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Hey everyone! A few weekends ago I did my second-ever fossil hunting trip at the well known site of Beaumaris Bay in Melbourne. I was hoping to find a shark tooth, and we did bump into a fellow hunter who had found a couple perfect specimens, but they remained elusive - a good reason to go back! We also saw a fair number of families fossil hunting, and it was nice to see lots of people getting into the hobby at such a lovely environment! I myself found too many echinoids to keep [2], specifically specimens of the heart urchin Lovenia woodsii (not to be confused with its cousin, Lovenia forbesii, which is nearly identical to my untrained eye). I saved a few nice specimens, as well as what I hope is a piece of marine mammal bone [3], and some rock with a bit of an unusual pattern in it ([4+5] - I'm suspicious as to whether it's a fossil or not, so I'd love an opinion!) Overall it was a lovely trip, and I'm having a great time getting into this hobby!

Just came back from Beaumaris Fossil beach and I have a load of fossils, I’d appreciate getting them identified I know that a few are sea urchins, and the shell but I’m just not sure about the other pieces Note: unfortunately I forgot to add a ruler/item for scale

Well my first fossil hunt at this beach…. While dragging toddler twins around for 7.5 hours the hawk isn’t too bad but I may have tossed back an inner ear drum from a dolphin as I’m a dummy and doubted myself. item 1 : image 1-2 coral??? item 2 : images 3-4 I would love to say egg wishful!!!! item 3 : image 5-6 vertebrate??? item 4 : images 7-9 no clue item 5 : images 10-11 wishful crustacean?? item 6 : images 12 oyster items 7 : mixed tube like some very smooth items 8 : bivalve items 9 : lovenia I just want to say if there’s anyone who would like to go out with me that would be amazing …. Fossil hunting seems to be a little lonely hobby.

Hey everyone, i've just yesterday returned from another four day fossil trip to Beaumaris: a coastal suburb in Melbourne, Australia with fossiliferous exposures of the Beaumaris Sandstone Formation. The fossils are about 5.5 million years old (latest Miocene) and comprise an extremely diverse range of both marine and terrestrial animals. A great overview of the Beaumaris fossil fauna is provided by this PDF, for those unfamiliar with the site: https://www.bayside.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/beaumaris_fossil_book_museum_victoria.pdf In short, everything from sharks, rays and bony fish to whales, dolphins, seals, birds, echinoids, gastropods, corals, bivalves and others can all be found. It's almost like you need a checklist when collecting here, to mark off the faunal groups that you find one by one. Which makes the collecting rather exciting as you never know what might turn up! Loose fossils can be kept, but the cliffs and foreshore are protected so no excavating or digging of anything in situ is allowed. But this is fine as most fossils are loose on the beach or adjacent shallow seafloor. Lots of people that collect here do so by snorkelling the shallow waters just offshore, and i also brought my wetsuit, snorkel and fins on this trip to search underwater which was very fun. As well as fossils, the waters are rich in modern marine life and it's fascinating to see them up close. The snorkelling and beach collecting proved very successful! The location: Marine mammal bones (whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals): A selection of indeterminate bone chunks. Small pieces of bone are fairly common finds. A small mammal vertebra (caudal?), probably from a dolphin or porpoise. Shown in front and side views. Bony fish: Right and left fish lower jaws, probably from the same species, but found separately so they're not associated. What luck though to have both matching sides! Although the left jaw is from a smaller individual. Crushing toothplate from Diodon formosus. Continued in the next post... (sharks, rays, invertebrates)

Hello everyone! This is a small fossil I found months ago in the Beaumaris Formation, Victoria, Australia. I've looked through the Fossils of Beaumaris PDF but cannot find anything similar. The measurements are as follows: - 2.5 cm L - 2.4 cm W - 1.2 cm D I have attached some images below which will hopefully be of help!

Hey everyone! I was wondering if you could please help me identify these items and whether they are worth keeping! I found these three today at Beaumaris. The first one (pictures 1 + 2) appears to be some odd, fortuitous weathering of sandstone? In the second (picture 2) it seems that there may be some possible gastropod remains in there? The third item - the baguette! (pictures 3 + 4) It caught my interest due to the ridges on the top and flat base. I assume it's likely an sandstone concretion? It feels like rock on the outside and isn't as heavy as ironstone. Thanks in advance for any help!

Hello everyone! I went for my first fossicking adventure at Beaumaris, Victoria late last week. I was hoping you guys could please help me ID a shark tooth (Image 1) and some other items that I cannot identify (Images 2+3). The dark, cylindrical items in Images 2+3 are hollow inside, which you can see in Image 3. All were found underwater in Beaumaris, Victoria just off the jetty.

