Search the Community

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.

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!

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.

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!

Crab fossil from warden point, Sheppey, England. Wondering what species of crab this is?

Found this walking some rocks today, thought it kind of resembled a crab. Measures roughly 4.5 inches. Anyone care to give their opinion?

Over the month of December, I've gotten the opportunity to check out several sites across the state of Texas. In my fossil interests, I have to admit that I am certainly a bit vertebrate-centric, but that does not mean I will pass up the chance to marvel at a beautiful invertebrate specimen when given the chance. For better or worse, these past four mini hunts have not really delivered on the vertebrate end, but have made up the difference in terms of inverts. I've decided to combine these smaller hunts into one report. For those with invertebrate addictions, I hope this sampler of Texas fossils will meet your medically-necessitated daily dose of invertebrate content. Enjoy! Maastrichtian No Mas Kemp Clay and Corsicana Formation Leading up to my eventual move away from Austin back to DFW, I made sure to visit a nearby site that possessed some Maastrichtian exposures. Back up in Dallas, the nearest exposures of similar age are a bit of a drive, so I wanted to take the opportunity to travel to a convenient spot while I still had a chance. I had previously seen this spot mentioned in some old literature, where it was described as exposing the Kemp Clay at the top of a bluff and Corsicana below. Since I had no prior experience with these formations, I wasn't sure what to expect or what to look for in terms of identifying formations. One Saturday afternoon, I carved out a few hours to take the drive and a brief hike out to the spot. I was excited to finally hunt a stage of the Cretaceous I had never searched before. The landscape was quite dramatic and I could see out for miles. Pictures really do not do the place justice. The drop from the trail to the creek bed is much higher than the picture makes it out to be. After navigating my way down, I was immediately confused by the formation the creek bed was composed of. Perhaps I am just too Ozan-minded, but the shale looked almost indistinguishable from my usual Ozan hunting spots elsewhere in the area. It had that classic bluish grey color and was even filled with rather large Exogyra oysters. I began to wonder if so much time and weathering had passed that the creek had finally reached down to the Ozan far below. However, a closer inspection showed that there were some subtle key differences. The wavy shells of the oysters were not indicative of the species E. ponderosa, but instead of E. costata, which is present in the Corsicana Formation at least according to the paper I had read about the site prior. There was also a pronounced presence of tiny phosphatic bivalves that I had never seen in the Ozan. With this information, I was relieved to know that my goal of collecting in the Maastrichtian could continue without issue. Some leftovers from an earlier fossil hunter. Not all of these are E. costata since they washed down from older strata upstream. With little direction as to where to look first, I decided to plop down and try splitting open some chunks of mudstone that had fallen down from a grey and brown formation at the top of the cliff (Kemp Clay I'm assuming). Initially, I didn't find much, but eventually some invertebrate fossils began showing up. I was intrigued by the presence of the original shell on a few gastropods (I hadn't been to the Whiskey Bridge at this point so this was a first for me). They were ornamented, unlike the steinkerns I had been accustomed to for the entirety of my Cretaceous fossilizing career before. Unfortunately, none of them were preserved well and were more so just crushed messes too fragile to take back. In the same rocks, I came across various bivalves that were fairly nice to look at and ended up keeping an orange 2D one, though I am having a difficult time identifying it. A gastropod with the original shell from the Kemp Clay(?) A flattened bivalve(?) from the Kemp Clay(?). It's about 30 mm across, orange, and has thin red lines between the ribbing. At first, I wondered if it was a smushed trigonia, but I'm doubting that now. Afterwards, I surface collected along the bed and climbed some of the cliff where Corsicana was exposed. There wasn't much in the way of large finds, but getting close to the ground revealed a plethora of smaller finds to be had. The first objects of interest were highly detailed button corals. The closest thing I could find online as an ID was the genus Micrabacia which is known from the Peedee formation (also Maastrichtian). I came across a couple bits of crab claws as well. My vertebrate hopes for ginglymostoma were never fulfilled, sadly. Instead, I found only three sharks teeth that were all missing roots . I don't think they can be identified, but I welcome you all to toss out ideas if you have any. An in situ of what could be a Micrabacia button coral. As I walked along the cliffs, I couldn't help but think about the time period I was traversing through. In the formations beneath me were the Cretaceous layers I had grown so used to. In those days, mosasaurs and dinosaurs dominated the world. It's mind boggling to realize that the strata just above the Kemp Clay was the geological blink of an eye that saw an end to all of it. All those billions of ammonites and not a single one made it through such a barrier. Even something so simple yet prolific like exogyra was put to a complete stop. The Maastrichtian was not a final stand by any means either. That day 66 million years ago may have started just like any other, but ended with the world being permanently changed in a way that is almost