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Good tides and a promising weather forecast and we were ready to go for a trip to the French coast ( Cap-Blanc-Nez) High tide was set for 8AM, so we left around that same time, getting there when the tide was starting to go down giving us a whole day of opportunities to search. First stop was the beach of the “Grand Blanc Nez” with the Turonian cliffs. Since our last visit there, there have been high tides and multiple parts of the beach were cleared of the sand. The prospection of the loose boulders revealed for me a large Mamites nodosoides and a Morrowites wingi. I was especially happy whit that last one since it is the first specimen of this species that I found. Natalie found a small belemnite , although this might not seem spectacular, it is probably the best find of the day as they are incredibly rare in the Turonian at this location. On our way back to the car Natalie found another ammonite, this time a Lewiseceras peramplum. The way back to the car then became quite hard due to the weight and sizes of those fossils. In the afternoon we went a couple of kilometers further to prospect the Cenomanian boulders on the beaches near “Petit-Blanc-Nez”. On the first few meters on the beach I found a boulder with a really nice Cunningtoniceras inerme sticking out. Further down the beach we found a few smaller ammonites, but we ended distributing those to a few starting fossil collectors that were prospecting the area. The last good find of the day was made by Natalie who found a small but exquisite nautilus fossil ( Eutrephoceras sp. ) in the Turonian boulders: to late for this one: Mamites nodosoides: Morrowites wingi : Lewesiceras peramplum: in the Cenomanian boulders: Cunningtoniceras inerme: the little nautilus: Eutrephoceras sp. : of cource the pictures of the prepped specimens will follow.

Hi everybody, i found those pieces in A Kimmeridgian layer for the Cidaris and a Cenomanian layer for the other pieces and I'd like your opinion upon them. Kimmeridgian Cidaris : that's the fourth time I go in that place, I always found radioles but this time i come back with a piece of test. In the Cenomanian I found that urchin, I think this is a Leymariaster : This one is also an urchin according to me I think this is also the case for that piece but I'm not sure. @Coco, I did found urchins in Port des Barques, you mustn't despair, never. @caterpillar, what do you both think?

Hi, I wet fossil hunting in a Cenomanian site and I found this piece. I think this is a Rudist valve of Requienia but I'm not sure to be right. What do you think mates? @abyssunder @FranzBernhard? The size is a little less than the size of a hand (about 15 cm or 6 inches).

Yesterday (Saturday, Aug. 22nd), I went fossil hunting in Ellsworth County, Kansas again for elusive Dakota Sandstone leaves and unfortunately it's mostly a bust, just like the previous trip. Despite that, I enjoyed the scenery and found some odd rocks and few fossils from new sites. A new site produced a few small plates containing woody and plant material fragments. I decided not to keep them. Closer views... Remember that interesting sandstone from the previous trip? I regretted for not taking it home so I took another opportunity and revisited the old site to get that rock! The back of this rock is quite smooth and flat, I think it would be great to have it hang up on the wall, but I'm actually not sure how I will display it. Looking at it is like reading a 3D map! It's the only object I brought home from this trip. It's peaceful out there and the views of the Smoky Hills never gets old. ...continued on the next post.

Like what title said: is it a tree limb, bamboo, reed, or is it even something geological? Dakota formation, also known as Dakota Sandstone. Dakota formation is known to produce variety of flora fossils, such as leaves and seeds. The patterns on these fossils strike me as 'flora-ish'; like these that seem be nodes and also 'bark-like' and fibrous textures. ...Continued on the next post.

Summer vacation fossil hunting week. Like each summer Natalie and I spend 1 week of our holiday for a fossil hunting trip. Usually the destination for this is the Isle of Wight, but due to the current covid situations we had to choose another location. So we went for 1 week to the French coast altering between late Cretaceous and Jurassic deposits.. Although there were no big tide or storms we still got our fair share of fossils in the boulders on the beaches and we even had a few spots of gault clay exposed where we found some nice phosphate ammonites and crustaceans. I’ll let you all enjoy the holiday pictures: Natalie found this exqusite little lobster in situ on the beach on the 1st day: ( Hoploparia longimana, Albian ( Gault clay ) ) soon joined by another specimen. Ichthyosaur vert from the Kimmeridgian: more beach: jurassic ripplemarks: Chalky ammonites in the loose boulders: Mantelliceras sp. : lower Cenomanian Cunningtoniceras inerme Mid. Cenomanian And a large one found by a local collector that we got to take back home ( Thx a lot Luc ) ( Lewesiceras peramplum, Turonian ) And a few pieces after cleanup and prepwork: Albian Ammonites from the gault clay: Gault clay crabs: a few of the chalky ammonites: a nice rare heteromorph: Turrilites scheuchzerianus mid. Cenomanian before and after prep:

Today I had a good time with fossil hunting at the Dakota formation (early Cenomanian) sites and Greenhorn formation (Cenomanian-early Turonian) sites in Ellsworth county, Kansas. Typical view of the local countryside, but still beautiful! I keep finding these weird vertebrae-like rocks, clustered in this particular site and not other sites. I suspect it's not vertebrae but I still can't figure this out yet. These mysterious vertebrae-like rocks...reminds me of shark centrum and crinoid stems but I don't think it's them. This site is Dakota formation. I took these home just in case it is identified as fossils later. I think it's fossil vegetation of some sort. Maybe reed or horsetail? I found these jumbled at different locations but put it together and it fitted like a puzzle. I took it home and will be prepped. This is from Dakota formation. Inoceramus from Greenhorn formation. One of the best specimen of this genus I have found so far! Took this one home. Another Inoceramus, pretty good specimen! I also took this one home. Tiny fossil in the center. Greenhorn formation again. This tiny fossil, image enlarged and the ridges/grooves are visible. No idea what it was. I took this one home and will be put under the microscope for identification efforts. The storm was brewing at the distance as the cold front is heading south. It was lightning and I was at near the top of hill, the road would be impassable if wet, so it was time for me to go home! I will be posting some of those fossils on the Fossils ID section soon after it is cleaned up. Cheers!

