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After a one year off for Covid the Tucson show will open the last week of January. Here is a link that provides you info to the +40 venues. Arizona still has high daily Covid 19 cases, so some venues or dealer rooms may require you to wear a mask, be safe. https://xpopress.com/showcase/profile/1/tucson-gem-mineral-fossil-showcase Lots of major changes will occur this year with the location of fossil dealers. The Arizona Mineral & Fossil Show which occupied the Tucson City Center Hotel was moving to the El Conquistador Resort but their web site says this show has been cancelled for the next two years. See Link, something might change as we move closer to the date. If you are looking for someone specifically and cannot find them, contact them directly. https://www.mineralshowslld.com/tucson/ Here are the Key Fossil Venues with a link but most venues have some fossils. The Fossil and Mineral Alley Show at Days Inn Timing: Around Jan 27 - Dealers have individual rooms so the timing will dependent when they arrive and finish setup Dealer Listing: (62 Dealers) I don't see major changes from prior years. Great Fossil Venue (Shark/Dinosaur/Invertebrates) https://xpopress.com/show/vendors/25/fossil-mineral-alley The 22nd Street Show Timing: Jan 27 to Feb 13 Parking is a nightmare and $$ Dealer Listing: Few fossil dealers mostly trinkets https://22ndstreet.show/exhibitor-list/ The Big Gem Show at Tucson City Center (CANCELLED) Timing: Same as the other shows Dealer Listing: Only 32 dealers remain. Only one Fossil Fish dealer, Now mostly Gem and Minerals https://www.thebiggemshow.com/ (Web Page Closed Dec 6) Mineral and Fossil Market Place Timing: Jan 29 to Feb 13 Some dealers have individual areas so their opening may be different (earlier) than posted dates. Dealer Listing: Lots of fossil dealers have migrated to this venue including the Black Hills Institute. Tight dealer quarters and parking but may be one of the better fossil venues https://mfmshow.com/ Mineral Fossil Co-Op Timing: Jan 28 to Feb 13 ( some stores open year around) Dealer Listing: (13 Dealers) https://xpopress.com/show/vendors/44/mineral-fossil-co-op Note: Kendal of Moussa Minerals just let me know of a new tent venue (RMGM Mineral and Fossil Show / Oracle Rd) will set up shop at this location. See page 2 for information Moved again to Keno venue Kino Gem and Minerial Show Timing: TBD Dealer Listing: (231 Dealers) Mostly Trinkets, few Moroccan Tent dealers https://xpopress.com/show/vendors/41/kino-gem-mineral-show Moroccan Tent City TBD will see who shows up on Oracle Road

Hello! I am a Long time fossil enthusiast first time forum finder. I’m hoping that by joining this group I can learn more about the rocks and fossils I have collected over the years. Thanks for having me!

Hey fossil people... more specifically hey Arizona fossil people. I'm wondering if any of you have run across fossilized horn coral in this state? If you have, tell me about it. I'd love to see examples of what you've found. I"ve found lots of brachiopods and other marine life in Arizona but this is the first time I've found horn coral. The idea that Arizona used to be underwater is fascinating to me. Theyre not the prettiest specimens... but i found them and they're mine! Lol. For those wondering, I found these near Payson Arizona. Same place I've found byrozoans, brachiopods, and crinoids.

I found lots of petrified wood in the lower part of the Miocene Chalk Canyon Formation north of Phoenix. The layer is mostly sandy and pumaceous. Does anyone know what the siliceous 1mm long elongated spheres are or how they formed? Could they be fecal pellets, fungi or other fossils. I have seen similar structures associated with California Miocene palm wood. @paleoflor Penny is 19 mm across.

I found these in the Huachuca Mountains of Arizona. Most are very small, about 1 cm each or less. A couple of them might be almost 2 cm across. Can anyone tell me what these fossils might be?

Hope this isn’t inappropriate for this forum. For everyone who was following my excavations, Dr Klein presented his findings. Dr Lucas is coming back later this year to pick up a few more tons of my tracks.

Hello, wondering if this is a fossilized sea sponge or coral? It is large and quite heavy. Found in the Coconino forest past Payson and Strawberry.

Everyone I've encountered on this site has been very helpful, so thank you. However, I'm in need of more help. For the last year I've been collecting real fossils in the field and selling some to pay for more exotic rocks. In a recent post I found that my Solnhofen shrimp is, if not totally, mostly fake. Now I'm quite suspicious of my entire purchased collection and was hoping you could help me identify fakes. The first two pictures are apparently Priscacara, Green River Formation, Eocene; the next two supposedly Asteroidea, Morocco, Ordovician; the last three supposedly Triassic, Arizona petrified wood--this came from the same group that sold me the fake shrimp. All help is appreciated.

Hello, apologies for opening a new thread. Are these just neat looking rocks or possible fossils? I could not tell.

Hello, Over the years I have found several fossilized shells on the Mogollon Rim in Arizona. I was wondering if these can be identified?

My 8yr old found this neat fossil and we could use some help with identification. He found it on the Bell Rock climb hike of Sedona Arizona. The fossil is slightly concave/curved. It's 4 cm long and about 2cm wide with some tapering. You can see three distinct tips on one end and is flat on the other. You all came through the last time so any leads would be immensely appreciated. My son is just dying to find out what it is he found.

Hello all, I feel like I've hit the jackpot finding this forum. I have quite a few pieces needing identified. I am so excited to be here. Please stay tuned as I have read the suggestions on how to photograph specimens, so I will be working on those pics over the next few days. Thank you for having me. I can't wait to learn from each of you.

Tuataras May Have Originated as Early as 190 Million Years Ago Enrico de Lazaro, SciNews, March 4, 2022 The open access paper is: Simões, T.R., Kinney-Broderick, G. and Pierce, S.E., 2022. An exceptionally preserved Sphenodon-like sphenodontian reveals deep time conservation of the tuatara skeleton and ontogeny. Communications biology, 5(1), pp.1-19. Yours, Paul H.

Been searching my upper level recently- Shinarump Formation, late Triassic. Finding some decent bone pieces. Most likely amphibian, particularly Metoposaurus.

Found this North of Black Canyon City. There were numerous other fragments that were being exposed by erosion.

Trying to Add IDs to our YT video and this one is not on the "ID Key" at the paleo site. I will include the ID Key for identification purposes, thanks in advance! GPS Coords: 34°19'21.3"N 111°06'26.2"W

On the back side of a plate I received recently containing Chirotherium barthii or Isochirotherium sp. prints from the Holbrook Member of the Moenkopi Formation, Snowflake Arizona, I found what might be plant material. I’m not sure if they can be identified as anything with these photos but I plan to take closer more detailed photos once I’m back home. Personally to me (which could just be my mind playing tricks on me) they seem to be stems of some sort. Before I conclude this post though I’d like to apologize for my past actions, since I’ve joined the forum in 2019 I’ve annoyed many and have caused more than one problem, acting like a child asking same questions over and over again, posting stuff I shouldn’t be, and losing something I should’ve never even had, I’m sorry for that and I hope I can start fresh.

Found near Canelo, AZ. The grey stone feels brittle, lightweight, and gritty. And there's tons of it around. I'm not sure if this is a fossil or not. Just thought it looked real curious. What do you guys think?

The two sides of a single small chunk of limestone show two very different fossils. One side may be a Receptaculites, and the other I don't recognize. The rock was found on the surface in an area of mixed cobble, formerly an ancient riverbed, so the origin is uncertain. Most of the old limestones in the area are Devonian or Carboniferous. The stone's about 4 cm long. The area it was found was also inhabited by the Sinagua people, who abandoned the site about 700 years ago. They could have transported the stone from somewhere or traded for it? Any ideas what these fossils are?

