Palo Pinto County, Texas
2 Feb 2008

Today Me and Roz hunted a large exposure of the Mingus Shale member of the Garner formation in Palo Pinto county, Texas.  At first it looked like the site was going be be unfruitful but eventually we found certain spots that produced the typical Pennsylvanian fauna.  The age here is Desmoinesian (306.5 to 307 mya).  The best finds were Petrodus sp. shark (or ray) dermal (oral?) denticles and Leiorhynchus rockymontana brachiopods.  It is unclear if Petrodus sp. denticles come from one species of shark (or ray) or several species.  "Petrodus" denticles are often labeled Petrodus patelliformis but that may not be a valid name anymore. See also the 23 May 2009 fieldtrip.
A long walk to the site.	A very cool spot.	same
	Trepospira sp. snails	Leiorhynchus rockymontana brachiopod cast
brachiopod
Roz spotted a fossil we had never seen in person and after some head scratching eventually realized that it was a Petrodus shark dermal denticle!
Roz's first shark dermal denticle	side view
Once we realized what they looked like in person and on the ground we quickly located a zone that produced bunches of them, as well as bits of shark teeth.  :-)
Roz's fossils (some):
Petrodus sp. denticles (pic taken at home)	Meekospira sp. snail (pic taken at home)
Lance's fossils (some):
A few of my Petrodus sp. denticles  (left one is a tooth)	My best Petrodus sp. denticles (pic taken at home)	Shark teeth and bone? (pic taken a home)
tooth or bone? (pic taken a home)	Orodus sp.? shark tooth (pic taken a home)	Orodus sp.? shark tooth (pic taken a home)
Orodus sp.? shark tooth (pic taken a home)	My best brachiopods (pic taken at home)