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@JamieLynn's post about the recent PSoA field trip to Wilson Clay Pit reminded me that I was in need of creating my own trip report too. Early last month I made my first ever trip to Wilson Clay Pit in hopes of finding some of the incredible Late Pennsylvanian echinoderm and vertebrate material that I had read so much about. I was a little nervous about visiting (after hearing stories about rattlesnake encounters), so I was fortunate to convince a friend to join me. He must have brought the luck because not only did I find two nearly complete Petalodus teeth and a nearly complete Petalodus crown, but I also found an articulated crinoid cup with three partial associated arms and a trilobite pygidium. Beginners luck I guess! A big thank you again to @Ptychodus04 for the prep work on the crinoid cup. Petalodus ohioensis Ditomopyge scitula pygidium Delocrinus vulgatus crown with associated arms and boring sponge damage Crinoid Stems, including one with boring sponge damage Archaeocidaris sp. Plate and Spine Polypora sp. Fusulinids Derbyia crassa Jurensia symmetrica Punctospirifer kentuckyensis Neospirifer cameratus Neochonetes granulifer Crurithyris planoconvexa Composita subtilita Linoproductus cora Hystriculina wabashensis Desmoinesia muricatina Marginifera fragilis Allorisma terminale Palaeoneilo oweni Edmondia nebrascensis Euphemites vittatus Septimyalina perattenuata

I have been incredibly bad about writing this trip report, so I am glad that I have finally gotten a rainy day to put it together. Back in September, I joined the Paleontological Society of Austin on a field trip to two sites in the "Heart of Texas," one in the Pennsylvanian and one in the Permian. I had never before had the chance to collect in the Permian so I was really excited to go on this trip. @erose did a great job explaining the stratigraphy of the sites and what we should look for. Erich explained that the Permian site was an exposure of the very early Permian Moran Formation. The highlights of the site were tiny enrolled trilobites and rare crinoid cups. The site also had tons of brachiopods. I spent the night in the area so I had the good fortune of collecting the site after most of the other members had left. To say the least, I was really happy with my finds. A big thank you to @Ptychodus04 for the prep work on the crinoid cup and trilobite. Ditomopyge decurata Crinoid Cup- Peter Holterhoff, who has done a lot of work studying and describing the Pennsylvanian and Permian crinoids of Texas, told me that this specific crinoid remains undescribed and that he has only ever seen 2 or 3 other articulated cups of this crinoid Crinoid Plates and Anal Spines Archaeocidaris sp. Plates and Spines Lophophyllidium plummeri Zaphrentis gibsoni Fenestrate bryozoan Derbyia sp. Neochonetes puebloensis Hustedia sp. Composita subtilita Dielasma sp. Condrathyris perplexa Schuchertella pratteni Punctospirifer sp. Rhynchopora magnicosta Reticulatia sp.? Marginifera sp.? Some unknown brachiopods