G'day everyone! I just returned from a trip to Beaumaris today and found something wierd. At first I thought It was a crab as crab fossils were found from this locality: https://beaumarisfossils.org/crabs-burrows/ but I am not too sure. The fossil comes from the Beaumaris Sandstone Formation, late Miocene to early Pliocene. Thanks, Dan Crab fossils found at Beaumaris

As the year comes to a close i decided to do a bit more collecting at one of my favourite Australian sites: Beaumaris near Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. Once again i travelled down and stayed at a motel near the beach for three days (27/12/18 through to 29/12/18). This trip is a sequel to the previous two trips i have made here which are also posted on the forum: Jan 2016 trip: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/61248-fossil-hunting-holiday-in-victoria-australia-dec-2015-jan-2016/ Feb 2017 trip: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/71996-fossil-hunting-holiday-at-beaumaris-australia-feb-2017/ Beaumaris is a significant site with both marine and terrestrial fossils from the latest Miocene aged Beaumaris Sandstone Formation (5 - 6 million years old), which crops out in distinctly red-coloured coastal cliffs and also in offshore rocky reefs. An impressive diversity of both vertebrate and invertebrate fauna occurs here, and the Melbourne Museum has put together a neat PDF of the fossil diversity for those unfamiliar with the site (https://www.bcs.asn.au/fossils_of_beaumaris_2015-02.pdf). My plan was to collect every single low tide across these three days, and sleep during every high tide. Yes, this meant going out collecting in the middle of the night too! My main interest was to collect shark teeth, however they can be tough to find here and are certainly not as common as at many other sites internationally that the people on this forum would be more familiar with. This often seems to be the case with Australian vertebrate fossils. It does however make it quite rewarding when you do eventually find them! The first day of searching (27/12/18) proved to be rather disappointing. I finally got to try snorkelling for fossils, which is a popular method here for finding things exposed along the seabed, but alas after about 3 hours in the water i had not found any bones or teeth. I was unable to locate the nodule bed where most of the vertebrate fossils originate from, which i think played a part in my lack of success. The seabed was also quite sanded over and it was hard to see much. I was definitely out of my element here, but it was also a lot of fun to get close to some of the local marine life, including stingrays! I decided to return to land collecting after not doing very well in the water and when i did so my luck changed greatly. The next two days and nights of land collecting (28/12/18 and 29/12/18) proved to be much more successful and i even got to meet two TFF members on the beach (coincidentally)! @Echinoid and @Tympanic bulla were also out looking, and we had a nice chat before they headed off to continue snorkelling. I then spent most of my remaining time on the beach flipping rocks and examining the pebbles up close, ultimately finishing the trip with a total of five shark teeth which i was very happy with! Carcharodon hastalis tooth as found. 24mm long. Large Carcharodon hastalis upper anterior tooth, as found at 2 am (with a head-torch) on 29/12/18. Measures 56 mm long. I had long been waiting for a tooth of this size! Carcharodon hastalis posterior tooth as found. 15 mm long. Another Carcharodon hastalis posterior as found. 13 mm long. And a small fragment of cetacean bone. Worn pieces like this are the most common vertebrate fossils at Beaumaris. Pictures continued in the next post

This specimen was found from beaumaris beach, victoria. Is it a fossil bone fragment? More pictures to come. It will only let me post one for some reason :/

Hi everyone, I have found many specimens of ferruginised fossils from the Beaumaris Sandstone in Victoria. They were formed in the upper Miocene. Could someone please explain what they are made of and how they are formed? Thanks Echinoid

Hi everyone, first time fossil hunting and first time posting.. we went down to Beaumaris wit the kids today, and amongst some other cool finds, we found this fragment. It looks bony where there is a cross section (not obvious in the photo, but on the pedestal part that sticks out).. we aren't sure what it is.. any help?

G'day, Just went on a 4 day long trip to Melbourne to go to Beaumaris and while we were there we bought/traded a few things from a dealer. For the first few days we were there we snorkelled at Beaumaris and found a few alright things... These two Cosmopolitodus (Carcharodon) hastalis teeth were encrusted in 'stuff' when we first found them. Nothing much compared to what you find in the U.S but they are pretty good for Australian teeth!: Posted multiple times again :/

Hey guys, I need to pick your collective brains on this tiny fragment I picked up from Beaumaris the other day. Although clearly sea washed, it shows some detailed feathering down the profile. I'm getting a fishy vibe of this but would appreciate any thoughts. & if anyone is wondering how I got the shots with a a phone, I borrowed the idea of taping a jewellers lens to my phone. Thanks to whoever it was that suggested this on the forum, pure genius.

Hi Guys and Girls, I had my first trip to Beaumaris the other day. I am pretty lucky as I live smack in between Beaumaris and Fossil Beach in Mount Martha. These are my first Vertebrate finds so I am pretty chuffed. So I have spent a few days Googling my fingers off the bone. I have sent this picture to the Melbourne Museum too but was wondering if anyone had any clues on what these these might be off. I'm pretty sure the bottom bone is off a bird, as it is hollowed. The middle 2 Vertebrae look as they are from the same animal, or species. anyways any help would be appreciated. Steve

Hey guys, took the daughter down to Beaumaris for a quick look today & I found this piece which reminds me (I'm sure), of a fish jaw I've seen posted somewhere else. If anyone can ID I'd be grateful. Have a horrible feeling that my daughter may have trumped me with this bone fragment, any clues?

Hello all, picked up a few bits from Beaumaris the other day & was looking for ID's Firstly this bone fragment. 110mm/85mm I'm thinking land mammal as the inner structure doesn't really match that of the local cetacean finds but I'm happy to be put right. The outer surface which is very worn but where you can still see the preserved outer layer, has an unusual texture which I'm not familiar with. As this is my first post & undoubtedly I've stuffed something up along the way, I'll post the other finds as I go. Thanks for the time & any thoughts are most welcome.

Hello all! Recently, I went down to Beaumaris to look for fossils. We were there for a few hours and only found the usual fossils (Lovenia Woodsi) But as we were making our way out of the site, I spotted a large and unusual rock laying in the sand. When I picked it up, I was surprised to find it was filled with a number of fossils and fossilised imprints of shells and over invertebrates. Does anyone know a good way to clean the fossil or should I just leave it? Thanks, Dan

Hello. I am quite new to fossil hunting and would like some help. I am going down to Beaumaris next week to go for a fossick. (The fossils you can find there are from the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene) Can anyone give me some tips on how to look for fossils effectively and what I should be looking for? Thanks, Daniel

Hello, I found the following specimen at Beaumaris today. It has a bone like shape ....looks like the end of a long bone, but it's hollow. Can anyone assist with an identification. Thanks, Daniel

Hello TFF! I went exploring the cliffs at Beaumaris (Melbourne, Australia) recently and found some small fossils. While I recognise the Echinoids from other posts, I was wondering if the piece in the bottom right is also a fossil of some sort? Also I found a shell that's stone/rock - is this a fossil?

This bone fragment was collected on the beach at Beaumaris in Victoria, Australia. The site is latest Miocene to earliest Pliocene in age (5 - 6 million years old) and consists of the Beaumaris Sandstone formation. Fossils of bony fish, sharks, whales, dolphins, seals, penguins, flying birds and terrestrial marsupials are all known from the location. This PDF gives a great overview of the Beaumaris fauna for those that are unfamiliar with it: http://www.marinecare.org.au/images/Fossils_of_Beaumaris_Feb_2015.pdf I am thinking possibly some kind of jaw fragment just based on the shape, but from what i am not sure. The best match i can see in the document above is the base of the Albatross beak on page 13, but i am not holding my breath on that one. There is dark coloured bone along the edges on both side faces, separated by sediment in the middle. The sediment gap between the bone is larger on one side than the other. The whole piece measures 30mm long, stands almost 20mm tall and is 20mm wide at the widest end. Any ideas?

This shark tooth was found on the foreshore at Beaumaris in Victoria, Australia. It is 5-6 million years old. I am confident it is a mako shark tooth but i am trying to decide which species to label it. The following shark taxa are listed in the fauna found at this location: Heterodontus cainozoicus, Carcharias taurus, Carcharodon megalodon, Parotodus benedeni, Isurus desori, Isurus oxyrinchus, Isurus hastalis, Isurus retroflexus, Lamna?, Megascyliorhinus sp., Carcharhinus cf. brachyurus, Carcharhinus sp., Galeocerdo aduncus The majority of teeth at the site are from Carcharodon hastalis (or Isurus hastalis depending on who you believe). However i feel like my tooth is too narrow to be a C. hastalis tooth. Even the first lower anteriors of C. hastalis that i have seen are somewhat proportionally wider than my example, hence why i am leaning towards one of the other species of mako but i want to know what the shark tooth experts on this forum think. I had a look in the book 'Vertebrate Palaeontology of Australasia' (which has a nice section on fossil chondrichthyans) and the closest match i could see was a first lower anterior tooth from Isurus paucus (tooth A on page 552 if anyone has the book) but this species isn't listed in the fauna for Beaumaris. Might it instead be an Isurus oxyrinchus or desori tooth? Additionally my tooth is fairly straight, and most of the other mako specimens i am seeing are more curved. It measures 24 mm long and 11 mm wide.