The APS took a trip to a classic late Cretaceous site in south Alabama for our November Field trip where we looked primarily for marine fossils in the gullies of the Mooreville Chalk. Luckily rain held off until the evening allowing for a great day of collecting in pretty warm conditions for November! This site always yields amazing fossils and this day was no different. We were the guests of the Alabama Museum of Natural History (ALMNH). Fossils generally include vertebrate material from sharks, fish, and marine reptiles and invertebrate material to include bivalves, worm tubes, echinoids, and ammonites. Rarer fossils can also be found. The first hurdle is dropping into the site.
It was a great day of fossil collecting with a number of significant fossils going to the collections of the ALMNH. The following pictures are of fossils in situ. From Left to right there is a fish tooth, Enchodus, a possible turtle bone, and a shark vertebra.
The next group of photos are of associated bones of a fish Pachyrhizodus caninus. Initially part of one of the dentaries was found but after carefully digging multiple bones of the skull were found. The various jaw and maxilla sections were loaded with big teeth!
This specimen along with jaw (with teeth), skull, and fin elements of an enchodus fish now rest in the collections of the ALMNH. The following are pictures of the cleaned and prepped fossils of the main components of these finds.
Several Mosasaur vertebrae and teeth were also found and contributed to the collections. It was a fabulous day!!! Hope to see you all soon.
Jim Braswell