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  • MikeR

    The End Of My Pliocene Project

    By MikeR

    When I began this blog late in 2010, my intention was to report on recent field trips however, with the exception of one excursion each into the Upper Miocene, Lower Pliocene and the Calabrian Pleistocene, all of my posts have concentrated on the Upper Pliocene of the US Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains. I already had an extensive collection of Florida Upper Pliocene invertebrates that I had collected while a resident of the state in the late 80s and early 90s. The fossils from these beds are
    • 9 comments
    • 8,462 views
  • andreas

    The Columbianus Zone/alaunium 2/ Norium/upper Triassic, In The So Called “Hallstatt Limestone” Of The Northern Calcareous Alps In Austria

    By andreas

    The columbianus Zone/Alaunium 2/ Norium/Upper Triassic in the so called "Hallstatt Limestone" of the Northern Calcareous Alps in Austria Dear Fossil Forum members! This pictured report about the ammonite bearing Triassic Hallstatt limestone will be the first one of a continuous series of reports. Since the beginning of the geological research in the Northern Calcareous Alps of Austria in the 19th century, about 500 species of Triassic ammonites have been described from the Hallstatt limestone
    • 14 comments
    • 11,689 views
  • MikeR

    The Problem with Siphocypraea

    By MikeR

    For millennia, humankind has been fascinated by the hard-external shell of the organisms classified within the Phylum Mollusca.   Consumed first as food, their empty shells have served multiple functions in the past; as tools in many ancient cultures, in religious ceremonies by the Aztecs, and money by Pacific Islanders. During the Age of Discovery, sailors could supplement their meager incomes by selling exotic seashells to wealthy gentlemen for their Cabinets of Curiosity.  Today many people f
    • 3 comments
    • 2,959 views
  • JohnJ

    Ancient Hunters

    By JohnJ

    June 5, 2010 Barry held his camera barely two feet away from the back of an Agkistrodon piscivorus. Although a small snake, it was still very dangerous and he positioned his camera based on years of experience with these reptiles. Known more commonly as a Cottonmouth or Water Moccasin, the twelve inch juvenile snake had coloration similar to the closely related Copperhead. However, its patterns were muted by late afternoon shadows in a remote location that was not favorable to an easy medic
    • 26 comments
    • 8,252 views
Trip Reports

Unforgettable moments in the Hell Creek formation

(Note: I don't know why half of this is in bold, I wrote this in a google doc first and copy pasted it to here, and it defaults to bold without the ability to undo it. This tends to fluctuate. Easy to see though!)   "Dinosaurs are overrated", Mike teased to me. We were sitting together at the flooded dig site of our mosasaur in the early morning hours, having just finished a jam-packed but enjoyable conversation about his research and other matters related to paleo. Naturally, dinosaur
Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

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Trip Reports

Surprise on Easter weekend

Spring in my stretch of Texas is brilliantly green, with lush, heavy foliage that reaches tall. The atmosphere is warm, with humid air that has weight of its own, and the open, bright blue skies are occasionally interrupted by fleeting storms.   This season of sticky air and vibrant greenery have made me deeply nostalgic for when I was just starting to figure things out and really exert myself in the practice of fossil finding, just a year ago. I spent steamy days romping up and down i
Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

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Trip Reports

A walk in the Austin Chalk (two cidarids!) (4/01/22)

For whatever reason, I used to completely dismiss the Austin chalk as a formation of any interest. I viewed it almost through the same lens that I view the Edwards formation, as if it was some barren uninteresting hinderance that gets in the way of cooler formations. Accidentally finding a large Parapuzosia ammonite in it once changed that a bit, but for the most part I still ignored it...   Turns out I was just looking in the wrong places, and had very little understanding of it
Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

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Trip Reports

An exciting spring break

As the title implies - I had a very busy and exciting spring break. Big news first - I confirmed plans this June  to intern with a small paleo company, "Fossil excavators", in North Dakota for two weeks digging up a sub-adult T. rex, which was found right at the end of the season last year.   We'll be exploring more than just that though, as the hell creek dig sites accessible to them are rife with life. A unique Triceratops horridus specimen,  nicknamed "Alice", who's an adult missing
Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

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Trip Reports

First Tetragramma! (2/19/2022)

As most of you should be able to easily tell, I know virtually nothing about invertebrates, despite the good potential my area has for them. However, I was super fortunate the other day to find what ranks among my two best invertebrate finds: My first Tetragramma echinoid   While looking for flint nodules to knap, my step brother encountered a tiny little oasis of shale/clay in a vast sea of limestone. He wasn't immediately interested, but still mentioned it when he was talking ab
Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

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Trip Reports

A weekend of adventures in my neck of the woods (1/16/2022)

I have been experiencing the most unusual predicament for over a month now - I've been finding more artifacts than I have my target fossils. I happen to live in one of the most prolific areas in the U.S. for impressive paleoindian and other native artifacts, and while I certainly have an appreciation for these, it's like "giving pearls to swine" - since my first interest right now is firmly cretaceous vertebrates.   However, I am still regularly blown away by some of these artifacts, e
Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

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Trip Reports

cold front creek stomping

Recently I've been researching a late cretaceous texas shark that I've never even heard of until two nights ago. I'm already a bit of a night owl (as you might see by the timestamp, I'm writing this well past midnight already ), but these last two nights spent researching and investigating potential spots have been LATE ones, around 3 AM - I guess I've really been bitten by the bug here.   The shark in question is Pseudomegachasma, specifically Pseudomegachasma comanchensis (for my are
Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

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Trip Reports

a hunt with friends

I recently took two of my friends out fossil hunting, both for the first time. We've actually found a cool fossil together before, a large partial from the ammonite Oxytropidoceras (by complete chance, we were just creek stomping for fun that evening), but this is the first time they've ever been fossil hunting with intent.   It took about 30 minutes to get warmed up and start finding things - Annika was the first to see something, a point in this instance. My knowledge of points is si
Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

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Trip Reports

Texas Creek (Early October, 2021)

I went on this hunt about two weeks ago, but only am getting around to posting it now. It was a great day at a new spot close to my usual stomping grounds.   I was hunting under a bridge the week before when someone walking the path next to it asked if I had any luck - his name was Leo, and we actually recognized each other as both of us have posted about some of our finds on reddit before.   (PS - pardon the picture quality, most of these are screenshots from video)  
Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

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Trip Reports

Eagle Ford mosasaur

Last weekend was one I'll never forget... I've barely processed it, but now that I can be more coherent, here is the story of the mosasaur we found                                                                                                                                  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------   On September 11 & 12, I researched and found new fossil hunting area (to me), that exposed the Eagle Ford formation. I de
Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

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Trip Reports

Eagle Ford honey hole - 3rd time's the charm (9/12/2021)

Today was the best fossil hunt I've ever had. I feel like I say that every time lately, but it really is true.    Today was attempt number three at investigating the Eagle Ford.   Attempt number one, in Travis county, found me wandering into the Austin Chalk. I did get a great consolation prize though, in the form of gigantic segment of a Parapuzosia sp. ammonite.     Attempt number two was in Williamson county - the Eagle Ford is rare here, only really exposed by h
Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

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Trip Reports

A quick search for the Eagle Ford (9/04/2021)

Yesterday was attempt  number two at finding exposures of the Eagle Ford formation. My first attempt a month ago found me deep in the city of Austin, searching for the Bouldin Flags member of the Eagle Ford. I had to move upstream to avoid a large homeless camp, and found myself on the Austin chalk instead, where I found a large piece of a Parapuzosia sp. ammonite ( that trip is below)   While definitely a memorable hunt, with a cool fossil to show for it, it was technically still a m
Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

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Trip Reports

local Ozan, 8/28/21 - a new look at an old spot

Today was a memorable outing, and our net results were the best I've ever had for a single day without driving 2 hours.   This morning started quickly. My step brother, Christian, was already knocking on my door at 9:30 - yes, that may be late in the morning for everyone else, but it's a full hour before I'm usually fully awake. I guess that's the trade off for late nights!   Yesterday we made plans to spend our day today hunting a spot that I was used to scouring but had not
Jared C

Jared C in Trip Reports

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Walt's Blog

Montana fossil locations

This file is from URL http://fossilspot.com/STATES/MT.HTM It comes with the following license statement at the bottom of the page: "Permission is granted to use any materials on these pages under the V2.5 Creative Commons License"     Montana fossil locations.pdf
Walt

Walt

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Between A Rock And A Hard Place

First Ever Vert

this is hardly worth posting in comparison to what other put up here but i was so happy to find this little one yesterday!               I went on a little adventure on sheer impulse yesterday afternoon down to the Essex coast and found myself landing in Walton-On-The-Naze.  Apart for the vert if found a fair amount of what i think is wood and crab fragments, not a 100% on the crab bits but i haven't got around to rummaging through my books to f
Limpetforce

Limpetforce

4
Southern Comfort

The Problem with Siphocypraea

For millennia, humankind has been fascinated by the hard-external shell of the organisms classified within the Phylum Mollusca.   Consumed first as food, their empty shells have served multiple functions in the past; as tools in many ancient cultures, in religious ceremonies by the Aztecs, and money by Pacific Islanders. During the Age of Discovery, sailors could supplement their meager incomes by selling exotic seashells to wealthy gentlemen for their Cabinets of Curiosity.  Today many people f
MikeR

MikeR

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Rudist digging at "Point 25", St. Bartholomä, Styria, Austria (Campanian, Gosau-group)

"Point 25" - Summing up

Here are the numbers I promised : From 07/16/2017 to 09/13/2018, about 140 hippuridit rudist specimens were found in the scree slope of "Point 25", the sweetest of all spots in St. Bartholomä. The species distribution is (approximate numbers, with examples): Hippurites colliciatus: 80 (with 140 individuals – many pseudocolonies!) - F, G, H, J Hippurites nabresinensis: 10 - I and possibly K Vaccinites vesiculosus: 25 - A, B Vaccinites alpinus: 10 - C Vaccinites cf. s
FranzBernhard

FranzBernhard

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Rudist digging at "Point 25", St. Bartholomä, Styria, Austria (Campanian, Gosau-group)

"Point 25" - Surprise at home!

Fine, a very nice rudist - a Hippurites nabresinensis -, one of the longest I have found so far in St. Bartholomä (18 cm). But it came even better! At home, I recognized that I have already seen a quite similar traverse fracture before. Indeed, here it is, with the cleaned traverse fracture of the newly found rudist below. Maximum diameter is about 7.5 cm.   The two parts fit together (considering that there are at least 100 years of weathering between them), resulting in t
FranzBernhard

FranzBernhard

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