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Hello everyone this is my first post on the fossil forum.I’m 16 year old girl with autisum that loves fossils and I need help Identifying a fossil I got at a fossil/gemstone shop in South Dakota.I think it may be the rhino species Hyracodon.I also have a another fossil I got from the same place and I think it may be fossil horse or oredont tooth.So I would really appreciate it if someone can help me identify these.please and thank you.

I have 1kg of rough Burmese amber stones ready to polish but I'm a little stumped as to where to start. I've polished Dominican pieces before using a dremel and wet sandpaper with success, but this stuff is older and much harder. In addition to the thin rough skin on these pieces, a lot have rock (or some combination of amber/earth) running through them making it difficult to figure out the plan of attack in regard to finding inclusions and getting a nice shine. Anyone here have experience with this?

Mare and I are headed to Eastern Oregon for a combined rock hunting/fossil hunting/gold prospecting trip. The month of June seems to be a good time as things have dried out, kids are still in school, and fire season hasn't really started in earnest. We'll be heading to Fossil, wandering over to Prairie City and the John Day country, then dropping down to Izee. We'll end up stopping at Delintment Lake, Glass Butte, and Hamton Butte. Our 20' RPOD travel trailer will be "base camp." A series of side trips will include visits to the Painted Hills and Sheep Rock Units of the FossilBeds National Monument. I am primarily interested in searching for ammonites but do plan on an obligatory stop at Wheeler High School for plant specimens. Obsidian and limb casts are also on my collection list. I've done a lot of research and map recon and will share pics of the trip upon return. Any suggestions on what to look for - and where - will be cheerfully appreciated!

Hello Everyone, Since I am away from my usual haunts and fossil hunts and currently on the left coast ... we decided (ok, I insisted like a small excited child) that we take our annual trip to Ed's House of Gems on Sandy Blvd. in Portland, Oregon. Since meeting my wife's folks and seeing her old stomping grounds as a child ... her family's frequent visits to this old dive bar of a rock shop was one of the extra bonuses that sealed the deal and now we have two kids. haha. Ok, so Ed's is a family run business and has been around at least as long as we have .. 40 + years. It is a building tucked a bit away from a street filled with mariner themed dive bars, Chinese restaurants, and establishments of ill repute (?) Ok, it's Portland so they have a bikini drive through coffee hut nearby as well..... Keeping it weird. The storefront has probably not changed over the decades so it borders on the kitsch .. which honestly is back in style now. It's just a fantastic trip down memory lane when 'my' family used to pile into a car for two weeks and drive across the desert Southwest (with one tape player between 3 kids) . These rock shops it seemed were dotted along the highway and we were screaming bloody murder anytime we spotted one, because my dad (I know) secretly wanted to stop at all of them as well. Piled in big metal caged bins were boulders of obsidian or agate, petrified wood, and rose quartz ... buy it by the pound. We usually left with our little trinkets and mineral treats. Always loved those stops, and they are a disappearing breed with online taking over and shuttering the brick and mortar locations. I think the other rock shop here in Oregon that is worth a look is a little place on the way to Bend, OR but I digress. Anyhoo .. inside the store is filled with everything a rockhound would want. Minerals in the rough, slabs, tools, tumblers, mineral specimens, Moroccan fakes, Moroccan real, Riker mounts, shells, fossils etc ..... I love every inch of that rock infested place .. and now it is a new tradition for the next generation. I hope it sticks around for a few more ......

Just signed up after looking over the site. Glad to see there are a lot more people interested in fossils and hunting for them, beside just me and my girlfriend. We have 3 boys that are all about electronics and videogames and for the past few years we've been trying to show them that there is more to the world then 4 walls and a tv. Trying to show them the weight of finding something and holding it i your hand, and knowing that no other human has touched or has seen what you have in millions of years. With that said I would gladly take any advise on anything fossil, gem or mineral related that I can. My only down fall is that I'm in the "arm pit" of New Jersey. Between MY to the north and PA to the west. All the way up in the corner. There are locations near me but not NEAR me. Any help would be great! Thanks, Mike

Hi there, I am Tom a 31 year old (mostly) mineral collector and am looking to hopefully find someone who is looking to possibly go on some mineral or fossil collecting trips I am married and like to on mineral collection trips with my wife since it is something we both enjoy. Unfortunately she works so much that we do not get to go very often. We are up to meeting some other people to go with if the circumstances are there. She is 27 I am 31, we are both working professionals, I do not drive due to being Epileptic, she does, and is willing to drive on some occasions if someone else is willing to. I am willing to pay my share in gas and food and to share my best spots with someone who is interested in collecting minerals/gemstones etc. I have done 100s of hours of research and visited 50+ abandoned mines close to Ottawa or Gatineau. No guessing or wasting time at spots that are no good would be spent if you go collecting with me or my wife. All of the spots are within 1 to 4 hours of Ottawa and I can show you how to distinguish different minerals and teach you about geology...Even if you have limited fossil knowledge I am willing to share my best spots for minerals if you are genuinely interested. If you are not willing to physically go on collecting trip eventually we will exchange info about my hits and misses for minerals if you are also willing to share with me about fossils locations or mineral spots... That is pretty much it... -Tom-

I inherited a rather old collection of assorted rocks and minerals today. I started to go through them, dating back to the 1900s, but unfortunately a lot of their labels have faded or have vanished, so I can't say with any certainty where they came from individually. I can't even say what they all are! (Hoping for some community support for that part ) Posting pics below!

I just inherited a rather nice collection of various rocks and minerals from all over the place. Unfortunately, some of the collection dates back to the early 1900s and a lot of the labels have either disintegrated or have vanished. I know this is a fossil forum, but since there are so many folks here with a wide range of geological knowledge, I was wondering if I could post some of them here in this thread for any insights. They are not fossils, but some of them are pretty darn cool. If a few people are willing to say 'sure, why not' I will post them up. If not, I will seek out a better forum for the topic rather than take up precious fossil space