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)
Back at the lab, James showed us the difference in size of the baby crocodile we found in the gully, and what is normally found in Alabama. This scute is the smallest one found in Alabama thus far.
James Lamb demonstrating the difference in size of the baby crocodile bone and scutes we found, and those of an adult.
Remember the pile of shark vertebra laying on the side of the gully? This is them after being cleaned up in the lab.
Prairie flower
Prairie flower
Wild flower. The chalk gullies are last places where ancient prairie grasses and flowers are found since European settlement and the practices of modern agriculture.
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