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This fossil was found on one of Sweden's more well known Islands Gotland during my holiday travels. This Island Is rich In fossils from the Silurian period. What confuses me Is the pattern that looks just like a Favosite or Honeycomb coral yet the shape resembles that of a shell from a turtle? It Is oddly symmetrical, as the pattern mirrors pretty much from the center of the fossil. I can not see any underlying structures. What Is this? P.S - I have zero expertise with fossils of any kind.

While fossil hunting last year, I collected some shale from between two lenses of Silurian dolomite in Ohio. I have since cooked it down and searched for microfossils, and all I've found (aside from contaminating insect parts) are what appear to me like marbled fragments of bone and what might be . . . denticles? I'm really not sure and would appreciate any suggestions; please see the attached photos. All fossils are about at most 2 or 3 mm in width. Thanks!

Vestavia Hills, AL (Ordovician to Mississippian) I found these very odd rocks exposed by recent flooding. i wondered about a tree root mold or burrow for the first one, but figured low chance of identifying. Just in case, I did a vinegar soak to remove more of the mud. Today, I saw a tiny little spiral shell. Is it a fossil? (vs a modern snail that got trapped in this sediment). Any thoughts about the overall shape of the rock? Since it was found nearby, I’m including a pic of the other weird rock. I considered part of a horseshoe crab or trilobite molt, but I can think of more arguments against than for these. Thanks for looking.

Hey everyone, today I found a new locality!! This locality is in the famous Shawangunk formation and it produces rare eurypterids. I have found Shawangunk material at a few localities but its interesting to compare the abundance of fauna at different localities. This new locality (like the others) primarily produces Parahughmilleria, However, 2 odd specimens were also found. One really reminds me of the invalid species Dolichopterus otisius. It is likely Nanahugmilleria clarkei. The other specimen is much more odd to me it could be Hughmilleria shawangunk but it could also be Kiaeropterus otisius. Ether way these eurypterids are incredibly rare, the Shawangunk is a very hard formation to understand and eurypterids are very scarce. Even with all the challenges that come with these sites its still probably my favorite formation to collect. Photo 1. Hughmilleria shawangunk? Photo 2. Nanahugmilleria clarkei? Photo 3. Parahughmilleria maria Photo 4. Parahughmilleria maria Photo 5. Hardieopterus myops (could be mineralization)

Wondering what this unusual micro fragment could be? Seems trilobite-ish. Upper Estill. Measures just under 1mm length. Reflected light Transmitted light

Trying to identify this acritarch from upper Estill, Kentucky. It seems most palynological texts are restricted for some reason so I can't access papers. Thanks for any help.

Hello, Here is another crinoid I'm curious about ID. It's Silurian-aged from the Upper Wenlock Layer of Wren's nest, Dudley UK. The plating makes me think this is a bit of crinoid calyx poking out of matrix, measures about 1cm. I do see a plate missing, but I wonder if it's possible there's more crown buried in the rock that's worth prepping out.

A few days ago I spent the day collecting eurypterids with my good buddy Allan Lang. Firstly id like to thank Allan for his kindness towards me and his mentorship toward me, I'm very grateful towards him hes helped me a substantial amount and its always good seeing him. Anyway we probably found about a dozen good eurypterids as well as some neat associated fauna. Ill attach some photos below of some specimens we found! Top to bottom. Dolichopterus jewetti Undet cuticle, Prehaps the weathered carapace of Buffalopterus or Acutiramus. (Allan was generous enough to give this to me and the Dolichopterus because he knows I love my odd eurypterids) Windrow of Eurypterus remipes. Undescribed Eurypterus Referred to as Eurypterus laculatus. Nice Complete Eurypterus remipes. Last picture is of me and Allan looking at a plate as I flip it up.

This specimen was from my most recent collecting trip. It is from the Leighton Formation, which is Pridoli, Silurian. It was suggested by @Tidgy's Dad that it is likely a cryptosome, but I was hoping for a third opinion. The following pictures show the specimen. I have already posted some of these pictures, but have added scale (finally). The first two are of the two pieces of the specimen - I refer to the top image as the "external mold" in reference to the Nuculites bivalve next to it, and the second as the "cast". The last is a close up of the "feathery" section on the end. Thanks for reading!

Your Middle Ear Evolved From Fish Gills, Rare Chinese Fossils Prove Stephen Lunz, IFL Science, June 20, 2022 The open access paper is: Gai, Z., Zhu, M., Ahlberg, P.E. and Donoghue, P.C., 2022. The evolution of the spiracular region from jawless fishes to tetrapods. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. vol. 19, May 22, 2022 Yours, Paul H.

I finished this prep of a trilo-cephalon a week ago. I kept forgetting to post it, but I finally remembered today. This is an Acaste zerinae cephalon. It is from Leighton Formation, pre usual. It is missing a small chip of the right eye - I unfortunately didn’t notice its absence till I returned home. It’s a shame, this guy would have been completely whole if I had found it. On the plus side, this guy’s a very nice color in the sun - a kind of bluish. The other trilo-bits - including another cephalon - all were a brownish color. Makes this one a bit more special. The first picture below is of the cephalon pre-prep. All the following images are of the cephalon from multiple angles, then in natural light. Thanks for reading!

Any idea what this could be? Very tiny..about 2mm. Silurian , crab orchard.

Hi guys i have this Silurian crinoid from the wenlock limestone from an old Victorian collection and I was wondering if anyone could ID it thanks

I was able to take another trip to the Leighton Formation today! It's been a while since I've been able to visit (months and months), but I've finally been able to. Unfortunately, during the winter the place is completely covered in snow and ice. Not really the best collecting conditions... My last trip there was in August of last year, and the spring has been very busy. Today it was time. It was supposed to be overcast with a chance of rain, but it came out sunny and bright. Absolutely beautiful day out. The collecting was very good. I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the site. I was working in the same spot as last time, and at another outcrop a little farther down the shoreline. Place hasn't changed much, still as minuscule and weathered as ever. I had a better idea where to look though. Last time, I collected a lot, but I was mainly working in layers where the fossils were very evident. These layers contained a plethora of brachiopods, ostracods, tentaculites and other invertebrates - plus my first conodont. This time, though, I was going to try something a little different. The layers between the extremely fossiliferous layers had finer sediments, and generally seemed to keep the specimens intact better. I chose to mainly work in what I now call the "Chonetes layer". It's the only layer in these outcrops that contain Chonetes bastini brachiopods. The layer doesn't shatter as much as the other shale, so the pieces come out without a lot of cracking. It was also the same place that I found a nice trilo-bit, and I was hoping it would pay off. It did... The best finds of the day went to the trilobite cephalons. I found two Acaste cf. zerinae sp. - mostly intact, but an eye cracked off on the first, and both on the second. I was (luckily) able to find them, and I intend to glue them back on. At least the external molds are completely intact. In all of the following pictures, internal molds come first, external molds second. Cephalon #1, the one-eyed wonder. Cephalon #2 - missing both of the eyes. Sad, it would have been so nice too... Then came the pygidia - four of them! I believe that they are all the same species as the cephalons - A. zerinae - but I could be wrong. I'm sure the trilo-experts here can help me with that. Pygidium #1, the nicest one. Pygidium #2 - this little guy got a bit beat up when the rock split. Pygidium #3 - little bugger needs to be prepped a bit. Pygidium #4 - the internal mold of this cracked in half - and it's missing a piece. This one's a neat little trace fossil. It looks like an infilled burrow to me, but I'll set up a separate thread for that - with better pictures. And this very odd little guy. Another one I'll have to take better pictures on, and as soon as the matrix is pared down a bit I will scrutinize it under a microscope. It's not very evident, but it feathers out at the right end. It could be mineral staining or something, but I'm not sure yet. Then the stuff I couldn't bear to leave behind. I was trying to keep my collecting to new stuff, but some of them just sneaked in there... I feel like we've all experienced this before. Orbiculoidea sp. brachiopod. Lingula sp. brachiopod. Leiopteria rubra bivalve. It was a pretty good day. On top of these finds, I brought back some promising shale pieces to look for micro-fossils in - and a few more interesting unknowns. But that's for another time.. Thanks for reading!