bryozoans

February 2, 2019 - Mississippian, Franklin County, Al.

Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019 was an absolutely PERFECT day for a field trip! There were 14 BPS members and guests who got together to spend a much-needed day in the great outdoors looking for fossils. The general area was a lakeshore in Franklin County (lower Bangor limestone formation) and our leaders selected 3 sites from which to collect. The first site, a public boat launch, was fairly void of fossils (except for a nice shark tooth in limestone matrix) but we had heard that the area had been over-collected recently so it was not unexpected. Even with slim fossil findings, the beautiful very spring-like weather had everyone enjoying the hunt.

It was decided to relocate to the site we collected last year so we all packed up and headed over. Thanks to expert navigation by Bob, we made it to the next site quickly and without a hitch – good job, Bob!! And this site proved to be as productive as it was last year. The shore consists of fossil slabs and loose fossils that had washed out of the matrix. Copious crinoid components, bryozoan components, horn corals, bivalves, brachiopods, and blastoids were all found while at this site. A non-fossil but interesting find was a pharyngeal dental plate from a freshwater drum fish. It was very pleasant to sit in the warm sun, with the fresh breeze, sifting and searching the washed-out fossils along the shoreline.

Some called it a great day after this but the remainder of the group ventured on to a road cut several miles away. Still in the Mississippian strata, we found a few blastoids, a brachiopods and even a couple of trilobites or, rather, the infamous “trilo-butts”. One specimen was very nice, being in pristine shape as if newly exposed. By this time, the sun was beginning to set so the remainder of the group wrapped up the hunt and bid the fossil hunt good day. There’s a great Mexican restaurant on Hwy 157 that is convenient to the interstate so the last of the Mohicans stopped there for good food and conversation before heading the rest of the way home. What a great day!

August 11, 2018 - Oligocene Fossils, Jasper County, MS

On Saturday, Aug 11, 2018, a small group of BPS members and guests traveled to Jasper County, Mississippi where we were joined by our enthusiastic, knowledgeable host. We were led to a small working lime quarry that featured, from the Oligocene, outcrops of Bucatunna clay, Glendon formation limestone and Marianna limestone. The quarry process yielded specimens from the Mint Spring unit but the unit itself was underwater.

Participants were given some geological facts and some collecting hints and then were free to roam around the quarry. There were large mined limestone boulders all around the quarry that were fossiliferous and a paddock area where the initial crushing of mined slabs took place that contained fossils. There was lots of material that was rinsed by rain run-off from collecting shed’s roof, making some fossils in that area easier to spot.

As collectors spread out and began searching, some of the things collected were: echinoids, scallop shells, tusk shells, forams (coin-sized, single-celled organisms that are still around today), shark and ray teeth, a broken shark vertebra, delicately branching bryozoans, pyritized cone shells, echinoids, pyritized burrows, ghost shrimp claws and lignite. Lots of treasures at this site!

And, if things were exciting enough, James stepped on a shifting boulder which caused him to lose his balance and grip on his pick. Who knew those things would bounce?? And, bounce it did – right into James’s head. Paleontologists are tough and prepared, though. George retrieved his first-aid kit from his truck and applied a nice field dressing which enabled James to make his way back to his truck. We couldn’t pass the up the opportunity to record the event for posterity so group photos were taken with Bloody James front and center. I’d like to nominate that as his new pirate/field name!! After the photos, James was chauffeured to the hospital where his hard head was declared uncracked and the wound sutured, then he was escorted safely home. Unfortunate as it was, I’m glad that he’s okay.

Many thanks to our wonderful host for a great day at a great site! I hope we’ll be invited to Mississippi again!!

April 11, 2009 - Mississippian Fossils, Morgan Co, AL, Part 2

Part 1 - Trip Report
Part 2 - Trip Photos (this page)

This Mississippian limestone quarry yielded a variety of fossils, including crinoids, blastoids, a very ancient shark tooth by the name Petalodus, archimedes, bryozoans, brachiopods, Rugosa and other corals, and even part of a trilobite.

(Photos courtesy Ron Beerman, Becky Guthrie, and Vicki Lais)