Found on Arizona mesa top. What’s curious is the shell like structure that I have not seen in the many geodes I’ve found around here. See 3rd and 4th pics for best outer shell view. Any thoughts from the community? Thanks

Hello everyone, A while back I was gifted this fairly large piece of pet wood from Arizona. I don't really know what I can do with it as I don't have any equipment to polish or cut rocks like this. I was wondering if any TFF members have such equipment, and if they did how much it would cost to either polish this piece at one or both ends or alternatively, slab it and polish some of the slabs. I don't know if it would be worth the time or money to do so, I am just trying to see what I can do with a piece like this. Thank you very much for any help, Misha

Hi All, so I had heard about fossilized coral located in the Western Arizona desert near the Colorado River. So we went out there and did some rock prospecting ourselves. The location is La Paz, County south of Parker, Arizona. Namely, the terminal moraine-like hills about 10 miles south-east of Parker, Arizona beyond the Colorado River Indian Reservation. We found a ton of very interesting sponge or coral-like rocks on top of these hills. So this is consistent with a few other reports online about this. First, let me describe this location as it’s somewhat fascinating if you pay special attention. Parker is located next to the Colorado River south of Lake Havasu, Arizona. As you travel southeast of Parker on Highway 95, you will begin to gently gain 100-150 ft in elevation as the Highway climbs through a gentle alluvial fan formation for about 4-8 miles. Then you will begin to see some very odd elongated, east-west sand hills maybe 50-100 ft tall. You won’t think anything of them until you look at an aerial photograph and realize they seem like giant terminal moraines. They’re extremely consistent in shape and placement, like giant wave ripples. We sampled several of these terminal moraine hills. Per geological maps, these moraine hills are composed of an unconformity of top Bullhead Alluvium coating over the below Bouse deposit mounds. You can clearly see this from a few, open cross-sections of these hills, where most of the hill is composed of a sandy material then very oddly layered with a top layer of dense rocks (1/2 inch up to 6 inch size rocks). Now that’s kind of odd. A series of sandy hills composed with a coating of heavy and dense deposits on top? And more interesting is the model where the present day Colorado River may have been formed when a series of lakes formed, filled up, breached and flooded to create subsequent downstream lakes. At this location an ancient Lake Blythe would have formed from presumably a catastrophic flood from a breach of an upper ancient Lake Havasu or ancient Lake Mohave. Think about it, that would probably explain these odd terminal moraine hills with a unconformity of large gravel rocks on top! Wow. It’s anyone’s guess but it sure does seem plausible. So we sampled these hills for several days. Their top gravels are composed of a variety of rocks. But what’s odd is that many sponge or coral like rocks seem to exist in this top layer of Bullhead Alluvium. These have the same appearance as those described downstream in Yuma on this forum. Also, when we were in Lake Havasu City, we found the exact same sponge and coral like rocks there, too. So at least from Yuma to Lake Havasu City and maybe much further beyond. One must wonder where they originated. The Grand Canyon, other canyons, ancient flat areas around the present day Colorado River? But they seem to be very present in presumably flood gravels. There appear to be some different types. Some are coated and show massive eroded pits and areas exposing their mostly gray cores. By coated, the entire specimen is surrounded by a coating(s), so I don’t believe it’s a piece of a eroded deposit layer from a nearby cliff from a flood, etc. Many have elongated shapes, wide on one end and narrow on the other end. Others are gray core matter only, some showing a bit of coating or not, and their cores show very curious patterns that look very sponge or coral like in nature. Their internal patterns seem biological in nature and marine like and can be seen within some of the partially-eroded coated pieces. We also found some gravel rocks with small crinoid fossils and a few specimens that looked like large coral heads. All of these specimens are highly weathered, consistent if they were part of a massive flood deposit. It’s very cool stuff. It’s everywhere in these Bullhead Alluvium flood gravels. It’s so prevalent, I’ve got to wonder if anything specifically has ever been written about it? Granted it was only a few years ago that evidence was uncovered that may indicate that the lower Colorado River area was once an inland sea estuary during the Miocene to Pliocene, before final formation of the modern day Colorado River presumably from a series of breaches. So it begs to wonder what other treasures this area may hold. I attached pictures of some of the sponge and coral like specimens. Size scale shown is in inches. Comments welcome. Cheers, DJ