Search the Community

So I found these in Lethbridge Alberta on the Old Man River in the Bear paw formation about 20 feet down from surface in some exposed shale formations. And we would like to figure out what it is?? The first one weighs about 2.3 pounds and length is 15.5 cm and 6.5 wide. The second is smaller at 0.6 pounds and length is 14.8 cm and 6.4 wide. We have found ammonite and baculite in the same area.

I found them in abandoned sandstone quarry around 10km West from Chmielnik, Świętokrzyskie, Poland. I have no idea what they can be. Can anyone help?

Hi everyone! So I am planning on doing some fossil hunting this year before it gets to cold and I am trying to find some good places. Thanks in advance!

Hi again! If you saw my thread from yesterday, you'll know I bought some Moroccan fossils for dirt cheap that turned out to be pretty nice. I went to the same dealer today and bought three more for the same price. I suppose I will start with the worst (most suspicious) first: I saw this vertebra and liked how it looked, so I bought it. I'm totally fine with spending $20 for a vert recreation, too, so no big deal if it's fake. What makes me suspicious is the place where it's chipped, it looked like there was paint flaking off. I guess I'm asking, how much of it is real and what is it supposed to be an imitation of? Okay, next is a Globidens tooth and root in matrix. A little beat up, but still cool: Lastly, a weird jaw that I have no clue about. Like I said, I'm not a vertebrate guy. One of the teeth is banged up and looks repaired, but I thought it was cool anyway: Well guys, thanks for looking, I hope you'll find them as interesting as I did! And I said I'd tag @pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon, maybe you can help.

I took my wife out for a quiet weekend in San Saba, TX and vicinity to escape from work and busy city life. It was fun to visit the river, suspension bridges, and bump into a couple old Indian campsites denoted by snails, freshwater bivalves, and burned rock on the surface. But the first thing to really catch my eye there was the small fossil display in the historical museum at Mill Pond Park...one fossil in particular. This huge orthocone nautiloid was the highlight of the visit for me. It is said to be from western San Saba County, which has Ordovician through Pennsylvanian strata. There was no provenance, so I won’t get too far keying this one out. I’ll have to just appreciate it at face value for aesthetic appeal, and for it being the biggest orthocone I’ve ever seen from Texas.

Hello fossil enthusiasts, some of you know, I have a on-off-relationship with this forum, and it seems, now is on-time again. I have a general question, and maybe some of you can help me. In the countries of the southern coast of the baltic sea (and very special in the northern half of germany) we have only fery few sites with exposed fossiliferous bedrock, but quite a nice ammount of collectors. In the eastern half of Germany, situation was additinally bad for decades because of the cold war, where it was nearly impossible for east german collectors to visit sites outside of the country, even not in the eastern countries of the former USSR. Lucky us, we have an iceage some years ago, which shaved the baltic craton and scratches out the basin sediments from the hole we now call the Baltic sea. The glaciers depositet all the stuff on the other side of the scandinavian peninsula, and therefore we have opportunities, but also a hard life as collectors. Why this? Lucky thing, we can find fossils from the Precambrian up to the Quaternary (for geological reasons: except from Carboniferous/Permian material, and Devonian and Triassic stuff is very rare (what is meant by this I will explain later)). And we can made all this finds at the same time even in a few squaremeter outcrop. If someone is generally geological interested, he can find rocks from 2.7 billion years of earth history at the same place. Our shores (and gravel pits) are, as far as I know, the place where you can find the most diverse (naturally) rock assamblage worldwide (geolocial museum collections are excluded ) A lot of specimen are described of those rocks, not known from the host strata in Scandinavia or the Baltic States. Unfortunally, you have to know a lot about rocks to exclude the fossil empty types, and fossils are generally rare. ("rare" means here, you find only some on one day excursion, and maybe there is not a single one you decide to implement to your collection. "rare" in the above mentioned case means, you might find only one fossilisferous (devonian, triassic,...) rock in your collectors life. So, I try to set a point. We have here a semiprofessional association, the GfG (http://www.geschiebekunde.de/, only in german, sorry for this), with some publications online (http://www.geschiebekunde.de/publikationen/geschiebekunde-aktuell-ga/ , http://www.geschiebekunde.de/publikationen/ga-sonderhefte/ ). And we are interested: are there collectors, masochistic enough to live with only a few gut sometimes exceptional finds, harvesting the glacial deposits of North America for rocks and fossils? I know that there should be also geological diverse gravels due to the geological heterogenity of the northern part of the North American Shield... To show our diversity, I can post some of our fossils from different ages here in this topic... Best regards from overseas (or using the old miners phrase: Glück Auf! ) Johannes

Hello again HappyDigsters!! We found some shiny fossil spaghetti!!! In the shale formations sifting through the fines and we discovered this little strange object...maybe some fins or feathers all bunched up. Thanks again for the help

Hello, I am an active crazy lace agate & fossil hunter who has many specimens that I hope can be identified. Please help identify my precious findings so I can rest assure at what they really are. Found in Coldwater, MS in a Gully I visit often.

Are you able to collect fossils legally using the BLM and US Forest Service rules if there is also a mining claim for a locatable mineral such as copper or iron etc? Assume the fossils have no legally locatable mineral in them such as copper or precious opal. For example, a company files a claim for copper in 2 square miles of land in the desert with lots of non mineralized fossiliferous limestone. Another example: a company files a 2 square mile claim for coal. Can you collect the fossils in the sandstone in the surface? Assume the land is not fenced off and being actively mined. Can you collect the fossils? A peer reviewed paper, law citation or case citation is helpful.

hello all, I found a lot of this specific type of rock and I thought they could be fossils. Now I'm not so sure. They have what appears to have a spongy inside and flat outside, on the sides that are still there. I tried to take pictures to show them well. A few of the pieces have two "lobes" at one end and the lobes appear to be splitting. They are all the same color, though some are dry and some are damp still. I was trying to figure this out on my own, and I thought it could possibly be coal (if not a fossil), but i really don't know how to test it. My husband did try to light it on fire... it did not catch fire. If you need more pictures, let me know. I got these in a river in Williamson County Tennessee. I believe the only dinosaur we have that's been found is hadrosaur specifically edmontosaurs. There have been multiple types of megafauna mammals like sloths, rhinos, and mammoths. If these are nothing, I will be sad, but at least I'll know not to pick these up anymore! LOL. Thanks! IMG_4308.heic

I have discovered these in Coldwater, MS in a nearby gully I frequently go to for these amazing finds. If Anyone has some great insight into what they are for sure, I would greatly appreciate knowing how much or if they are worth anything ?

I have no knowledge of this ammonite’s history. Does anyone have any idea of its type? It’s about 5 to 6 inches in diameter, a portion of it being fossilized with calcite.

Good evening, I recently went fossil hunting in Dawson county MT in the Hell Creek formation. I believe that the fossil I collected is a possible dinosaur vertebra. Is there any way to determine what dinosaur this maybe and if it is a vertebra? The measurement is 7 inches long and 4 inches wide. Thank you, geogrl

I am very curious what exactly this is....can anyone help me identify this fossil...was discovered in california.

I am getting some fossils together to take to the ESCONI Braceville Shaft Mine trip that is running this Saturday and Sunday. The fossils that are collected there are Mazon Creek flora and fauna. When I am able to make one of these trips, I always pick up the car with several buckets full of fossils that we dump out and allow the participants to take home. This time I’m bringing a bunch of Mazon Creek fossil’s, Ordovician fossils from St. Leon, Indiana, Mississippian fossils from Anna, Illinois, Pliocene / Pleistocene shells from Florida, some echinoids and shark teeth from Morocco, a couple small Meg teeth from South Carolina (?), cephalopods from Graf, Iowa, some Pennsylvanian fossils from Oglesby, Illinois and maybe some other odds and ends that I do not recall. Here are a couple quick pics as I was placing them in the car. @stats

Anyone has any idea what this is? My husband found it in our fields in Crete approx. 400m .

New at hunting so I have no idea what I have. Location: Nolan County Texas

I don´t know if I can find the time to prepare fossil hunting trip reports for TFF regularly. However, I will at least try to prepare them regularly for my personal website in pdf format. I would like to share them with you. They are in German, though: Fossil Hunting Trips 2021 (link to my personal website) Thanks! Franz Bernhard

Just back from an epic hike in the Talkeetna Mountains after a recent storm passed through. The snow line was at 5,500 feet and at this time of year the snow is referred to as termination dust because it will stick in the higher peaks foreshadowing winter’s arrival. I have enough confidence now to name some of the fossils I have encountered on these hikes and would like any corrections on IDs if I misidentified them. The background geology I gleaned from Geological Survey Professional Paper 432, Upper Cretaceous (Campanian and Maestrichtian) Ammonites From Southern Alaska. An early morning start to take advantage of the spectacular weather. Castle Mountain, volcanic deposit which overlays the fossil bearing layers I will be hiking through. The Wrangell Mountains in the distance overlooking the Copper River Basin and Talkeetna Mountains in the foreground. Landed a ridge and tied down multiple times as even though good weather was forecast I need to have the plane where I left it so I can return home. The fossils on this trip are in the Matanuska Formation, specifically in member 3 and divided into two faunal zones. The lower, Inoceramus schmidti zone and upper, Pachydiscus kamishakensis zone. I believe this is a Pachydiscus sp. ammonite and have seen these before. Many of the concretions contain fossils and locally abundant. Having said that it was many miles hiking before a came across an intact ammonite. Bits and pieces to look at and ponder. Canadoceras sp. but so broken could have been a heteromoph and a completely different ammonite species. I mentioned the good weather for this trip and here is an example of what a storm can do. Normally you do not see what the silt stone looks like in un-weathered condition as it take quite an erosion event to expose the rock from the overburden. The preceding week had some heavy precipitation with this area obviously receiving enough to cut down to the bedrock. All the small gullies I crossed on this hike were also affected by the recent run off and snow at the higher elevations. This is at the base of the silt layer where it is overlain by the volcanic rock. The Dall sheep use the steep gullies and cliffs as escape habitat from predators. Kobuk, (my dog) was interested in the sheep and I recalled him so as to leave the ewes with their lambs to their solitude. Continuing on to my objective where I saw what looked like more silt stone exposure with concretions from the air. I like this picture which gives a feel for how steep the exposures are. You never know what is on the next one! Uncommon but I have found some petrified wood in this area. I could not determine what layer this was associated with as it was just laying in the tundra. If you look in some of the pictures you will see numerous caribou trails with this calf cruising by on one while Kobuk and I were having lunch. Caribou can be quit curious at times and this one approached to 12 feet. Notice Kobuk’s paws are ready to go! Still curious and had to take another look at us. Blue berries are ripe now and a bonus snack while in the mountains. My objective for this hike was this area and exposures. From the air it looked like numerous concretions in the silt stone but turned out to be chunks of conglomerates from the layers above. Four and one half miles from the plane so will loop back and check a few more exposures out. The six mile ammonite! Patagiosites alaskensis. The exposure on the right side here immediately caught my attention as I could see concretions. Getting closer and some more caribou, cow with her calf. More importantly definitely concretions here. Abundant Inoceramus in the float at the bottom of the cliff. Will come back another time to see what might be on the face but need to get new soles on my boots as my current ones are rounded and it’s hazardous when like that climbing that steep of an exposure. These Cretaceous deposits are very similar to those of Vancouver Island and the Chignik Formation on the Alaska Penninsula. In rereading the professional paper after this hike I got a better understanding of the geology and concretions there. Some of the concretions have thin crystal layers which look a little like shell in cross section. These are described as cone-in-cone concretions and are likely calcite layers which form concentrically in the concretion and their white flash appearance can be seen in the distance when looking shell material. Looking back from where I traversed can see the Chugach Mountains and recent snow. Nine miles and almost back to my ride home. Hope you enjoy as much as I did, what a day!

Hi y'all! I recently got some more Aguja Formation Matrix and have had a great time looking for the little stuff - even found my first dino tooth! But of course, there is quite a variety of things that I can't ID and would be greatly appreciative of your help! 1. This first thing is my favorite! I don't know if it's a fish tooth or a denticle or what, but it's so cool looking!! Aprox 2mm 2. I THINK this is a croc tooth? I did a little poking around trying to ID the above and this one and stumbled upon Champosaur as a possibility perhaps? 4 mm 3. Is this part of a Croc Scute? It looks remarkably like the amphibian skull structures I'd found in the Permian micro matrix, which makes me think it might be Croc.... Size 6mm 4. What the heck is this? Denticle? It's obviously bone, but almost like a scale? Size: 8 mm Back 5. Fish Tooth? Size 4mm 6. Also fish tooth? Size 4 mm Top view

Well, I figured that I should start a member’s collection. Sorry for my absence, I was busy with college classes. I did great this semester, and I even won a student leadership award! With that being said, I’m gonna start my collection off with a piece that I acquired for my birthday! My 22nd Birthday is tomorrow (June 14th), and I was strapped for money. My father and grandmother chipped in, and helped me acquire this chromium woodworthia piece from a local rock shop that I frequent! It’s from Arizona, and it only cost $60 USD! I’ll try to be active here whenever I can, as I am exhausted from this semester of college (having to abruptly switch to an online format due to COVID-19). I’ll have to link other threads of my fossils and post pictures of my previous additions to my collection to this thread whenever I have the time!

I wonder if this is some animal or just a crystal formation. The surface is extremely smooth, when I touch it with my finger. The formation is from Late Ordovician. Pict. 1 Pict.2 Pict.3 Pict.4

I want to get into collecting fossils but can't seem to find anywhere to go, is there any places on the Delmarva peninsula where I can collect fossils?

My Mrs is a teacher at a local primary school (reception to year 6). Just before the end of the academic year a few weeks ago, one of her teacher friends asked me to do a talk for her year group of kids - bring a few fossils along and talk about them. Was happy to help, but due to Covid the senior management were reluctant for me to come into the school. I get it, but it does seem a bit silly since I live with one of their staff members Anyhow, I put together something for the teacher to present to the kids herself. Gave her about 15 fossils (ammonites, trilobites, a few teeth, fish, plants, insects in amber) and gave her detailed notes on each, labels with full details of age, collection location, formation etc And also gave her some books covering the items I sent. Apparently the kids really enjoyed the presentation. And each one wrote me a little note thanking me and telling me which was their favorite fossil - I was very touched. Have said that I am happy to do this again for the next academic year.