unimaginable. Speaking of days ending, the time was 30 minutes till sunset. With the day winding down, I decided to circle back and try splitting some more mudstones from the Kemp Clay in hopes of finding a shark tooth before calling it quits. Rock after rock, I couldn't seem to find anything other than the usual tiny clams and crushed snails. As the light started to dim, I was finally greeted by the sheen of shiny black enamel. It had a strange shape to it, but this being a new place for me, it could have just been a weird shark for all I knew. As I chipped away at the rock, more and more of the specimens figure was revealed. Finally, I realized that all of my labor had been put into exposing a simple enchodus fang, no different from the hundreds I had seen before! And yet, I was still happy with it. After the disappointment of the broken shark teeth from before, it was nice to at last have a complete tooth from the Maastrichtian, no matter how common the animal may be. With that, another stage of the Cretaceous was crossed off the list. Some pics of all of the finds: Strange bivalve, a gastropod, Micrabacia(?) corals, and perhaps a scaphopod? Top row L to R: Crustacean claw bits, and the enchodus (petrosus?) fang. Bottom L to R: Worm tube, and three rootless shark teeth Eocene Escargot Stone City Formation Fast forward about a week, and the time had come for me to pack my things and leave my dorm once and for all. I usually drive straight to Dallas from Austin, but this year things were different. My carless brother started his first semester at A&M, so I volunteered to pick him up on the way home for the break. Being the person that I am, I simply cannot drive all the way out there and NOT visit the world-class site known as the Whiskey Bridge. I made sure to turn in my dorm key early in the morning and head on out for a quick hunt in the Stone City Formation along the Brazos. I was hoping @Jared C could join in the fun, but he unfortunately had a final that same morning . I'm pretty sure passing the class wasn't that important, but I won't hold it against ya . Before making the drive, I had also done a bit of research into which layers yielded the most vertebrate material. Even with the information, however, I still had measured expectations as the Stone City Formation is of course much more famous for its rich invertebrate fauna. The goal for the day was to find some vertebrate material and perhaps a complete cone snail. When I arrived, the place was still covered in mud from the storm a couple days before. With hopes that the popular site had been replenished, I carefully made my way down to the water, passing by a couple of hunters just finishing up their session. The plan was originally to head straight for a productive spot a ways from the bridge, but of course the newness of the place and its fauna had me stopping in my tracks every few steps to pick up a gastropod. When I finally got to the spot, I slowly climbed up the slope to meet the fine hash layers atop the ledge. There is never a dull moment at this locality. Every square inch of surface is covered with bits of white shell. The first oddball that caught my eye was a strange looking piece of coral. Madracis johnsoni Side stepping to the right while hugging the wall of soil led me to my next noteworthy find and the first of the vertebrates! The skinny crown and wrinkling of the enamel was a familiar sight for someone who has collected so many scapanorhynchus teeth in the past. However, it would seem that, for this formation, a sand tiger shark was the more likely ID. I'm guessing this is from Striatolamia macrota. The weathering on it is likely due to prehistoric reworking I would assume. Striatolamia macrota? Not so long after, I sidestepped my way into finding my first ray plate! Unfortunately this one was also in not-so-perfect condition. Myliobatis sp. fragment I couldn't stick around for too long since my brother was waiting for his pickup. I rounded off the trip by filling up a couple bags with fine shell hash matrix for future screening for microfossils. I didn't take too much though, as I have a secret side project involving many bags of micromatrix that is currently occupying most of my micro attention. If I find anything special from the hash, I will be sure to add an update to this topic. Overall, it was a solid first visit to a famous site. I managed to find some vertebrate bits and bobs that I'm happy with. I am a little bummed I never got a complete cone snail, but I guess that will just have to wait for a future outing. Overview of the finds: Top: Dentalium scaphopods Bottom L to R: Striatolamia macrota tooth, Myliobatis ray tooth fragment, reworked Carcharhinus mancinae? tooth, and Conus sauridens fragments Top L to R: Lunulites bouei and Schizorthosecos sp. bryozoans, and Turbinolia pharetra coral. Bottom L to R: Fish otoliths (not sure how/don't want to ID), Balanophyllia desmophyllum, and Madracis johnsoni Top L to R: Weathered Architectonica elaborata?, and probably Venericardia densata that looks strange since it doesn't seem to curve like others. Mid L to R: Anomia ephippioides, Vokesula smithvillensis, Notocorbula texana, and perhaps a worm tube? Bottom L to R: Large Anomia ephippiodes, and a trio of Venericardia densata Top L to R: Athleta petrosus, Ancilla staminea, and Pseudoliva vestusa Bottom L to R: Athleta lisbonensis, Architectonica scrobiculata, and Sinum arctatum Top: Michela trabeatoides Bottom L to R: Protosurcula gabbii, Hesperiturris nodocarinatus, Cochlespira engonata, and Protosurcula gabii though they look different from the one on the left of the row. Top L to R: Distorsio septemdentata, and Latirus moorei Bottom L to R: Mesalia clairbornensis, Turritella nasuta, and Gegania anitquata Phew that was a lot to identify. I'm sure I got plenty wrong, so feel free to correct me on any of these. I will probably find a ton of new species in the micro matrix that I can add in a later update!

Hello, I am new to fossil preparation but I bought one of those Miocene Crab concretions, but I am not sure how to separate the rock without damaging the crab inside. I only have dental tools and chisels, but they are not enough to separate the two sides for a pos/neg display that I could like. What sorts of tools could I use for the job? It is something similar to the picture below.

This one turned out good

Last week I visited my little spot in the Britton formation for the first time since all the flooding rains, it's only a small strip about 20 yds long that's slowly eroding but I always find things. There were the usual baculites, ammonites and crabs, an Inoceramus and a few I'm not sure about. The crab that's circled doesn't look like the other Notopocorystes, it's too long, is it lobster? Then there's the little baculite packed rock that had 3 tiny ammonites, #3 I pried off, Mortoniceras? #2 scaphite or Placenticeras? #1 so small not sure it can be ID'd. #4 separate rock looks like squished Allocrioceras with smaller one beside it? Pics will probably end up out of order so numbered ones in question.

Here's one of my really nice invert fossils. A little crab, almost perfectly preserved in a cave made of Travertine. Quality varies wildly with these, this isnt a super high quality one but ever since I saw one of these on an auction site I wanted one and this one was most affordable for me. Anyone else here own one of these? Lmk!

Hi everyone. My name is Sonny and im a fossil collector from the Netherlands. I got into this hobby as a kid, but now with a stable income and my own house I decided I would take the hobby more serious. Since March I began picking up high quality pieces, with my main focus being anything reptile or dinosaur related. All the fossils I own are checked for authenticity, unless stated otherwise. My main pieces right now: A 3 egg hadrosaur nest from China A high quality keichousaurus from China High quality megalodon tooth from Florida Branchiosaurus with a fish on the same matrix A travertine crab from Turkey 3 charcharodontosaurus teeth from Morocco And some cool ammonites. I have more, including a unidentified reptile skeleton on matrix from Utah and theres a museum quality turtle fossil coming soon. Im looking to learn more, im not as knowledgable on some fossils and im looking to slowly expand my collection. Hope I get to know some of you better! With kind regards, Sonny

Mother load of crab concretions

I went collecting today with @Jeffrey P and @frankh8147 in a nearby creek in New Jersey exposing the Late Campanian Wenonah Formation and I came across this concretion containing a crab carapace. Unfortunately the carapace lost its right side to weathering in the creek and the carapace was crunched and broken during fossilization. I checked Richard's The Cretaceous Fossils of New Jersey as well as a few others and I was unable to come up with a definitive identification. Does anyone recognize this crab genus? It seems so familiar to one I came across while collecting in Texas but I have not been able to put my fingers to it. My only guess would be Cretacoranina testacea but it seems too short and wide to be a raninid crab and I did not see the typical crescent markings. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Hello all, I live in Washington state! I recently discovered fossil hunting/rockhounding and during some online research, I had stumbled upon this forum multiple times, so I decided to join! As of now I don't have much experience with fossils and so on, but I hope to go on my first search soon! My first big goal would be to discover a well preserved crab. Thanks for reading!

Got me some matrix from a couple of sites in the Cretaceous Glen Rose Formation- one of my favorite (and closest to me!) formations. So much tiny stuff!! It's too dang hot to hunt in Texas (we are on day 58 of 100+ F degree ). So, hunting from home is my preferred pastime! Here are some of my recent nice finds. My best thing I found, which I was quite excited about is a little madreporite - part of a starfish cirulatory system. I found one big one (1/2 inch) at this same site a few years ago but had not found one since, so was happy to find this little one. It's only 1/4 inch. Here's the big one and the little one: Found quite a few little starfish ossicles. Not many Glen Rose starfish have been found "whole" or even partly whole. If I remember correctly @JohnJ is one of the few who have found them at least partly whole. My favorite are these bumpy ones. There are two found in this formation - a larger more robust smooth with tiny dimples and these smaller, skinny bumpy ones. Another treat to find are these floating crinoids - a relatively rare thing in the Cretaceous. I was happy to finally find this mostly whole one....often they are missing a section. I think this is a Solanocrinites sp. This one preserved a little better, but as you can see, has a chunk missing. But that Star!! And more crinoids - the variation in the Isocrinus annulatus amazes me: And don't forget the Echinoids! I found a lovely Pygopyrina hancockensis size 1/4 inch a nice sized Hyposalenia phillipsae 3/8 inch a small one: 1/8 inch and a juvenile! 1/16 inch Also found this interesting spine - possibly a Cidarid spine. Some decent tiny crab claws (unknown) and finally, a Foraminifera Orbitolina texana which you can see some of the structure of. I thought that was pretty cool

Hi guys, I have recently found what I presume is a fossil crab on a beach in the Gold Coast, Queensland Australia. I’m wondering if anyone knows any more details about it, age, etc? Thanks! NP

Hello All, We recently took our kids to the Aurora fossil festival to "fossil hunt" though piles of material from the local Nutrien Phosphate mine in North Carolina. We brought a small amount of material home to look though and one of the kids found the attached tiny hermit crab. It looks so delicate that I have a hard time believing this is a fossil. That said, if it is a modern specimen I have no clue how it ended up in our sample of gravel? Any thoughts or help with the id would be appreciated! Brent

Hiya! First time posting so please forgive me if I’m doing something incorrectly. I’ve recently gotten into fossils after previously collecting different minerals. I would like verification for two fossils before I go ahead and purchase them.

I don't usually publish a you tube video on Sundays, but my youngest son came over and we popped open a crab concretion from New Zealand in real time for everyone to see. I decided to make it into a video and had some fun doing it. Enjoy https://youtu.be/8PDo3yRP5zE

Very rare find a Cuban Necronectes collinsi. This is only the third example I have seen come out of the limestone of the Canimar formation in the last 12 years.