MikeD Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 On a drive across Texas on New Years Day, I managed to convince the ms. to detour to a fossil spot I know. We call it Urchin Heaven, but I think it is next door to Oyster Acres. It looks like it hasn't been hunted in a while and a lot of new fossils had eroded out of the matrix. Unfortunately, I got only 15-20 minutes to collect as we had a long drive. Better than nothing. A few pics. I will post more pics and details when I unpack them. At least I got my Cretaceous craving satisfied for a while. A couple of people on here will recognize this spot. A carefully positioned shot of the site without external details that would give its location away and a few in situ shots. The first one is 95% oysters (and broken ones). Jillions of oysters here (about 2 feet thick), some gastropods, pelecypods, and lots of echinoids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Nice pics, thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreekCrawler Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Am I looking at some Goodland material? Nice shots Mike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 awesome, the amount of oysters there is insain! thanks for sharing the pics, looking forward to the stuff you picked up! "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bmorefossil Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 the first of many very nice trips im sure you will have this year, nice finds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 definitely ain't goodland. couldn't grow a tater there to save your bohind... wait - OMG - i know exactly where that isn't! i've never been there before in my life! but that reminds me - i have got to get out before spring and sprinkle some of my extra pleistocene stuff in the cretaceous and vice versa, just to do the mind warp again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Nice shots! Good hunting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 wait - OMG - i know exactly where that isn't! i've never been there before in my life! Vuja De! (The sudden and overwhelming feeling that you've never been here before). Happens to me a lot! "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...
kauffy Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Vuja De! (The sudden and overwhelming feeling that you've never been here before). Happens to me a lot! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA i laughed at that one "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 Am I looking at some Goodland material?Nice shots Mike! It is Walnut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreekCrawler Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 It is Walnut. Ok, so that is where I picked up this stuff.I know so little it's scary!!!! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Nice stuff, Mike. Did you find the echies above or below the oyster layer? Some of my recent finds were below that layer. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh-Man Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Mike, Not bad for 15 minutes of work! Looks like I should go to Church more often... I need to get some more fossils for the cub scouts, too. O What is geology? "Rocks for Jocks!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martijn Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Wow! Only 15 minutes time, oh man no one could drag me away from such a place! Well this year it will be North and South Carolina for me, but be sure Texas will be the next, hahaha Greetings from Norway! Martijn Qua patet orbis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Mike - I think I've been to this spot, seriously........... Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanceH Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Dang, that spot looks familiar also. But then alot of exposures around here look like that anyways. Yeah with all those oysters I'd say Walnut also. The other stuff can be found in the Goodland fm. as well but not with that abundance of Gryphea oysters from my experience. In the Walnut locally I've noticed the prescence of the non-oyster fauna maybe an indicator of the more marly layers that contain the lovely Salenia urchins. I certainly would have crawled around that spot looking for them. ------------------ OH! Just looked at the pics again and noticed a Phymosoma(?) echinoid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 Ok, so that is where I picked up this stuff.I know so little it's scary!!!! LOL Looks similar. Owen and I have also found a few ammonites there. I'm still learning all of the technical stuff myself. When I retire, I will have lots of fossils to catalog and recatalog. Nice stuff, Mike. Did you find the echies above or below the oyster layer? Some of my recent finds were below that layer. I think most of them seem to be eroding out from above the oyster layer. It is not as pronounced on the hillside as it is at the entry point to the area, so it is kind of hard to tell and I was unfortunately in a hurry. The oysters are all mixed in with everything else. I was looking at my photos again this morning and noticed an urchin spine that I did not see when I was there. Mike,Not bad for 15 minutes of work! Looks like I should go to Church more often... I need to get some more fossils for the cub scouts, too. O As you know it is a long way to there from here. Hmmm. Could be a long day trip sometime...... Wow!Only 15 minutes time, oh man no one could drag me away from such a place! Well this year it will be North and South Carolina for me, but be sure Texas will be the next, hahaha Greetings from Norway! Martijn Well Martijn, I would like to keep my girlfriend, so that was all the time I could get. We still had 3.5 more hours to drive. Mike - I think I've been to this spot, seriously........... You have. I saw it in one of your fossil reports and said to myself, "I've been there, too". The water that was there before has all evaporated. Dang, that spot looks familiar also. But then alot of exposures around here look like that anyways.Yeah with all those oysters I'd say Walnut also. The other stuff can be found in the Goodland fm. as well but not with that abundance of Gryphea oysters from my experience. In the Walnut locally I've noticed the prescence of the non-oyster fauna maybe an indicator of the more marly layers that contain the lovely Salenia urchins. I certainly would have crawled around that spot looking for them. ------------------ OH! Just looked at the pics again and noticed a Phymosoma(?) echinoid! Yeah, it does look like a lot of other places in Texas and this one has fossils. I will have to credit the Walnut information to danwoehr as I have not actually had the time yet to research it myself. It is one of the biggest concentration of oysters that I have ever seen. I have not seen Salenia there yet, but who knows. Yes, that is (I believe) Phymosoma Texanum, which was my primary hunting objective there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Here are most of the echinoids I found. Some of them are broken, smashed, cracked, or missing part of the test, but there are some good ones in there. I will pick them out and get them cleaned up. Mostly Heteraster sp. I think. I'm still learning this id stuff. These two guys are kind of interesting. They are both cracked ,but quite a bit taller than most of the "heart urchins" I found (on the right). Then there is this little guy, kind of pentagonal. I need to clean him up (or is it her?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 yeah, how do you determine gender on those things? and where are the walnuts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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