Synechodus Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 My alias is chosen for the Synechodus lerichei Herman 1977; one of the most elusive if not the most elusive of shark teeth to be found in the Late Cretaceous outcrops close to my hometown. Funny enough I have found a specimen last year while other, far less rare teeth have eluded me up until now, one of them being Squalicorax pristodontus Agassiz 1843. Sure, I have a couple of nice specimens from the Late Cretaceous of Morocco, but what's the fun in buying some of those, apart from negotiating a fair price with a Moroccan? But, so I kept telling myself, "My day will come" and it sure did the other day. Inspired by a trip report of a friend along the US East Coast who did well on a trip last Sunday, I decided to swap the Neogene sands in the Antwerp area for the Cretaceous outcrops much closer to home, basically on what I would call "A feeling that I should go there and check it out". When I got there my first impression was that only overburden had been moved since I was there last time and little to none of the "mergel", the term locally used for the sandy chalk we find around here. So first I went looking among the old Hemipneustes-beds first and sure enough within half an hour I had found a nice one in the matrix. Can't have enough of those . Wandering around a bit for the next hour I noticed that contrary to my first impression they had been blasting and moving chalk on the second level from the top. After a cursory glance I decided to pick up my belongings on level one and went down the slope with blast-material. On the way down, backpack on my back, bucket in one hand and my eternal companion, the small pick axe, in the other, I noticed "something black" gleaming from a large block. Not wanting to bother with putting everything down first and have a closer look I just whacked the block slightly above that "black thing" and look and behold: this pristine Squalicorax pristodontus Agassiz 1843 sat there, staring at me. I was just flabbergasted. Notice the trail left by my small pick axe in the lower right corner of the first picture; it stops only mm's from the tooth ..... Pfew..... After that I was basically in gravy mode, but Lady Luck had something else in store for me, within the hour even. Walking around aimlessly on the next level my eyes just fell on another black object protruding from a chalk block. Looking closer this time I saw it was another Squalicorax pristodontus Agassiz 1843! And judging by the part showing this one was even bigger, maybe even twice as big as the first one. Now I hardly ever sit down to admire a find in the field, but believe me, this time I did. Here are two pics of the second tooth: as found and after a first prep-run and finally a shot with both teeth, side by side. After that I bagged some big belemnites, a few more of the little teeth and a juvenile Hemipneustes, but that was just icing on the cake. So there you have it; I left home with only a beat up Squalicorax pristodontus crown stashed away somewhere at home and come home with two beauties ...... what I nice hobby we have .... Cheers, Paul "And the men who hold high places, Must be the ones to start To mould a new reality, Closer to the Heart" (Rush, "Closer to the Heart" from the album "A Farewell to Kings") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 Very nice. A well written, interesting post, with very good pictures, also. Thanks for adding it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 Congratulations, they're beauties! Have you settled on a new "nemesis" yet? Or is it too soon to move on... "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synechodus Posted August 8, 2008 Author Share Posted August 8, 2008 Congratulations, they're beauties! Have you settled on a new "nemesis" yet? Or is it too soon to move on... I am still relishing this feat, but put me on the spot and I would say: Salenia (Pleurosalenia) bonissenti (Cotteau, 1866) sensu Lambert, 1898 "And the men who hold high places, Must be the ones to start To mould a new reality, Closer to the Heart" (Rush, "Closer to the Heart" from the album "A Farewell to Kings") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorman Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 Nice Teeth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jax Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 Nice find Paul! I really like it in the Matrix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
non-remanié Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 great Squalis! They don't seem to be as common as over here in the US, but when you find them they often seem to be spectacular! nice. -steve ---Wie Wasser schleift den Stein, wir steigen und fallen--- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryland Mike Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 Congratulations, sounds like it was truly a great day out on the hunt. Carpe Diem, Carpe Somnium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gymnura sp Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 Hi Paul, Great hunt, great story and great looking teeth! True beauties! Congratulations, sounds like it was truly a great day out on the hunt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 Well done, Paul! They are beautiful. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synechodus Posted August 9, 2008 Author Share Posted August 9, 2008 Thank you, guys. These are the days that keep me going to try and save fossils like these from being turned into cement. Can you imagine these teeth being ground into a grey powder? And sure enough, within two hours of finding the first tooth, the dumpsters started hauling away the material among which I had found it..... @Toothpuller: Yes these teeth are rarer over here than where you hunt. I think that that's at least partly due to the fact that they are found in situ here and not in reworked and concentrated beds. This also accounts for their pristine quality, I think. Cheers, Paul "And the men who hold high places, Must be the ones to start To mould a new reality, Closer to the Heart" (Rush, "Closer to the Heart" from the album "A Farewell to Kings") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 Hey Paul Sounds like you and I enjoy similar collecting an ocean apart. Your collecting parallels what I target in the Pecan Gap Chalk and stratigraphically equivalent Anacacho (Campanian) trend which persists in a thin, S shaped ribbon from north to south Texas. The Kpg varies from gray to yellowish off white to nearly white conchoidally fracturing, blocky chalk with sparse and compressed but often spectacularly preserved Didymoceras reevesi, Pachydiscus travisi, P. paulsoni, and Trachyscaphites spiniger ammonites, Hemiaster and baseball to softball sized Echinocorys echinoids, and even more sparsely distributed shark teeth, pycnodont teeth, and mosasaur material. The Kan tends to be a massive, gritty, yellowish limestone with fully inflated Hemipneustes-sized Echinocorys texanus and a similar ammonite fauna including Bostrychoceras polyplocum. Exogyra oysters persist through both as do nautiloids which I'm guessing are Eutrephoceras of one species or another. I think my experience would serve me well in your area and yours would work here as well. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenixflood Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 great Squalis! They don't seem to be as common as over here in the US, but when you find them they often seem to be spectacular! nice.-steve Yeah, I only find them one place here in the states and that's in NC. The soul of a Fossil Hunter is one that is seeking, always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 I've taken some small and worn S. pristodontus from the Kemp and Escondido fms of Texas, just never the bigguns. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
non-remanié Posted August 9, 2008 Share Posted August 9, 2008 Thank you, guys.These are the days that keep me going to try and save fossils like these from being turned into cement. Can you imagine these teeth being ground into a grey powder? And sure enough, within two hours of finding the first tooth, the dumpsters started hauling away the material among which I had found it..... @Toothpuller: Yes these teeth are rarer over here than where you hunt. I think that that's at least partly due to the fact that they are found in situ here and not in reworked and concentrated beds. This also accounts for their pristine quality, I think. Cheers, Paul Yep thats pretty much it! I am both a fan and not a fan of reworking. ---Wie Wasser schleift den Stein, wir steigen und fallen--- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serack Posted August 11, 2008 Share Posted August 11, 2008 Yep thats pretty much it! I am both a fan and not a fan of reworking. those are some amazing teeth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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