North Arlington Fossil Field Yields Prehistoric Crocodile

A Trinity flood plain site that's slated for development is yielding fossils.

By Susan Schrock

ARLINGTON - Local fossil hunters have uncovered more than 50 bones from a prehistoric crocodile skeleton, including its thumb-length teeth, in far north Arlington.

It's the largest find of its kind at the so-called Arlington Archosaur Site, a well-preserved fossil field on 2,000 acres of private, undeveloped land near the Trinity River.

A group of students and volunteers led by Derek Main, a University of Texas at Arlington graduate student and lecturer, has been excavating fossils of prehistoric turtles, sharks, crocodiles and duck-billed dinosaurs from the site since last year.

On Tuesday, crew members worked feverishly with screwdrivers, putty knives, dental picks, spades and other sharp implements to dig up the fossils before vandals or rainy weather can damage them.

"We've been marathon digging since Sunday," Main said. "We're excited because it's the most crocodile matter we've found in one spot since we started this project."

Main estimates that the crocodile was about six feet long. The species was common in the area about 100 million years ago. During that time, the Cretaceous period, north Arlington looked more like the Florida Everglades or the Mississippi coastline, with giant reptiles roaming about, Main said. Archosaur means "ruling reptile."

"When you see the teeth, they are intimidating," Main said of his newest find.

The crocodile fossils are expected to be taken to UT-Arlington this week to determine whether they are from an unknown species, Main said.

'Finding Something New'

Group members stumbled across the skeleton last weekend while using a tractor to clear away a sediment pile from the bottom of a hill where they had been finding scutes, which are the knobby ridges along a crocodile's back.

The dig site is now named for 15-year-old Austin Motheral, a volunteer fossil enthusiast from North Richland Hills who was the first to spot one of the salt water beast's vertebra poking up from the freshly dug dirt.

Motheral, who will be a sophomore at Richland High School, said he's thinking about becoming a paleontologist.

"I've always liked digging and finding something new. Nobody has ever seen these bones before," Motheral said.

Though the fossils have been there for millions of years, time is running out for Main's group to find them.

The landowner, Huffines Communities of Dallas, has given the fossil hunters until May to complete their work. Construction is expected to begin this year on the Viridian master-planned community.

Telling the Story

Huffines President Bob Kembel said information about the site's prehistoric residents will be displayed in Viridian. The developer was already planning a historical display because it surrounds the Lakes of Bird's Fort site, which was the First Anglo settlement in Tarrant County.

"We'll get to tell the history of Bird's Fort and the Indians and the treaties. Now we get to go a little farther back," said Kembel, who added that he hopes to be able to display real or replica fossils at Viridian.

Even though Main and his helpers have found numerous fossils, Kembel said future homeowners probably won't dig up dinosaurs in their back yards.

Other developers have attempted over the past 25 years to build on the land, which lies in the Trinity flood plain. Kembel said his company will bring in fill dirt to level out and elevate the previously excavated sites.

"The majority of the areas where the homes are going to be were excavated years ago. All that dirt going down 8 to 10 feet has already been worked," Kembel said.

"The likelihood of a homeowner stumbling across bones is pretty remote."