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I have assembled quite the collection of stromatoporoid fossils in the last year and a half since I began this hobby. They are my 'main focus' for now, together with brachiopods and corals to a lesser extent (especially Gypidulid Brachiopods). I have been reading scientific papers on stromatoporoids for a few days because I hope to get a full understanding of them. The articles were mainly by Stephen Kershaw and collaborators and by the late Colin Stearn who have both produced some great stromatoporoid literature. I am currently reading https://journals.ku.edu/treatiseonline/article/view/4088/3855 (Internal morphology of the Paleozoic Stromatoporoidea by Stearn 2015) in order to identify my fossils. I have found it a good tool but I'm having a hard time distinguishing between pillars and pachysteles and between laminae and pachystromes. I understand pachysteles and pachystromes are thicker and more robust versions of their counterparts, but the problem is that the figures provided in the paper don't have a scale (only magnification is mentioned) and it subsequently becomes very hard to distinguish. I have also not found any other clear illustrations of the difference on the internet. Here's a useful table by Stearn for determining the type of stromatoporoid: cyst plates and pillars (Labechiida) laminae and pillars (Clathrodictyida, Stromatoporellida) pillars and colliculi (Actinostromatida) pachysteles and pachystromes in an amalgamate structure (Stromatoporida, Syringostromatida) My questions are: Does anyone know a useful way to determine genus/family other than what I'm doing? Is there any particular way to distinguish pachystromes and pachysteles from laminae and pillars other than looking at their robustness? If anyone has some interesting literature about this, please tell me about it. I have provided close-up pictures of an example specimen below (I have dozens more, so I'm able to provide them if necessary). Is anyone able to say if it is composed of laminae and pillars, pachystromes and pachsteles or any combination thereof (maybe also cyst plates)? Also, I assume all my specimens are the same genus because: They were all found at the same locality in the same formation (Middle to Upper Hanonet fm.) Stromatoporoid assemblages typically have low species diversity, having one genus more abundant than others ( as stated in Kerschaw 1990; Da Silva, Kershaw, Boulvain 2011) I will look at every specimen before assigning it a genus/species though, just to be sure. There's also a question I have about why there are less stromatoporoid fossils in units 1 and 2 of Hanonet fm relative to the later units (at least in my experience). They are more abundant where there are argillaceous limestones than where there are calcareous shales. I know stromatoporoids preferred to grow on carbonate substrates so it might be because there's simply more carbon in the limestones. Then there's the question of why the shales are followed by limestones, which I think is because of a transgression resulting in the deepening of the sea (as mentioned by others in research). Limestones are more characteristic of deeper areas so that's why I think that. I have read articles about this in the past but I'll have to re-read them to fully understand. Also, if there's anything I got wrong please point it out.

I found this one together with some bivalves. Its an area where you can find fossils from the emsian era. Any ideas on what it is? Found it in Thanville, Belgium. Already a little known place for searching fossils from the devonian epoch.

Hi everyone! Last saturday we went on a fossil hunting trip with the BVP to Hotton in the Belgian Ardennes. https://www.paleontica.org/locations/fossil/667 There were 2 different locations planned for the day, the first was the "Carrière de Marenne" quarry in Hotton were we spent most of the day. It was my first time at this location, so I didn't have very high expectations but we were very pleasantly surprised by the quality and quantity of the finds which made for a very productive and succesfull trip! Unfortunately like so often I forgot to make pictures inside the quarry... So it will mainly be a report of the finds rather than the excavation. The age of the layers date back to the Givetian stage of the middle Devonian which lasted from 388 million years ago to 383 million years ago. There were 3 spots inside the quarry were we searched for fossils. We started on the east side of the quarry where we found some weathered corals, a bivalve and some bryozoans. One of our friends was very lucky when they found a fragment of Placoderm bone.. the 2nd spot we searched was still on the east side of the Quarry but this time near the big rock outcrop which devides the quarry in two pieces. Here we all hit gold as this was a large area where it was full with weathered fossils in great condition ready to be picked up! No need for hammers here, just grabbing which was laying on the ground as it was littered with corals en brachiopods. We almost collected a bucket full from this area alone. The 3rd spot was the west side of the quarry which was divided in multiple levels. I mainly searched in a large rock pile with some others as it seems these were the remains of an ancient coral bank. We found many large corals here like Hexagonaria and Favosites as well as some nice mineral specimens to much delight of my girlfriend. Someone did do the find of the day here when he found 2 extremely large Stringocephalus brachiopods. I also went with Tom, our group leader to prospect the rest of the quarry but beside some corals I didn't find much more things of interest. At the end of the trip we were given some nice mineral specimens by Tom who found some on the lowest level of the quarry which we didn't visit ourselves. Here the only photo I made inside the quarry, were my girlfriend was building a rock fortress. (Everyone was on a one hour break due to the early summer heat) And here are our finds from inside the quarry: A large Hexagonaria sp. coral which we managed the haul home, one of the perks when you bring a wheelbarrow to a quarry! Another nice Hexagonaria sp. coral And our 3rd large piece of Hexagonaria sp. coral One of the Favosites sp. corals we brought home. Another Favosites coral An our chuncky Favosites coral A weathered Hexagonaria coral. A bivalve we found early at the beginning of the search.