Hello all Some time ago I got this bone from the Moroccan Kem Kem beds (Cenomanian in age). It looks like it's deformed during fossilisation (or afterwards). It would be 10 cm long, about 3,5 cm wide and 3 cm high in it's original state. So is this in fact a dinosaur toe bone? If so what family could it be? Or am I completely mistaken and is this something entirely different.

Dear TFF If possible, I would appreciate a more accurate identification for this Cenomanian shark tooth [5 mm]. Thank you. Ricardo

Last Saturday we finally went back to the Cretaceous deposits at the northern French coast. On some spots on the beach the gault clay deposits were visible, this delivered a few beautiful belemnites ( Neohibolites minimus ) and from time to time other small fossils washed out of the clay and scattered in the shingle. The chalk boulders near the clifs were not very productive, apart from a very rare Ptychodus tooth. This one made our day.

I'm guessing it's an iron concretion and not a fossil, but I would like to make sure. I have never seen anything like this shaped like a spikeball or flower, except in crystals. Fossil or not, I took it home because it's so interesting! Dakota formation and early Cenomainian. This formation are known for fossilized plants, leaf imprints, and petrified woods. Top view: Bottom view:

Hello all I have a question about these three big crocodylomorph teeth from the Kem Kem beds in Morocco. The Kem Kem beds are Cenomanian (early late Cretaceous) in age. These are my three teeth: The left one is an 8,5 cm long tooth crown (maybe partial rooted but not too much) which is very slender. It has carinae ( Correct term for Crocodilians?) running all the way along the crown. The middle one is a rooted, slender tooth of 9 cm with a missing tip. The first time I saw this tooth for a moment I thought it would be a Pliosaur tooth, until I saw the location. I am not sure if the missing tip is chewing damage or just because the fossil broke. The complete tooth would have been 9,3-9,5 cm I think. It does have carinae, but they don’t seem to run along the entire 4 cm long crown. The root itself is around 5 cm long and hollow. The last one is a very robust 6 cm long tooth crown with clear carinae running along the entire tooth. This tooth is way smaller than the first one, but a lot more robust. My problem with these teeth is ID’ing them. Crocodile teeth usually aren’t easy but I really wanted to try to get some ID on these. Some background info: So far seven Crocodylomorphs are described in the Kem Kem beds. 1: First of, Araripesuchus rattoides I couldn’t really find any good pictures of teeth from this species, but I found this picture of a jaw of Araripesuchus wegneri from Niger My teeth certainly do not belong to this genus because of size and shape. 2: Next, Laganosuchus maghrebensis, a species who’s teeth also don’t look similar to mine. 3: Hamadasuchus rebouli has pretty distinctive teeth. They are usually serrated and a lot smaller. 4: Next up, Aegisuchus witmeri, a croc with a holotype without any teeth. However, the size estimates given to this crocodile are too small to contain such big teeth, so I also rule this one out. 5: We also have Kemkemia auditorei, but this species is only known from caudal vertebra. According to Wikipedia (I know, great source), this would have been a crocodylomorph with a size of 4 to 5 meters. I can’t really comment on teeth of this species, but when I compared it with the largest tooth recorded (9cm) of the biggest crocodile today (Saltwater crocodile), this tooth was even larger than the biggest of the Saltwater crocodile, while that specific individual must have been 1 to 2 meters bigger than the 4 to 5 meter estimate on Kemkemia, so I think we can rule that species also out. 6: The last one I feel pretty confident in ruling out is Lavocatchampsa sigogneaurusselae. Beside being way to small, it’s teeth looks nothing like mine. 7: Now onto the most famous Kem Kem crocodile: Elosuchus cherifiensis. The original description of the genus Elosuchus included these teeth. According to the description and this picture, I am pretty sure the tooth on the right does belong to this species. The other two teeth do not fit this description however. For the tooth on the left one I can believe it’s a different position in the jaw, but I am far from sure. The middle tooth is something else I think. It could of course be a case of heterodonty, but it differs quite a lot from the two others. So what do you guys think? Is this a case of heterodonty, or is there some huge, undescribed crocodylomorph present in the Kem Kem beds? Really looking forward to what you think. Pictures from: Larsson, H. C. E., en C. A. Sidor. “Unusual Crocodyliform Teeth from the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of Southeastern Morocco”. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19, nr. 2 (1999): 398–401. Martin, Jeremy E., en France De Lapparent De Broin. “A Miniature Notosuchian with Multicuspid Teeth from the Cretaceous of Morocco”. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 36, nr. 6 (november 2016). Sereno, Paul, en Hans Larsson. “Cretaceous Crocodyliforms from the Sahara”. ZooKeys 28 (19 november 2009): 1–143. Lapparent de Broin, France de. “Elosuchus, a New Genus of Crocodile from the Cretaceous of the North of Africa”. Comptes Rendus Palevol 1, nr. 5 (1 december 2002): 275.