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Hello everyone! I'm heading to St. Louis to observe the Solar Eclipse this week, which is likely to be clouded out. I'm trying to salvage the trip by looking for Trilobite fossils as I have read they can be plentiful in this area. Can anyone share tips on what to look for as far as formations? I think my best bet is to look for rock cuts on the highways in the area. Any help and even general locations to search are much appreciated. Thank you!

I've got an interesting fossil here and I'm wondering if it is a tooth, and if so, from what animal? It was found on the banks of the Mississippi River around St. Louis, Missouri, thus I have no clue what formation it is from as it could have washed out from anywhere upstream. The folds on one end remind me of dentine folds, and it is in line with being part of the grey, straight, line fossil on the edge of the piece. Also, the foveae around the alleged dentine reminds me of cartilage. Just north of St. Louis, MO, there is a quarry on the Illinois side where an anthrodire tooth was found in Cedar Valley Limestone (limestone & sandstone) -- this is what sparked the thought of it being a tooth. The white rock is chalky & soft, but doesn't seem to react much at all when I scraped dust into vinegar. The brown material seems ferrous & sandy. The grey part is translucent when a light is pressed against it. Sorry, I am not great at rock ID yet. Centimeter ruler is in brown, the grey grid is 1 in squares with 1/4in dots. Some of the high-magnification photos are through a 10x loupe connected to a phone. Let me know what kind of photos would help with ID -- mark particular points you want addition photos from and I'll do my best to get them promptly.

I've been picking up rockhounding again and recently found a neat rock on the Mississippi River around St. Louis, Missouri during this drought. After finding some recent chipped fragments of a larger boulder and taking them home, the patterning makes me think this might be more than just some beautiful banding -- perhaps algae, coral, or other? The regular nature of the banding and the perpendicular pitting/weathering is making me think it could be more than meets the amateur eye. Unfortunately, this boulder was dumped on the river, so I have little knowledge of what formation it is from. Most of the nearby rocks seem to be Mississippian limestone, but this is isn't limestone. Part of the longest photographed rock was exposed above the sand & clay when it was underwater, thus sandblasted smooth. The rock reacts a bit with vinegar, but not vigorously. The background mat is marking 1 in squares, and the ruler in the side of some photos is cm. Photos with circular black areas are taken through a 10x loupe attached to my phone. Please let me know if you want more photos of anything specific. The rightmost piece & last photo are the newly expose face that was chipped off when I found it. Advice for anyone reading this: Never step foot in the Mississippi River, and profusely clean anything you collected from the river. It is a dangerous and horrifically polluted river.

Any id on this one please? Also found near a creek. Beginner here. Thank you.

Any id on this please? Beginner here. Thank you.