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Hi Everyone, In the latter half of last month I took a two week trip to Kentucky and Tennessee. My sister, her husband, two of her adult children, and my parents all live in the Elizabethtown/Louisville area and I was able to spend some quality time with them. Fossil collecting was also part of my agenda. Herb, my primary fossil collecting partner in Kentucky and I had a three day trip down to Tennessee planned. Before I went on that expedition, I was out with my brother-in-law driving around central Kentucky. He dropped me off for 20 minutes at the Upper Mississippian site at Wax where the Glen Dean Formation is exposed in a roadcut. I picked these up:

My wife and I are up in Northern Vermont for the Thanksgiving holiday and were able to take advantage of a beautiful day yesterday by going for a walk in some woods and fields along Lake Champlain. While exploring the shoreline, we came across this rock wall and my wife spotted what looked like a fossil shell. Lo-and-behold, the wall was full of fossils--primarily gastropods I believe. We're not sure where these rocks came from, but the rocks along the lake are Ordivician in age and there's a good chance these came from a similarly-aged rock quarry in the region. Here are some of our finds, which we were able to enjoy in place: And some views of the Green Mountains and Adirondack Mountains on our way back:

Hey all! Today I bring you some teeny tiny gastropods! All Inferior Oolite Group, Cotswolds UK. Every formation. There are a few different species that I have described here: Species A: "helter-skelter". A very very loose spiral, resembling a helter skelter... Species B: very neat loose spiraled. Species C: very tight spiral, very common Species D: fascinatingly bumpy textured spiral. Reminds me of a wallpaper! Measurements in cm. Isaac

I recently took a trip to my hometown, San Antonio, Texas, to visit family whom I hadn't seen since before the pandemic. Ever since I caught the fossil bug last year in Maryland, I've been itching to make it back to Texas to explore. This trip's purpose was to catch up with family, but to do so, naturally, I had to catch them up on my new hobby! Two places were easy to add to my itinerary -- both my Mom and Dad have seasonal creeks in their neighborhoods, which I was able to walk. The creeks in my Mom's neighborhood expose Albian rocks from the Edwards Group. This creek system is pretty extensive, though in my experience, unfortunately, it wasn't very fossiliferous. The best fossil I found was the small Ilymatogyra arietina below, which suggests that there's a Del Rio Formation (Cenomanian) exposure somewhere in this area as well. The other fossils in the creek were infrequently found and of lower quality. I didn't have much luck in my Dad's neighborhood either. The rocks here are from the Austin Chalk, which is Coniacian-Campanian. I found only small bits of shell and some heavily eroded shell conglomerates. I had much better luck visiting a Glen Rose Formation (Albian) site with my mother and sister that required more travel, though wasn't too far away. Here we were able to collect fossil echinoids, including some nice Leptosalenia texana, bivalves, gastropods, algal balls, and foraminifera. We enjoyed it so much that we went back a second time. This site had quite a few modern invertebrates too! At some point, I will plan to take a bigger Texas fossil tour, but I needed to stick closer to San Antonio this time around. With that constraint, I can't thank @Uncle Siphuncle enough for your amazing TFF guide to San Antonio fossils -- I learned so much from your post about the rocks where I used to live!

Imagine working for a year in a small college science department and there was a room you vaguely knew was there but didn’t have the keys to and never saw anyone going in or out. Then one day, campus grounds workers open the door, and you inquire what is going on. You discover it is an old earth science storage room (earth science hadn’t been taught there in many years) and everything is to be discarded the next day into the dumpster to make room for some new purpose. It’s a room about 15 feet by 20feet packed with boxes on shelves filling the space up to the ceiling. It is a dusty disordered mess. You don’t have the authority to put off the clean out. What would you do? Exactly, cancel all plans and stay up all night sorting out the room and triaging the best stuff. So that’s what I did. Not heroic like running into a burning building to save children, but someone had to do it. Even with several trips I could only take a small percentage of the material but most of the fossils. Most were labeled, some had numbers on them but there was no accompanying key, and many had no identification at all. Perhaps 2% of the material was fossils, and it was scattered throughout the room, like some sinister easter egg hunt with every minute ticking down until the morning workers showed up. Here then, are some of the unlabeled and unidentified fossils I recovered. Some are obvious, others less so. I thought TFF members might have some fun with this. # 1

Today I stopped to stretch my back and did about 10 minutes of collecting near Whites Creek, Tennessee- I believe that this might be Richmond Group Ordovician. I would be looking for a little help on some IDs, I believe @Peat Burns, @Herb And @Tidgy's Dad might be able to help out. Here are some of my finds- Brachiopods- Gastropods- Bryozoan- I believe that the smaller pieces are Constellatia Florida. Hash Plates-

This little rock is from Eagle Ford, since it was cracked I broke it open to be surprised by all the fossils in it and that I saw shiny things with color. Definitely not what I'm used to seeing! I assuming most of these have original shell, there are gastropods that are different colors, and also bivalves with different color, different sub order? Several heteromorph ammonites I think, and some kind of worm. Curious what the shiny multicolored area is, a couple unknowns, dendrite I think, and last one I'm not sure about, scaphite maybe? Appreciate any help!

Hello, I have been going through some fossils that I bought a while back. I came across this agatized snail from Morocco. I’ve tried to find more information on these agatized snails, but have been unable to find much. Some sellers online say that they come from Assa, Morocco, while others say they come from the Dakhla region. I’m also wondering what species this little guy belongs to, and a more precise age for these gastropods, although I’m pretty sure they are Eocene. Does anyone have any information regarding these agatized snails?

Last summer I became interested in collecting mollusks from the Chicago area rather by accident. I happened to find some shells in a dug up wastepile. I contacted the Prairie Research Institute and it turned out a geologist there was interested in C14 dating them for a surficial geologic mapping project he was working on. I then became obsessed with finding more from different points around the city. I was able to find 5 other localities and these samples were also donated. These are are freshwater aquatic mollusks from the Tolleston shoreline of ancestral Lake Michigan. Overall it was fascinating to compare the "Ice Age" mollusks with modern shells on the beach, the effect of invasive species and contributing to science. Radiocarbon data from one sample. After calibration: 4700, 6200BP

This all started over a year ago. I was selected as Member of the Month and a couple of TFF members from Texas invited me down to the big state to collect. I primarily collect in my home region, the northeast, but I've taken fossil forays to New Mexico, Kentucky, and Germany and was willing to consider a trip to Texas and the opportunity to visit some classic fossil sites and collect fossils that are outside my usual focus. I began planning this about ten months ago, contacted potential fossil collecting partners and did my own research on fossil sites, geology, and the types of fossils I would likely encounter. I had never been to Texas let alone fossil collected there. From the Forum I knew there was a lot of great hunting. Then there was all of the logistics, what to stay, what to bring. Since I wanted to bring back a lot driving appeared to be my best option, but I hadn't driven that far solo in over thirty years. Timing of my trip; mid-late September, came right after my daughter went away to college and I was in the middle of moving to a new place. So things couldn't have been more hectic. Finally, early in the morning on September 8th I set out. Things went okay until I was in Kentucky. Just as it was turning nightfall, torrential rain hit, traffic was stopped on the interstate for two and a half hours, and the last two hours of the trip I struggled with wet conditions and poor visibility. I finally arrived at my parents' house just after one in the morning. The next day on my way over to my sister's I took a small detour and stopped at an outcrop I was well familiar with in Leitchfield, the Upper Mississippian Glen Dean Formation.

Texas Springtime is my favorite - we haven't had much rain, but the weather is....typical Texas. 60 one day and 90 the next. But I find my tolerance for random temperatures is way better when I am out fossil hunting! So here are some finds from recent excursions. Plus a few shots along the way..... Some local Longhorns. As I head out of my neighborhood, these critters are sometimes out enjoying the Texas sunshine The fossiling started with a nice trip out with Erich Rose to a Glen Rose spot - first thing I spot is something i've never found in our Central Texas formations....a vertebra! So exciting!! Turns out it's a large fish -Ichthyodectes. Size 3/4 inch Also found a lovely big gastropod that Erich ID'd as a Caliopea - I was happy to find a new gastro! Size 3 inches Plus something really special - Erich have me a starfish ossicle he found. ( I guess he already had enough to make a starfish? I'm really going to need some more) Size 1/8 inch A week or so later, I hit up a few local Walnut Formation areas, hoping to find a Dumblea echinoid. It is eluding me. No luck, but I did find a REALLY nice Engonoceras stollyi just sitting at the bottom of an embankment.. waiting for me to find it! Mother Natures Gift.... All cleaned up: Also found this really beautifully preserved Bivalve Inoperna concentricecostellata Size 2.5 inches At another Walnut spot I had some good luck finding Leptosalenia mexicanas Biggest one is 3/8 inch Back at home, the Redbud was blooming: and the butterflies were landing in the purple verbena Next excursion was out to my favorite Glen Rose location where I picked up some matrix to look at under the microscope. I took my mom with me and she had a good time finding little crab claws and tiny crinoids. I found a variety of Crinoid Isocrinus anulatus - I am always surprised at the variety of shapes and designs! Size 1/8 - 1/4 inch Plus some really nice tiny tiny crab claws Went to another Glen Rose spot and found this big ole Jackrabbit wondering why I was crawling around on the ground: To find the Fossils, silly rabbit! Heteraster texanus size 1 inch Gastropod Nerita bonnellensis Size 1/2 inch Loriolia rosana Size 1/2 inch Another day was back out to another couple of Walnut Formation locations Found a nice, if not complete, Protoengonoceras gabbi Size 2 inches (And a special thanks to @erose for the egonocerid paper so I can properly ID these ammos! Turned out a couple I had just labeled as Engonoceras, were actually Metagonoceras and a Platiknemiceras! Also found this cool, unknown Gastropod (possibly a Natica, but none I could discern that fit the species) Size 3/4 inch And a really nice (both sides preserved) Bivalve Ludbrookia arivichensis Size 1 inch The family took a trip to Enchanted Rock State Park - no fossils here!! Solid Pink Granite batholith. See those tiny people at the top? The rock is huge! And yes, I made it up to the top, but I certainly found out how out of shape this Pandemic has made me!! To prove I made it: Yesterdays hunt was back out to the Glen Rose, to a spot I had found a couple of interesting echinoids (before I really knew what I was looking for!) so I went back to see if I could find anything else...but literally ALL I found were more of these Plagiochasma echinoids! And a clam. So I don't know if it was a little nest, or what, but 7 in total, none in great condition, but they are really beautiful (and rare) echinoids. Plagiochasma texanum Size 1/2 inch And finally, another unknown Gastropod Size 1/2 inch I Hope all of y'all are enjoying spring (if it has sprung in your area) or are at least looking forward to it!

found in Lebanon Not found in any specific formation but, according to the geo map i have, the rocks are late Cretaceous(albian-vraconian) lots of gastropods, bivalves and brachiopods around. i want to say its some sort of ammonite, but as far as known fossils here ammonites arent some of them. the ridges on it seem to be connected to each other like a puzzle would be (image 3). also the fossil tapers(image 1). this is all the information i have. Note: To my knowledge no Ammonites have been recorded in Lebanon Thanks for your help guys!

On a recent trip to the Wutach Valley I discovered a pile of fossils on a slope by the side of the road which had obviously been disposed by somebody who didn't want them any more. Among other things was a small piece of matrix chock-a-block full of various gastropod species. They all look somehow familiar to me, but I can't for the life of me figure out where they are from, what stratigraphical formation they belong to or what their names are. Does any one have any suggestions?

Hi, gang. Some of you may remember the Southern Morocco trip I took in February. One of the places visited was quite near to me, about 70 km, lovely Swiss style mountain town called Ifrane where I found some Middle Jurassic brachiopods and echinoids. See http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/93193-ifrane-middle-atlas-morocco/&tab=comments#comment-1026671 A friend offered to drive me up there for the day so off we went I decided to check some outcrops on the other side of the road this time so went and had a peek.Sorry, no photos this time as wifey didn't come, she was ironing her money and she has the only camera phone. The first outcrop is an oyster bed crammed with enormous oysters. This is incredibly hard and couldn't be broken safely. (safely as in getting the fossils out in one piece, not my own personal well-being). But I was lucky enough to find this monster just lying a the base: Scale in inches it would seem. I think I can clean it up a bit. Eventually. After i'd dragged my broken carcass a few hundred whatevers further on, the limestone became yellower, softer but still pretty hard. Lots of broken shell material, a couple of ammonite bits, but the only salvageable items were these couple of rather nice gastropods; again, they should clean up a bit better: Oh, the scale's in centimetres this time. I felt like a change. You know, it's amazing how often I've given up on a days collecting and then, on the way back to the car, you find something just in your path that makes the trip. Here was mine this time : Forgot the scale altogether. Sigh. Maybe four or five centmetres diameter. Harpoceras, perhaps? It has a very pronounced keel. @Ludwigia Roger? I'll be able to prep this pretty well in 2046 when i get to my Jurassic stuff. Nothing spectacular, but it's always so nice to be out in the field collecting. Life's Good. Adam.

This chunk of rock and several others were in the local creek next to the railroad track. It appears these rocks were brought in for railroad erosion control next to the small creek runs parallels to the railroad track. Also darker in color than surrounding chalk limestones, and full of gastropods normally not found in this area. Are these Cretaceous gastropods?

Fossil Forum, I have recently uncovered the external mold of a gastropod. I am thinking that it is Platyschisma helicites, but am unsure. The main problem is that I am unaware of the formation it is from. I found it right next to an outcrop of the Leighton Formation, but the fauna and the matrix does not match it. It might be from the Edmunds Formation, but I am unsure of this too. Either way, they are both Silurian. Any help on its ID would be appreciated. Here are some pictures of it:

There is so much going on on this rock not sure I captured it all. Found in park east of DFW airport, North Texas Eagle Ford. Most interesting is the long object running down center of rock, almost the whole length. Have not been able to find anything similar. Not sure what else is there other than snails, ammonite, bacculites, maybe worms and tiny turritella looking gastropod? Appreciate any ID !