Recently I went to an abandoned quarry in Resteigne, Belgium. I've found some brachiopod fossils and corals. Sorry for the bad picture quality. Thanks to @Manticocerasman for suggesting the location. some brachiopods corals and other stuff

Hi everyone! Last weekend I took a couple of days off work for my birthday and I decided to visit a fossil spot in the ardennes which was recently recommended to me because there was a chance to find fossils of primitive plants as well as devonian fish (which is one of my main interests within the hobby). The site is relatively close by as well which was a huge plus as it only took an hour to drive. The fossils in this location date back to the late Devonian, Famennian to be exact (372.2 million years ago to 358.9 million years ago) After searching for a 45 minutes we finally found the top spot with the right layer rich in plant material, here are some in situ pictures of the larger examples (which we didn't extract). If I am correct I believe these are the remains of Rhacophyton condrusorum which is a primitive species of fern if I remember reading once. We were also lucky to find some fossils of devonian fish, which was the main reason for our visit. A lovely small Lungfish (Dipnoi indet) tooth An imprint of a fish scale of bone While it was quite a cold day, it was sunny and we had a quiet afternoon at the spot where we could search in peace.

L.S., Hope someone on TFF can help me with the identification of a plant fragment from the Lower Devonian (Pragian) of the Belgian Ardennes. The specimen in question consists of a 17 mm-long, 12 mm-wide oval-shaped body, which is seemingly covered in equant scales (though this could also be an artefact of the surface preservation) and has curved spine-like protrusions (see right hand-side of specimen in first two photographs). The detailed structure of the specimen is quite difficult to capture, so I added four photographs taken under different lighting conditions. Hope this is enough to showcase the main features. To my eye, the overall texture and "spines" do resemble those of Drepanophycus-like stems, which have been observed at the locality. However, I find it difficult to explain the oval-shape of this structure in terms of a stem fragment. This rounded shape gives it an almost strobilar appearance. The specimen is associated with long, naked axes having a smooth surface, present in the same slab of rock, but not in organic connection. Other floral elements encountered at the locality mainly include zosterophyllopsids. Are you aware of any scaled strobilar structures from the worldwide Lower Devonian to which I could compare my Belgian find? Or do you think this specimen should be interpreted as a (rounded) stem fragment? I'm really struggling with this one, so I would love to hear your thoughts! Kind regards, Tim

This is a little prospaction day that we have done a month ago. The original thought was to go to Barveaux in the Ardennes, a site renowned for its spirifers and prospect other locations. The first stop was the area of Barveaux itself, but everything was overgrown and hard to access, so we didn't find anything here. We then hit the road to the south and prospected a few outcrops without a lot of success. After a while we passed Marche en Famenne,. Nearby was a industrial area where in the past I've found lots of spiriferids on construction sites, so we decided to give it a go. When we got there no new construction projects were going on, but a large area was leveled for future building projects. Although a little overgrown, the whole area was accessible and slate was all over the area. It didn't take long before we found the first spirifers. Apparently this site hasn't been prospected in a while, the whole area proved to be littered with spiriferids, although most of the time weathered. After an hour or two we had filled a bucket with them. After this we were heading home, meanwhile keeping an eye out to outcrops or building sites. We did find another small piece of land ready for construction and full of slate. Not a lot was to be found here except an odd round shaped nodule that got my attention. I got it out of the ground and after cleaning it up there were septa visible at the back. The nodule turned out to be a fragment of a large cephalopod, a great way to end the day of prospection. the Cephalopod fragment:

Hi everyone! Today I went on another fossil hunting trip with the fossil club the BVP. https://www.paleontica.org/sites/fossil_site.php?plaats=3&language=en We visited the "La Couvinoise" quarry in Couvin, Belgium. The rocks in this quarry are part of the Hanonet Formation which lies at the boundry of the Eifelian & Givetian. But the layers we searched in today where all Givetian in age (387,7 - 382,7 mya), I mainly searched in the Crinoïd & Brachiopod layer. Although I have to admit that we probably visited the quarry at a bad moment, as the yield was quite poor in the quarry this time according to members who've been there before. Which was quite obvious as I think we only found our first fossil rich rocks after 50 minutes of searching and even then the first hour of finds where few and poor in quality. But after a while of searching I found some good and rich blocks and managed to get some decent Crinoïd stems, Brachiopods and some rugose coral pieces. But the best 3 finds we did during the last 30 minutes of being in the quarry. The 1st one was the only Trilobite I found during the hunt! Trilos are very rare from this quarry and I believe only 1 other member found one before me on this trip. I found a pygidium which is still partially enbedded in rock. At first I wasn't sure whether I was a trilo or a brachiopod but after having a couple of other members checking it out, they all believed it to be trilobite. The excursion leader time was quite amazed by the find as this trilo came from the Crinoïd layer, which is a layer where he believed no trilobite had ever been found. The trilobites are usually found in another part and layer a bit further in the quarry. So yeah I am very pleased with that find! The 2nd best find, was one I didn't find myself but recieved from our Excursion leader Tom, which was a piece of very nice Stromatoporoidea which I wasn't lucky enough to find. The 3rd best find an perhaps my favorite was something that Tom told me to check out. He had discovered the remains of a cave that collapsed during some excavations in the quarry. You could clearly see the remains of dripping stones on the walls and luckily for us, some pieces of those dripping stones where also laying on the ground. So I managed to take a nice piece of them home with me They are encrusted with a layer of dried mud but I am sure they will look gorgeous once they are cleaned! The rings are already clearly visable in some areas. Here are some pictures from inside the quarry. This was the way to the newly excavated plateau which unfortunatly was a complete was of time as not a single fossil could be found in those rocks. After that we went to the other lower parts of the quarry where I mainly worked in a single piece of wall in the Crinoïd layer. I was lucky enough to find a few good fallen blocks and some good places in the wall with some decent Crinoïds and Brachiopods. One of the nice Crinoïds stems I found in the layer. And here is the piece of wall that has some of the dripping stones in it.

Hi everyone! Yesterday my girlfriend & I went on a fossil hunting trip to an abandoned quarry in Resteigne in Belgium. https://www.paleontica.org/sites/fossil_site.php?plaats=10&language=en I am currently at home for some time due to mental health issues. I am currently dealing with despression and severe anxiety attacks all related to COVID-19, I am in a risk group and work in an essential store and the stress and way that people threat you finally became too much and I simply snapped. I finally decided to go see a doctor and a psychologist to help out of it all. Since besides going to work I hadn't left the house for the past 6 months and I really needed to get out to help me get rid of the stress and fear, so both the psychologist and doctor encouraged my to go on some fossilhunts as I needed to come out of the house and do some outdoor activities to help with my healing process. So yesterday I went on my first hunt to help me recover! The quarry we visited was an abandoned quarry in Resteigne and the rocks found there are Devonian in age. Most of the fossils found here are from the Eifelian (393.3 - 387.7 mya) and are part of the Jemelle formation. We arrived quite early at the quarry and spent almost 5 and a half hours searching for fossils here. Since we went on a normal week day, we were lucky enough the have the quarry all to our self! Since it was our first time in the quarry we didn't really find anything too spectacular, but I am very happy with the things we found and most important of all, we had a great and fun day! The surrounding environment was stunning and the weather was prefect, sunny but not too hot and not too cold! Ruguse coral in the rocks Only 15 minutes after we arrived we already found our first trilobite! Unfortunatly it was enbedded in a big boulder of very though rock at an impossible angle to remove. We did try to remove it, but when we noticed it would be near impossible and removing it would probably destroy the trilo we eventually decided to leave it. There where multiple other fossils in the same boulder, among them these nice Brachiopods