Search the Community

I’m trying to get better at identification so I labeled the pieces with what I think they are but some I can’t figure out. I would love some guidance if anyone has any input! Thanks Fernandina Beach Amelia Island Florida USA

Greetings, I am working on my next display and am trying to sort through the various pieces of turtle shell. I have attempted to divide and label them as much as I can, using references I will post. This is my first attempt at turtle shell and have relied entirely on examples and available resources, so any correction/confirmation/explanation would be most appreciated. On my paper (in case it's unreadable - tendonitis flaring up so handwriting quality going down), the upper half of the page is carapace, the lower half is plastron, the left half is softshell and the right half is hard shell. I included a composite image which has better focus on each quadrant (terrible lighting today), and a larger image on which I wrote my attempts at further identification. References: This whole thread: This image (location directly on image): This image was very helpful: And these hand-drawn diagrams I found to be most accessible:

I bought this fragment along the road from Mahajanga to Antananarivo very close to the fossil beds where it was collected (or so I was told). I did not see it in situ. I believe we were near Berivotra. I'm curious to know which species of - presumably marine reptile - this is, and its approximate placement in the Mesozoic era. I've shared photos of this specimen with a Zurich-based expert in Triassic marine reptiles, but I've not yet heard back from him. Suggestions and questions are very welcome. Mike

A few months ago Ken @digit, had a post looking for Florida turtle specimens for a Flmnh project. A week later I went to the Peace and found this Apalone softshell. I hoping Ken post requests for a carnivore project next. After the Tampa Club fossil show this guy's new home will be at FLMNH. I also have quite a few vertebrae to prep as soon as I find some time.

The brief visit to the second half of the Pawpaw exposure turned out to be a huge success. I didn't think it was possible, but the finds got even better! There wasn't much of a story to be had with accessing the site, so I'll keep things brief and jump straight into the finds. Once I relocated the productive greyish layer, I was already gathering various claw bits left and right. Their bright white coloration really makes them pop out from the ground. However, I didn't let this lead me into lowering the thoroughness of my search. I still took a close look at every pebble and under every rock. The fruit of my labors came when I locked onto the first shark tooth for the site, a small Leptostyrax macrorhiza. I've found one in the past in the Duck Creek, but never in the Pawpaw. Nine times out of ten I would have missed this guy. Just look at how hidden he is in this photo: Leptostyrax macrorhiza hidden beneath a couple pebbles The vertebrate finds continued with a tiny ~1 cm fish jaw fragment. Let me know if you recognize it: Close up with my new stereo microscope! Not too long after, the crustacean finds began to ramp up. Scattered about were fragments of carapaces. It was only a matter of time before the first complete carapace of the day was found. Steorrosia aspera I want to say I continued finding several more that weren't impressive in situ, but amazing after cleaning. One Steorrosia sp. was pretty banged up on the sides, so I couldn't confidently pin an ID. However, I noticed that it had little black dots where the eyes are usually missing in these crab fossils. Well, my Christmas gift came right on time! I placed it under the digital microscope and almost fell out of my chair. This little crab had preserved compound eyes. I'm not sure how rare such a feature is, but it impressed the hell out of me. I should warn that the pics aren't terribly clear since taking photos requires me to press a button on the microscope that shakes the whole thing. Plus, viewing something so small had the device at its absolute maximum magnification. Hopefully you all can spot the pattern on the compound eyes. Underside of the Steorrosia sp. The face of the Steorrosia sp. A close up of one compound eye. Those faint circles are what I interpret to be the individual eyes. Although not from the grey layer I was hunting in, pyritic cephalopods could be found washed out from the red sandstone above. Most are pretty beat up, but I make sure to collect a little bit of each species I can find. I have enough Engonoceras serpintinum as it stands, but I can't help taking a picture when I find a nice one. Engonoceras serpintinum Mantelliceras sp. The first unorthodox find of the day was very clearly a tiny brittle sea star leg. I've always wanted to find starfish parts, so I was super excited to pick this specimen up.... little did I know. Not sure if it possible to ID beyond genus from just a leg segment: Ophiura sp. in situ Close up of same leg From there, I found a couple more very nice carapaces including a MUCH more complete Texicancer renfroae?. Face of the Texicancer renfroae? I hate to say I may have already found a Feldmannia wintoni that surpasses the one I submitted to FotM I need to figure out how to turn off that pesky time stamp on the bottom right. Starting to feel like I'm taking crab mugshots When I got home, I was able to clean up and analyze a couple of enigmatic specimens that had initially given me starfish vibes. After a bit of research, I believe my hunch was right. These two specimens each have one side covered in "spikes". I found a paper (Blake and Reid 1998) on Pawpaw starfish that had similar structures on the oral sides of the arms. Betelgeusia reidi (cool genus name btw) seemed the closest match, but it's a tough call. And to round it off with one of the most legendary finds in my fossil hunting career, a mess of associated brittle sea star chunks including the central disc and several arms fragments. I tried to find more, but these were the only pieces I came up with. It was a massive pain paraloiding this thing together I must admit. There's not much surface area to work with, but it eventually came it alright. Actually looking at it again, I think I put the short arm on upside down, but that will be a headache for another day... The only local brittle star species I know from this period would be Ophiura graysonensis and O. texana. Hard for me to say which it resembles more closely, but I'm leaning towards graysonensis, assuming those exist beyond just the Grayson Marl. The central disc and a couple of arm bits in situ Oral side? Aboral side? It's safe to say this is my most productive hunt yet! Hopefully you all enjoyed reading through this little report. Here is an overview of the finds: Fish jaw section, Leptostyrax macrorhiza, and xiphactinus? tooth fragment (was hoping it was pterosaur ) Crabs of the day L to R: Various Steorrosia, Feldmannia wintoni, Texicancer renfroae?, and Steorrosia reidi? Top: Engonoceras serpintinum Bottom L to R: Mantelliceras sp., Mariella worthensis, Scaphites hilli, and Baculites comanchesnis? Ophiura sp. arm fragment, chunks of Betegeusia reidi?, and a couple of bivalves Thanks for reading!

