through the gravel bars hunting for fossils.
Probably a small horn from a deer.
Hanging out late in the afternoon, snacking and relaxing.
Gathering at the end of the day to hang out and talk about our finds.
Beautiful sunset seen from the sandy beach.
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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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