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I'm planning a trip out west and through my research of the green river formation fossil site at Douglas Pass, CO I've found that there is a no trespassing sign on the gate which you must pass to reach the fossil hunting area. I would appreciate if anyone with experience at the site could shed some light on this because the last thing I want to do is trespass and collect fossils in an area where the latter is prohibited. I'm wondering if the no trespassing sign pertains only to the area surrounding the radar dome. I would be disappointed to find out that the site is off limits and the various posts I've read are either special access or through illegal means. Thanks, PN

Had a phenomenal time digging up Eocene freshwater vertebrae fossils in Wyoming this past weekend at @sseth and @FossilDudeCO famous American Fossil Quarry. Managed to convince my cousin, his two sons, and my family to join. @sseth set us up with our own rocks to split and he was very informative, showing us how to split the rock and what to look for. We all had a really good time. Here are some of the highlights. Matt's two sons Logan and Wesley had a blast. Here's their cart full of Knightia's. A sneak peak at some of the multi slabs I hauled away. On the bottom is a slab with five complete fish. There's one hiding in the sun and another top right that needs to be prepared out. Some of the finds. Some of these fish need some prep work to fully uncover. A personal favorite was the largest Diplomystus I have ever found. I should of put something in the picture for scale but this fish is nearly a foot wide. The heartbreaker of the day was this well preserve Mioplosus. The top and bottom halves of the head are missing! Still a nice looking fish and I'll use it for referencing the species in the years to come. Wesley holding up a decent sized Knightia. A view of the limestone rocks we were splitting. @sseth recovered a crocodile tooth from a small slab such as the ones pictured here some time ago. Matt trimming down his finds on the rock saw. My cousin Matt and his son Wesley showing off some of their prized fish. A front view of the rock quarry. There's a lot to offer at the site. Wes lining up fish for his dad to cut. Matt sawing away. The remains of the slabs after we split them down. We kept revisiting and respiting slabs. It was a lot of fun. The Seth clan hanging out under the shade, escaping the hot sun and dust. Couldn't resist snapping this photo. I really need to get one of these decals. @sseth on the left side. He was super helpful in showing us what to look for. That Mososaur skull on his shirt was recovered my him in Morocco. That is super neat. I'm holding up a large Knightia near Logan and Wes. Matt and his sons getting pumped to descend 50 million years into the Eocene. At 9:00am we were among the first on sight and we were all super excited to get to the digging and exploring. Wes (left) and Logan (right) braving the dust and sun to find Eocene fossils. Have to start them off young! Having dinner at a local Mexican restaurant in Kemmerer. The food was really good. We ordered Carne Asada that came with spicy salsa. Matt kept telling the waitress to bring out the "Gringo" salsa.

Just wanted to share the x-ray of a fossil we extracted this weekend at our Quarry. All we could see was the cross section and we were pretty sure it was an amia but this sealed the deal. Notice that it's jaws have floated back by the tail and will need to be removed and re-inserted back in the skull. These are very uncommon in our quarry so we were very excited. Enjoy.

A few months ago I bought something like 12 flats of leaves that were found years ago, Parachute Creek member of the Green River Formation, near Bonanza, Utah. I just started working through identifying them, which is going to be a bit of a process to say the least. First question: is there a PDF of MacGinitie? I have a list of the Parachute Creek species from his work, but I could use more specific descriptions of the species (if there are any plates that would help a lot too). In the mean time, here are a few of the more interesting ones from the group I was hoping to get some help with while I get working on the others (more duplication there, so once I figure out the ID's my pile should decrease quickly). First up, I think this is the tip of a Equisetum winchesteri, hoping for verification there. Next, an interesting branch with a bud? Any ideas on species? This is another Equisetum winchesteri, any ideas on the branch and leaves that are also on the plate? This seems to be a sort of clinging vine, there are some nice tendrils attached. Any idea on species, and if the leaves belong to the vine? The leaves appear to be the same species and the stems are both pointed towards the vine, which would lead me to believe the go together. Last up, one more group of leaves. Any help would be great, thank you! Nathan

I just received this multi fish plate in the mail yesterday. It was a bargain from our favorite auction site. Not quite sure if it is a plate of Gosiutichthys parvus, or Knightia eocaena. The description listed them as small Knightia sp. (eocaena, most likely), but I know many of the Green River fish on the auction site are mis-identified. The individual fish look like Gosiutichthys to me. The largest one on the plate is about 2.25 inches. They seem to have the upward mouth gape, and the dorsal fins appear to me to be a bit more anterior of the center of the fish. I haven't gone as far as counting the fin rays yet, but am able to if necessary, (which is looking more likely ). Any thougths appreciated.

I have difficulties to find out what this small fish (1.8" or 4,5cm) from the Eocene GRF is. A baby Priscacara or Cockerellites? Or is it a Hypsiprisca hypsacantha? Or one of these so far (?) undescribed Priscacara species? The tail fin seems to be very, very slightly forked (almost round) and the Praeoperculum bears some spines. So I would guess Hypsiprisca hypsacantha, but I am not sure. Who can help? Thanks Thomas

Anyone know of some good papers or books for identifying the species on GRF leaves? Mainly looking for leaf info, but insect info is welcome too. Nathan

The Trip That Nearly Didn't Start (Lengthy image-intensive trip report follows) Tammy and I had planned a fossil hunting trip to Wyoming for the third week of September to redeem our day of digging (splitting rock) at the Green River Formation quarry that @sseth had earlier so generously offered up as a prize on an auction to benefit TFF. We had our airfares, a rental car reserved, and a series of hotels booked across the state ready for a monumental fossil hunting trip. The one small problem was the not so small storm named Hurricane Irma that tore through the northern Caribbean and had its sights set on the Florida and being wider than the peninsula, no Floridian was going to miss the effects of this storm. Earlier in the week the forecast had the centerline of the cone of probability for the track of the storm hitting Miami and traveling up the eastern coast where Boca Raton sat squarely in the cross-hairs. I guess that if you are going to be in the path of some major destruction it is better to be the target early in the week rather that toward the end when the storm is at our doorstep. Thankfully (for us, but not so for those in the Lower Keys and Southwest Florida), the storm's turn to the north was delayed and though we were now on the stronger NE quadrant of the storm, the eye was significantly far away to the west that we escaped the strongest of winds. The storm unleashed squadrons of tornadoes and micro-bursts which had us ducking into our safe room for cover. During the storm unidirectional winds first blew from the east and then from the south as the storm passed us to the west but the tornadic winds were something else as the trees started whipping around in all directions quite violently. Luckily for us, the house survived with no structural damage. The newer more sturdy pool cage that replaced the original one that Wilma had crumpled and stuffed into the pool back in 2005 (shockingly) did not even lose a single screen panel. The damage on our property was limited to toppled trees and broken limbs and branches. We lost power even before the eye wall had made first landfall in the Florida Keys. As soon as it was safe to go outside, we started the portable generator and ran extension cords throughout the house to keep refrigerator, freezer and a box fan and a few lights powered. We've cooked on our outdoor grill and Coleman camp stove in previous power outages caused by the rash of hurricanes in 2004/05 and so we were well prepared and never at risk of starvation (we actually ate rather well). While Wilma had run over the house in late October, 2005 when the temperatures had cooled somewhat from the hot muggy Florida summer, we were not so lucky this time. Outdoor temps in the low 90's were soon matched by the 88 degrees inside which made sleeping difficult (even with a fan). We spent the days cutting up the downed foliage and stacking it into many piles along the street in back of the house as well as a towering mount in the cul-de-sac in front (which is still growing in size to this day and is due to be cleared by FEMA sometime in the next 2-3 weeks). Taking frequent breaks inside to lay down on the floor in front of the fan to avoid all-out heat exhaustion, both Tammy and I worked to clear the property as much as we could and monitor the progress of power restoration in our county. Over 70% of homes and businesses were left in the dark after Irma but Florida Power & Light had learned a few things after performing poorly in the 2004/05 hurricane seasons. They had staged a bunch of replacement parts and crews fresh from working in Houston were in the state working to get the grid back online. We couldn't leave on our trip unless we got power back and we watched the percentage of customers without power slowly but steadily decrease until one evening our power flickered and within a few minutes was restored for good. I had been waiting till the last possible minute to cancel my plans and try to get refunds for the reservations we'd made for this trip. I was tired of a week of hot sweaty yard work clearing debris and I was ready for some cooler Wyoming temps.