My first post was so popular that I decided to do a second. I went to the same place, and found more many rich and colorful fossils, and got enough material to write to you about it. For those who missed my first post, you will find it HERE As you will see in this article, I combine my two passions, collecting fossils and color photography. I love color, creating black and white photographs of fossils is good for scientific research, when you are a paleontologist and want to record the small details for science and posterity. But for people who are just starting to explore the world of fossils, we need something more inspiring, because to be fair, fossil photos are generally drab, and generally unappealing to the general public. Not that fossil collectors don't take great photos, I see fantastic photos all the time on TFF, but usually in a different context. I'm just trying to be a little different and take a picture of the fossils as I see them, in their natural environment. Maybe this will inspire the next generation of fossils collectors. This site is part of the Lorraine group (Chambly sub-formation). It contains the most recent sedimentary rock in the region, a series of clay and limestone schists that are redder towards the top. It's made up of clay schists, a sedimentary rocks of dynamic origin, formed by the splitting of existing rocks and calcareous schists, a sedimentary rocks formed by the accumulation of animal or plant matter in bodies of water. This region also bears the marks of the Quaternary geological era. Immediately after the last ice age, the whole St. Lawrence Valley and its waterways became a vast inland sea (the Champlain Sea) that stretched as far as today's Lake Champlain. The site is not as gorgeous or rich in fossils as the other sites we see in this forum, but it is rich in brachiopods, crinoids, bryozoans, and a few gastropods. Sorry @Kane no trilobites. Here are some photos to give you an idea of the site, it's a small beach where the fossils are underwater, so I'm literarily fishing for fossils. The formation is made up of many colorful stairs and steps leading to the water's edge. Like a time machine, each step takes you back a thousand years, where you can discover at each staircase the remains of a thriving fauna, long extinct. Don't expect to see anything bigger than a few inches, this is the Late Ordovician historically rock formation in the Richelieu River Valley in the St. Lawrence Lowlands rests on sedimentary rocks. which are some 450 million years old and formed during the Cambrian Period of the Paleozoic Era. I was able to photograph this hash plate full of sowerbyella at that special moment, when the water was receding after a previous wave. This is not a painting, just a photograph of what typical Ordovician fauna might have looked like 500 million years ago, almost as if we were there. I try to keep my hand dry and out of the freezing water, picking up the fossils between two waves, leaving the fossils out of the water. It was difficult to photograph the fossils underwater, because of the waves I took the photo at a time when the water was calmer and just before a wave came crashing on it. A lonely sowerbyella taking her beauty bath I found bi_valve playing hide and seek, with the bubbles A lot of times I hear that fossil and water aren't a good mix, but in my case it's a perfect match. The water acts as a sort of magical act, bringing these 450 million year old fossils back to life, infusing them with vibrant colors and hiding the passage of time. These normally terness fossils have a second life in this freezing water, small imperfections are hidden, making the texture smooth and lustrous, with beautiful vibrant colors. In homage of the Beatles, I call this one the Yellow Submarine Some brachiopod pile up over each other, I don't know what cause this rainbow of colors, the diffraction, the translucidities' of the fossils. Whatever the reason, it's a beautiful effect and a total surprise. A colorful brachiopod on a colorful rock I really like the contrast of theses two plate Don't need to search, no fossil here. Just a color full formation. Crinoid columnals are the most commonly recognized crinoid fossils, they are individual pieces of the column, or stalk, these resemble small washers. Olympic logos gone wild or Crinoid columnals, you choses. I particularly like the circles with a small star inside Columnals are joined together in life by elastic ligaments and skin. However, when the animal dies these soft tissues quickly decay and the stem break apart into individual ossicles, they leave behind a great many fossils. After the crashing waves, they sometimes cover themselves with air bubbles, giving this strange old world a new dimension. The hole in the center of the columnal is called the axial canal. It is most commonly round but may also be pentagonal or star-shaped, like this 1 millimeter fossil. Despite their small size some fossils can still be the star of the show. Bryozoans consist of a skeletal structure of calcium carbonate that has numerous tiny holes or openings dotting the surface. These holes once housed individual bryozoan animals called zooids, that derived their nutrients from the seawater. Atlas Of Ancient Life I found this briozoma all alone on this big boulder, strangely it comes out of the rock and comes back in right away. This is another bryozoan, it was on a smaller rock and I was able to collect it for my collection Most colonies were only a few inches in diameter but a colony of an Ordovician form found in the Cincinnati region ( Florence, Kentucky) is more than 26 inches in diameter and is one of the largest known bryozoan colonies. I really like this formation for it's richness of colors Photo taken in direct sunlight of a wet bi-valve Again, mother nature was playing with ice producing these wonderful sculptures everywhere we look. It was such a nice day, I couldn't resist taking some in picture. See other Ice sculpture Here. Crinoid columnals trapped under translucent ice. I found all theses fossils in just haft a day at that very special place. For those of you that did not see my previous post about my first fossil fishing trip, your in luck because it is still available HERE.

Hello! Please help me identify these brachiopod fossils from Morocco. Unfortunately, the age is unknown. Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone! Around 2 months ago on the 16th of october 2021 I went on a fossil hunting trip with the BVP to the stone quarry of Lompret in Belgium. https://www.paleontica.org/locations/fossil/654 The rocks in this quarry are Devonian in age and date back to the Frasnian (382.7 million years ago to 372.2 million years ago) with the finds mostly being from both the Neuville and Matagne Formations. According to Tom our excursion leader this quarry exists out of what used to be coral reefs and islands that formed around atolls. The fossils that you can find in this quarry are Brachiopods, Bivalves, Gastropods, Corals, Bryozoans, Cephalopods like Goniatites and Othocone Nautiloids and in very rare cases Placoderm and trilobite material (although no one was that lucky during the excursion). The quarry is also very rich in minerals like Baryte, Calcite, Quartz, Galena, Fluorite, etc... I have long looked forward to visiting this quarry, so I was very happy to finally be able to go and it did not dissapoint! It was quite foggy in the morning when we arrived which both looked eerie and cool at the same time, luckily it later cleared up! There where quite a lot of other people in the quarry (mainly people looking for minerals like Byrite and Galena) but our club headed straight to higher plateau of the quarry where some of the black Matagne Shales where with very nice Pyritized fossils and to where the waste heaps were to look for fossils. That's me looking for Brachiopods and pyritized Goniatites and Bactrites. A large Hexagonaria coral which was a little to heavy to bring home We also found some Pyrite cubes which (although very exhausting) we managed to extract

