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Normally Winter in Wisconsin isn't the prime time to look for fossils. Today we had record high temps. and decided to take the chance and drive 2 hours to the lake. My concern was ice piles on the shore line and they were well founded as many areas were not accessible. We found a spot which was accessible but the waves were washing up to the ice piles. Good enough. We were wearing knee high boots but still left a bit wet from some of the larger rollers. Our efforts were rewarded with numerous corals and a few other possible fossils as well as many interesting rocks. Here are some of those we found as well as a couple site shots. I'm not sure if the photo with two in it are fossil or not. Spring feels a bit closer today.

My daughter and I took advantage of the unseasonably warm temperatures over Christmas to go rockhounding at a nearby beach. She found what looks like a colonial corals. At first I thought they might be rugose, but they're smooth, not wrinkled and each corallite has this round "cap" on. So then I thought of syringopora, but I think for that the corallites are too large. Also, the individual corals grow/point into all different directions. That made me think that they might not have grown together, but were just deposited into a heap. What do you all think? detail of the area just below the darkish top: small vug on top of one of the corals, with a bit of the structure showing:

This rock was found in the shallow water off the South East shore of Lake Michigan about 20 years ago. No idea what it could be. Any help would be appreciated.

I found this fossil on a beach on the north shore of Lake Michigan near the Mackinac bridge. It’s about 3 cm. It looks kind of like a shell but I’m not sure. Can anyone tell me what it is?

I found these two fossils on a beach near the Mackinac bridge in Lake Michigan, USA. Can anyone tell me what they are? The first specimen with the flat dark inclusion is about 5 cm. The second specimen with the many small lines and holes is about 4 cm. Thanks for your help.

Anyone else see a badly worn and deeply buried blastoid here? Four out of five points are visible. And where the fifth should be, the rock is broken off. Just my overactive imagination? Please tell me what you think. Is there possibly a blastoid in this rock? Reasons against this being a blastoid: Guidebooks about Great Lakes fossils do not mention blastoids. Googling "blastoid and Lake Michigan" brings up nothing. It's maybe too large to be a blastoid? The diameter is 4cm. On the other hand: Just because fossil books and Google don't mention them doesn't mean that much. I've found rocks at Lake Michigan beaches that I've never seen mentioned in association with Lake Michigan. So, who knows...? Both geological surveys from Illinois and Wisconsin mention them. So they definitely grew in the shallow ancient sea that used to exist here. Anyway, if there isn't a blastoid within that rock, what is? seen from "top" seen sideways: bottom:

Found this chunk of limestone at my Lake Michigan's sand depleted "beach". Due to the extremely high water level, storms have washed away pretty much all the sand at this beach, exposing the large underlying rocks. What do you think of the almond-shaped preservation of the interior parts, while most of the shells themselves have been dissolved away?

These are eight finds that have me scratching my head. Please help me identifying them. Some are so very worn, please feel free to just guess. #1: "Oddball". Feels glassy, hard. Inside, I can't see much further by eye than what's visible in the photo. Just more of the hardened lentil soup..... #2: "Mystery Shape" While it looks grainy, it actually feels really smooth and hard. It reminds me of a mollusk shell cut at a slant? Or an extremely wide spaced chain coral? I love its elegant shape. Oh, and it's about 2cm long. #3: "Bandaged Dude" Is it possibly a bryozoan "sheet" that's draped over something else? #4: "Spiral Stairs to Nowhere" I split a piece of limestone and several of these became visible, each in its own empty casket. Doesn't look like a crinoid stem. (Sorry about the out-of-focus, bad quality photo, alas, it was taken in fading light without a tripod) #5: "Zigzag Doodle" I promise, it wasn't me who defaced this rock... #6: "Gas Bubble" This thing has very thin but hard and very sharp edges. It's about 1cm deep, yet, it weighs all of 5 grams. I have the beginning of a paper wasp's nest of about the same size, which weighs about 1 gram. So it's barely heavier. Also, what might the small egg-shaped things be which are visible in the bubbles? Worms? #7: "Metallic Paper Fringe" The slight metallic sheen isn't visible on the photo. Anyhoo, I can't even guess....

I found this little half-shell in SE WI. I think it is a brachiopod, but am not entirely sure. Originally it was more thickly encrusted, but I've given it a vinegar bath for about 2 days, and more details have now become visible. It is currently back in fresh vinegar, in the hope more of the crusty layers will dissolve. I would appreciate your help with identifying the shell and also its interior visible parts if possible. For example, none of the anatomy drawings shows interior "separation walls" such as I see here. And specifically, what is that thick appendix sticking out the side of the shell? Its end looks like fossilized soft tissue to me. Is this the pedicle? If not, what is it? If yes, I thought soft tissue barely ever gets preserved? Interior Side view

I found this 4cm wide "knitted mushroom cap" at a beach near Kenosha in SE Wisconsin. I thought at first to have found a tabulate coral, but looking closer, I can't see any corallites at all and oddly, the top, instead of flaring out to a solid "table", curves back into itself, with most of the center missing altogether. All of this made me think that maybe this is a sponge? If not, what could it be? Top: Bottom:

I found this tiny "pebble" lying at a beach north of Chicago when hunting for interesting non-fossil beach rocks and sea glass. (Yeah, there are people who collect and love sea glass and "just rocks" :-) So now, that I've started to collect coral fossils as well, mostly corals, I've been taking a closer look at some of my old finds and see all sorts of little fossil bits and pieces. This one when I found it, had caught my attention due to the tiny pattern, which I thought at the time was maybe something man-made. (Near a big city, there is a lot of man-made tumbled material to be found at the beaches). Looking at it with my magnifying glass, I saw that the individual white spots seem to have the same starlike pattern as the large corals I find. But this thing is almost microscopic. Is/was there really coral with such tiny corallites? If yes, what is its name? Maybe a tiny favositid? Top: Bottom (and side):

Hello, I think the rocks below contain at least two different species of bryozoa fossils. Is it possible to identify them by name? If not, would better specimens with more visible detail make that possible? Some, as in the first pic appear as b/w, narrow lacy (sometimes striped) leaf like shapes. Others, as in the second pic, look more animal like, sometimes "hairy", but sometimes are just wide blobs with no visible detail. I'd really appreciate this forum's fossil experts superior knowledge. Thanks in advance.

Found this rock in Highwood, IL, north of Chicago. I used to give this rock not much thought, just assumed I had thin wavy crinoid stem molds. Looking at it closer, I'm not so sure any longer. The stems seem to me to be too neatly lined up, as if the individual stalks had been cemented together when buried. Also, the individual "stems" don't seem to each have their own outer skeleton, unless the white vertical lines contain both of the adjoining crinoid skeletons but just appear as one. What's the likelyhood of that? What do you all think?

Hello there. I am quite a beginner to fossil hunting and would like some help on identifying one’s that I found today on the shore of Lake Michigan in New Buffalo, Michigan. I am aware that some could be rocks that I may have mistaken for fossils. Like I said, I’m new to this but would appreciate any of the help that I could get. Thank you.

Found this in Lake Michigan on the coast near Platte River. Pretty small - the rock is about 1.5" (inches) tall and about 3/4" deep.

Hi there all of you brilliant fossil folks! My daughter found this at the beach north of Milwaukee, and I think it's a contender for our local fossil hunting competition (best coral category). We tucked this and others fossils away earlier this summer, and I just realized that turn in is tomorrow! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Wondering if anyone knows what this might be from. Maybe it's not a fossil. We found on the Lake Michigan beach near Two Rivers Wisconsin. Theres a small cut un it, where it appears to be the makeup of bone, not rock. Maybe a carpal bone from something?

Hello all! I found this on a beach of lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. I was wondering/hoping it might be a fossil, I joined this form hoping someone could identify it. It was found on 7/20 washed up on a beach of small stones. thank you in advance for any response.

I found this fossil on the shore of Petoskey State Park in Petoskey, Michigan. Looks like a fish tooth, but would love your thoughts. Thanks!

New here! I started collecting fossils on the Great Lakes two years ago. Spring turns up the best fossils and minerals. This looks like a Trilobite, can anyone lend me any more information?

With winter finally over we took a drive over to Lake Michigan to look along the beach. We found a many of the typical corals. I spotted this interesting looking fossil in the surf and quickly retrieved it. As I looked at it more closely and saw the details I became more unsure of what it is. I'll add some closeups in the next post. Thanks.

Hey everyone! I was exploring a private beach next to a graveyard in Petoskey, Mi. I mostly found regular Petoskey stones but I ran across afew things I found unusual. [1st & 2nd picture] I'm almost positive this is a shark tooth. [4th picture] the dark stone I'm also unsure of. Let me know what you guys think! Thank you so much. James Carden Here's another look at the same stone dry: Larger picture of everything I found:

What is this one? Any ideas? Im trying to create a hands on fossil unit for classroom use and I can't ID this one. I pick up fossils all over N. Michigan. Thanks!

I'm trying to identify my fossils to create a hands on fossil unit for classroom use. These 2 are stumping me (will post second photo in reply, can't attach it here). They look kind of like snail shells but aren't sharp enough for me to be sure. They're more imprints.

Hello there! I’ve been to fossil sites since I was six. From Braidwood to Wyoming and the Dakotas. I’ve worked at some museums before but my education has led to more anthropological pursuits. I’m hoping to share what I have in my collection and also ID some of the weird shapes braidwood finds. My dad first took me there, and before that his dad took him there. So I’m happy to have my small collection but I also want to have proper context and cataloguing. Thanks everyone! Also this seems like the nicest Internet forum board ever.