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Hello to everyone! I'm a chemical engineering student in Greece who has paleontology and geology as a hobby. I see a lot of people abroad finding fossils and studying actual samples and I am looking for a way to start on my own someday. What is the best way to start? What are key fossil sites in the Balkans? Are there cases where it is ethical to take fossils for personal interest? In Greece where I live (specifically Athens) there are Penteli and Pikermi with known fossil sites. Additionally, fossils have been found in several islands of the Aegean Pelagos. I have zero knowledge of fossil sites in other countries. As far as ethics are concerned, I believe someone acquiring a fossil should communicate with a university that can collect data and improve its knowledge. A person on their own cannot easily conduct research, not only because of the tools and machines that might be needed but also because they don't have complete knowledge of the fossil record. Also, keeping a fossil for decoration should be done, in my opinion, if the fossil isn't needed to improve the fossil record or if the collector can keep the fossil after research goals have been achieved. I don't want to expand a lot on the subject. I'd love to hear other opinions on the subject and learn about finding fossils.

I know nothing about the fosils, could you tell me if this is real fosil or just a strange stone? thank you.

Balkanatolia: the forgotten continent that sheds light on the evolution of mammals, CNRS News, February 22, 2022 Balkanatolia: the forgotten continent that sheds light on evolution of mammals. UPI, February 22, 2022 Scientists Discover the Long-Lost Continent ‘Balkanatolia’ The landmass existed 40 million years ago and may have facilitated the migration of Asian mammals into Europe. Becky Ferreira, Vice, February 23, 2022 the paper is: Licht, A., Métais, G., Coster, P., Ibilioğlu, D., Ocakoğlu, F., Westerweel, J., Mueller, M., Campbell, C., Mattingly, S., Wood, M.C. and Beard, K.C., 2022. Balkanatolia: The insular mammalian biogeographic province that partly paved the way to the Grande Coupure. Earth-Science Reviews, no.103929. From abstract: “The Grande Coupure corresponds to a major episode of faunal turnover in western Europe around the Eocene- Oligocene boundary that is generally attributed to the influx of multiple clades of Asian mammals. Yours, Paul H.