One of my absolute favorites found along the same walking trail here in Grant County NM. So I am hesitant to post it however my need to know supercedes my apprehension. I know what pareidolia tells me and thus far have been content with that astute involuntary observation from my brain but I feel I need to know something factual.

Crane Hill, AL Carboniferous Thoughts about this textured layer of this rock? A few weeks ago, I realized this specimen was too fragile to be cleaned by a newbie. The surface looks sort of like pebbled leather, but it is extremely brittle. I put it in a box to explore later when I have learned how to clean something like this. Tonight, I came across a pic of megaloolithus in old thread about Dino eggs emphasizing texture. I realize my specimen is is not from the correct time period to be an egg shell of anything - but, it piqued my curiosity again. Dino Egg thread Any thoughts? My inexperienced wild guesses: arthropod carapace? Under surface of exoskeleton? I hope the texture comes across in the photos. Thanks for looking:)

Hi! Can someone help me identify these fossils? They are from Portugal, early Cretaceous, close proximity to each other. I think they are from turtle. Carapace: Carapace 2: Bones?

When I hunt the river I always try to do a walk around of the area where I plan on working for the day. I have found numerous nice fossils this way that are just sitting on the riverbed waiting to be picked up. About 4 weeks ago, as I did a morning walk around I spotted some very white looking bone material in very shallow water. Upon picking it up I believed I had two nice size pieces of modern turtle plastron. I didn't see anything else in the immediate area and went about my search for fossils. I decided to take the bone material home and later came to the conclusion they were turtle plastron. On my next visit to the same location another walk around turned up numerous additional turtle pieces that looked to make up most of a carapace. Photo of the carapace and some additional pieces in the sifter - These pieces, along with the suspected plastron were fresh enough that they were too new to even bring in the garage. I decided to bury the bones and let nature take its course in ridding them of their odor and any material that would cause problems. This morning I retrieved the pieces from the backyard flower bed, rinsed them off and assembled them as best I could. I've got most of the carapace, the lower mandible a few bones yet to ID and what I believe are pieces of the plastron. I believe the plastron parts are the two large pieces above the carapace and the two smaller pieces at the bottom of the photo. While I have found a number of photos and diagrams that indicate the carapace is from a fresh water turtle I have not been able to find any photos pf a similar plastron. Anyone with an idea on a turtle plastron that would match? Here are the plastron pieces with a ruler in inches and MM - The walk around is a regular part of my routine on the river and has turned up everything from full Meg teeth to mammoth teeth. I highly recommend it!

