North Sulphur River Ids 2

[CrashTestDummy]

BIG thanks to everyone for the help! Here are a few more (11) things for identification (or confirmation)...

1. Okay, these four images are all of the same fossil. A Mosasaur vertebrae?

2. This is the super rare something-shell, right? (top and bottom views)

3. Mickey Mouse?

4. My wife would really like to know what these are (if anything).

5. Another shell of some sort, top and bottom views.

6. Another concretion? (those exposed lines go clear through the strata and appear on the opposite side)

7. If you've ever been to NSR, you know the clay beds are full of these. But what is it exactly?

8. Yet another shell of some sort (top and bottom). Same as the others?

9. I thought this was another shell fragment, but I'm not so sure. The upper surface is almost glass-like and the color of light carmel. Three different views. Thoughts?

10. Okay, I think this is just a regular rock mostly, but what amazed us was the dime-sized ring on one side, and the corresponding quartz-like hole on the other. Strange, huh?

11. This is another, much larger, slab of that stuff that I [previously] thought was petrified wood (two views). I haven't been able to find any raw gypsum photos online that even come close to resembling this stuff, so I'm leaning more toward the quartz theory. Then again, the 'net isn't all-inclusive when it comes to rock photos either.

Okay, that should keep you dinosaurs busy for at least 5 or 10 minutes

Fred B.

[ShadyW]

The first four are, as you say, a rather worn Mosasaur vertebra. It's still in pretty good condition compared to most that I've found... except for this beauty that I found on my very first trip, less than 50ft from the most popular bridge on the river! (it's on the right - the vertebra on the left came from the exact same place, 4 years later, and is a Xiphactinus fish vertebra)

The next two are a shell whose name I forget. Few on the main NSR channel now, but many, many, many down some of the side creeks.

As you say, number three is Mickey Mouse. Donate it to the Creationist Museum in Glen Rose, and they can display it as clear proof that "not only did Man walk with the Dinosaurs, but he already had capitalist mega-corporations to nurture his children while he was away on a Pterodactyl shoot."

4) Tell your wife they're rocks, and a rather nice 1981 penny. That'll be worth something some day, you know.

5) A worm-eaten partial shell of the type seen in 2) - someone else will be more technical, I'm sure. I'm only a rocket scientist.

Boy do I have a short attention span. I'm off to bed

[CrashTestDummy]

Thanks Shady. I see you're in Plano. We live out in Wylie. If you ever wanna show me "the good spots" let me know and maybe we can ride out together or something.

Are there other sites within reason of DFW for hunting fossils and/or rocks? When we lived in Oregon we had it made with obsidian, thunder eggs, agate, jasper, artifacts (like arrowheads and spear points), and all sorts of stuff. But until this past weekend we never thought of looking here in Texas. Of course it had been a couple decades since I last looked for anything though.

Awesome verts, by the way!

Fred B.

[Fruitbat]

The large shells are Exogyra species (probably Exogyra ponderosa) and they are VERY common on the gravel bars at the Paris bridge on the NSR. The clam shell impression is likely one of the Inoceramids which are fairly common in the Cretaceous of North Texas.

-Joe

[LanceH]

I have heard and seen that the big Ponderosa oysters are actually hard to find now, at least where I've looked. There's a certain area in Ark (also Ozan formation) that still has tons of them with all the detail.

The large shells are Exogyra species (probably Exogyra ponderosa) and they are VERY common on the gravel bars at the Paris bridge on the NSR. The clam shell impression is likely one of the Inoceramids which are fairly common in the Cretaceous of North Texas.

-Joe

[Uncle Siphuncle]

There are actually big Exogyras in several formations from Austin through Escondido that I've observed in TX. The Pecan Gap and Corsicana come to mind as prolific. E. ponderosa shows up in the Kpg but may not be restricted to that formation. Other species come from other fms such as E. costata and E. cancellata in the Kco. I'm not a big oyster guy, but I have 2 uses for them. One is to line the flower beds and the other is to help me zone other fossils. For instance, learn your oyster beds in the various formations and you can often learn the relative stratigraphic position of various echinoid and ammonite zones. The Walnut fm is a good example.

[CURT]

I have heard and seen that the big Ponderosa oysters are actually hard to find now, at least where I've looked. There's a certain area in Ark (also Ozan formation) that still has tons of them with all the detail.

I agree that the oysters in 2 abd 8 are Exogyra. 5 is an oyster, possibly Exogyra or Pycnodonte with bore holes from a sponge known as Cliona.