screweduptexan Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Okay, I have a question and I know I am always posting in this section, but I thought I'd ask anyways. I collected in a PawPaw Formation locality and found the attached material. To me, it looks like a pyritized bone frag covered in gypsum crystals. I know that is a little far out, however it seriously looks like a somewhat flattened chicken bone and even has the charectoristics of marrow/porous material inside of the bone-looking object. I should know, b/c growing up I used to always suck the marrow out of my chicken bones after I ate the cartilage stuff off the top. Wierd, but true. Another reason I call myself the screwed Up Texan. Anyways, has bone material ever been found in the PawPaw formation, and if so, has any ever been found to be pyritized and/or covered in gypsum? I realize I may be WAY OFF on this one, but thought I pose the question. If not, then it is a pretty cool gypsum specimen. Just thought I'd ask 'cause I know y'all are smarter than me. I couldn't get better pics using my camara, but will try again if y'all need better ones. I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 I'm going with mineral/crystal formations. Number one to me looks like iron, 2/3 look like calcite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 Could you get a better close up of the end of the first pic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 They do look "finger-lickin' good", but I don't know anything about the Paw Paw fauna. That was laid down before the invention of pretzel rods, right? "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...
screweduptexan Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 These pics dont do it any justice. I'll keep trying that end. I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screweduptexan Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 My very first job in HS was Kentucky Fried Chicken. I worked there for one year and put on twenty pounds. I lost nearly all twenty within a month of quitting. Funny thing was that the name for KFC on my check was Kentucky Fried Chicken of CALIFORNIA. I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 I think Nicholas is probably right on, I don't think that is any kind of bone, I just am not seeing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 OMG, SUT! you're exactly correct! i'm kidding. it looks like an infilling of a void. maybe a burrow at some point, but there was an opening in the matrix that filled in with, maybe, calcite/aragonite? a lot of calcite up there is yellowish and aragonite brownish. minerals don't all go in at the same time and things set up in layers of crystals sometimes. i can't really see the specimens well enough to be sure what the minerals are, but i don't think it's anything but minerals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screweduptexan Posted November 6, 2008 Author Share Posted November 6, 2008 tracer, you always bring a smile to my face! I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 that's what i'm here for, ma'am! <pushing umpteen gallon hat up a bit on his forehead> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted November 6, 2008 Share Posted November 6, 2008 p.s. - if you're going to keep calling it that, shouldn't you say you're hunting in the "paw paw formation formation"? p.s. - if you're going to keep calling it that, shouldn't you say you're hunting in the "paw paw formation formation"? on a different note, did you hear about the three-legged dog who wandered from town to town in the west looking for the man who shot his paw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screweduptexan Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 p.s. - if you're going to keep calling it that, shouldn't you say you're hunting in the "paw paw formation formation"?p.s. - if you're going to keep calling it that, shouldn't you say you're hunting in the "paw paw formation formation"? on a different note, did you hear about the three-legged dog who wandered from town to town in the west looking for the man who shot his paw. Yes, you're probably right. And I just realized that it's a good thing I named myself "screwed Up Texan" and not screwed Little Up Texan". Get it? Okay, that was dumb. I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
explorer1 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 also i have gravel for sale check the trade room or my posts. god hunting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa dino Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 I guess we have to watch how we say things now, But up here in the Great White North the first question would be is what the h&ll is the Paw paw frm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 It is the actual name of one of our rock formations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screweduptexan Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 Pawpaw is actually a fruit...I don't think it was named after my memaw and pawpaw...or was it? Anybody know if the PawPaw formation was named after the fruit? I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Too, if you didn't know grandpa dino, a Paw Paw is a tree that grows in the South. It's fruit looks like a big giant green peanut, tastes like a banana, and has the consistency of a pumpkin. And, yes, they are delicious. In the old days, people would pickle them in the Fall for later use in Winter when food was scarce. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawpaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 ...And, yes, they are delicious.... ...if you can get to them before the 'possums! Same with persimmons. "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...
Mike Murphy Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 The crystals do look more like calcite than gypsum as noted by Nicholas and Tracer. Gypsum is a common mineral in the Pawpaw formation (generally appearing as flat selenite blades or as flattened clusters of crystals), but so is calcite, especially as cavity and crack filling in the more calcareous clay strata in Tarrant County. The Pawpaw is late Albian in age with some Cenomanian faunal elements appearing in the formation. The lithology varies widely in the Pawpaw, more so than in the other Washitan (Lower Cretaceous) strata. The formation ranges from sandstone and lesser shales to the north along the Red River between Oklahoma and Texas to clay in Denton, Tarrant County and Johnson County and to calcareous marl to the south from there. In Southwest Texas and in Trans-Pecos Texas, the Pawpaw is not identifiable and is part of the upper Washitan limestones. The Pawpaw Formation is popular with fossil collectors in North Texas because of the presence of pyritic and limonitic micromorph fossils that include beautifully detailed micromorphic ammonites, crabs, starfish, clams, gastropods and other fossils. By the way, the Pawpaw Formation was not named for the Paw Paw tree or fruit but was named for Pawpaw Creek in Grayson County, Texas. Guess what Pawpaw Creek was named for? (Hint, it was not your grandfather!) Regards, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Murphy Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 As an addendum and answer to screweduptexan, there is considerable vertebrate material found in the Pawpaw Formation in Tarrant County. The vertebrate material includes teleost vertebrae and bones, shark teeth and vertebrae. Even a nodosaurid dinosaur (related to the ankylosaurs) Pawpawsaurus and a pterosaur Coloborhynchus have been found in the Pawpaw in Tarrant County. The shark teeth from the Pawpaw are popular with fossil collectors. Regards, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy784 Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Paw Paw was the name of an old fishing lure company, I collect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screweduptexan Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 Bout Persimmons, I make persimmon jelly every year once the persimmons ripen: Fall off the tree. Mmmmm, it is good. I also make mustang grape jelly, wild black berry jelly and pies, and whatever else other wild edible thing I can find. Never actually seen a Paw Paw though. I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Bout Persimmons, I make persimmon jelly every year once the persimmons ripen: Fall off the tree. Mmmmm, it is good. My Dad used to make persimmon wine; it was incredible! "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...
MikeD Posted November 7, 2008 Share Posted November 7, 2008 Bout Persimmons, I make persimmon jelly every year once the persimmons ripen: Fall off the tree. Mmmmm, it is good. I also make mustang grape jelly, wild black berry jelly and pies, and whatever else other wild edible thing I can find. Never actually seen a Paw Paw though. Wild blackberry jelly and pies, now we're talking! I saw a paw paw tree when I was a kid. An odd looking fruit, but as I remember it tasted OK. I can't remember what they made from them. That guy had a lot of cool stuff at his house. He would be about 120 now. I wonder what happened to all of his stuff? I have found some interesting iron/calcite oddities in the Duck Creek formation. screweduplittletexan.... too funny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
screweduptexan Posted November 7, 2008 Author Share Posted November 7, 2008 One of my interests is making various food (okay, mostly desserts) out of wild edible plants. In addition to the other named items, I also make persimmon pudding, pecan pies from my own pecan trees, wild spearmint tea when we lived in Utah, other various teas and wild prickley pear jelly. My husband and I always joke that if we dont ever have enough money to buy food, we can always pick our own from the wild and fish and hunt. Yes, I believe the crystals are calcite. I have a big chunk of gypsum I found in the pawpaw formation and I suppose I assumed the calcite was gypsum too. I can't come up with anything clever enough for my signature...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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