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While in Florida I have been doing some fossil shell collecting, I really do love collecting these shells, the diversity is great. I do like finding large and small shells, but the smallest are always my favorite as the quality is usually exceptional. In this post I will show a few pics after I found some of the “regular” size shells and then my haphazard attempt at trying to identify some. Please do not take my ID’s as truth- though I love collecting these shells, I am really bad at getting the ID’s correct. There are a lot of shells that I do not have any ID for and I did not attempt to guess like I did on the others. Some of the specimens that I took pictures of are not the greatest and I have since found better ones, but since I already took the pics, I did not update. I did not take any individual pictures of the smallest pieces, but believe me, some are really small. My favorite find so far- the colors are phenomenal and the glossiness is just crazy- because of this, I thought is might have been a Lindoliva spengleri, but I do not think it is large enough. I believe it is Oliva sayana, and again it is my favorite find. Here are a couple other pics after I picked some up. Now i will start with my attempt to ID some of my finds- this will take a few posts since there are a lot of different ones.

Found this Sunday, thinking it a "cattle horn" but later realizing it is cortical bone. Now I need some help. I don't see any articular surface since both ends are gone, but the smaller end, as shown, is pretty much solid. Does not strike me as a rib texture or shape, despite the curve, and it's not keratinized tissue. I've never seen a sloth claw in hand, but I am starting to think it is from something very large like that. Strikes me as typical fossil bone, and it was very deep below the river bottom, if you are wondering why it is so light in color. I have numerous elephant toe bones, ribs, and long bones with the same look. above image: 8 inches total length, with an indentation along this surface, like there may have been another one beside it. (or it's just worn more) small end thru magnifier light to shown solid bone structure, NOT TUSK, NOT DUGONG RIB! 1 inch in Dia. large end showing cavity and thickness of bone edges. 2.6 inches across. Very massive to not be a weight bearing bone.

I have found quite a few of these over the years, but have never ID'd them. Very distinctive features and always the exact same size it seems. Thanks in advance...

Never seen a horse tooth with the third root like this one has. Usually only two roots. Any explanation would be appreciated...

Hey TFF Members! Got another insane video for you here! We had some friends join us for some shark tooth hunting and we struck pure gold! It was great to share the passion with good folks, and hopefully inspire their kids to be future fossil enthusiasts! Give the video a watch when you can. I'll also post a photo of some of the best teeth below!

Many forum members are familiar with Cookiecutter Creek in South Florida. This is a small creek that well-known forum member Jeff @jcbshark was kind enough to share with me a little over 3 years ago. Jeff had posted photos of the tiny Cookiecutter Shark (Isistius triangulus) teeth that he had found picking through micro-matrix from this creek and that started my quest to obtain a tooth from this very unusual little shark. After picking through many gallons of micro-matrix from the Peace River and some of its feeder creeks without once laying eyes upon a single Isistius tooth (but finding tons of other micro fossils), Jeff informed me that he didn't think Cookiecutters could be found anywhere other than one special little creek and agreed to take me and Tammy to collect some micro-matrix there in mid-December 2014. It didn't take long for me to find my first complete Isistius. Several more soon followed including some from the positionally rare symphyseal spot in the middle of the lower jaw. It is possible to identify a symphyseal as the thinner area where each tooth overlaps the adjoining tooth is usually found with one overlap area seen on the inner and one on the outer surface of each tooth but not symphyseals. Since these teeth overlap BOTH the tooth to the left and right (like the top row of shingles on the ridge of a roof) the overlap marks are both found on the inner (lingual) surface of the tooth and no marks are found on the outer (labial) surface. Once you know how the teeth of the lower jaw overlap and how to identify the outer (labial) side of the tooth (the enamel does not stop at a well defined line but extends down from the triangular crown and onto the square root), you can also tell which side of the jaw (left or right) that the tooth came from. Aside from the symphyseal position most of the other teeth cannot be identified to position other than the last one or two posterior positions. These teeth have the crown angled with respect to the root. Here are some of my old posts showing Cookiecutter Creek and the micro-fossils that have come from this unique locality in Florida: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/51286-collecting-cookiecutter-shark-micro-matrix/ http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/55298-more-micros-from-the-peace-river-and-cookiecutter-creek/ http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/71406-optimizing-micro-matrix-sorting/ Recently, I've been working on a project with a PhD student from the University of Florida which was initiated when it was realized that the Isistius triangulus teeth that I donated to the FLMNH were not yet recognized as occurring in Florida. Additional research revealed that specimens of Squatina (Angelshark) teeth from this creek were also not known from Florida (though I've also found this genus in micro-matrix from the Peace River). I made another collection of micro-matrix from Cookiecutter Creek as I had exhausted my supplies. A couple of flat-rate boxes of this material made their way into the hands of a couple of forum members--who I hope are having fun with this unique micro-matrix. Tony @ynot had sent me photos of another interesting find from Cookiecutter Creek. Jeff had collected some additional micro-matrix on the day that he introduced me to this site. Some of that collection was later made available to Tony as an auction to benefit the forum. While looking through this micro-matrix, Tony discovered a small specimen of what appears to be a Catshark (Scyliorhinidae) tooth. Tony is graciously sending that tooth to me so that I can pass it along to be added to the collection at the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) as this is the first record of this shark family in the Florida fossil record (and another first for Cookiecutter Creek). Tony's photo if this micro beauty: Since learning of the possibility of this taxon being found in the micro-matrix of Cookiecutter Creek, I've been searching through my remaining stash from this locality hoping to find a second Catshark tooth (no luck yet). While I've (so far) struck out in duplicating Tony's amazing find, I did have a bit of luck last week with something else new from my searching. While picking through the micro-matrix I came across an elongated item just about 10mm in length. If I'd not been familiar with this type of highly unusual shark tooth before I might have passed it by thinking it was just some unidentifiable fragment of bone. Experience and knowledge (even just a small amount) allowed me to recognize this as a tooth type that is reasonable common in another type of wonderful micro-matrix--Shark Tooth Hill (Bakersfield, CA). The unusual tooth from Cookiecutter Creek is actually quite common in STH micro-matrix. It comes from a Horn Shark (Heterodontidae). Since there is currently only a single genus described for this small family of small sharks, it can actually be identified down to the genus Heterodontus. These are placid little sharks that I remember seeing resting on the bottom during the few dives I did among the kelp forests in southern California's Channel Islands. They have distinctive ridges over the eyes and a single spike at the leading edge of their two dorsal fins. They feed mainly on hard-shelled invertebrates (crustaceans, molluscs, and echinoderms). Their name "Heterodontus" derives from the Greek meaning "different teeth" and referring to the fact that the front teeth are pointy with larger central cusp flanked by a smaller cusp on either side. The back teeth elongated with a long ridge running the length of the tooth and are adapted to crushing the hard shells of their prey items. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horn_shark Currently, most members of this family are found in the Indo-Pacific--like the well-known Port Jackson Shark (Heterodontus portusjacksoni) and only the Californian Horn Shark (Heterodontus francisci), the Galapagos Bullhead Shark (Heterodontus quoyi), and the Mexican Hornshark (Heterodontus mexicanus) are found in the eastern Pacific off the west coasts of North and South America. It's difficult to make any firm conclusions from the scant images available online but the rear teeth of the Mexican species to have a reasonable resemblance to the specimen that turned up in Cookiecutter Creek. Today, there are no species from this family inhabiting the Atlantic (or the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico regions). Devoid of any factual information but attempting a modestly educated guess, I'm thinking that one of the species of Bullhead Sharks must have extended over into the waters surrounding Florida some time before the Isthmus of Panama formed some 2.8 mya separating the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and separating the fauna on either side to either develop into distinct species (or to go extinct regionally). Since this family is not currently known from the Atlantic (eastern or western extents) it seems more reasonable to assume that the Florida specimen derived from an eastern Pacific species given the (geologically) recent connection to those waters. Fun to speculate and if Marco Sr @MarcoSr has jaw samples of extant eastern Pacific members of this family, perhaps a better comparison to the anterior teeth might be possible. Both this tiny Heterodontus tooth and Tony's find of the Scyliorhinidae will soon be headed toward Gainesville. I'm hoping to get up to volunteer at Montbrook in the next couple of weeks and plan on dropping off a few donations to expand the museum's diversity of shark teeth from Florida. Cookiecutter Creek is a special little creek and is best known for its relative abundance of Isistius triangulus teeth. The more we investigate this locality and the more micro-matrix we pick through from there the more unusual taxa seem to turn up. Seeing a perfect little Cookiecutter tooth appear from the micro-matrix is always a thrill but this creek is no longer a one-trick pony. It seems to have hidden depths (for a creek that is only knee high ) and I'm looking forward to seeing what else might appear out of the gravel in the future. Cheers. -Ken

