Dallas

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.

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)