Hi everyone, went on a nice little expedition into West VA over thanksgiving break. tried my hand on checking out the rose hill formation in Waiteville. lovely time out with some beautiful scenery and farms. The sandstone was sparse fossil wise, but I did find three pieces with some interesting stuff to ponder. here are each of the three rocks, labeled Specimens A-C Specimen A looks like it has some simple fossil impression. on first inspection there's some nice Ostracods and a couple brachiopod impressions in the middle. but on closer inspection on the edges I noticed there is a possible mold of a trilobite pygidium. (Likely Calymene Cresapensis) ostracods and brachiopod impressions. Here are closeups of the trilobite impression. lastly here are a couple impressions that might be something. Specimen B Specimen B has the Faintest brachiopod impression (According to this book I read it looks like Cupulastrum Neglectum) there's a weird looking impression I have no idea what it is. other weird impressions on the side. Specimen C I think i found a hash plate of trilobite chunks here, although Im not familiar with the geology of this place so it could just be concretion. this piece also has a definite Trilobite in it on the side. Trilobite. I do not know which part of it this is, could be Pygidium or Thorax. Possible cephalon piece? Please let me know if I missed any ID's or am way off on my guesses here. as always, message if you want to see a different side/ angle of something.

Hi all, went on a fossil hunting trip recently and I found some things I'm unsure of. these were found off of Route 60 in the Reedsville formation. My best guess ( assuming this isn't concretion of course) was this may be some sort of horn coral. there was another splinter of rock that looks like it could be a cluster of brachiopods but what kind I have no idea.

Hi! I was collecting plant fossils and found these shells. They are Pennsylvanian (Carboniferous), Conemaugh Group, Glenshaw Formation. I don't know what they are. Any help is appreciated, thank you.

Don't think I've posted these before. From (as near as I can tell) the Caballero Formation, lower Mississippian. North of Lake Valley, New Mexico. My best guesses are either Cupularostrum or Eumetria. Alas, I'm sometimes lucky if I get the right phylum. Also embarrassed myself with this on this particular trip: I breathlessly identified this as a really spectacular algal mound. Well, no; I had navigated up the wrong canyon, and in this geologically complex area, I wasn't even looking at sedimentary rock. This is spectacularly flow-banded rhyolite. If I can't tell a rhyolite from an algal mound, maybe I should just pack it in now ...

I am going to go to some real sites in eastern New York tomorrow, but I decided to check the rocks by a pond near my grandparents house where I found a couple trilobites and other Devonian fauna this summer. And I found this really nice Platyceras specimen which it turned out had a brachiopod fossil attached near the bottom, where the opening of the shell would be located. I highly doubt that these two organisms are articulated and fossilized together but I thought it was interesting and worth showing here.

Beltzville State Park is one of those rare parks where collecting is allowed. The adjacent federal land, owned and operated by the Corps of Engineers to operate the dam there, is accessible ONLY WITH A PERMIT. It is a functioning spillway and there is a gun range for the local police, so you and USACE need to make sure you are safe. With that important disclaimer out of the way, here's the good stuff! Beltzville is a very productive Middle Devonian site which includes the PA State Fossil, the trilobite Eldredgeops rana. Although no one in the group found any definite complete buggies, a lot of froglike trilo faces went home in our buckets! It wasn't all trilos, though. We found bryozoa, corals, pteria oysters, gastropods, crinoids and probably a dozen kinds of brachiopods. I led this trip for the Natural History Society of Maryland. The trip director made this lovely video of our day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdB5atWQmeQ Yes, I realized about 20 minutes after she took that video of me showing off the pop-outs that I was holding the fronts of the cephalons of one species, not the eyeballs of the other. This is what I get for not looking with my reading glasses first! Most of my finds I gave to whoever was sitting closest to me, but here are a few I kept.

The brachiopod fauna of the Leighton Formation is so small that I don't often find one that needs some help with identification. This individual does. The closest brachiopod that has the same characteristics is Eoplectodonta (=Plectambonites) transversalis, but it only occurs in the Dennys Formation. The Dennys Fm has quite a different fauna from the Leighton, but it is the closest thing I could find. My other option was some sort of small spiriferid. I will have to defer to @Tidgy's Dad for this one. Below are two pictures of it, first of the cast, and second of the external mold. Unfortunately, the fossil is rather damaged - the split did not cooperate with it. It is from the Leighton Fm, which is Silurian, Pridolian. Thanks in advance for your help!