Since the weather is (finally) behaving and the Peace River water level has now stabilized at a depth where South Florida fossil hunters can get in and get their hunt on, Tammy and I found a free day in our busy schedule and planned a day trip to Arcadia to try our luck on the Peace River again. If we do not drive over and spend the night in a local hotel, hunting on the Peace River involves an early morning wake-up call at the painfully early hour of 3:00 AM. We're all packed up and leaving the house at just around 4:00 AM with a long quiet drive through mostly empty highways--up the Florida Turnpike to the aptly named Beeline Hwy which makes a beeline straight northwest for the town of Okeechobee at the northern tip of Lake Okeechobee (the large lake that looks like it was hole punched out of the map of Florida). A stop for something approximating breakfast at the 24-hour Micky D's in Okeechobee (bring a jacket if you go because the AC is set for 60F ) and then it's a straight show west on State Road 70 into Arcadia. When we arrive we make a quick stop for a bag of ice for our cooler and a few snacks for the day. Then we roll into Canoe Outpost to fill out our paperwork and wait for the bus to take us to the put-in location. As we had a free day to make this trip on a Tuesday, Canoe Outpost is far from busy--in fact we are the only ones there save two employees who had to come in early to tend to our canoe rental needs. Today's hunting area of choice is on the lower half of the normal full-day rental. Usually, we put in at Brownville Park some 8.5 miles upstream of the Canoe Outpost dock and we stop at various locations along the way. We wanted to focus on some spots downstream from their half-day put-in location at the primitive campground area that is owned by Canoe Outpost (called Oak Hill). We've wanted to get dropped off here on some weekends when we only wanted to hunt along the lower 4 miles of the river above Arcadia but usually they have others going to Brownville on the 8:00 AM run and we just end up getting put-in there. We spend the first hour paddling the 4.5 miles down to the half-day put-in. This time we were lucky--nobody else was signed-up to go out at 8:00 AM so they were accommodating enough to put us in at the halfway point and save us an hour of paddling. We enjoy the peaceful paddling down the river looking for birds and spotting gators along the banks but the thought of saving an hour of paddle time was too good to pass up--more time for sifting. We made it down to the spot where we had found some nice armadillo bits two weeks before--a tooth and an astragalus from Holmesina septentrionalis a two meter beastie clocking in at around 250 kg. According to Dr. Hulbert specimens from this species are pretty rare in South Florida and the astragalus that we found last trip is earmarked for the FLMNH next time we are in Gainesville as the museum does not have any specimens of this bone from this species in its collection. We were hoping to possibly find some additional Holmesina bits though that was a long shot at best. We poked around the site chasing down areas with nice chunky gravel hoping to find some nice items and though we struck out extending our Holmesina finds we did come across a few nice items. On only the first handful of screens, a familiar triangular shape appeared in the sifting screen. Though the root was a bit dinged, this meg tooth that topped out at just about 3 inches is just shy of the 3.25 inch size that most teeth seem to max out at in the Peace River. A little while later a beautifully shaped smaller meg (just under 2 inches) turned up in the sifting screen. Here are some in situ (well, in sifter anyway) images of those teeth at the moment they revealed themselves. A little while later (after many smaller shark teeth and broken megs--fraglodons) we turned up one of the larger Carcharhinus teeth I've seen come from the Peace River. It was a nice surprise to see such a large example of a requiem shark tooth. No more interesting shark teeth turned up though we did find quite a number of the normal nickel and dime (size) teeth which will end up in an ever growing jar of teeth on display in the family room. Two other novelties helped to make the day a successful hunt in the record books. I turned up a tiny unerupted tooth that I believe to be tapir peccary though I've never seen one with six cusps (two small ones off one side). EDIT: Fixed ID, see below. As with many of these teeth the hollow nature of the tooth and fragile roots mean that usually only the enamel crown are recovered--at least this pretty little thing is solidly in one piece. The other tooth is a bit of a mystery. I'm sure @Harry Pristis will likely recognize this as it looks reasonably distinctive. The tooth looks like it has a complete crown (no parts missing) but it only has a trace of the roots left. Looking at the photos I can see that there are cracks forming on this tooth and it looks like it is ready to disarticulate into a puzzle of pieces. I think I'll be attempting to consolidate this item a bit with some B72. There is less than a month to go before the official start of rainy/hurricane season in June. Hoping to find some time in my schedule to make it back out to the river a few more times. It's been an extremely shortened season this year but the few finds we have been able to make have been enjoyable. Cheers. -Ken

My family and I will be at Disney World Florida August 1-8, 2019. I would like to take a day trip to go looking for shark teeth and fossils. I have no idea where to go and am looking for someone who knows where to go and wouldn’t mind showing me the ropes. Anyone interested?

This was found in Florida. Unspecified location. It was pretty small but I wanted to know if it was a mammoth juvenile or not. I actually own a mammoth tooth and it looks very similar but it's so small I wasn't sure. Possibly one of those pygmy elephant things. If anyone knows PLEASE tell me

Not quite sure what this one is. Found it digging for Sharks teeth near Venice, FL.

I hunt with good friends. This was last Saturday. One friend knows I like mammal ear bones. So he donated this one to me. I have identified a number of Florida fossil ear bones, but not this one... yet. It seems to be broken and not horse, camel or bison, about that size. The other friend found this tooth, thought it might be deer. But I ventured that it was a camel premolar and I would be able to identify once back home. But after I compared it to this photo from the Florida Museum of Natural History, I was far less sure> Can it be either p4? Heniaucheniamacrocephala (below) PaleolamaMirifica Finally , a Sand Tiger which I found . If there are a lot of Peace River hunters who find sand tigers with double cusps on each side, raise your hand. We 3 agreed that this was very unusual. Is this really a Carcharias taurus tooth? Are there any other possibilities? Thanks for all responses. Jack

Hey Gang, Looking for some help on what these guys are. Family and/or Genus would be great. Probably Tampa member of the Arcadia formation? Hillsborough county, Florida. Miocene? Here's unfortunately a real lousy comparative photo of the other specimen, but with a much better view of the shape of the aperature. Any help is appreciated. Thanks! Regards, Chris

Found at a beach in Florida today. I'm pretty good with teeth. Have never found one this thick and fat. Even the side is flat with enamel. Any clue? Thanks!

Hello. I purchased some tiger shark teeth and was hoping to get some ID help. The teeth come from various locations in Florida. The largest tooth is 1.25 inches (~3.2 cm). All the teeth have complex serrations. I believe the first row (#1-6) come from Galeocerdo mayumbensis. I am unsure about the second row and think they may be either Galeocerdo cuvier or Galeocerdo mayumbensis. Below are front and back pictures of the teeth. Thanks for any help.

Hello, newbie here. I was digging in my flowerbed and found this. It is 5" long and about 1.4" diameter but not quite round. I'm near Tampa, gulf coast. Is there enough to hazard a guess what it is? Thanks!

Here are a couple of inverts that I found at a dry land site last year, put them in a cigar box and then forgot about them. I ran across them again while digging through my boxes. I managed to ID a couple of them (not shown), but a few eluded my ID attempts - I am not very good with inverts (many are similar). Does anyone know what these are? Any help would be greatly appreciated. The big one is 5 inches across and appears to be a cast. Another is some kind of scallop (I think) and the last photo is barnacles of some kind. These were all found in a spot that was rich in Miocene inverts.

Found this on the beach at Cape Canaveral National Seashore

Hey Gang, Ran across some matrix recently that had some very small teeth in it and I'm wondering if there is enough there to get an ID on any of them--two of them appear to have cusplets. They are very small 3-7mm and just trying to position them and turn them over to photograph without having them pop up and fly onto the floor was interesting for these fumble fingers. Here are some group photos-- if individual clearer photos are needed let me know. Thinking these are probably Miocene from the Tampa member of the Arcadia Formation here in Hillsborough County Florida--best guess based on our county geologic map but I'm still working on narrowing down some invert iDs found from the same matrix. A couple more view of specimens 3 & 4. If they are too beat up and non descript I understand..Suppose clearer photos might help as well...ugh! Thanks. Regards, Chris

I was out hunting today at a location that has larger "small" shark teeth. I really like lower hemis and that keeps me coming back. They can be found but are not "common", even here/ I was looking for them, and almost missed this tooth. That "bump" on the left photo is a cusp. Cusp means predator. The tooth is .95 inches long. Because there is only 1 cusp on the tooth, does that help to identify the position in the jaw of this incisor? I could guess at which predator, but would like confirmation from someone who knows. Thanks Jack

Saturday is the day I am least likely to go fossil hunting but yesterday was the exception. Another gorgeous day, sun shining, birds chirping.. I also had some interesting finds ... Some equus teeth and mammoth chunks upper left, bones upper right and a few dolphin bullas under the bones. Nothing special like tusks or large Megs. The tiny tooth lower center is a Mako: One of the mammal bones is a 1.5 inch cubonavicular, a little larger than deer (I think) may be Bos because it is not river worn.. Then a 1.25 inch small canine, I love finding canines... Found a bunch of gator teeth, including these... odd longitudinal lines, Finally this 1/2 long inch molar. There is lots of diversity and variations on the Peace. It has been collecting for millions of years. Every day is an adventure. I am so lucky to have this hobby, and this location.

The winter of 2018-2019 was rough on folks from Minnesota, people who normally judge their self esteem on surviving mother nature's cold and snowy fury. So when the time came to depart for my snowbird trip to Florida, I could not have been more excited to go. Here is the local landscape as we left. Then on arrival to the Sunshine State. What a stark contrast. I could never give up my winters for this , as nice as it is to visit. Hunting for fossil treasures in Florida is usually limited to a single day per trip for me. But this time I was blessed with three outstanding excursion from three wonderful members of the forum, JCBShark (alias Jeff), Shellseeker, (alias Jack), and Sacha, (alias John). Unfortunately my hopes for finding fossils were dashed due to high water, but my friends were nice enough to attempt to conquer mother nature and we pressed on. I will let you decide if they were successful. Here were the participants for Day 1, a trip on foot to get to some special spots. As can be seen, it was NOT an easy hike. Here was Day 2. Kayaking up the creek for a few miles was not easy due to high water. But going back was a very peaceful float, as these pictures of Jack show!! Something needed after an old man (me, not Jack) paddles like he did and then shovels gravel all day!

Hey everyone, I found this fossil last February on the Peace River, I believe I posted it with a bunch of my other finds from that trip a while ago and the ID came up inconclusive. I was hoping the folks on the forum could help me out with this one again. It's about 3.5 cm in diameter and I first thought it belonged to a glypodont but I'm not so sure.

.Hello, I would appreciate any information you can give me on this fossil. My father gave this to me many years ago. He was an avid fossil hunter in Florida. He hunted in the phosphate mines in Mulberry, Florida. He had quite a collection and even loaned some of his finds to the University of Florida back in the 1970's. I know nothing about fossils and don't remember if he ever told me what this is, If he did I don't remember so any help you can give me in identifying this will be most appreciated.This item is almost 2 1/2" long and 1/2" inch wide at the top.It has a letter B on it. I know he used to send items to the university for identification so I assume it has something to do with it.This is the only fossil I have of his. When he died he willed them to a friend in Georgia who opened a small natural history museum at Taccoa Falls Bible College where they are displayed along with other items. Thanks again for your help. David

Found this on my 2018 trip to Florida, I believe it is a rodent incisor and I would like to confirm that. And if it is, does anyone have any indication as to what variety it belongs to? It's about 2 cm long.

I have had the delight of hunting the Peace river and it's Tributaries for a few years now. Time was taken to combine my finds and I discovered some unknowns that I hope someone can help me with!! Rib. It does not appear to be Dugong. Any chance of a broad classification?? These look like bullas, but so different than whales. I was told horse. Could this be correct?? Unknown Teeth: