Hemiaster Sea Urchin Fossil

This fossil is a Echinoderm (sea urchin) called Hemiaster sp. It existed in the Cretaceous Period about 100,000,000 years ago. The fossil was found in Tarrant County, Texas.

Thanks to Herb for the fossil. Apparently they are just found in this condition with no air abrasive cleaning needed.

Pycnodonte Oyster Fossil

This fossil is an extinct oyster from the family Gryphaeidae. It is called Pycnodonte newberyii from the Cretaceous Period and the Turonian Age. The fossil was found in Utah probably near the Tununk layer of the Mancos Shale near Dakota Sandstone. Might also be known as the "Devil's Toenail."

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