Brazosport Museum of Natural Science

While doing some research on Texas fossils, I came across an interesting website for Brazosport Museum of Natural Science in Clute, Texas. I believe this is just south of Houston. They boast of having "the largest collection of shells on display in the South with shells from around the world."

If I am ever near Houston, Texas, I hope to pay a visit to this museum. It looks like a great place to visit and take pictures.

One of the main items that attracted me to the website though was a section called "Meanderings of a Texas Fossil Hunter" by Dan Woehr. This is an impressive set of reports going from the present to 2003. Mr. Woehr has created a lot of documentation on his fossil collecting adventures with descriptions and pictures in the PDF reports. He has a number of reports about collecting fossils in the Cincinnati area that I can relate to. Most of his reports are about collecting in Texas which from what I read so far has quite a few ammonite, crab, sea urchin, and shark teeth fossils.


Visit the Brazosport Museum of Natural Science on the Internet at http://bcfas.org/museum

Caritodens Clam Fossils

The following pictures show Ordovician period clams called Caritodens demissa (Conrad, 1842). These clams were found in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky (just outside of Louisville, Kentucky). They are probably from the Grant Lake Formation. The growth lines remind me of a contour map. Learn more about this pelecypod fossil at one of my other postings.

A Pseudofossil Called Stylolite

I have been reading a well written book from Germany called Fossil Collector's Handbook: Finding, Identifying, Preparing, Displaying by Gerhard Lichter. Published in English in 1993 by Sterling Publishing Company. The German title is Fossilien bergen, präparieren, ausstellen: Geräte und Techniken published in 1986.

On page 11, there is a picture of a pseudofossil called Stylolite. The author describes it as "the woodlike limestone formation is most likely a diagenetic sediment deposit that developed during rock formation or a water-worn rock."

I remember finding my first piece of rock like the one pictured in the book and thinking I had found some sort of petrified wood. Later, someone told me it was just a pseudofossil. DARN! I still pick up pieces today maybe because like the structure of its parallel lines. Or maybe the hope it is some sort of petrified wood.

The following are pictures of two specimens that I found east of Louisville, Kentucky. They were found at an Ordovician Period road cut.