Thought I would share this here as well as in Blake's post. You can stop by the Coliseum show in Denver and see it in person at (FossildudeCo ) Blake's booth. @FossilDudeCO Icaronycteris Index, found at our American Fossil quarry in August, 2017! Icaronycteris Index is one of the oldest bat species on the planet. It lived some 51 million years ago in the Eocene epoch in Wyoming. Icaronycteris was a primitive bat, emerging very early in the age of mammals. Modern bats have only a single claw on their first digit, but Icaronycteris also had another one on the second digit. Icaronycteris also lacked a uropatagium, the flap of skin in between the legs of modern bats that also includes the tail. It has a long tail, a carryover in its evolution from a land dwelling mammal. Icaronycteris also had a less rigid skeletal structure. Finally even though Icaronycteris was an insectivore, it had a full set of teeth that were relatively unspecialized beyond the basic mammalian form. Later bats would develop more specialized teeth that were also fewer in number than Icaronycteris had. It was discovered in our quarry in August 2017 and has been prepped to perfection under the microscope. It has a great deal of soft tissue preservation including muscle and membrane on the right wing, tendons, and even cartilage connecting the sternum to the ribs. It is an amazing specimen, right down to the claws on its feet. Enjoy Seth

Hi all, I saw this Diplomystus online for sale. I was surprised by the prize: 20$! But then I started to get a little suspicious. Though most fakes are mosasaurs and keichousaurs, I heard that fossil fish from the Green River formation are often re-painted so that they look more splendid. Though I am pretty sure that this specimen here was originally 100% real, I think that it might have been painted on. Is my suspicion right, or is this one 100% natural? Here is the info they gave: What do you think? Thanks, Max

Hi everyone! I am totally new at collecting fossils. My family and I went to a place south of Vernal and dug in the Green River Formation and found several leaves and insects. My question is do I need to put something over them to protect them? I have read about duco cement for bones, but I didn't read anything for leaves. I am assuming that the insects found in the same formation would be preserved the same way. I included pictures of some of the insects we found. Any advice will be greatly appreciated! Anthony

I just couldn't resist purchasing this Knightia, from the Green River Formation in Wyoming from a local craigslist seller. Yes I do troll craigslist a lot looking for all the coolest gadgetry. Well the lady I bought it from said it was gifted to her and that she had no clue what it was and didn't want it. She sold it to me for $10. I plan on taking a trip to the Green River Formation but just in case I don't make it out I decided to get this 7" beauty.

Here are copies of images that Kris posted in the "Auction prep" topic. The slab he is prepping contains this large plant fragment. I have scanned Grande's text looking for a match, but have had no success. Does anyone have a clue as to a possible donor of the fragment? Also check out Kris' interesting prep series on this Notogoneus specimen.

Calciavis grandei: An awesome new Green River bird species for all you fossil hunters in Wyoming! Palaeoart (by Velizar Simeonovski) From SciNews: "A nearly 50-million-year-old bird fossil unearthed in Wyoming represents a new species that is a close relative of living kiwis, ostriches, and emus, according to a team of paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The ancient bird, named Calciavis grandei, is believed to be roughly the size of a chicken and was mostly ground-dwelling, only flying in short bursts to escape predators. “This is among one of the earliest well-represented bird species after the age of large dinosaurs,” said co-author Dr. Sterling Nesbitt, from Virginia Tech. The exceptionally well-preserved specimen of Calciavis grandei dating from the Eocene epoch — with bones, feathers, and fossilized soft tissues — was found more than a decade ago in the Green River Formation, a former lake bed. The Eocene lake is best known for producing scores of complete fish skeleton fossils, but other fossils such as other birds, plants, crocodilians, turtles, bats, and mammals from an ecosystem 50 million years old. According to Dr. Nesbitt and his colleague, Prof. Julia Clarke from the American Museum of Natural History, Calciavis grandei belongs to the extinct group of early Palaeognathae birds, the Lithornithidae. The bird is a close relative of the modern-day kiwis, ostriches, and tinamous now living in the southern continents." Full article at SciNews. Research paper from the AMNH. Fossil: