Tag Archives: fossils

Fixing your search images

mwilson May 26, 2010 8:54 pm

NEW ALBANY, MISSISSIPPI — The kind of science our paleontological field team is doing ultimately depends on unpredictable discoveries.  We came to this part of the world based on the recorded experiences of generations of geologists who assembled maps of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

An abundance of Cretaceous shark teeth

mwilson May 25, 2010 9:28 pm

STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI — OK, Andrew Retzler, please identify these teeth as best as you can in the comments below!  For everyone else, Andrew will be leaving with me in little more than a week for Israel where he will be … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

We meet the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in Mississippi

mwilson May 25, 2010 9:18 pm

STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI — George Phillips took us to a series of Starkville outcrops today straddling the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary.  The boundary here is gradational and generally marked by a color change from gray in the upper Prairie Bluff Formation to light … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments

Our first vertebrate fossil

mwilson May 24, 2010 5:06 pm
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

From Alabama to Mississippi

mwilson May 24, 2010 5:01 pm

STARKVILLE, MISSISSIPPI — Early this morning we left Demopolis, Alabama, and drove to Livingston, home of the University of West Alabama.  Our first localities, in fact, were very close to campus as we again explored the Upper Cretaceous Prairie Bluff … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Sweet Home Alabama

mwilson May 23, 2010 4:55 pm

DEMOPOLIS, ALABAMA — We practically had the state to ourselves on this steamy Sunday as we drove around western Alabama looking for outcrops of the latest Cretaceous and earliest Paleogene.  As is often the case, localities described in the literature … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Mud, Sun and Fossils

mwilson May 22, 2010 4:44 pm

GREENVILLE, ALABAMA — Reconnaissance is over for this part of the state, and our work commenced this morning.  We want to find good sclerobiont communities above and below the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, so here that means we want specimens from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Post-Cretaceous Weirdness

mwilson May 22, 2010 4:16 pm

GREENVILLE, ALABAMA — The Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary at Mussel Creek, Lowndes County, Alabama, has some unusual complexity.   At the southern end of the section it is simple enough, as shown in a previous blog post.  Just a few meters north, though, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Another beautiful fossil hard substrate

mwilson May 21, 2010 8:03 pm

GREENVILLE, ALABAMA — I have a soft spot for hard places.  (Always wanted to say that!)  Much of my career has been spent studying marine hard substrates and the communities that have evolved on and in them.  These include rocks, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Geological fieldwork in the Deep South

mwilson May 21, 2010 7:40 pm

GREENVILLE, ALABAMA — This is the first time I’ve done fieldwork in the southern USA.  The outcrops are of course very different from my favorite desert locations and oddly similar to those I visited in western Russia last summer.  I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment