Short Trip To Hogtown Creek, Gainesville, Fl

[Pristiformes]

I spend two hours sieving the Hogtown Creek for teeth yesterday. No biggies and nothing to write home about, but I still found some teeth. I also brought back a bit of the Hawthorne Formation in a bucket, to be fine sieved for micro material later. Incidentally, does anyone know of a list of micro fossils found in the Hawthorne Formation or Hogtown Creek? This stuff is new territory for me.

Jason

[mommabetts]

I would say that the trip was a success, nice teeth!!!!!!!!

[Guest N.AL.hunter]

We will be coming down there and collecting one day after Xmas with Anson et all. Please leave some fossils in the creek for us!! Nice haul you got. We will have a few newbies with us, so I hope they do well and get a thrill out of their first ever fossil collecting trip.

[Auspex]

Quite a haul for 2 hrs.!

I've circled what looks like a bone that's a little different; is it, by any chance, hollow?

[Pristiformes]

Quite a haul for 2 hrs.!

I've circled what looks like a bone that's a little different; is it, by any chance, hollow?

Auspex,

The piece you've circled is another myliobatid or rhinopterid tooth plate. That piece plus the larger one partially within the circle happened to be much lighter in color than the rest, and I don't know why. Were you getting at if it was a bird bone?

[Pristiformes]

We will be coming down there and collecting one day after Xmas with Anson et all. Please leave some fossils in the creek for us!! Nice haul you got. We will have a few newbies with us, so I hope they do well and get a thrill out of their first ever fossil collecting trip.

Alabama Hunter,

I'll try and practice restraint but I’m not making any promises! I often throw some smaller or partial teeth back to grow or re-grow (like starfish!); in this way I'd like to think I'm contributing to a sustainable harvest by sieve-and-release to some extent. As you can see in the photos, I release the largest teeth since they tend to be the most fecund females, thus ensuring more progeny for future harvest.

[Auspex]

Auspex,

The piece you've circled is another myliobatid or rhinopterid tooth plate. That piece plus the larger one partially within the circle happened to be much lighter in color than the rest, and I don't know why. Were you getting at if it was a bird bone?

Well, it had the sort of look that would cause me to pick it up for a closer view...

Hope springs eternal

[Auspex]

Alabama Hunter,

I'll try and practice restraint but I’m not making any promises! I often throw some smaller or partial teeth back to grow or re-grow (like starfish!); in this way I'd like to think I'm contributing to a sustainable harvest by sieve-and-release to some extent. As you can see in the photos, I release the largest teeth since they tend to be the most fecund females, thus ensuring more progeny for future harvest.

You're a regular Johnny Fossil Seed!

[Fat Boy]

Now that there's funny right there, I don't care who y'are...

I especially am wondering about your talent for taking a pic with your phone and still having the quickness and agility to include your phone in the pic

[Hogtownfossil]

I also brought back a bit of the Hawthorne Formation in a bucket, to be fine sieved for micro material later. Incidentally, does anyone know of a list of micro fossils found in the Hawthorne Formation or Hogtown Creek? This stuff is new territory for me

Jason, you would be surprised how few scientific papers regarding the fossils sharks and rays of the Hawthorne Group exist, and I know of none dealing with Hogtown Creek. There is a large chapter in Richard Hulbert's(ed.) book "Fossil Vertebrates of Florida" dealing with Catilaginous and Bony Fish( I know the downtown lpublic library has a copy), and a very detailed survey paper of the Leisey Shell Pit fish fauna which includes many Hawthorne species(though the authors don't acknowledge this) which I have a copy of. The first is some help with identification, the second none at all. There is a Masters Thesis at UF by Tessman,1969 "The fossil sharks of Florida" that I haven't gotten to read yet, will try to wrangle a copy soon. Otherwise you are left with the more popular fossil hunting books dealing with FL, Brown's older book and the newer Renz and Sinibladi books, which are of more help in identification, though not with the micro fauna. I know the library has copies of these books also.

From mine and another fellows survey of the creeks' micro fauna about 5 years ago I can give you this brief synopsis:

A LOT of juvenile Carcharhinus teeth(which are the devil to identify species)

some sharpnose shark teeth(Rhizoprionodon)

a few nurse shark teeth(Ginglymostoma)

a very few saw shark rostrals(Pristiophorus)

a good amount of small ray teeth(wedgefish, stingray, skates-Rhynchobatus, Dasyatis, Raja)

a L of fish teeth, incisors and disassociated crusher plate teeth(sharks had to eat something)

a few garfish scales(maybe teeth also?)

Hope this helps some

[Harry Pristis]

Jason, you would be surprised how few scientific papers regarding the fossils sharks and rays of the Hawthorne Group exist, and I know of none dealing with Hogtown Creek. There is a large chapter in Richard Hulbert's(ed.) book "Fossil Vertebrates of Florida" dealing with Catilaginous and Bony Fish( I know the downtown lpublic library has a copy), and a very detailed survey paper of the Leisey Shell Pit fish fauna which includes many Hawthorne species(though the authors don't acknowledge this) which I have a copy of. The first is some help with identification, the second none at all. There is a Masters Thesis at UF by Tessman,1969 "The fossil sharks of Florida" that I haven't gotten to read yet, will try to wrangle a copy soon. Otherwise you are left with the more popular fossil hunting books dealing with FL, Brown's older book and the newer Renz and Sinibladi books, which are of more help in identification, though not with the micro fauna. I know the library has copies of these books also.

<snip>

I have Tessman's thesis here. You have much better information in Hulbert's book. The exception in the Hulbert book is that he carried forward Tessman's erroneous ID of Serratolamna as juvenile Otodus.

See Florida Serratolamna here.