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For a little while now, @Mikrogeophagus and I have been trying to meet off the forum and hit some spots together. With spring break ending yesterday, we finally found the perfect opportunity before our classes resumed. Tyler had recently singled out a promising locale for middle Eocene crabs, one that neither he or I had visited. As it later turned out, I had passed by the spot before but never committed to its investigation. I was pleasantly surprised at its serenity, and Tyler and I found easy conversation as we weaved through beds of touch-me-nots and waded through silty waters. Our first efforts were concentrated on a small tributary that branched off and reconnected with the main stream. We knew we were looking for concretions, but did not know the nature of them and assumed most would be duds. It was with that attitude that it smacked open my first concretion of the day, decimating a crab inside! While certainly disappointed, we were both enthusiastic about the find - it meant we were in the right place and we now knew what to watch out for. Concretions started popping up quickly, sprouting out of the black banks like earthen easter eggs. Many proved fruitful, with a surprising proportion containing the crab Harpactocarinus americanus. At the time, we didn't know the name - content with just the thrill of discovery in a beautiful setting. We soon discovered some crabs were robust enough to have survived the currents of the stream and could be found in gravel - though just their carapaces. We each claimed one side of the bank and enjoyed success, while occasionally checking the gravel islands between us. One of my favorite finds was this unsightly avocado shaped concretion, bearing a claw that promises a beautiful specimen inside: Displaced carapace found among roots on the river bank: Notice the eye holes! Harpactocarinus americanus wasn't the only critter of note at the locale: Giant gastropods were found in unusual proportion compared to the famous Whiskey Bridge locality of equivalent age, but there was a conspicuous lack of shark teeth. Deep into the hunt, Tyler did find two - one irrecoverable blade in a concretion, and a smaller Negaprion(?) to act as the only success on the fossil vertebrate side for the day. Soon after, Tyler found a large Belosaepia ungula prong, shown here from its underside. These are uncommon cuttlefishes that had a horn (called the "prong") growing on its backside like a short, stiff upturned tail, a character that can still be seen reduced and vestigial in some modern cuttlefish. The hash around this spot was thick - so choked with shells that it resembled asphalt in some places: The site even had a nice sampling of extant fauna - a small Thampnophis proximus (western ribbon snake) could not escape gentle capture, and an alligator gar jaw laid out by recent currents caught my attention. I decided to hang on to it - it may prove a handy reference for general fish anatomy. One of the final finds of the day after a long stretch of barren ironstone was another H. americanus, peeking out of hard iron stones and covered by moss. I pulled it away easily, and upon turning it over was met with a beautiful sight: Look at that pincher! And so concluded a successful scout with a new friend, right as storm clouds rolled over and the first heavy drops of rain fell. Tyler and I walked back to our cars with an aura of victory, and I gave him another concretion. I'm excited to see the results of his upcoming freeze-thaw cycles. May y'all enjoy quality preps and fruitful hunts this spring!

First time back at the beach in a month or two.... was a little foggy. I've never seen a crab on the "turtleshell" rocks before, man I wish I could drag these back and put them in the garden. Help wanted - this bugger is HUGE... if you want it, I think we need a chopper or boat to extract it. Anytime out with the family is great! Pretty sure I've seen these in someone's youtube before!!

I found this opalized fossil by a creekbank nearby. Looked like regular quartz until I cleaned it up. I wish I could show more detail in the pics, you can see squid of various sizes and tiny octopus, their suckers are iridescent. Also might contain crawdads/lobster and crabs, not sure. I'm looking for verification if possible and any extra info anyone can help me with. May send to GIA for certification to sell. Very minute detail and layered fossils, wondered if this might be a stomach of a marine animal or how this came to be made. Beautiful specimen.

On Wednesday, October 12th, I took another trip to a nearby favorite spot of mine that I found a few years ago which exposes the Sciponoceras gracile Zone, Camp Wisdom Member, Upper Britton Formation of the Eagle Ford Group here in Texas (Late Cenomanian-Early Turonian, 92-95mya), and had probably my best hunt from this site, including several different ammonites, a few shark teeth, my first Enchodus, and 26 Ferroranina dichrous crabs! First find was this very nice Yezoites delicatulus (Scaphitidae) ammonite A very worn Ptychodus sp. (Ptychodontidae) shark tooth: Sciponoceras gracile (Baculitidae) ammonite, namesake of the zone: Dead modern Procambarus steigmani — this crayfish is endemic to northeast/north central Texas: Legs of a Linuparus sp. likely L. grimmeri (Palinuridae) spiny lobster: Metoicoceras geslinianum (Acanthoceratidae) ammonite: Pair of Inoceramus capulus (Inoceramidae) bivalves: Some of the 26 total Ferroranina dichrous (Palaeocorystidae) crabs found during the day: Selenite crystals: Opuntia macrorhiza (Cactaceae), as a botanist this genus is one of my focus groups: Cameleolopha bellaplicata subsp. bellaplicata (Ostreidae) oyster occurring here as overwash from the younger Turonian Arcadia Park Formation (89-91mya) which is otherwise long since eroded away in this area: Next into some things I decided to take nice camera photos of (and consequently some of the best finds of the day) A nice tiny Cretalamna appendiculata s.l. (Otodontidae) shark tooth: My first Enchodus (Enchodontidae) fish tooth, I’m not sure which species are known from the Britton: cf. Margarites sp. (Margaritidae) gastropod, the first of this family I’ve seen in the Britton: A very beautiful Ptychodus anonymus (Ptychodontidae) shark tooth, found while crawling on the ground beneath a slope: Worthoceras vermiculus (Scaphitidae) ammonite, the nicest one I’ve collected: Natica sp. (Naticidae) gastropod, this species is extremely common in much of the Britton: Ferroranina dichrous (Palaeocorystidae) crab: My first Nannometoicoceras acceleratum (Acanthoceratidae) ammonite, fittingly tiny: Another Inoceramus capulus (Inoceramidae) bivalve: Hesperotettix speciosus (Acrididae) grasshopper: Really interesting preservation on this Ferroranina dichrous (Palaeocorystidae) crab that I had never seen before, these are almost always found in orange to dark red concretions: The total Ferroranina dichrous haul: The Nannometoicoceras acceleratum after some cleanup showing the distinctive tiny, conical umbilicus and tubercle arrangement:

I'm curious about what I believe are charybdis fossils from Indonesia. I'm slightly suspicious of the matrix, but also know that most of these fossils are in clay and could dry like that. Any feedback is appreciated! Thank you and have a good day.

For a little while now, @Mikrogeophagus and I have been trying to meet off the forum and hit some spots together. With spring break ending yesterday, we finally found the perfect opportunity before our classes resumed. Tyler had recently singled out a promising locale for middle Eocene crabs, one that neither he or I had visited. As it later turned out, I had passed by the spot before but never committed to its investigation. I was pleasantly surprised at its serenity, and Tyler and I found easy conversation as we weaved through beds of touch-me-nots and waded through silty waters. Our first efforts were concentrated on a small tributary that branched off and reconnected with the main stream. We knew we were looking for concretions, but did not know the nature of them and assumed most would be duds. It was with that attitude that it smacked open my first concretion of the day, decimating a crab inside! While certainly disappointed, we were both enthusiastic about the find - it meant we were in the right place and we now knew what to watch out for. Concretions started popping up quickly, sprouting out of the black banks like earthen easter eggs. Many proved fruitful, with a surprising proportion containing the crab Harpactocarinus americanus. At the time, we didn't know the name - content with just the thrill of discovery in a beautiful setting. We soon discovered some crabs were robust enough to have survived the currents of the stream and could be found in gravel - though just their carapaces. We each claimed one side of the bank and enjoyed success, while occasionally checking the gravel islands between us. One of my favorite finds was this unsightly avocado shaped concretion, bearing a claw that promises a beautiful specimen inside: Displaced carapace found among roots on the river bank: Notice the eye holes! Harpactocarinus americanus wasn't the only critter of note at the locale: Giant gastropods were found in unusual proportion compared to the famous Whiskey Bridge locality of equivalent age, but there was a conspicuous lack of shark teeth. Deep into the hunt, Tyler did find two - one irrecoverable blade in a concretion, and a smaller Negaprion(?) to act as the only success on the fossil vertebrate side for the day. Soon after, Tyler found a large Belosaepia ungula prong, shown here from its underside. These are uncommon cuttlefishes that had a horn (called the "prong") growing on its backside like a short, stiff upturned tail, a character that can still be seen reduced and vestigial in some modern cuttlefish. The hash around this spot was thick - so choked with shells that it resembled asphalt in some places: The site even had a nice sampling of extant fauna - a small Thampnophis proximus (western ribbon snake) could not escape gentle capture, and an alligator gar jaw laid out by recent currents caught my attention. I decided to hang on to it - it may prove a handy reference for general fish anatomy. One of the final finds of the day after a long stretch of barren ironstone was another H. americanus, peeking out of hard iron stones and covered by moss. I pulled it away easily, and upon turning it over was met with a beautiful sight: Look at that pincher! And so concluded a successful scout with a new friend, right as storm clouds rolled over and the first heavy drops of rain fell. Tyler and I walked back to our cars with an aura of victory, and I gave him another concretion. I'm excited to see the results of his upcoming freeze-thaw cycles. May y'all enjoy quality preps and fruitful hunts this spring!

