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AAAAAA OKAY OKAY!!! This was my first ever fossil hunt, and it was so fun and so worth it! We hiked about three miles to get to the beach where only a few people were at. I immediately started finding crinoids in rocks, as well as some rocks that seem to look like some form of coral! I later started finding individual crinoid stems! Coolest experience ever. I can’t believe I held 400 million year old organisms!! if you have any ideas on what the red outlined things are feel free to comment! The orange highlighted specimens are stuff i picked up that looked a lot like something other than a rock but im not positive. The green circle is some cool coral! (I think) <3 10/10 experience. I got a little sunburned on one part of my back but it was so worth it!! Might make one of the crinoids into a necklace for my mom and I. She really loves crinoids and nature and was upset she couldn't find any. My brothers didn’t believe it when i found my first one and one said “are you sure thats not just shells stuck in a rock?” LOL!!!

While cleaning out some stuff, I found one of those toy cameras that click between slides. These things are only a few bucks for a twelve-pack, and I probably got it from someone’s birthday party when I was little. The magnifying lens works quite well for the price. Tested it on some crinoid bits with epibionts. Hederella filiformis on a crinoid bit. Ascodictyon sp. on a brachiopod fragment. Bryozoan encrustation on a crinoid stem fragment. Some more Hederella on a crinoid stem. Two views of a crinoid holdfast and bryozoan on a Aulocystis jacksoni. Some more Ascodictyon sp. A few more crinoid holdfasts on crinoid stems. A picture of the lens, and the crinoid bits with a nickel for scale. And lastly, my tiny enrolled meraspid Lonchodomas mcgeheei.

Hey Guys! I'm brand new here and just seeking some basic information about this awesome rock I found while Kayaking in the Flint River with my son in Northern Alabama/Southern Tennessee. I would like to know anything you can tell me about it. Is there any value to it? Is it special? Unique? We have all found fossils with these markings as kids but I've never seen one so large with so many markings. Any info or help is appreciated.

A few months ago, I stopped at a location exposing the Brainard Member of the Maquoketa, Ordovician. Fossils are not well preserved at this exposure, but occasionally a decent crinoid shows up. When splitting a piece of matrix from that days collections, this basal plate popped out. If fully exposed, it would measure roughly 4 cm across, making it much larger than I am used to seeing. I am suspecting it is Carabocrinus, but would like an opinion from someone much more versed in crinoids than I. Just after I found this, I was processing, the next rock contained a reddish cavity that I just thought was a vug. Iron oxide stains many fossils at this location. After just finding that large plate, my eyes came back to this rock and I suddenly saw it as a crinoid calyx. Am I exhibiting Pareidolia???? Or is this a large calyx?? Red dot is where the aboral cup's end would be. Blue dot is centered on what looks like a worn basal plate. Other pics also show a hint of this. Some linear structures are present inside the "calyx" as marked with the green dot.

More from the fossil box mentioned in my previous posts, I’m not quite understanding the note that looks like Inspssu ? Insposu? On these crinoid looking ones - any insights? Thanks

My better half has just rediscovered some of her old fossils from years ago - as such, she does not know the provenance, though based on the matrix and preservation, I believe them to be Cotswoldian in origin - Jurassic, Inferior/Greater Oolite. These two in particular absolutely had us stumped - This is number one - I originally thought disarticulated crinoid, but the 'branching' pattern in picture 2 threw me off a lot, going to bryozoans and all sorts, bouncing around til' I decided, maybe, not a fossil? But then again, it displays the glow from calcite: And, secondly: The gap between the layers suggests to me that something dissolved - a shell? Any input appreciated! Isaac

Crinoid calyx or echinoid? Found in gravel with Ordovician-Devonian fossils. About 2cm across at the widest point. Druzy coating over the fossil which seems to be an external mould. In orange jasper. Thanks so much!

Hello, While searching for concentrations in Mazon Creek, IL, I discovered you can find Crinoid stems in rocks around the area. I have found a few of those but recently I found a couple that are similar but not as easily identifiable. Below are the two samples in question. Thank you for your time and assistance with the IDing. 1) This sample is very similar to the type of rock I find the Crinoid stems in. Seems to be like fossilized coral with the holes. Specifically, I am looking at the spiral with a bump in the center. I think that is an impression of a Crinoid stem that was there before but not sure? 2) This sample is a different kind of rock it seems. It is lighter in color and has some sparkles in it. The feature in question is the 'flower bud' type formation I see in the top center of the rock. It is smooth and it has depth. Compared to how the rest of the rock is rough, I have to imagine this is something different.

