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Hi everyone, its been a while since I posted here so wanted to share some of my favorite finds from the past few months. Ive mainly been hunting in the marine Blackhall Limestone at various sites across the Midland Valley of Scotland. Although there are several fossiliferous marine limestone and shale bands of similar age and depositional environment in the Midland Valley, the Blackhall seems to be by far the most productive and also tends to have the best preservation. Ive mainly been looking for chondrichthyan teeth, crinoid cups and jellyfish so I'll post these first, I have had a few nice finds of other invertebrate groups recently though so I'll get some pics of these shortly. First up, the jellyfish. This is the largest Ive found so far at 80mm across. Another larger specimen at 60mm across. An average sized one at 32mm. And one of the smallest so far at 21mm.

Hi everyone! Today, a friend of mine from the Paleontology course at the University of Bristol and I went fossil hunting at the beach of Portishead, as we had heard it was an interesting and productive location. We were fairly confident that we would come home with at least some crinoid pieces, as these were meant to be rather abundant, but our real goal was to hopefully find some of the elusive eurypterid remains. It was about half an hour bus ride from the center of Bristol to Portishead, so it's relatively quick and easy for us to get there. It didn't take too long for us find our first few crinoid pieces in the rubble on the beach, and my friend managed to find a couple of decent spiriferid brachiopods by splitting some small rocks open. Unfortunately, it started to rain quite quickly, and after about an hour of searching the rain we decided to call it a day... so we didn't hunt for very long at all and hence didn't make any impressive finds. We didn't see any traces of fishes or eurypterids either which was a little disappointing, although also somewhat expected. Wishing to escape the rain, we found a little restaurant where we could sit inside and get a warm lunch, and afterwards we decided to just go back home as we were both tired, despite the very short hunt. So in terms of finds, we weren't very successful, but I did manage to snap some nice photos from the location. The geology of the place was really crazy and kind of all over the place, as you can see from the pictures here. Really interesting! We haven't yet covered this topic in my Geology course, but I suspect we will do that sometime soon, and then I will probably be more knowledgeable about what we're seeing actually means. But for now you'll still have to stick with my very amateur descriptions (stratigraphy can be a little complicated for a Pleistocene hunter as myself! ) This is the northern end of the location, Battery Point, where we are looking at several layers of the Portishead Formation. This is a Tournaisian-aged (Mississipian, early Carboniferous, approx 350 million years old) formation that is very rich in crinoids and corals. What's interesting to note is that the layers are not straight, but sit at approximately 30 degrees upwards. But that's pretty mild compared to the Devonian layers (as you will see a bit later). (Continued)

Yesterday, Tim (Fossildude19) and myself met at our usual meeting spot and with Tim driving and his downloads playing, we headed north to a planned rendezvous with the New York Paleontological Society's outing at Cobleskill Stone Products just outside Schoharie, N.Y. The weather was gorgeous- perfect really, sunny mid-50s. Fall colors were in full swing. We drove through the northern edge of the Catskills, arriving early at our rendezvous, the parking lot at the Cobleskill Stone Company. It was my first time there since 2013. I went on two previous NY Paleontological Society outings to this site, access tightly restricted. I had wanted to return, but every year there always seemed to be a conflict. One year I recall there was a planned Fossil Forum gathering at DSR on the same day. There were many reasons I wanted to return: The quarry had the best exposure of the Kalkberg Formation I've ever encountered. The Kalkberg is Lower Devonian, part of the Helderberg Group. Marine fossils are especially abundant and well preserved. The biodiversity is exceptional. There are many species of brachiopods, plus corals, nautiloids, bryozoans, the sponge, Hindia, and trilobites. Since the quarry is infrequently hunted, many specimens can be found exposed, even weathered clean right out of the limestone. Many of my best Kalkberg fossils are from there. I was excited to be there. It is always a pleasure to be out collecting with Tim. It was his first time at this quarry. Here are a couple pictures of the quarry. Notice the bright fall colors in the background.