Hello! I’m new here, but I was hoping someone would be able to help me identify this fossil I found a few months ago? I believe it is a turtle carapace or something similar. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

So I just finished piecing together the remains of a partial sea turtle carapace that I dug out of a lag deposit just outside the town of Summerville in South Carolina. Anyone potentially know any taxonomic information on it, such as what genus or species it might be from? Conversion from inches to cm: 10 inches = 25cm; 5 inches = 12.5cm; 1 inch = 2.5cm

Just came back from an afternoon at the FLMNH vertebrate paleontology warehouse sorting through bone bags from the Montbrook site. Richard Hulbert, Collection Manager, was there as well working on cataloging specimens from the trays of catalogable specimens that I'd separated from the scrappy bones last month. He came over to show me a set of 3 neural bones from the carapace of the Trachemys slider turtle that is ubiquitous at the site. I remember seeing these 3 bones (neurals 3 through 5) that run along the midline of the turtle's upper shell (carapace) when I determined they were associated and fit together. Associated bones are cataloged as a set rather than as individual bones. I recall these bones having rounded markings on them but likely was distracted with something else and didn't take the time to dig out the pits of lithified sand that filled these cavities. Richard took the time to clean out the matrix and it was quite apparent that this was one lucky turtle (depending on your point of view). You can clearly see that an alligator had managed to get this turtle into its mouth and had bit down at least twice leaving two distinct rows of tooth marks along the midline of this turtle's shell. The wounds are slightly healed and the fact that the neurals were found in close proximity within one of the grid squares and were not found digested and part of a gator coprolite means that this lucky turtle survived the attack and continued to live for some time after. Always fun when these little taphonomic clues can be interpreted to tell something of the life story of the individual. Cheers. -Ken

Found this cool fossil today. Measures 6 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 2 inches high. Venice, FL construction site. Located 5 feet away from a nice Meg tooth. Pleistocene material recovered within 50 yards. My first thought was small tortoise shell fully intact. Located close by was another larger size tortoise shell that was not fully fossilized. Hoping someone can confirm this is a fossilized turtle shell. Regards, Michael

My best guess is turtle shell. The top layer of this specimen seems to be keratin... but beyond that I’m clueless. All layers are very crumbly. Specimen has no redeeming aesthetic value, beyond being mysterious and... weird. Found in a spoil pile near Aurora, NC.

Hi.... Hope everyone is ok and finding some decent fossils.... I'm really struggling identifying what this could be found in lower Jurassic shales from the sinemurian Somerset coast.... It's such a distinct shape I would of thought it might ring a bell to someone.... I'm thinking a carapace segment or bony fish armour plates perhaps... Any help appreciated.... Thanks....

Hi everyone! I wanted to share with you about the crab carapace which I found in 2012. I found it at the Rocky Point Quarry, Rocky Point, North Carolina, USA. This little crab carapace captivated me and I am so thankful to Alex Osso for responding to a trip post I made in 2012. I thought I had a regular little carapace, but with his help and then Don Clements and among several others, the carapace made it's way to George Phillips. Then the research began. I want to thank everyone whom has been a part of this adventure, timeless research, keeping me informed, answering my questions and just taking to needed time to complete the project! Thank you to so many whom also include Barry W. M. van Bakel, Alex Osso, George Phillips, Don N. Clements, Torrey Nyborg, Francisco J. Vega, Trish Weaver, The North Carolina Fossil Club and the manager of the Rocky Point Martin Marietta Quarry, Doug Pope. The crab carapace has been named: Cenocorystes libbyae n. sp. I donated the crab carapace to the Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, North Carolina. The carapace found by the Mark Mckoy Family is in the article too! Such an amazing find! WOW! Have a wonderful 2019 everyone and happy fossil hunting! I posted a link to the article below, hope it works. If not let me know and I may need a little help from a friend with it. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667118303495?dgcid=coauthor. The article is published by ELSEVIER, Cretaceous Research. The pic below is from the day I found it in 2012. All the best! Happy hunting in 2019! Libby

These are two fragments of turtle carapace (shell) found in the north sulfur river in ladonia, tx.

I have had these two pieces in my collection for a long time- I always have had a hard time tossing them when I come across them in their drawer because they remind me of a Eurypterid carapaces. What do you think? @RCFossils / @Rob Russell / @fossilized6s / @Peat Burns and any others that might have info.

Hi, I've recently been sorting through my freshwater turtle pieces from the Bouldnor Fm. and have come across a couple of fragments that don't resemble the normal finds of Emys and Trionyx. I remember collecting them at the time and thinking how weird they looked but I presumed the markings were the result of damage etc. so didn't give them much thought. Interestingly I've found a reference in a paper from 1890 on the fossil chelonians of the Isle Of Wight that states: "There is a third species of chelonian, the remains of which are comparatively rare, and the outer surface of whose carapace is furrowed in lines, much after the manner of the larger species of recent land tortoises." This accurately describes the pieces I have, but as far as I know no large tortoise (or any tortoise material) has been collected from the Bouldnor Fm. and with the paper being nearly 130 years old I took it with a pinch of salt. I was wondering if anyone would be able to confirm if these pieces are actually from a separate taxa of chelonian or whether the markings could've been caused during diagenesis etc. Thank you, Theo