Hello. We are beginners, and have a large concretion (suspected crab). What is recommended for removing the excess rock to expose what’s inside it? We want to minimize damage to it. It sounds as if breaking and freeze/thaw aren’t ideal for opening it. I’ve been trying to learn, but still not certain and feel safest asking. Money is tight this week, but would like to get something to begin on it and upgrade in a couple weeks. Any suggestions? Thank you. (I was thinking a 290 dremel w/fossil bits and later an air tool…uncertain which is best. Actually, I see that is a UK model.)

Finished my first crab prep last week! To any other crab preparators, I was wondering what you use to cover up dings in the carapace? Is there some sort of paint or putty I could use?

Today I took a quick ride to the small suburb of Evanston, right out side of Chicago. This is the home of Dave's Down To Earth Rock Shop and Prehistoric Life Museum. If memory serves me correct, Dave's has been in Evanston for the past 40+ years and it is a family owned business. Dave's recently moved to it's new home on Main Street and if you every get a chance to be in the Chicago area, this is a must see- you will definitely not be disappointed. From the outside, you would not believe that this store has a museum that houses such a great variety of fossil life and the most extensive collection / variety of Mazon Creek fauna that I have ever seen, including 3 Holotype Mazon Creek fossils named after Dave and his parents who found them. Here are some overview pictures of the Museum. Here are some overview of the various displays.

Thought I would share some of my collection of fossil crabs I have collected over the last several years from the Beaumont formation of the Texas gulf coast. These little gems come out of dredge materials used to replenish the beaches. All are late Pleistocene in age. I started finding these while hunting the Texas beaches for shark teeth and over the years have built up a passion for fossil finding these fossil decapods.

The water level in a close by river has been the lowest I've seen in years... we're definitely experiencing a climate shift here in Central Texas. Even with some recent rains, the river is not regaining its normal levels. While that is indeed a sad state of affairs, it has made for some good fossil hunting....sooooo....Silver lining? I have found 6 little tiny outcrops of the blue grey mud that I recognize as Del Rio Formation, a great surprise when this area is typically Georgetown Formation and Glen Rose Formation. So of course, I dug up ALL OF IT that I could. I've been back three times and I think I got it all! Kinda sad that I got it all though. It has provided some great hours of Micro hunting! I finally bought myself a little camp shovel! It has proved invaluable! These little patches have yielded some amazing fossil. They are chock full of the cormatulid crinoid Roveocrinus signatus. These are all around 3 mm or 3/16 inch They are very varied: My other favorite thing to find are the myriad of crab claws, and occasionally was lucky to find both digits together. All of these are around 1/8 inch Another favorite is of course....starfish! While I have yet to find the actual central body of the brittlestar Ophiuria sp. , I have found LOTS of bits of legs and individual parts. Not much ammonite stuff, but I did find something quite special - this little fragment of Anisoceras sp. And this little unidentified ammonite. I did find one whorl of the heteromorph ammonite Mariella (which are common in other Del Rio outcrops) but it was not well enough preserved to merit adding. Also a couple of not very well preserved shark teeth- probably Leptostyrax And of course, lots of tiny gastropods! Probably a Fusus sp. Gyrodes biangulata Nerinea volana Cerithium texana Unknown Gastro probably a Turritella of some sort and not a fossil, but a nice little Pyrite rose

Found at bottom of cliff near a lot of crab concretions and other shallow water coastal marine fossils. Oligocene, late eocene. Polypytychoceras?

One of the questions I always had, and got asked, was how crabs and other fossils get into those round concretions without being scavenged on. After reading up on it and looking at a great paper by Yoshido et al [2018] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-24205-5, I thought I kinda understood it. Here are the steps I see in the process: 1. A turbidity current washing down the continental shelf, dragging aimal remains from the land (in the case of a tsunami) into deeper water. 2. The tons of sediment carried by the turbidity current buries a colony of crabs, no scavenging can occur on their remains as they are buried too deep. 3. The decomposition process (see video below) causes carbon to reacts with calcium from the sea water to create a calcium carbonate cement binding the mud / silt particles together into a concretion. 4. The concretions are roundish as the reaction occurs from the center of the crab (most meat) outwards until decomposition stops. 5. The concretions are harder than the surrounding siltstone and erode out of the cliff. The tips of the leg are often not part of the concretion as the are fully encased by the chitin / shell so don't create a good reaction. Most of the decomposition occurs around the middle of the crab. I've made a video showing the process: I would love to hear people's opinions on this!

Just saw a story on the news about snow crab season being cancelled in Alaska. The fisheries reported than in less than 2 years ONE BILLION crabs have disappeared. There are virtually no crabs to be found and no one knows where they went or what happened. The theory that will be investigated is climate change and search parties will be sent to colder waters to look for them. Sadly hundreds of fisherman will not be able to make a living. Climate done changed people.

Here is my most fun video to date. This is part 1 of a 3 part crab prepping series. Its about prepping 3 Tumidocarcinus crab concretions from New Zealand at the same time and all the problems that come with prepping them. Part 3, (isn't out yet) will have 2 BIG surprises! The entire series is almost 1 hour long but I had to cram in over 100 hours into an hour. Enjoy https://youtu.be/HlXroj1_hW0

Hello everybody. Besides being busy making fossil prep video's, I'm learning a new editing software program that is much much better than the first one I learned. Way easier and much better to handle/play/control audio with this one. Anyways, I made a 5 part crab prepping series and this is Part 3. Part 4 and 5 will be published the next two saturdays. Enjoy Oh, this video is just under 3 minutes so it wont waste too much of your time. https://youtu.be/-GMQEFqw5MQ

Hello, I have a question regarding best preparation techniques for Eocene concretions from Sheppey. They look like this: I'm not doing the preparation myself - I'm asking to help the guy who is supposed to prepare them, as it's a new material for him and he doesn't want to ruin the fossils. I will appreciate your expert advice Kasia

Found this today, which I think is a fossil of leaves? Thanks! Location: Monterey Formation shale, Monterey County, California (Miocene) Outside of Carmel Valley, near Garland Ranch, among pea crabs (Pinnixa sp.) Description: About an inch and a half in length (I could get exact measurements). It looks like they have a complete margin(?) with a central midrib and veins that alternate. From a single split, so, positive and negative sides.

What a great xmas. I hope everyone had a wonderful xmas morning. For xmas this year, 2 crabs were given as gift. Both very very cool. This is a concretion from New Zealand I gave to my youngest son Coleton. Tumidocarcinus gigantius Get a load of this leg placement!!! Holy Kermoly!!! The other side is almost as good too. Here is a metal cast crab from china my wife got me. Very heavy and super cool. She tells me she ordered another different one but it did not make it in time for Xmas.

Summertime is here in Texas and that means if you want to go fossil hunting and not get heatstroke....you better go early in the morning! My Grandmother would say "Spring has sprung, Fall has fell, Summer is here and it's hot as usual". I am fortunate that the Glen Rose Formation is close to where I live, so that is my best hunting in Summer! I hit up four different spots recently (one with the Paleontological Society as our monthly field trip) and found some nice new things and some nice not-new things! A few "new" finds: My Favorite : Associated Starfish Ossicles! It may not be a full leg, but it was awesome to find a whole mess of them that were "together". Biggest one is 1/4 inch. Floating (Cormatulid) Crinoid. Apparently a slightly different species than I had collected previously. 3/8 inch Another Floating Crinoid : Solanocrintes sp. 1/2 inch And a TINY one of another different species of Solanocrintes 1/8 inch A couple of cool new crab claws (Unknown Genus and species). Found these at two different locations: 1/8 inch A few more new to me crab claws (again, Genus and species unknown) Size 1/8 inch Found a Fish tooth; Lepisosteiforme (Gar) And lastly, a "different" Leptosalenia - it may just be a variation on the regular texana, but it might be a cf. texana. (as per Smith and Radar) It really looks different than any other I've found. 3/4 inch A "regular" Leptosalenia texana for comparison. Also 3/4 inch and from same location: Some more not "new" finds, but nice ones nonetheless. A bit water worn but still detailed Echinoid Spine Balanocidaris sp. A couple of odd fragments of plates from an Echinoid Echinothurid. Size 1/4 inch A couple of Tiny Echinoid Loriolia rosanas. The big one is 3/8 inch A cool Trigonia wendleri A nice big Neithia occidentalis the BIGGEST Gastrpod Nerinia I'v found so far: A nice little unknown Gastropod with some good detail: and finally, A ZOMBIE CRAB CLAW!! hahhaha! These are usually fairly well preserved, so to find one in this state of decomposition was actually kind of cool:

I've always been really into fossils and prehistoric stuff but I only recently starting going out and fossil hunting. On a recent trip I found 5 concretions from the lincoln creek formation in washington state. I'm pretty sure only the middle one has something in it but I'm at a complete loss at how to go about cleaning these. I dont have a air scribe and I'm completely content with just seeing some of the crab, if there is one inside any of the concretions, and would love some pointers to go about this. Also how to preserve them once they are exposed. I've seen people using some chemicals but would love a specific brand to use!

Part Two of my Post Oak Creek matrix finds. A fossil friend sent me 5 gallon bags of gravel and I have been slowing making my way through (one and a half bags done so far!) and here are some of my best finds. The previous post (Part 1) were all teeth - shark and sawfish and fish etc... This post is ALL THE OTHER STUFF. Here is a link to the first post in case you want to see the TEETH. My favorites- Crab Claws! Two sides of two claws - Size 1/4 inch More claws and maybe a fragment of carapace? Size: Claws - 1/8 inch and fragment 1 inch Vertebras - So many little Verts! These are my favorites: Shark Verts (Mostly?) Not completely sure about Top Left one...anyone know? It's oddly square. It's also larger - 1/4 inch The rest are 1/8 inch Fish Verts Size 1/8 inch Some neat Dermal plates. Pretty sure Top Left and Bottom Right are Turtle. The others are maybe fish and shark.... Size Turtles are 1 inch and the others are 1/8 inch More Dermals - Size 1/16 inch Sawfish Rostrals Except Bottom left...not sure what that is. Perhaps a tooth? Size 1/16 inch Other various things: Top Left I think if a Pycnodont tooth, (1/8 inch) Top Right is maybe a Sclerorhynchus tooth or rostral? (1/4 inch) I really don't know! But it is interesting! These two are each 1/8 inch

Not really (the title). @Ash and I are currently staying at a lovely cabin furbished to look like an early settler's homestead while we are on holidays looking for fossilized crabs from the Cretaceous. We got here at 2:30 p.m. yesterday after a 12 hr drive from waking at 2:30 a.m. and leaving at 3:15 a.m. After settling in and having roast beef sandwhiches for a late lunch, we spent 3 hrs in the evening looking and managed to find four confirmed Torynomma quadrata crabs and brought back a few concretions to split for later. We also might have found a nautilus of sorts? Unsure of the correct term. We snacked on crackers with meats and cheeses for 'dinner'. This morning, Ash made us maple-glazed bacon, eggs, and toast for brekkie. We then looked for another couple hours, managing to find only one more crab (Tory again) and some ammonites (heteromorphs). Came back and had another roast beef sandwhich (toasted with swiss cheese and wholegrain mustard), had a swim in the pool, then took a rinse and had a cup of tea. We'll head back out for another few hrs here soon, have dinner (pot roast), then possibly a soak in the outdoor bathtubs (????). Then repeat tomorrow before heading back home Will update as we can-wish us luck!

In all seriousness, a few days ago, I washed three more of the fossils from my fossil hunting extravaganza of which I will eventually post about. I think I see two maybe three crabs in this chunk of what I thought was coral. I am not sure what the matrix is other than a lot of coral and I am still new to prepping; actually, I haven’t really prepped other than washing the fossils. I am posting horrible pictures of which I am sorry about. So in the first picture, is that a smashed crab face? There are long pincher arms and side legs but they are not connected to this part. Do any of you see the crab? If it is a crab, is it worth prepping. I think there’s a second crab on the bottom but it is smaller

Out of the countless New Jersey cretaceous crab claws I've seen and found this has to be one of the strangest claw partials yet. Seems to be an ornamented shell as apposed to the smooth claw textures that are typically found. Definitely a very interesting piece, anyone have any ideas on a possible species or if any ornamental crabs have found in nj cretaceous, or any other new jersey cretaceous hunters ever come across one similar? Definitely a head scratcher