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I recently took a trip to a section of the Fayetteville Shale (Mississippian Era) which I've had good luck with before. I could not anticipate what I would actually find this time, though! I've previously found orthocone nautilus fossils 3-8inches in size, but this one was just unbelievable. I believe it is a Rayonnoceras solidiforme. I am absolutely ecstatic about my 3 footer, to say the least!! I have never found another fossil even remotely in the same ballpark as this one. This is most of the fossil. There is still at least one more part of the tip in the shale, but it took me about three hours to dig this up, and my hammer swinging arm needed a break! I was getting a bit loose and inaccurate in my swings, and didn't want to break or damage the tip. I will be back in about a week with a sledge and chisel to get the rest. I've never regretted buying the 16oz pointed tip Estwing more than I did yesterday, lol! Not quite the best tool for splitting hard shale, but I made it work. The tip of this chunk closest to my hammer was just barely visible poking out of the shale. I wish I took a picture before I started digging, but I honestly didn't even think this was a fossil until I got it out. Anything in the shale that isn't an obvious concretion is worth checking out though, and it sure paid off! I then saw this piece underneath, and it was quite clear what I had found. The very visible siphuncle + curve to the stone told me all I needed to know. I then assumed I'd find another piece or two of this giant, but I was to be very, very pleasantly surprised! After removing the second piece, it was clear there was still more waiting for me. This piece alone is larger than any other nautilus I've found in the Fayetteville Shale. This fossil is currently over 3ft long, and I am looking forward to getting what's left of it. The shale kept getting harder and harder as I excavated further down, and the remaining part(s) are currently under a bit more than a foot of shale, so I'm not even remotely worried anyone else is going to dig it out. This was the last piece I excavated from the shale.

Yesterday I somewhat unexpectedly ended up with a day off of work, and as it's too hot to enjoy hiking, I decided it was time to hit up my favorite exposure of the Fayetteville Shale. I found myself thinking on my way out, I've picked this place pretty clean, I don't think I'll find too much. Luckily for me though, the -20F freeze and extremely wet spring we've had did a nice job of eroding the shale. Almost as soon as I got into the creek, I saw a pickerel frog tucked away in a little hole. Not too much further, I hit the beginning of the exposed shale. The bed of the creek is mostly shale, so it's pretty easy to find outcroppings! Inside of the shale, there are sometimes fossils sticking out, like the edge of the first nautilus I found. Further on, I found blue heron and barred owl feathers A nicely complete nautilus shell was one of my favorite finds of the day I also pulled up a couple straight shelled nautilus as well. They are very prevalent here. The cherry on top was seeing a snapping turtle on my way back out. I gave her a lot of space to discourage any biting, although they're generally docile in the water. She was growing algae, so maybe not the healthiest turtle, but quite a sight nonetheless. Some of my finds cleaned up. I believe the orthocones are rayonnoceras, but only because they are common in the area. I keep thinking I should figure out what things are better before posting on here, but All in all, a very nice way to spend a day off and enjoy the beautiful Ozarks

During an afternoon break I found a dozen or so promising concretions at an outcrop of Fayetteville shale. I'm thinking of going the freeze/thaw route as my history of hammering concretions is a but hit or miss. Curious as to the opinion of the forum on the best technique. Also, should I consider setting a couple aside and try to get whole fossils by remove the matrix? Thanks in advance.

I was in my favorite creek bed for ammonites and nautiloids in a nice bed of Fayetteville Shale, when I found this fascinating little rock. I think I read somewhere that you can find fish skin in the lower Fayettteville shale? Whatever it is I've never found anything like it. It's about 2in long, .5in wide, 1/8in thick. There's a section running through it that looks like a core, but it didn't photograph very well.