Montgomery

May 19, 2007 - Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery Co, AL

Another hot day found the troops begging for a "water field trip" so we could cool off. We had mixed feelings about what we saw when we got there and found that drought conditions had virtually dried up the creek-bed. On the other hand, a good deal more fossils were exposed. This is our favorite spot for collecting echinoids and viewing too-fragile-to-collect ammonites. A few ammonites were retrieved, echinoids, cretaceous wood, worm tubes and a few shark teeth and numerous shells were found, and Becky found a turtle bone. With the exposure of the creek-bed, we could see near-perfect circular holes in the rock where the last bits of the ammonite fossils had washed away over time. In spite of the heat, we all found some nice fossils (or drooled over other people's fossils!), and had a chance to get a good look at the underlying rock formations. Our finds made all participants feel the day was truly worth it, including the largest shark tooth that this group has seen at this site, two very large shark vertebra, an unusual looking pycnodont fish tooth, and what might be a plesiosaur bone. Then off for some dinner at a wonderful BBQ restaurant where all expressed delight with the trip and made our plans for future visits.

--Edited by Vicki Lais

(Pictures courtesy Claire Smith and Vicki Lais)

Fossils: echinoid

Some nice echinoids.

Fossils: ship worms

Large area of worm tubes - Bob says they look like shipworms.

Fossils: shells

Nice shells in matrix. Many times they are found loose, and more easily collected.

Fossils: echinoid

Echinoids in matrix.

Fossils: mosasaur vertebra

Nice 1/2 vertebra found by Bill.

Becky and Don searching in all the nooks and crannies.

Fossils: shark vertebra

Very nice, whole shark vertebra.

Nancy searching in the matrix for fossils

Fossils: shark tooth, Fossils: Cretoxyrhina mantelli

Large Cretoxyrhina mantelli (Ginsu shark) tooth

Fossils: worm tube

Close up of worm tubes.

Pam

Rychard working on a broken ammonite

Fossils: pycnodont, Fossils: fish tooth, Fossils: Anomoeodus

Small pycnodont fish tooth - Genus Anomoeodus.

Fossils: pycnodont, Fossils: fish tooth, Fossils: Anomoeodus

Small pycnodont fish tooth - Genus Anomoeodus.

Fossils: Ptychodus mortoni

Ptychodus mortoni

Fossils: turtle bone

Turtle bone found by Becky.

Spanish moss drooping from magnificant cypress trees - signs of the deep south.

Fossils: ammonite, Fossils: Placenticeras syrtale

Placenticeras syrtale ammonite

Fossils: wood, Fossils: ship worms

Nice piece of Cretaceous wood containing shipworm fossils.

Fossils: clam, Fossils: Inoceramus

Inoceramus clam

Fossils: gastropod

Gastropod

Mimosa

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)

Fossils: vertebra

Well, Claire found a vertebra . . .

Fossils: permineralized wood

Wow, looks like we may have to come back to get this one, it won't fit in the canoe . . . .

Fossils: shark teeth, Fossils: echinoid

Some echinoids and shark teeth from Vicki's bag. About 2pm, we were so hot, we needed a break from the heat, so a small group met at a nearby restaurant to cool our brains. And we decided to go check out a river site since we had the canoe.

I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, look what they've gotten me into now! Just getting started up the steep bank. Worn out from the distance already covered, and soaking wet from the recent rain shower. But it was fun, and we had our adventure for the day!

Fossils: shell

Look carefully and you can see several shell impressions in this rock, along with some shells scattered in the dirt.

Fossils: shark tooth, Fossils: vertebra

Brian showing his mosasaur vertebra and shark tooth.

Fossils: ammonite

Ammonite in matrix.

Fossils: echinoids

Shells and echinoids in matrix. These rocks are pretty hard, so these were left in place.

Fossils: gastropod

Melanie found a nice gastropod in the same area where the tiny shark teeth were found.

Fossils: permineralized wood

Tree trunk breaking into pieces on the bank. Numerous pieces like this were scattered everywhere.

Fossils: ammonite

An ammonite impression in the matrix.

Fossils: 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!

Fossils: echinoid

Echinoids in matrix.

Fossils: 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.

Fossils: shark vertebra

Leisa very quickly found a nice vertebra. After collecting the vertebra, Leisa and Claire headed up the creek, and we didn't see them again for several hours.

Fossils: shark tooth

Claire has found a couple of shark teeth, one still embedded in the rock matrix.

Fossils: ammonite

Ammonite in matrix.

Fossils: shark vertebra

Anthony found a vertebra in very good condition.

Not sure what this is, shaped like an ear bone, but looks like pottery, very smooth and obviously supposed to be shaped this way, not very worn looking.

Fossils: coprolite, Fossils: pyrite

Claire also found a pile of sh#!, um, well, or rather, a bag of pyritized coprolites!

Fossils: shells

More shells in matrix.

Sutures of an ammonite peeking out from the matrix.

Fossils: ammonite

Ammonite in matrix.

In a different part of the creek from the echinoids, numerous shells are embedded in the matrix.

Jan is wondering just exactly how we plan to pull this off. Perhaps he made a hasty decision to come along, as the others didn't seem to be giving any thought to the difficulty of what we were proposing. The river is down an extremely steep slope.

Greg is carefully excavating a small bone. Another piece of bone was found about 1' away from this one.

Very clear shell impression in the rock matrix.

So we "park" the boat, and go along the bank collecting large pieces of petrified wood. The weather is getting ominous. The wind is picking up, we hear thunder and see rain off in the distance. But we just got here, and we've got to get that boat back up the steep slope!

August 20, 2005 - Eocene Fossils, Covington and Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery Co, AL

What a hot, humid day this was! According to weather reports, the temperature hit 97 where we were collecting, and there was virtually no shade. The first site we visited in Covington county was a real dud, for multiple reasons. We knew there would be a "constant steady discharge" due to some future plans at the dam. However, we didn't anticipate this discharge would raise the water level 3-4 feet above normal! This meant our normal collecting areas were underwater, way underwater, and we weren't prepared to scuba dive. We spent a short period of time collecting the few shells, teeth, and horned coral found in the banks, and getting hot and sweaty, then left early for our second site in Montgomery county. Much better collecting at this site! Members found a good number of shark teeth, ptychoda teeth, ammonites, and two unique finds, part of a turtle, and another item that we haven't seen from this site before, which is still being identified. According to Vice President Greg Mestler, in the late 1980's on another BPS field trip to this site, he found mosasaur skull bones in the same area where we found the turtle. Hmmmm.......

Once again, the group ended the day with a fine opportunity to hang out together at The Swamp, a kinda - sorta local eatery (only 20 minutes away, huh, Greg?) where we stayed way too long, but enjoyed the time spent with fellow fossil hounds.

(Pictures courtesy Jan Novak and Vicki Lais.)

Nice ammonite found by James.

Fossils: ammonite

A close-up view of a ammonite found by Rychard.

Ron found an unusual heart-shaped item which turned out to be a disk from a deer vertebra. It is very light-weight and recent, not a fossil.

Closer view of fossil fragments.

Rychard carefully excavates an ammonite.

Fossils: None

Tracks of a recent visitor, a large alligator . . .

Fossils: None

Ron's other interest is gold panning, and he gave some of us a demo, using gold bearing material he found in Georgia.

Greg explaining proper excavation techniques.

Searching for echinoids and shark teeth.

Shells in matrix. They are very fragile and crumble easily, so are difficult to collect whole.

Greg has exposed more fragments, probably turtle.

In spite of the high water, some nice shark and ray teeth were found.

The water was very high, severely impacting our collecting. Sylvie is walking in a spot that is normally dry. Even the island is flooded.

The site is cretaceous. Each layer has a unique set of fossils.

Ok, this isn't very productive, on to the next site!

Searching for shells, teeth and horned coral in the clay banks. Note how high the water is behind us.

Fossils: None

Paige, get out of the water, you look just like gator bait!

At our second site, the water was high so a safety rope was necessary.

Fragments found here are still being identified. Look just above the yellow handle to see the first "rocks", then straight to the left. There are some more fragments in the upper right quadrant. Some are probably turtle.

James had an opportunity to practice making a protective plaster jacket.

Fossils: None

Greg, turn around! They told me to quit taking pictures of people's rear ends!

What a group of tired, sweaty people. So where do we go to cool off and relax a while?

Fossils: None

The Swamp, of course! Our favorite restaurant on the Alabama River.

May 21, 2005 - Cretaceous Fossils, Montgomery Co, AL

This month, BPS members headed to Montgomery county to collect in the late Cretaceous. Another beautiful day for being in the woods, and playing in a creek. This year, the creek was down, way down, so moving from shore to shore was much easier than our last trip. A number of nice echinoids and ammonites were found, a variety of shells including gastropods, and a few shark teeth. Most of the ammonites at this site are not collectible due to their fragile nature. Later in the day, members headed south to another creek for more collecting.

A few of the diehards ended up at "The Swamp", a really cool "hamburger joint" on the Alabama river in Selma. The owner is an engineer and designed the building to "float" when the river rises. Normal water level is about 80 feet, and in their 1st year of business it rose to about 120 feet - the restaurant floated!

(Pictures courtesy Dr. Jan Novak and Vicki Lais.)

Fossils: echinoid

Echinoid in matrix.

View of the echinoids, in matrix. Many of them are weathered out, and can be found where the water has washed them into the numerous holes in the shoreline.

Fossils: echinoid

A weathered out echinoid.

Hunting fossils in chalk area.

Fossils: ammonite

Ammonite in matrix. Most of these cannot be removed as they easily break into small rubble.

Fossils: ammonite

Fossil ammonite

Fossils: ammonite

Bobby has found a very nice ammonite.

Closer view of the ammonite.

Steve looking over the fossils found here.

Fossils: worm tubes

Worm tubes.

Greg and Rychard hiking down the creek.

Hiking down the creek

Fossils: crab

Pile of fossil crabs.

Fossils: ammonite

This ammonite still has some color!

Fossils: shell

Unknown fossil, possibly a cross view of a bivalve shell.

Fossils: ammonite

Ammonite sutures.

Fossils: crab

Crab in matrix

Fossils: crab

Crab in clay matrix

Fossils: crab

Crab in clay matrix

Hanging out at the swamp.

dinner at the Swamp after day of fossil collecting

Laid back on the river after a long day! Thanks, Nancy, for leading us to this out of the way spot for supper!

September 28, 2002 - Montgomery Co, AL

We visited two late Cretaceous sites in Montgomery County, Alabama, where we collected primarily shark teeth and echinoids. A surprise awaited - one site we have visited for years used to have a huge sand pile shaped like a mushroom that was filled with shark teeth. The mushroom is no more, and all that is left is a sandpile. Last we heard, the sand was being used in the zoo. You don't want to know any more than that!

(Photos courtesy Brian Ward.)

And here is the sandpile. Several small shark teeth were found by sifting.

Fossils: horned coral, Fossils: echinoid

Echinoids and horned coral at the creek site.

Fossils: echinoids

Echinoids as found in matrix.

April 29, 2001 - Montgomery Co, AL

BPS members visited two late Cretaceous sites in Montgomery County, Alabama, where we collected primarily shark teeth and echinoids. A pycnodont tooth (rare in Alabama) was found by Vicki Lais.

In 1999, Ed Hooks of the Alabama Museum of Natural History in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, along with David Schwimmer and Dent Williams of Columbus State University, Columbus Georgia, had written an article titled "Synonymy of the Pycnodont Phacodus Punctatus Dixon 1850, and Its Occurrence in the Late Cretaceous of the Southeastern United States". This article was published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology in September 1999. Earlier, Gordon L. Bell, Jr., one of the founders of BPS, wrote an article titled "A Pycnodont Fish from the Upper Cretaceous in Alabama" (pdf link), which was published in Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 60, Sept 1986.