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Hi everyone, I have been going through my finds from Monmouth Country, NJ (mostly Big Brooks and Ramanessin Brook) and I am struggling to properly differentiate between Enchodus and Xiphactinus. I attempted to sort them into E. gladiolus, E. petrosus, X. vetus, and X. audax, which I believe are the main types that occur there. But especially for X. vetus vs X. audax I find it hard to find reliable information. I attached a couple of images: Image 1: I believe those are all from E. gladiolus due to their characteristic sigmoidal shape. Image 2: I think those are all Enchodus dermopalatines. I'd guess mostly petrosus but quite unsure about this assignment. Images 3 and 4: Mostly (broken) E. petrosus fangs? Not sure if there's something else mixed in. Images 5 and 6: Xiphactinus? I am fairly sure a)-c) are Xiphactinus because I can see the typical conical indent at the root. In fact, @Carl and @Al Dente had already identified c) as an X. vetus in an older post of mine. b) looks very similar so I'd wager it is an X. vetus as well. a) is much slimmer and more straight, so maybe that's an X. audax instead? For d)-h) I can't see the conical indent at the root and I am not sure whether that's because they are too broken or actually Enchodus fangs. Happy to take pictures of other angles, I just wasn't sure which features to focus on...

Hi everyone! 3-part excursion in the Cretaceous (Aptian) of Central Bulgaria, ~50Kms West of Veliko Tarnovo. 1st one reconnaissance with my girl on 18th of March. We did not stay a lot, poor finds mostly brachs and some echies. 2nd one, 24th-26th of March with friends. The majority of the finds are from this date. 3rd and last on 27th of May with one friend. The Urgonian complex of Bulgaria is a huge formation that extends many Kms around the cities of Veliko Tarnovo, Sevlievo and Lovech uninterrupted. The first findings were published during the Communist time, when lots of construction took place (road and rail infrastructure, a couple of huge water reservoirs, mining activity). If we would have to say something that stands out there and probably is known to people outside Bulgaria, it's well preserved regular echinoids. Many of you might have seen some being sold in Facebook groups for echinoids or some marketplaces. However, the Aptian Urgonian complex is not just echinoids; there is a huge variety of brachiopods preserved with their original "nacre". Even if you are not into them, trust me there you will start gathering them like cherries. Here we are parked on the first visit. The weather was pretty nice, ideal for such an excursion. Here is the main outcrop, on the second visit. I am nowhere in this picture; you see bad habit of not taking in situ. I will start with the brachs and leave the echies for another day since I am still cleaning them with KOH. On the other hand, the brachs were cleaned easily with ultrasound bath. Tried to group them in families, I am not even sure I am correct but anyway here we go: Terebratulidae: (The pictures are wrongly inverted, so the front side of the 1st on the upper row matches the last one on the lower row). Plate 1 Plate 2 Plate 3 Plate 4 Plate 5 From this picture and onwards, each side is a separate picture Plate 6 Plate 7 Plate 8 Here I believe they are Tetrarhynchiidae And a large one with amazing colours I decided to keep on original matrix for the main showcase. This one is still not cleaned. @Tidgy's Dad This post is for you!

I found this the other day in Austin, TX. It looks like some kind of vertebrae or other bone, but I don't know what animal it's from. Judging by the age of the other fossils in that area, I would say it's late Cretaceous (it's clearly very fossilized), unless it was somehow moved there from somewhere else.

Hello, any ideas what this may be? I know the odds from what I have researched but there are way too many variables for a Newbie. It was collected at Colts Neck, NJ from a riverbed. I have read the site produces late cretaceous fossils. upon close inspection it does seem to have pores and texture on the outer layer but does not match any of ID pictures I could find as far as pattern goes.

Hi there everybody, it's been a while I was on the forum. But I stumbled on 65+ associated teeth of Ptychodus polygyrus. My question is, how can you tell the difference between an upper and a lower tooth of Ptychodus polygyrus?

Hi everyone!! We recently moved near Big Brook Preserve in NJ and have been spending a lot of time there. I have a 9 and a 7 year old who are very keen on finding fossils now. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful resource so close. I look forward to participating in the forum and hoping you can help us ID some of our mysterious finds beyond the usual suspects.

May I ask you. What is the abnormal structure of this fossil? cancer? Teeth? trauma? This is a fossil from the province of Mahazanga, Madagascar. I don't know about other information.