Hemipristis serra teeth from the Belgrade Quarry?

The teeth of the extinct Snaggletooth shark (Hemipristis serra) are fairly easy to ID from the tooth shape alone.  Triangular in shape, usually angled to one side, and with large serrations along the edges, particularly along the edge that was facing towards the back of the jaw.  Below are three teeth, two laterals and a frontal, that came in a bag of mixed teeth marked "Belgrade Quarry, NC".

Specimen #1 - right side lateral tooth

Specimen #2 - left side lateral tooth

Specimen #3 - frontal tooth

As I mentioned earlier , these teeth came in a bag labelled as "Belgrade Quarry, NC". That quarry exposes sediments from the Eocene to the Miocene.  Hemipristis serra is known from that quarry but the color of these teeth seem to indicate a different source. Perhaps the Lee Creek quarry, also in North Carolina, where this species is known to be found in the Yorktown formation (late Miocene-Early Pliocene)?

Carcharocles angustidens teeth from the Belgrade/River Bend formation

In a bag of fossil shark teeth that I purchased I found a number of these triangular shaped teeth. The bag was labelled "Belgrade Quarry" with no other information. I spent a hour or so looking for fossil shark tooth pictures on Google Images that matched what I had and the closest were Carcharocles angustidens. A quick posting to the Fossil Forum website confirmed that these were indeed C. angustidens teeth and that they could be found at the Belgrade quarry.

More web searches ultimately led me to Wikipedia and to the follow logic: These fossils come from the Belgrade quarry in North Carolina. Rocks exposed in that quarry range from the Eocene to the Miocene epochs. C. angustidens existed in the late Oligocene and early Miocene (33-22 mya, Rupelian stage to Aquitanian stage).  That narrows the formations they could have been found in to the River Bend formation (Late Oligocene) and the Belgrade formation (Early Miocene). Both of those formations at one point or another were considered part of the Trent marl which was originally dated to the Eocene epoch. Oh yeah, and C. angustidens was an relative of the Megalodon (no biggie) ^1,2,3.

It's nice to have a little bit more information on these fossils as they are a species I did not have in my collection previously. Three of the specimens below would have been found on the front of the shark's jaw while the last one has a little bit more of a curve in it so likely came from along the side or back of the jaw.

Specimen 1

Specimen 2

Specimen 3

Specimen 4

These teeth were found at the Belgrade Quarry near Maysville, in North Carolina in the Belgrade /River Bend formations.

1. Wikipedia - Carcharocles angustidens article
2. Wikipedia - Belgrade formation article
3. Wikipedia - River Bend formation article

Dinophyton spinosus Plant fossil from the Stockton formation

Dinophyton spinosus is an odd plant that is found in the late Triassic of rocks across the US. It's often found as a small branch or sprig of tiny rounded leaves. Paleontologists have been trying to figure out how it fits within the evolution of plants but have so far been frustrated. What research I have found (Source 1, Source 2, Source 3)says that it is a gymnosperm (it's seeds are not protected by a fruit) which puts it close to conifers, Ginko's and cycads. The specimens below come from the late Triassic aged Stockton formation near Phoenixville, PA. This is practically in my back yard and I'd never heard, let alone seen anything like these before. 

During the late Triassic, Southeastern PA was a rift zone as Pangea split up. The Stockton formation was deposited on a level plain during drier, savanna like conditions. It inter-tongues with the Lockatong formation which represents lake sediments that would wax and wane as the climate changed. The specimens below were probably preserved in small, temporary ponds.

Sample 1 - Just a small leaf cluster on this piece.

Sample 2 - This piece has a few more sprigs of Dinophyton spinosus.

Previously, I blogged about some Conchostracans that I found from the Lockatong formation.

The Stockton formation is dated to the Triassic, roughly Carnian stage. I purchased these fossils in 2018.

Rhynchosauroides sp. swim traces from the Newark Supergroup

Today I have a fossil trackway to show you. This is more properly called an Ichnofossil as the body of the animal is not present. On this piece of shale are what appear to be scratch marks. I lost the original tag that came with the specimen but I recall that they were traces from swimming. An inquiry to the Fossil Forum website and the hive mind came up with Rhynchosauroides sp. as the name of the traces.  These represent a primitive reptile that was swimming in a pond or pool near a river. The creature floated in the water but it was shallow enough that it's claws grazed the sediment below and left traces. The pond may have been temporary and subject to frequent flooding as the substrate was firm enough to preserve the initial traces before they washed away, and then get buried with a new layer of sediment.   As I mentioned before, I lost the original tag but I believe this was Triassic aged and came from the rocks of the Newark Supergroup in Pennsylvania.  These rocks were originally laid down in a rift valley as the super continent Pangea was breaking up.

Bathyuriscus fimbriatus trilobite from the Marjum formation

Here is an uncommon trilobite from the Marjum formation of Utah, Bathyuriscus fimbriatus. This comes from the same area as the millions of Elrathia kingii fossils that are ubiquitous at fossil show, but from a slightly younger layer. You can tell this species apart from E. kingii by the larger pygidium and the thorax segments that extend just a little father than the margin of the pygidium. This specimen is missing the free checks, or librigena .

There is a good picture of a complete specimen of Bathyuriscus fimbriatus that can be seen on the Western Trilobite Association webpage.

The Marjum formation is middle Cambrian in age, Drumian stage (503 mya).