Hi Everyone, I took a 2 week trip to the Ohio Valley, arriving back in New York about a week ago. It was primarily a family visit since many of my relatives now reside in the Elizabethtown, KY area. However, the Ohio Valley, as some of you know, is very rich in Paleozoic fossils and I just had to make a few stops on my way there and back as well as between family engagements. I will try to share enough to give you all a gist of it: It was a long day's drive from the northern suburbs of New York City to Richmond, Indiana where I spent the first night. The next day I was headed down State Road 101 to Garr Hill, to collect in the Upper Ordovician Liberty Formation. It was my first time at the site and everything I found was collected from loose rocks at or near the base of the outcrop. A couple of pictures:

I'm just easing back to regular life after a week of fossil collecting in the province of Quebec. We had a fantastic and highly productive time. There are a number of sites that I cannot mention publicly, and also some excellent specimens that I am sworn not to post anywhere, but I can show a few things. I haven't photographed everything yet, either. We collected mostly in the Neuville and Nicolet Formations. The first stop was Kingston, Ontario where we met up with a fellow fossil friend for a brief time. I obtained my own physical copy of Isotalo's book. I then meandered to a rock pile and spotted what would be the first of many trilobites on this trip, a battered Raymondites superbus in the Gull River Formation.

Has anybody found crinoids in kinnekulle sweden? I have only found one small bracipod and a small gastropod and are these crinoids and in what layer should i look for more crinoids and shells? On top of the quarry theres shale i only find trilobites and squids there but anyways are these crinoids or something else?

Finally made it out to St. Leon, IN while visiting my girlfriend's family in rural Indiana. Here are some cool specimens I found (lots of brachiopods):

Ancient sea creatures spent years crossing the ocean on rafts – we’ve worked out how it was possible. Aaron W. hunter, he Conversation, August 10, 2020 Hunter, A.W., Casenove, D., Mayers, C. and Mitchell, E.G., 2020. Reconstructing the ecology of a Jurassic pseudoplanktonic raft colony. Royal Society Open Science, 7(7), p.200142. Abstract of open access paper PDF of open access paper Yours, Paul H.

As the title states, why do crinoids often show up alone as the sole type of fossil in an area? There's a quarry near my house I've been to a few times that has crinoid bearing marble. I've found a few crinoid stem pieces in rocks, but I don't really understand why they're the only type of fossil (unless you count chert.) The area is Permian-Devonian, so if crinoids fossilized shouldn't plenty of other common marine animals have fossilized too? Or am I thinking too narrowly and there's a good chance they DID fossilize and I simply have to look a little deeper? I'm not too knowledgable on the paleozoic so I appreciate any answers.

I found this while searching for geodes and crinoids in a southern Indiana lake.

I recently acquired a small collection; and most specimens were well described....except for a few specimens that at least had age, locality etc .......the attached specimen containing two crinoids and calyx had VERY little information at all. I believe it may be from Illinois, as this was the only information supplied with the specimen. Any help with identification would be greatly appreciated.

I found all the crinoids below at Lake Michigan beaches in Illinois. (Silurian, Racine formation) I have to admit, I used to not pay too much attention to the ubiquitous crinoids on my hash rocks. That is, until I started to look at them with a clip-onto-the-phone microscope. I quickly found that crinoid disks aren't all the same and are actually quite beautiful and intriguing. Also, finding a pretty little crinoid calyx at the beach got me to look for more like it and low and behold, a short time later, I did find another one. I do believe they are very rarely found at Lake Michigan beaches, unlike the ubiquitous petoskey stones or honeycomb corals. So I've been trying to research Silurian crinoids from this formation, alas with very little success. Oh, for the lucky people who find Devonian crinoids, bibles have been written about those, I'm so jealous! So I'm turning to TFF once more to hopefully find additional information. Is anyone here familiar with Silurian crinoids from the Wenlock epoch? Is it possible to narrow down ID of at least some of these even though I don't have a single stalk or stem segment with the calyx and vice versa. # 1: Maybe a Crotalocrinites or similar? I'd love to know what its calyx looks like. Love the flower shaped lumen, it's so pretty! For comparison, this is a pic of Silurian Crotalocrinites from the British Geological Survey: I'm not 100% sure that they occur in the Racine formation though. Also, the lumen takes up more space within the disk than the lumen on my specimen above. Otherwise the flower shape seems a perfect fit, but hard to tell if the crenolae under the dolomite glaze on my piece are as fine and tightly spaced. Maybe a it's a close relative? #2: I haven't found a single image or description of a crinoid stem that looks like a perfect medieval tower. Anyone here that's familiar with such patterned crinoid stems? (Love the Danish pastry look on its top and bottom too) #3: I assume this poor crinoid was parasitized by some other live form? I know that brachiopods have been found attached to crinoid stems, as illustrated on Chicago's Field Museum work-in-progress website. But I don't think that's what happened to this one. What could have caused such extensive damage? #4: I think this one does have a cirri scar on its left side below. Detail of what I think is the scar in the 2nd pic. The following stem disks are all microscopic in size, less than 5mm: #5: I hope the lovely star-shaped lumen might make it identifiable. #6: Same as for the above, the ship's wheel lumen surely should help with ID? #7: Another Crotalocrinites or similar? Flower shape seems a bit different though, assymetrical. #8: I've found quite a bit of literature about star shaped jurassic crinoid columnals/ossicles, but nothing about Silurian ones. This one, sitting in limestone actually has the widest diameter of all columnals in my collection. Ø = 1.5cm. #9: First calyx. I think this one is very nicely preserved. Ø1cm and height: 1cm. Is it possible to narrow down its ID, despite missing the stem and arms? Also, in most images of crinoid calyces, the brachials visibly grow out of the side of the calyx. Not so with this one. Would they have grown out of the top side by side with its mouth and anus? #10: Second calyx. It's a bit larger, about 2cm wide and 1.5cm tall. Not sure what its original shape used to be, as it's been tumbled and worn and seems to be missing parts on its side. The top is hidden in matrix.

Hi! Please excuse us if we aren’t following decorum with our photo sizes, staging, etc. Since the quarantine has us unexpectedly homeschooling, we took our 5th grader to collect some fossils and though I’m sure they are pretty basic, I’m having a hard time helping her ID all of them. Any info is appreciated, as we are absolute beginners. ☺️ These were collected at a random roadcut in northern PA, another in West Virginia, and also at Beltsville Lake (where we searched all day for a trilobite until I realized I probably don’t even know what the fragments would look like).

I found this piece of gravel a while back with a bunch of crinoids and the pygidium of a trilobite sticking out. Been curious ever since as to what the oval with the ridge running through the center and small hole in the middle is.

2 inch by 1/2 inch with Crinoids, Bryozoans, more and did not expect to see the 3/8th inch 0.9 cm pyrite on it. Allegan County, Michigan From my dig site Yesterday. I believe it is limestone. Would like the approximate age for the fossils and about when did the pyrite form on it?

The sun is exposed, snows melting, and many a birds chirping means it's nice enough to go scope out some Missouri Mississippian limestone! With the randomness of the weather this state gets, this is the first chance this year I've had to return to one of my favorite spots. This is one of many Burlington Formation exposures in Missouri. There are spots where the limestone consists of almost entirely crinoidal bits and pieces! Being the picky man I am, I mainly collect and prepare calyxs and brachs. Crinoids are king here, and will be by far the most common critter. They dominated the early shallow sea Missouri once was covered by. Its cool to see how many crinoidal bits some rock has just weathering away. There is about a good 12-16 feet (guesstimate) of the limestone currently exposed, much of remains underwater still. Eventually as time takes it toll, more pieces will weather, crumble, and eventually roll down hill. This area is constantly going above and under water. There is really no reliable time to hunt this spot, unless you know when water levels are low in the area. Rarely, one may find a nice crinoid calyx among the countless stems and other crinoid pieces. Usually they are pretty weathered like this one if they don't require any prep. Many of the calyxs found are just pieces, distorted, or crushed. It usually takes my eyes a hour or so before I can recognize calyxs quickly. I thought this chunk was cool. Its a heavily weathered calyx, with a small chunk of the stem at the base. I was shirtless today with it being the nice 60 degree weather. Seems Mr. Snake was enjoying it as well. That's all of the photos I got to take out at the lake. Finds coming soon when I'm home to take better pictures. I've only got a 30 minute drive from home, so here are the finds! I'll ID most of what I found later when I'm home with literature. I found a nice assortment of crinoidal calyxs, cups, plates, stems, and a few spines. Everything in the upper portion of the photo needs cleaned with some scribe/ abbrasive work. The rest should look good after I clean them with a pick, toothbrush, and warm soapy water. I also managed to pick up a nice rugose coral, a blastoid, a bryozoan, and a few brachiopods as well. March 3, 2020. My favorite find of the day And for those of you who like minerals, I found some nice calcite crystal as well. My favorite the honey color calcite Thanks for reading.

Hello again, I find these crinoid parts (I think) all the time and just want another opinion on what it is. I think number 1 is crinoid pinnules. Number two is the first and only one of these I've found so far here.(Mississippian redwall limestone, Mooney member). It's about 1/4 inch long and I'm guessing perhaps an echinoid spine? I appreciate any input you guys might offer. Thank you Bob

Hi guys, This is my first posting on the forum, constructive criticism is appreciated. Each year, when the water level in the lake is lowered in late fall, I go there in search of crinoids The first set of photos shows one of my better finds of 2017. This small slab (approximately 9 x 12 inches) had partially eroded from the shore. I was more than pleased to see all crinoids exposed along the weathered edge. Hopefully, there are some nice ones hidden in the center. Last year, while walking up a watershed near the lake, I found a slab of bedded limestone with the calyx pictured below. I decided to downsize the slab. The rock split along the bedding plane to reveal this: There were a couple of similar but smaller slabs nearby. I carried them back to the truck to split at home. I found one more nice calyx embedded in the rock. Pictured below are two more of last year's finds: While walking next to the waterline, I found the fragmented cephalopod pictured below. I was not sure if I wanted to keep it, so I set it aside to examine more closely on my way back. It was only after I looked at it again on my return that I noticed the tooth at the top. This year has not proven to be as fruitful as last year. The first photo pictures a calyx in somewhat rotten matrix. What should I use to stabilize it? One more Does anyone know the bryozoan to which the funnel shaped appendage pictured below belong? Thanks for looking

I found one of my most interesting and productive fossil sites ever east of Phoenix near Superior, Arizona in late November. The hill contained outcrops of the Devonian Martin Formation and the Mississippian Escabrosa Formation which is roughly the same age as the Redwall Limestone found further north. My first interesting find was several Pachyphyllum corals with very small corallites. The “craters” within the corallites averages just under 2 mm which suggested that these were the P. nevadense species which is not common in the Payson area further to the north. The coral is about mm across. I found a relatively rare Iowaphyllum nisbeti coral that was found by Gladys Nisbet, a botanist from the Phoenix area. The colonial coral is noted for its large corallites with prominent ridges in between. Coral colony is about 9 cm x 8 cm. Here is partially silicified Alveolites coral with very distinctive compressed fish-scale like corallite tops. This piece is about 65 mm across. Here is a nice massive Thamnopora coral 17 cm across. Along with the Alveolites were two types of stromatoporoid sponges. The first is an approximately 15 cm across Amphipora sp. with mound like mamelons. The second stromatoporoid has nice laminations with some vertical pillars. View is about 4 cm across. The most amazing find was several silicified calyxes of a blastoid and at least three species of crinoids found in the Mississippian Escabrosa Limestone. Interior and exterior molds of crinoids and blastoids are occasionally found further to the north in the Paleozoic rocks. Originals or casts are rare in Arizona especially when they are found in a few square meter area. This is the best spot that I have ever found for blastoids and crinoids. The largest and best blastoid was a 31 mm wide Orophocrinus saltensis that I have entered in the current Fossil of the Month contest. It was near maximum size for the species. I have seen no finer blastoid on the internet from Arizona. Cast your vote for the battle of the blastoids. I found at least three species of silicified crinoids. If you know what they are, please let me know. Species 1 is 11 mm across by 14 mm high. Species 2 is a cup that is 17 mm across by 18 mm high. Species 3 has interesting triangular patterns and is about 2 cm across by about 2 cm high. It is in a large rock that I need to break down so that I can carry it away. I planning on going back to the site to look for more goodies.

Mother Nature graced us locally with another temperate day so I had time to squeeze in a long exploration into some hidden canyons that comprise a large subset of the local Mississippian formation known as 'Lake Valley' To get to the canyons of interest I walked through Silurian-Devonian exposures but I did not stop to explore for anything. Here was my first view toward the hidden Lake Valley Formation canyons. You can see deformation from the mud mounding. More to follow.

Hi all, this fossil hash plate is like a super hard gray mud with cracks. Even using a wood rasp to smooth much off. Mostly a trial or training piece. The shell was broken and in layers, with much covered. I have removed a lot of the cover, can I get an I'd, and is it worth continuing? I also see two Brachiapods, and they still some material stuck on the surface. I do not know of a way to dissolve the matrix, to recover the fossils. ultrasonic does nothing.

Hi I was wondering if anyone could help me identify some of the key anatomical features of the calyx of this crinoid (Apiocrinites elegans) and any anatomical features of this brachiopod (specimen unknown). I have trawled and searched but am having limited success so thought there might be a fair few people that would be able to lend a helping hand on here! cheers mark

Hi, I pulled this Crinoids fossil hash plate out of a hill today. I may have seen the mystery in Lake Michigan mud stone, but not raised up or nearly as large. Ideas? Thanks. item is 4 in x 2 5/8th x 7/8th thick. unknown item is 1 in long x 1/2 inch wide.

Hi, I collected this inland in South West Michigan this week. I see lot's of Crinoidia byrozoans, and what looks like a horn coral. or possibly Evactinopora Bryozoa in limestone. . Please help with I'd, and a better age or time period? Thanks, Bob