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I found this in a gravelly area where I usually find a lot of crinoids and shells and coral. I also find many goniatites in this area as well. It’s in West Michigan near Holland. I’ve never seen anything like it before though and I’m having trouble figuring out what it’s even from.

During this fine pandemic, I thought I'd post some of my sweet fossils for your enjoyment! Besides basic corals, arrowhead (NICE), petosky stone before ocean tumbling and one after, chain coral, hexagon coral, weird exploded "rock", shells and crinnoidy things, I don't know their names (and I'm okay with that!). If you want to tell me, cool, if not, tell me if you like them! Beside being sick, raking, having the kids at home, I'm going cuckoo. I've always loved pretty sparkly rocks and nature, and the naturally occurring structures of nature. Plus, they're cool.

last summer I went to Gotland, Sweden, which is famous for Silurian sea life: there are some cliff by the west side of Gotland, and i found a lot of coral fossil there first one i found seems to be Planalveolites fougti and then stromatoporoids then Heliolites also Favosites also some Tetracoralla: and pieces of Crinoidea: and some other stuff: When I look at these fossil, I actually felt went back to Silurian, quite amazing (the picture has watermark because i posted it on another forum first)

Here’s my crystallized fossils, enjoy!! All of them so far Ammolite from Alberta Ammonites from Madagascar

I went to Key West and throughout Florida Keys, almost every shoreline, I saw coral and shells in matrix. Are they fossil coral and shells or are they modern? Here are some pictures.

I took a much needed break this morning and went fossil hunting for a couple of hours. I decided that I wanted to go back to the same water eroded hill that I made a quick stop at the other day. It rained last night, so the place was a muddy mess, but I had a good time and it took my mind off of things. It's supposed to rain here for the next 2-3 days. Can't wait to see what else is revealed afterwards. I'll stop in again. Preferably after it dries out for a couple of days. Here are pictures of the hillside that I have been working. The red clay is littered with rocks and fossils that have been weathered and washed out of the hill by runoff. Fragments of the rugose coral Acrocyathus floriformis litter the ground. Thanks to @Jeffrey P for help with the ID! Unless you look 5 feet one way or the other... The next picture was taken 5 feet away from the spot in the above pic. It seems that the fossils were very localized. I made multiple stops at different hills like this in the same area. I found 1 other that had a good amount of fossils in a small section. Most were fossil barren, or had very few. Still, there was plenty to keep me entertained. When I took a gander past the coral fragments, I was able to find a few more gastropods. The biggest thing I had to watch out for was my own pareidolia. The geology of the area can really trick you if you are not careful. There are also more modern evidence of creatures, and some areas where fill rock has been brought in; presumably to help with erosion. Below are a few things I had to look out for... Here are a bunch of eroded limestone fragments mixed in with coral fragments. They can definitely trick the eyes at first glance. Coral/Bryozoan fragments, or water eroded and shaped limestone? Unfortunately, limestone. At first glance I thought I was seeing the internal structure of a coral colony. Maybe a tabulate coral? Nope. Another look alike. A modern gastropod. Once I got home I cleaned the mud off with water and a soft brush. Not a bad haul for a few hours. I took quite a few pieces of coral. Some I will give to my son, some will go in my collection, and maybe, just maybe, some will end up in an auction lot to support the forum (once all this virus stuff blows over). I'm actually sorting through my collection and will hopefully have more to add to the auction pile, but that's a discussion for a different thread. Towards the end of the hunt I was on the lookout for anything branching, or that resembled a coral colony. I was hoping to find a relatively complete coral head, but alas luck was not with me. I was still able to find some nice pieces though. Here are some of the better ones with multiple coralites. A few gastropod steinkerns. This one I really liked. It's a little over a centimeter in height, and still stuck in the matrix. And last, but not least... I always pick up a few geological pieces that catch my eye. My twin is more of a rock hound so I always let him take a look. If he doesn't want them. The "cool rocks" go to my son. If all that fails, I have a "cool rock shelf" that gets the left overs. That's it for now. I had an enjoyable time today that gave me a much needed break from all the happenings in the world. It was nice to dig in the mud and forget my troubles for a few hours.

Hi everyone. I found this piece of Missouri chert in a creek bed, but I am not sure if it is coral or just erosion. I have seen other pictures of coral that look similar to this, but I do not see any biological pattern or clues that this was once alive like you can see in something like a crinoid. Any help or tips would be appreciated

Hi I’m wondering if these are Tube Corals? I have a lot and found them in rocks and sand around my resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, not to far from where I found my fossilized crab claw.

Hello, I'm down in Guadeloupe in the French Antilles. How can you tell the difference between coral, and fossil? Is it the amount of rock? Is it weight? I hope everyone is doing well. Pictures when I can

This horn coral is most likely from the fossil area of Alpena, Michigan per the man that gave it to me. It was covered with very hard dirt. After much cleaning and trips to the ultra sonic machine I am not sure what I'm seeing? The top instead of the usual straight cut like lines has lumps. like the tentacles. And instead of the usual looks of a broken off tail it has the gray as pictured. Is it the normal looks of a well preserved horn coral or another life form attached to it. I understand that they secrete calcium carbonate around them for protection, and that is what we normally find. all images with my cell phone, unedited. Thanks, Bob

Hello FF! I found this litte tiny coral in the Lower Glen Rose formation of Comal County. Any ID possibility? It looks different from any other corals I have found in the Fredericksburg formation and I have not found ANY in the Glen Rose til this one. Thanks!! As close as I can get for detail....my camera doesn't do well in Macro:

Hello members of this forum, I just signed here and would apriciate to profit from all this knowledge here. Even if I was a heavy fossil collector as a kid I don‘t know much about it, but it still affects me if I see something interesting. Like some time ago I bought a small side table with an interesting stone plate on it. The backside shows some engravings what I think is the explenation to the front side fossil. Unfortunately it‘s hard to read in some parts . I think that the fossil could show some hexagonaria quadrigemina Corals? Fond 1966 in the region of the Eifel wich is close to me living in Belgium. Can you help? Thanks a lot!

Hello, is this a tabulate coral? Found in Manitoba. Thanks for your help.

Hello, everyone, I’m newly retired after 39 years of teaching. Over the years, I have collected, by purchase, to use as demonstration pieces in the classroom a wide collection ranging from Archean microbial mat cross-sections through time to Holocene cave bear vertebrae. My collection is very diverse through time, if limited in depth. I have a nice collection of Silurian-Devonian trilobites, some nice Devonian-Permian plant material, and a range of Holocene mammal bones; vertebrae and mandibles. ... I taught a variety of upper level secondary courses over the years. As Science Dept. Chair in an independent school, I oversaw curriculum (shorthand for “I got to teach what I loved) For many years I taught an Natural History course to seniors looking at the evolution of the Universe. First term Cosmology-Planetary Science; Second term Evolution of Life. A dream job. Now, I’m trying to complete a more formal indexing of my collection (which includes MANY casts as well). Nice to find you folks. Probably will be an infrequent visitor. Glenn

My current quest is to collect at least 1 fossil from each of the Periods. I do not have a Silurian fossil yet, and am considering buying this one. My question is: Is this a fairly decent specimen? The photos are taken of my computer screen using my phone, but I think they should be clear enough. I have tried to make sure there is NOTHING in the photos about the seller or the website... Dang it- How to I reduce the MB so my photo can be posted? grrrrrr....I've tried things I've done before, and none of them work...

Having found this in my unidentified drawer and without the documentation as to the species. Help?

Is this a type of coral? Found in Manitoba. Approximately 2” long and 1.5” wide.

Ahoi dear forum members. While reading a little bit about rudists some of the structures in picture of a broken Hippurites and the shape of Lapeirusia crateriformis reminded me remotely of a still unidentified beachfind from my last big holiday. That doesn´t say much, as apparently rudist could look like anything they wanted, but still I wonder what the fragment I found may be. Found it in the pacific driftline, broken like you see it. There are some barnacles, some serpulids, maybe a little bivalve also, but I wonder what the enclosing structure is. Any ideas? Aloha, J

Need help identifying this

I found these fossils on Lake Ontario two weeks ago. I think the first is fossil wood but I’m not sure any help and guess at age would be much appreciated.

Found in northwestern New Mexico in an Upper Cretaceous area. Specimen was wetted with water to bring out detail.

Normally Winter in Wisconsin isn't the prime time to look for fossils. Today we had record high temps. and decided to take the chance and drive 2 hours to the lake. My concern was ice piles on the shore line and they were well founded as many areas were not accessible. We found a spot which was accessible but the waves were washing up to the ice piles. Good enough. We were wearing knee high boots but still left a bit wet from some of the larger rollers. Our efforts were rewarded with numerous corals and a few other possible fossils as well as many interesting rocks. Here are some of those we found as well as a couple site shots. I'm not sure if the photo with two in it are fossil or not. Spring feels a bit closer today.

Hi everyone, looking for some help in identifying some corals from the two beds in the Scottish Lower Limestone Formation, the Hurlet Limestone and the Blackhall Limestone. Both are Visean, Brigantian in age. Any help much appreciated! @TqB I'm hoping you might recognise them right away First these smaller specimens, all are from various outcrops across Scotland of the Blackhall Limestone. The largest 34mm long. Another from the Blackhall Limestone, this ones a bit larger at 85mm. Another from the slightly older Hurlet Limestone this time, 55mm long.

Hi everyone! During the X-Mas/New Year holidays my family and I went to Dublin (Ireland) to celebrate the New Year there (we don't enjoy NYE in The Hague much lol). Obviously, seeing opportunity to go hunt at a new location, I did some googling around and found an accessible location not far away from Dublin: Malahide Beach. LINK It's a Carboniferous location, an age that I'd never hunted before and had very few fossils of, so I was looking forward to it. We got there in the early afternoon and started looking for stuff immediately. The spot where we arrived didn't have any of the rocks that I was expecting, so we couldn't find any of the Carboniferous fossils just yet. However I noticed some small dark-grey cliffs further along the beach, so we decided to head there by walking along the coastline where there were a lot of shells to be found. While most of them are definitely modern, some of them remind me of the fossil specimens that are found in Zeeland (namely some of the Arctica islandica fragments). Here's our shell haul of the day: I don't think any of them are actually fossilized, but I'll do some research just to make sure. From approximately left to right, we have: Pecten maximus, Nucella lapillus, Dosinia exoleta (?), Euspira catena, Spisula solida, Cerastoderma edule, Gari fervensis, Aequipecten opercularis, Scrobicularia plana, Mimachlamys varia, Ostrea edulis, Lutraria lutraria, Zirfaea crispata, Acanthocardia tuberculata, Arctica islandica, Anomia ephippium, Buccinum undatum, and some kind of fish bone (skull piece?). I was particularly happy with the Gari fervensis, I have a bit of a soft spot for that species As we were collecting shells the sun was quickly setting on us, so at some point we decided to hurry up if we wanted to actually get to the fossiliferous spot of the beach. We got there when it was already getting kinda dark...

How’s everyone doing this evening! I had to replace my water main and after having it excavated I realized I might be on a goldmine of fossils, I’m new to this for the most part and trying to figure it all out. I believe I may even have some truly amazing. I believe a lot is coral, along with possible walnuts or something, and maybe some other beautiful fossils. I wanna get everyone’s opinion before I worry about that other thing so I don’t sound/look like a complete dummy. Also found several geodes and some agated coral geodes I believe. Thank you! these aren’t even close to a small portion of what I’ve pulled..