Every time I begin a new trip report here on the forum I feel like I need to apologize for how long it's been since my last one. Because although I haven't written anything up since October, I've actually been on more fossil hunting trips in the last few months than in the entirety of last year. This is mostly the result of finally getting a car again back in August after spending the back half of 2021 and almost all of 2022 without one. In fact, I've made so many trips I haven't actually given myself enough time to write up a report about the last one I've undertaken before I'm back on the road and off on the next. So hopefully this report will be just the first of the five I need to eventually type up. With that out of the way, let's talk fossils! Specifically Pennsylvanian ones - the second half of the Carboniferous for non-Americans. Last fall I was finally taking my first paleontology course as part of my geology undergraduate degree. It was invertebrate rather than vertebrate paleontology, where most of my interest lies, but it was a paleontology course nonetheless so I had nothing to complain about. I was incredibly excited to take the course, and even more excited when I saw that there was a field trip planned for the middle of October to Mineral Wells, an incredibly popular fossil locality west of Forth Worth that I had only had the chance to visit once before. As a member of the Dallas Paleontological Society like myself, my professor decided to plan for us to make a brief stop at the DPS-hosted Fossil Mania convention in Glen Rose on our way to Mineral Wells further to the north. It was great getting to catch up with different members and seeing all the incredible fossils on display - especially those that were self-collected elsewhere in Texas. The two that really caught my eye that I just had to take pictures of were two riker mounts of Xiphactinus fossils. I'm obviously a little biased towards this giant Cretaceous fish species as I'm still eagerly awaiting the eventual excavation of one that I found with @Jared C last August. Seeing these displays definitely got me excited for what we might end up digging out! Bonus: To the left of the framed Xiphactinus material is the largest plesiosaur vertebra I've ever seen found from the North Sulphur River. While at Fossil Mania I also got to meet another member of the Forum in person: @JamieLynn! I hadn't realized she was a member of the DPS as well, so I was pleasantly surprised to finally meet the woman behind the incredibly well-done identification guides to Texas fossils that I've seen posted here on the Forum before and that she was selling laminated versions of during the convention. It was nice meeting you Jamie! After leaving Fossil Mania it took us about another hour to get to Mineral Wells and the muddy borrow pit that serves as the fossil park. The last time I had visited was two years earlier and I had always intended to go back - but instead I had been tempted by the possibility of mosasaur bones at the North Sulphur River, which I've visited more times than I can count. It had just rained in Mineral Wells the day before and the sky was overcast and threatening to rain even more when my class arrived. Fortunately I had brought my creekstomping boots and was well-equipped to trudge through the thick mud that covered the pit. I can't say the same thing for my classmates, however - I saw a lot of shoes go from white to dark brown within the first couple minutes. The upside of the bad weather though was that we had the whole park to ourselves, and I had the feeling that the rain had probably washed out some good stuff. The last time I had visited the pit was full of other fossil hunters and was bone dry and had been for weeks, explaining why it had been so thoroughly picked over. This time I hoped I might finally find one of my bucket list fossils: my first trilobite. I knew it was possible to find trilobites here, both from what I've heard other people on the forum say before and from the giant sign that the DPS erected near the entrance to the pit, showing some of the fossils that had been found in the park before. Although I love my prehistoric vertebrates, trilobites have always been at the top of my list of prehistoric animals that I'd like to find, so I was excited to get the chance to look for them again. Ready to look for the elusive trilobites, I half-skidded my way down the slick slope to the bottom of the pit. The ever-present crinoid columnals that the park is most well-known for covered every inch of the ground. It was impossible to step anywhere without putting my foot down on at least a small handful of them. Having collected far too many of the little round discs on my previous visit I mostly elected to ignore the crinoids unless I saw a large section of them joined together or a rare calyx fragment. Finding a complete calyx with all the arms at the head of the crinoid still attached has long been up there with a full trilobite as one of my bucket list finds. The first thing that I noticed once in the pit was how much larger the average fossil was compared to the last time I had visited. I chalk that up to the crowds of other fossil hunters not yet having a chance to come out and find them. Huge (by brachiopod standards at least) spiriferids were dotted all over the place. I took pictures of some that had already been broken before I managed to find one that was complete enough to save. I was able to find a couple of six inch long crinoid columns as well, but unfortunately didn't get any pictures of them. Either way, my attention was quickly drawn to a section of the pit where most of my classmates were gathered up and looking at something held by our class TA. I hurried over and was greeted by the sight of my first Texas trilobite. It was about half the size of the fingernail on my little finger and looked at first like a small white pebble, but the ridged lines that made up the trilobite's body gave it away. For something so small and unassuming it definitely lived up to the hype, and once I had overcome my jealousy I began scouring the mud with renewed excitement. Before I had gotten more than a couple of steps away, I heard a shout behind me. Our TA had somehow managed to find another trilobite in less than a minute. Even more incredible, this one was larger and fully splayed out unlike the first which was rolled up on itself. Apparently enrolled trilobites are much more common discoveries as when they were alive they would roll up on themselves when threatened, which was often the case when they were buried alive by mudflows on the seafloor. It's also possible that their bodies just naturally curled up after death like some modern insects, but I'm a lot less certain about that. Shortly after our TA found his second trilobite it was time to leave. Having stopped at Fossil Mania on the way meant that our time spent in Mineral Wells had to be cut down to only an hour. Annoyed that I didn't have a trilobite to show for my efforts, I began walking back up the incline out of the pit to where our vans were parked. But on the way something caught my eye. It was an incredibly thin, ridged fragment of "something." I picked it up and carried it in the palm of my hand back to the parking lot. It wasn't until I had sat down in the car that I got a better look at it. I couldn't be completely sure at the time, but it definitely looked like part of a trilobite. Specifically a trilo-butt! It was only a fragment, but it was enough to re-energize me. I decided that the following weekend I'd have to make my own solo return trip to spend more time in the park. That next Saturday I woke up bright and early and loaded up my equipment with coffee in hand. I made a stop in West on the way up, which if anyone is familiar with central Texas they will know as one of the best places in the state to get fresh kolaches. Taking my breakfast to-go I drove the remaining two hours back up to Mineral Wells. Once again the park was deserted and I was the first person there that morning. As far as I could tell the majority of the mud in the pit was undisturbed except for where my class had walked through it so I had my hopes up high that a more complete trilobite might be in the stars for me that day. And wouldn't you know it, within the first five minutes I had found what I had come for. Not just one trilobite, but several! The enrolled one furthest away from my fingers was what caught my eye, but there was also another fragment of a pygidium from a larger individual directly behind it (which can be seen slightly above and to the left of the enrolled trilobite). And not only that, but when I got home I spotted a third enrolled trilobite encased in the portion of the matrix obscured by my fingers in the photo above, although significantly smaller than the one I first saw. I believe the majority of trilobites at Mineral Wells are a species of Ditomopyge, with some of the larger and rarer ones being Ameura - I could be totally wrong though! Someone that knows the Texas Pennsylvanian better than I do feel free to correct me. After taking a couple moments to soak in the satisfaction of finding what I had come for so quickly, I turned my eyes back to the ground and continued my search. It didn't take long before I spotted yet another trilobite. And then another: None of the trilobites I found had the cephalon, or head, preserved. At the time I couldn't have cared less, but finding a trilobite from the park with the cepalon and its compound eyes still preserved has become my next goal. In my frenzy to find trilobites I had let my eyes become unfocused in terms of anything else. Taking a break from the little bugs I looked back over the patches of ground I had already covered to see if I could spot anything else. Not too far from where I found the first trilobites I saw one of the tell-tale button-like plates from an archaeocidarid urchin. As well as a nice little gastropod (probably Pseudozyglopleura - a first for me!). The morning wrapped up with a small fragment of a crinoid calyx. ....and one more trilobite for the road! Of course, already being in the area I couldn't resist the opportunity to visit another famous Texas Pennsylvanian site. But I'll save that for another report.... - Graham

Earlier this month I spent a day collecting in the Kope Formation (Upper Ordovician) of northern Kentucky. It is one of my favorite formations to hunt, and I always walk away with some nice stuff. Here are some of my better finds. A decent Ectenocrinus. It is crushed but should turn out nicely after prep. A much smaller Ectenocrinus hiding in a hash plate A pretty classic Kope hash plate. There's a cluster of crinoid arms to the left of center - I doubt there is a calyx but we'll see. A very nice Cyclonema This was a bucket list find for me: a nice example of a crinoid "log jam". There are two little Cincinnaticrinus calyxes mixed in. My best Cincinnaticrinus to date On the trilobite front, not much luck was had. I had been hoping to find some nice examples of Flexicalymene granulosa but found only some weathered partials. But my last Kope site did end up producing something much better: a partial Acidaspis cincinnatiensis! I've never found anything besides a free cheek of this rare bug, so this was certainly a trip maker.

Does anyone know if animals would have been brightly colored during the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian?

Hi everyone, thanks for checking out my post! I found this dude at the beach a few days ago and haven't quite pinned down what it is. It's formed like a bowl, with three lobes and has what appears to be a crinoid in the center on one side. I've found some similar objects under the crinoids and blastoids tab, but they're not quite right. If it is a crinoid, I would very much like to know what part of the animal it represents, a part of the holdfast maybe, or of the calyx? Found on the beach in SW West Michigan, Berrien County. aprox. 9mm on one of its three sides, and 4mm high. I know the first image is really low quality, I'm sorry, I couldn't get it to cooperate. But since there is another from a similar angle and the point of the first is mostly for the ruler, I didn't think it would be too much of an issue.

Howdy folks. Been a while since I’ve posted. I went through some significant personal losses and haven’t been on TFF in much longer than I’d have liked. After over a year, I’ve finally gotten out to hunt, this time in an area I’d never been to. (Also, if you’re in the Jacksboro area, my water bottle unfortunately fell out of my backpack, and I would really like to get it back since it’s been on a lot of trips with me. I’d pay someone to go get it if they’re nearby!) The weather was pretty nasty, raining and thundering a good amount of the time I was out hunting. But with new erosion, there was a lot of good stuff to be found. I will be updating this post with new photographs as I get things clean, everything is pretty muddy. IDs and information is welcomed, I am not familiar with Pennsylvanian material. A nice little Gastropod was the first thing to greet me. It was quickly followed by a straight nautiloid, which I found being one of my favorite things to pick up. Lovely bit of Goniatite. Probably my favorite thing to find here. Fresh whitetail deer tracks, probably only a couple hours old from earlier in the morning, right through the exposure. Held my breath for a moment, hoping this might be more whole, while it was, the condition is pretty poor. Still a nice find. The plains were standing in water about 3-5 inches deep across the entire area. In about a week, it will be an absolute nightmare! Tens of thousands of mosquito larvae.

I was going through some material I collected circa 2001 and found a crinoid that is not familiar to me. Any ideas would be appreciated. This is from the Mineral Wells Dump borrow pit, aka the Fossil Park. Top and bottom, scale bars in mm. Mike

Hi folks, I ventured out today and found these in a creek in Monroe County, IN. I've seen (what I think were) geodized fossils at a local show in the past, so I was keen on trying to find some of my own. Attached are some photos. I think one is a geodized horn coral, while the other appears to be a crinoid calyx or blastoid. There is a small horn coral in some of the photos as a reference. These were somewhat common in the creek. I'm not really concerned about species here as they are fairly distorted, just interested in hearing if you think these are, in fact, geodized fossils. Thanks! Jim

Been finding a few of these at one of my usual crinoid spots in Northern Kentucky. I think it's just another species of crinoid but I'm not sure. The other crinoid I've been finding here is Taxocrinus whitfieldi.

Here’s a small hash plate from the Carboniferous of Lancashire in the U.K. I found it a couple of years ago but I have only just got around to cutting it down to a displayable size. It was part of a much larger block and now it’s about 4 inches by 4 inches. It contains a crinoid calyx, some crinoid ossicles and stem pieces and bits of coral. It is from a place called Salthill Quarry

Hello! Looking to see if anyone can tell me what species these crinoids are! It was found in O’Fallon, Missouri. Mississippian Period limestone rock outcropping (road cut). Specific location: (38.8189493, -90.7276743) These are the same fossil ^^^^ These three are the same^^^

Hey everyone, hope you’re all doing well. I was on a walk the other day in a local nature preserve with my son when I stumbled across some fossiliferous stones in a pile. These contained mostly brachiopods, but one in particular had crinoids stems and another structure I wasn’t certain on. I’m not familiar with this place, looking up the area puts it somewhere in the Ordovician (either the conococheague, Stonehenge or stoufferstown formations) but these stones had been deliberately placed in a pile so I can’t say for certain if they came from the location or were brought in. So I have 2 questions: 1- is the lumpy structure on the one stone a partial mould of a crinoid calyx, or just something geological and 2-are these fossils indeed Ordovician? Essentially I’m wondering if it’s worth my time to come back to this site in my free time to fossil hunt in ernest. I’ve included a picture of the brachiopod hash plate in hopes it would help date it. As always thank you guys so much for your time! ps sorry no scale! I was not expecting to find fossils this day and didn’t take the rocks home with me as I felt this would be frowned upon in a nature preserve