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When the kids were younger we used to go out for walks in the woods and hunt fossils. Mostly this was just a way to get out of the house and occupy the time, but they enjoyed it. I was always fascinated by the sheer number of these fossils and intrigued by the fact that they are all from invertebrate specimens of sub-marine species. Ironic that they have come to rest out in the open in the middle of a conifer forest on top of a mountain some 9,000 feet above sea level! Recently I have rekindled a more serious interest in these fossils and have actually done some research on them and their origins. Turns out there are areas around the Sacramento and Guadalupe Mountains that have been studied by paleontologists and geologists the world over for decades. Through this research, here is a little of what I have discovered about the Sunspot area fossils in particular.
The uppermost layers of the Sacramento Mountains, including all the upper crests and entire ridge from Cloudcroft to Sunspot and stretching several miles to the East, lie in Permian period strata from the Paleozoic era. Specifically, the Rio Bonito member of the San Andres formation from the Permian period. This makes the layer of rocks Sunspot sits on around 260 million years old! Much more detailed information on the stratigraphy, periods and fossils of the Sacramento Mountains can be found on the more general Sacramento Mountain Fossils page. The entire collection of images from my various fossil hunting excursions can be found in the fossil image gallery. A better way to view the fossil image gallery is through the trips page which breaks down the image collection by date and location and includes thumbnails of all images taken from that date. Here are some selected images of the various species I have encountered in the Sunspot area. (Disclaimer: Since I’m not an expert on this subject, some of these identifications could well be wrong!) Bryozoans/Crinoids/Phylloid Algae:
   
Gastropods (Bellerophontid):
 Gastropods (Turbinid):
   
Gastropods (Turritellid):
  
Gastropods (Short spired):
 Brachiopods:
   
Bivalve (Fragments):
  Cephalopod - Nautiloids (Ortho-conic):
  
Cephalopod - Ammonoids (Planispiraled):
   
Cephalopod - Ammonoids (Open coiled):
 Trilobites:
 Rugose Coral:
   
Echinoid Spines:
 
Oolite and Pisolite:
   
Other Fossils of Notable Interest:Ammonite with a striking relationship between outer and inner whorls:
 Ammonite Siphuncle:
  Large Ammonite Fragment (10" diameter)
 Bed of Thousands of Brachiopods:
 Crinoid Stems:
  Tiny Pentagonal Crinoid Stem Cross-Section:
 Interesting Rugose Coral Section:
 Possible Bryozoans?:
  ???:
 Rock Striations - Channels cut by water erosion:
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Sunspot Area Fossils 
