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  1. This fossil crustacean was collected in England on the foreshore between Lyme Regis and Charmouth, amongst the algae-covered large boulders that are exposed at low tide. It looks to be in some kind of phosphatic nodule. The cream-colour of the matrix is quite unlike the dark Jurassic rocks that make this region famous. I was thinking it is unlikely to be from the Jurassic layers, and probably originates from the overlying Cretaceous sequences higher up in the cliffs? Both Gault Clay and Upper Greensand (Albian in age) unconformably sit above the Jurassic beds. Does anyone know which of these deposits are known to produce crustacean specimens with this type of preservation and lithology in the Lyme Regis area? Thanks for any input!
  2. Mikrogeophagus

    Cretacoranina punctata

    From the album: Pawpaw Formation

    Cretacoranina punctata, Tarrant Co. Albian, Cretaceous Apr, 2023 Cretacoranina is a type of "frog crab" which are still around today and are known to bury under the sand with their modified claws. They keep their eyes above the sand and ambush prey. Unlike most other crabs, frog crabs do not have their abdomen tucked beneath their cephalothorax. The frog crab fossil record starts in the Albian which means this specimen is very close to their supposed origin! I actually found the posterior end of this crab a couple of months ago. I knew it was from this species which is a bit rare so I held on to it. Then I came across the anterior portion earlier this week and was excited to find that the pieces fit together perfectly.
  3. Lecyadventurers

    Fossils or just shell and rock

    Hey everyone, new here, but hoping I’ve come to the right place! My family just got back from tooth hunting on shark tooth island and found these too and wondered how we could confirm what they are and if they’re just ordinary or could be extraordinary!
  4. Desrosiers1718

    Fossil crab ?

    Found this in Simi Valley, pretty sure it’s a fossil crab, can anyone give me some more info? Possible species etc.
  5. Mikrogeophagus

    Steorrosia reidi

    From the album: Pawpaw Formation

    Steorrosia reidi, Tarrant Co. Albian, Cretaceous Jan, 2023 Surprisingly rare amongst my decapod finds. This one was found broken in half. It's my best specimen as of yet. Distinguished by its unique style of granulation on the carapace.
  6. I'm hoping someone will recognise this growth on this fossil crab I am prepping, is it animal or mineral? It's mid-Miocene from New Zealand. The concretion is 15cm wide. Thanks!
  7. I've got some experience with air scribes and acid (acetic) but haven't used air abrasion much. I recently got a new micro air abrasion unit and tried it out on a sticky crab that had a growth on it with some good results using dolomite. Before photo: After photo (work in progress, about 25 of prep time): One of the challenges I have is that is it really hard to find media between 50 and 100 microns here in New Zealand and shipping is quite expensive. I can sift my own dolomite, it just takes ages! I wonder if anyone has any tips for finding iron powder or is there an easy way to make your own? Here's a video of the unit I am using as well as my setup, any help / suggestions welcomed!
  8. Shellseeker

    A day in the Sunshine

    I went fossil hunting yesterday. It is an activity that brings a smile and renews my soul. Sometimes I like the solitude of hunting alone ( my 1st 18 months I only hunted alone), but this day I was blessed with good friends and I could tell stories, share their cut up fruit and trail mix, and marvel on what we were finding. These are mostly my treasures.. None of us found large quantities, I had less than 50 fossils in my collection bag... but what we did find was unique and/or had some quality aspects... A tiger , 32 mm across the root. A Dusky or Bull, never sure which A fishjaw and a Tree root.... and below, a rare find for me ... note it tried to break,. it will not get the chance again A dolphin tooth found late... not one that I could name. Friends also found a Dolphin tooth earlier, Slightly larger. When this rolled into my sieve, I knew it was familiar, I rolled it over and over, but I was not expecting it , could not ID. My friends did. Menippe was a Genus of Stone crabs back in the Florida Pliocene. I wonder if this was a late arrival. I liked the quality of the fossils... look at the details of this crab claw... I was picking up a bunch of (broken) bones that I only slightly recognize with the intention of posting some of them but maybe in future posts. I do have a femur that I am curious about... I always search TFF for helpful threads: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/102805-peace-river-femur/ It has this comparison photo.... For comparisons, I possess a SaberCat femur at 13 inches if complete. Here's the key: 1-Horse femur, 2-Sabertooth Cat femur, 3-Human Adult Female Femur, 4-Komodo Femur, 5-Harpy Eagle Femur, 6-Kiwi Femur, 7-Platypus Femur, 8-Spider Monkey Femur, 9-Rhesus Macaque Femur, 10-Vervet femur, 11-Goliath Frog Femur, 12-Flying Lemur Femur. The bone seems not sufficiently robust for tapir, horse, llama, cow,, so maybe deer, coyote, bobcat.... Here is a mule deer for comparison. I think total length of Mule deer femur would be 11-12 inches. Any suggestions will be followed... Thanks for reading...
  9. Rcotton1

    Crab 2_83mm

    From the album: 1925 Body & Trace Fossil Collection - Ocean

    2.83 mm long shell
  10. Would like to label the species if possible, I'm hoping the antennae help? Found in Washington (the beautiful one) 260238205_Crab2_83mm.tif Antennae.tif
  11. Would anyone be able to tell me if I am looking at a fossilised crab? If so how old do you think it would be? thanks in advanced!
  12. Wondering if anyone could help get species identification for these 4 fossils. Thanks for reading
  13. Hello all, After a few shrimp I finally decided to try giving a crab nodule a go. This is my first time working on a Washington Pulalius vulgaris and so far I am pretty happy with my progress, It hasn't been too sticky and while it's more disarticulated then I expected it seems to all be there. The nodule before prep - this side turned out to be the bottom so I quickly switched to the other After about an hour, I managed not to ding up the carapace too much which I am thrilled about. I am now bout 4 hours in. There are 4 legs on the righthand side and I've managed to expose them only losing a part of the bottommost one. I'm particularly happy with how the claw has come out. The left-hand side of the crab however is a bigger challenge, the one leg I have exposed so far is hollow and you can see the two holes which I think indicate the left arm is hollow also. To prepare them, I am thinking of injecting some thin resin into the voids in the hopes that will give the shell some internal stability. If anyone has any other ideas or experience dealing with voids I'd love to hear it. I am excited to get back to prepping this one.
  14. Mikrogeophagus

    Steorrosia pawpawensis with Preserved Eye

    From the album: Pawpaw Formation

    Steorrosia pawpawensis, Tarrant Co. Albian, Cretaceous Jan, 2023
  15. Mikrogeophagus

    Steorrosia aspera

    From the album: Pawpaw Formation

    Sterrosia aspera, Tarrant Co. Albian, Cretaceous Dec, 2022
  16. Mikrogeophagus

    Texicancer renfroae

    From the album: Pawpaw Formation

    Texicancer renforae, Tarrant Co. Albian, Cretaceous Dec, 2022
  17. Return to the Badlands of North Texas At long last, rain graced the lands of North Texas this past week. For many of us, that meant it was time to finally crawl out of bed and beat the crowd to that one particular site desperately needing a refresh. In my case, I set on my way to explore a newer spot in the Grayson Marl while the ground was still nice and muddy. I'd been to this place once before, but it had already been thoroughly picked over. It's a popular site, but even then, it managed to pull through and produce some fine specimens for me to take home. With that in mind, I suited up in preparation for a very wet and very, very cold day in the "badlands" of North Texas. As I took my first step out of the car, my foot was immediately enveloped by a Grayson Marl pudding. I don't own boots, so my measly tennis shoe was suctioned off as I tried to wriggle free. Although the moistened marl was a hassle to trudge through, I quickly reassured myself that such a characteristic would be a benefit in terms of eroding new fossils and continued on my way. By the time I reached the spot, I was practically walking atop 6-inch platform shoes made of the stickiest mud known to man. It was no use shaking it off, so I accepted the burden of having to walking like a newborn giraffe for the rest of the day. Out in the distance, I could just make out a person with a bright orange beanie. Clearly, they too were chasing fossils after the rain. Luckily, the site was quite large, so there was plenty of room for both of us to graze. Still being unfamiliar with the locality, it took a while for me to adjust my eyes to hunting. The ridiculous number of fragmented shell bits and corroded pyrite fossils made it difficult to filter the noise out. However, the knowledge of what could be found kept me motivated. Eventually my efforts were rewarded with the first decent find of the day: A nicely sized Cretalamna Cretalamna catoxodon Soon after, I happened upon an area with a mess of brittle star limb fragments. I searched very thoroughly for a central disk, but nothing could be found, so I decided to swipe only a single piece. Keeping in the theme of weathered finds, I also spotted the most complete Coenholectypus I'd ever come across there. Though it looked nice, I again decided to leave it be. Few fossils are worth that much of a headache to consolidate! Coenholectypus castilloi? Already, a decent chunk of time had elapsed and I was a little discouraged with the lack of weight to my baggie. Meanwhile, the man in the bright orange beanie had steadily made his way closer to the area I had been working. It seemed he was about to finish up his session, so he walked over and introduced himself as Mike. Apparently, he is an admin for the Texas Fossil Hunting group on Facebook. Though he hunts all over the place, the site we were standing in was his main spot he had been visiting for three years! We had a nice conversation about the Grayson Marl as well as a handful of famous places around the state. Since ptychodus was my ultimate goal for the location, I also inquired as to how many he had found here in the badlands. For the span of three years, only two small specimens were to show. With numbers like that, I figured I better not get my hopes up. He showed off a few of his nicer finds from the morning, including dozens of tiny Goniophorus scotti, before saying goodbye and heading out. I still had a final stretch I wanted to check out, so squatted down and quickly got back to work. I think something about seeing his collection helped me to see things more clearly. I rapidly spotted several more C. catoxodon teeth after our encounter. However, I was most excited to find my first Squalicorax from this formation, despite its miniscule size. I know identification for this genus is quite convoluted, but I felt it had a likeness with S. baharijensis because of its broad neck, well developed serrations, and other features. Squalicorax baharijensis? To round off the day, I looked through one last mound of marl and spotted a very strange and distorted figure. It looked as though some larger fossil had been broken into rubble. I picked up a chunk and observed a texture I was not used to seeing. After taking a moment to process what exactly I was looking at, I realized it was the surface of a heart urchin, likely Hemiaster calvini, with the spines still articulated! I quickly began gathering the pieces in the immediate area in case they were from a single organism I could puzzle back together. At the time they were covered in mud, so I did not realize that they were from many individuals likely eroding from a single layer. At home, I put them under the microscope and found some interesting features generally unobservable in most spatangoid specimens. Have a look: A lot of times it's easy to forget how deeply similar irregular urchins are to their regular counterparts. With the naked eye, it's impossible to observe this level of detail in the tubercles of a spatangoid. However, at the microscopic level, we can see that they are alike. These tubercles, in my amateur opinion, are just like that of a salenia or cidarid species. My favorite observation was the presence of the articulated spines of course. Something I did not expect was their morphology. The bottom 2/3 of the spine appears to be longitudinally ridged and has a black color. The top 1/3 transitions to a yellow coloration while also beginning to flatten out into the shape of a shovel. Also, the spines seem to generally point away from the front of the urchins. I'm sure some of the resident echinoid experts on here are already well familiarized with the shovel shape of these spines, but I was quite intrigued. I already knew that irregular echies travel under substrate, so I began to wonder if these spines perhaps served a function that related to their lifestyle. If you haven't yet had the "aha moment", it appears that spatangoids use these shovel spines to help dig and move their bodies while buried! Hopefully this little tangent helped to enrich your appreciation for irregular echies as it did for me ! Anyways, by then I had had enough of the Grayson Marl and was ready to check out some other sites that were preferably a little easier to navigate. So I packed my things and headed for the car. But first, here is an overview of the Grayson Marl Finds: Hemiaster calvini with articulated spines. The one at the top seems to be complete, though completely flattened. The bottom chunks are from many individuals. I have many smaller pieces not pictured. From afar, they have a "fuzzy" texture. Top L to R: Ophiura graysonensis limb frag, Stereocidaris hemigranosus plates, S. hemigranosus spines (cool), and Parasmilia graysonensis solitary corals. Bottom L to R: Bivalve, bivalve, Neithea texana scallop, unknown fossil with interesting bumpy texture (perhaps decapod), and Mariella bosquensis heteromorph ammonite. Top L to R: Cretalamna catoxodon, Squalicorax baharijensis?, Cretoxyrhina vraconensis? (more on this at end of the topic), and Cretalamna catoxodon. Bottom L to R: Various verts, Xiphactinus tooth? (no cutting edges - always wonder if these could be pterosaur), and fishy bits. ~ ~ ~ Some Say Lightning Doesn't Strike the Same Place Twice... Well, the original plan was to scope out two new Pawpaw sites in the area, but, in my exhausted state, I decided to say screw it and take a trip to my favorite spot in the Pawpaw. It's been said that you shouldn't go looking for fossils when you've already found them, so what was the point in risking my time and energy when I could see what the rain had swept out at ole reliable. When I got to the exposure, I went straight for the productive layer and instantly had a field day with a plethora of micro ammonites. I'm guessing since they had limited exposure to the atmosphere, they were still shiny and easily spotted. It was definitely the best luck I'd had for cephalopods so far at the place. The first picture-worthy find was an exceptionally preserved central disc to a brittle sea star. I could tell it had eroded from a layer different to the previous starfish I had found. Unfortunately, there was not even a single associated limb fragment in sight. The aboral side appears to differ from that of Ophiura graysonensis. It is difficult to compare with O. texana of the Weno since the only picture I could find of the type specimen is blurry and the fossil itself hard to make out. So, I'll stick with Ophiura sp. for now. Periodically I came across more fantastically preserved crab carapaces. It seems every hunt at this site, I find one beautiful Feldmannia wintoni carapace and this visit was no different. In the past, the better Steorrosia crabs I gathered tended to be S. aspera, but this time, I finally collected a couple great S. pawpawensis specimens including my second carapace with preserved eyes! The fierce compound eye of Steorrosia pawpawensis! Vertebrate fossils are tough to come by, so any shark tooth is a welcome site. The one pictured below had an amazing purple tint that sadly did not stay after being cleaned. It was my first Squalicorax from the Pawpaw, so I knew I was adding a new species to my collection. After some research online, I believe it to be Squalicorax priscoserratus on the basis of its thin neck, dense root, and well-developed serrations. Squalicorax priscoserratus I hadn't been hunting for long when I began to tire. Since the ground was so muddy, I didn't have the chance to sit and hunt like I usually prefer to do. On top of all the squatting, staying right side up on the slippery muck created additional strain. I decided to finish up a little early and save some of the site for a future day when the conditions were drier. I set a location in my mind for where I would call it quits - the area I had found the articulated brittle sea star in my last visit. Of course, I would be crazy to expect a repeat of such a legendary find, but I would be lying if I said the thought wasn't hanging over my head throughout the final 15 minutes of the day. In parts of medieval Europe, heart urchins were once known as "thunderstones" for their supposed creation at the place of a lightning strike sent by a god. They were magical items collected and often cherished by those who hoped to find connection with the heavens. In modern times, such beliefs are easily dismissed, but that isn't to say that the same curiosity and admiration those distant peoples felt for these treasures has eroded away in the slightest. As I approached the location of where the last articulated sea star had been found, I began to wonder if the fossil gods may have cast another bolt in my favor. Kneeling down for one last time, my eyes were embraced with the sight that sent me straight back to my feet. Although the ground didn't show any apparent signs of burn marks sparked by the wrath of Zeus, I was face to face with something I thought I would only find in dreams. A horde of 15 brittle star limb fragments surrounded a single yellow central disc. For reference, my last star had only 4 limb fragments! To any passerby, I looked crazy with the number of fist pumps I was doing. I made sure to gather as much as I could and headed for the car, though I was definitely not in the right head space to be driving . In situ. Doesn't look like much yet! The consolidating process was tedious as expected. Thankfully, my last project had given me some much-needed practice that made the process much easier than it could have otherwise been. With each attachment, the delicate figure of this animal could be more thoroughly appreciated. Once it was complete, I took way too many pictures, but can you really blame me ? Brittle sea stars old and new This is my new favorite in my collection! I'm almost afraid to return to the spot because I know it'll be a let down from this... though on second thought I guess I'm not afraid enough to stay away. Overview of Pawpaw Formation Finds: Top L to R: Cantabrigites wenoensis, Engonorceras serpintinum, and Stoliczkaia asiatica. Bottom L to R: Neophlycticeras sp., Enigmaticeras riceae, Scaphites hilli, Stoliczkaia worthense, and Conlinites wrighti. Not 100% on some of these IDs but based off of overall morphology and suture patterns shown on a publication, these are the names I've somewhat confidently come up with. Top L to R: Steorrosia aspera (the one on the right is oddly shaped and could be something entirely different), Feldmannia wintoni (beautiful blue coloration), and Steorrosia pawpawensis (The one on top has the preserved eyes). Bottom L to R: Various decapod fragments. A look at the undersides of (L to R) Steorrosia aspera, Feldmannia wintoni, and Steorrosia pawpawensis. A close up of the spines on one of the claw fragments: Top L to R: Squalicorax priscoserratus, and Haimirichia anomensis (Even though this is upper Albian and not Cenomanian, I assume this newly described genus applies to this tooth since Eostriatolamia anomensis/Carcharias anomensis were previously known from the Pawpaw). Bottom: Fish parts Brittle stars of the day, oral and aboral sides: ~~~ Questions Just to round off the post, I have some questions regarding identifying teeth from the Pawpaw and Grayson (Late Albian and Early Cenomanian). Specifically, I have confusion when distinguishing between Cretalamna and Cretoxyrhina. About a month ago, I found a tooth in the Pawpaw that I think strongly resembles Cretoxyrhina vraconensis. During my recent hunt in the Grayson, I picked up a couple of damaged teeth that seem to usually be identified as Cretalamna online, but I think share a resemblance with my Pawpaw Cretoxyrhina specimen (similar tiny splayed cusplets and a large, protruding root). So, I am wondering if any of you can help to clarify. Are these teeth also Cretoxyrhina or simply more Cretalamna? I may even have my Pawpaw tooth misidentified for all I know. L to R: My Pawpaw "Cretoxyrhina vraconensis", two unknown teeth from the Grayson (Cretalamna catoxodon or possibly Cretoxyrhina denticulata/C. vraconensis), and lastly a pretty obvious Cretalamna catoxodon from the Grayson. Feel free to let me know if you would like additional pictures or @ some who might know a thing or two! Thanks for reading!
  18. Mikrogeophagus

    Feldmannia wintoni

    From the album: Pawpaw Formation

    Feldmannia wintoni, Tarrant Co. Albian, Cretaceous Dec, 2022
  19. I visited a new locality recently and spotted this concretion. I dont really split concretions these days unless there is a really good reason to do it. I prefer prospecting and looking for clues that something is inside. And - it’s hard work splitting these concretions Glad I rolled the dice on this one though. You just don’t get many Tumidocarcinus specimens with leg tips. Not a huge crab, but I like the small ones too. Should glue back together and prep nicely. Good separation on that carapace except for the usual trouble spot. That area near the front of the carapace is often sticky and fragile. A nightmare to prep sometimes. Just hope that left claw isn’t tucked under.
  20. 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!
  21. Crab fossil from warden point, Sheppey, England. Wondering what species of crab this is?
  22. Found this walking some rocks today, thought it kind of resembled a crab. Measures roughly 4.5 inches. Anyone care to give their opinion?
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