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hello, I was sold this phalanx as being that of a theropod.it would date from the Moroccan Jurassic and measures about 3cm

Hi all, Bought this tooth online a while back. It was sold to me as "Ichthyosaurus platyodon" (which I understand to mean Temnodontosaurus platyodon) from Lyme Regis. Likely found by the seller themselves, as I know they occasionally collect fossils there. However, for the following reasons, I'm not sure about this attribution: Overall, the tooth doesn't look like your typical ichthyosaur tooth to me: It has more of an oval rather than round cross-section It's labolingually flattened Messial and distal carinae run the full length of the crown and divide the tooth into labial and lingual parts While fine striations can be seen on one side of the tooth (presumably the lingual side), the other side (which would be the labial) seems entirely smooth - though some traces of rare striations can be seen on the photographs The striations are much more similar to those of crocodile or pliosaur teeth than to the plicidentine condition so typical of ichthyosaurs The horizontal banding on the tooth surface is unfamiliar to me with respect to most marine reptile teeth I have seen, but occurs much more frequently on crocodile teeth of various species I also bought another tooth with the same attribution from the seller, more or less around the same time. This one has no striations whatsoever, has a more rounded base, is less flattened and has a more rounded tip. It also has carinae. I therefore reclassified it as a probable Goniopholis sp. crocodile tooth. Now I know that not having the root makes it more difficult to identify this particular specimen, but I was hoping someone on this forum might be able to help me, as currently it goes without label. I've considered crocodile, plesiosaur and even pliosaur, but all of these have some reservations that prevent final classification. For one, none of these groups have teeth that are typically flattened like this, nor do plesiosaurs (sensu lato, thus including pliosaurs) have carinae. Crocodiles, then again, would either have or not have striations all around the tooth. And what to make of the banding: is this just preservational, or does it reflect the internal structure of the tooth - i.e. outcome of the tooth's ontological growth? Tooth measures 18 mm and is missing the tip. Thanks in advance for your help!

Belemnites have been my core interest for decades, starting as an 8 year old kid when I saw and bought the pointy end of a large Cylindroteuthis in a curio shop (I still have it ). This led eventually to being able to research some Lower Jurassic ones for my Ph.D at university. I pursued another career after that (musical instrument repair and restoration) but palaeontology has remained a fairly fanatical interest ever since. Most of my early collection (including nearly all the research stuff) has been lost for various reasons but I've been able to replace much of it and added many new forms with field trips and purchases. So I'll start this thread with a few species from the Lower Lias, Lower Pliensbachian Stage, that first made me realise that not all belemnites look the same. This was a time of sudden diversity for the group. Earlier species (Sinemurian) are small and of low diversity, mostly belonging to the genus Nannobelus (= "dwarf dart"). (I'll do those later). All from the Charmouth Mudstone Formation, Stonebarrow Marl Member (formerly "Belemnite Marls"). Charmouth, Dorset, UK. Jamesoni Zone, Polymorphus Subzone. Bairstowius junceus/longissimus (Phillips, Miller). (junceus is the currently accepted name for the large form and longissimus for small, slender ones. The small ones appear to be immature individuals so they should probably all be longissimus which has priority.) A group all collected from the same small fallen block - almost certainly all the same species. (A large collection shows a complete series of intermediate forms, though probable sexual dimorphism divides fatter and thinner adults.) From the same beds - the scarce Coeloteuthis (Clastoteuthis) abrupta (Coeloteuthis is an awkward genus that needs revision - a bit complicated, but basically the original type specimen has been lost and the genus has ended up being based on a lectotype that is a different species and probably genus, and even family...) Just for comparison: "normal" belemnites - species of Passaloteuthis - exist in the same beds and are common. Here are two(?) species, the top two specimens probably being variants of one.

Roughly two years ago, while investigating the identity of a marine reptile tooth said to have come from Lyme Regis, I got hinted about a spectacular new marine crocodile, much older than any other member of the thalattosuchian clade. This new species has finally been described: Turnersuchus hingleyae! Set outside the traditional subgroupings of teleosauroidea and metriorhynchoidea, this newly described species has major implications for the evolutionary relationships between thalattosuchians and other crocodylomorphs. Wilberg, Godoy, Griffiths, Turner & Benson, 2023. A new early diverging thalattosuchian (Crocodylomorpha) from the Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian) of Dorset, U.K. and implications for the origin and evolution of the group. Art by Júlia d'Oliveira (source)

Happy New Year! I'm looking for some suggestions on how to more effectively prep some Dactyloceras. These are in Whitby nodules. The matrix surrounding them is too small to split. I've done a few with a dremel using Zoicpaleotech points with some success. But the inner whorls are not coming out as I'd like. I would appreciate any help Thanks!

Hi everyone! I got those ammonite from a friend but he don’t know the species and exact locality because he buy from a shop. These from UK and likely Jurassic age. Does anyone have information about these ammonite please help me ID it. Thanks

Hi everyone, Here is my newest found in my field trip. The formation is early Jurassic age. The ammonite around 20cm diameter. Do you have any idea about the ammonite species? Thank you!

I find skulls one of the most interesting pieces of fossil you can ever own. So here I'd love to see all of your fossil skulls, or parts of one. Here is my Pleistocene era skull of a Ursus arctos. An ice age brown bear. Very very uncommon find.

A while back, I was researching the number of likely Tyrannosauroidea dinosaurs that inhabited the Southern Hemisphere (I know this is a very controversial subject) in the Early Cretaceous for an extra credit research paper I was doing for my freshmen year college geology class. As I was looking for data for the paper, I found an unusual data entry on the paleontological database website fossilworks.org - It lists Tyrannosauridae remains from Jurassic Madagascar. http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=collectionSearch&collection_no=55391 The specimen MSNM V5819 (consisting of a partial tooth) was apparently found in Mahajanga, Madagascar at the Bathonian aged Isalo Illb Formation (dating 167.7-164.7 million years ago) in 2003. S. Maganuco, A. Cau, and G. Pasini (2005) First description of theropod remains from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Madagascar. Atti della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano, 146(2):165-202 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257651210_First_description_of_theropod_remains_from_the_Middle_Jurassic_Bathonian_of_Madagascar (You can read the actual paper with this above link). Here is also two photographs from the paper of the specimen MSNM V5819 The authors of the paper (which I must say did a really good job with the research and paper itself) state that a healthy degree of caution must be given in assigning MSNM V5819 to Tyrannosauroidea. Still, if this is indeed correct, It would be one of the earliest members of Tyrannosauroidea, with the only currently known older Tyrannosauroidea taxon being Proceratosaurus of England. The Specimen MSNM V5819 is maybe even older than Kileskus of Russia, Guanlong of China, and Aviatyrannus of Portugal. Still, the only currently known specimen is a single tooth, MSNM V5819, and I'm not 100% certain this represents a member of Tyrannosauroidea? What do you guys think?

Hello all, As a belemnite collector, I am looking for the American Jurassic species Pachyteuthis densus (Meek & Hayden, 1858). Does someone have this species and is willing to trade some examples of this particular species? Kind regards, Ruben The Netherlands

As I am currently working on a certificate for a nice pterosaur I love to share a great paper about them. I love it, very cool! Posture, locomotion, and paleoecology of pterosaurs Pterosaur.pdf

Hello. I found this scleractinian coral fossil in the Hanifa Formation in Saudi Arabia which dates back to the Oxfordian, Jurassic. It doesn’t seem to be mentioned in scientific papers and I think it could be a new species. If so, what family and genus is it. Thank you!!

Scientists Uncover New Information Regarding an Ancient Mass Extinction Event Florida state University, SciTechDailey, December 22, 2022 The open access paper is: Them, T.R., Owens, J.D., Marroquín, S.M., Caruthers, A.H., Alexandre, J.T. and Gill, B.C., 2022. Reduced Marine Molybdenum Inventory Related to Enhanced Organic Carbon Burial and an Expansion of Reducing Environments in the Toarcian (Early Jurassic) Oceans. AGU Advances, 3(6), p.e2022AV000671. open access Yours, Paul H.

Jawbone Discovery Suggests Modern Mammals Originated in The Southern Hemisphere By Clare Watson, Nature, ScienceAlert, 24 December 2022 Mammals island-hopped from Australia to colonise the world Claire Vince, Australian Museum, December 12, 2022 The open access paper is: Flannery, T.F., Rich, T.H., Vickers-Rich, P., Veatch, E.G. and Helgen, K.M., 2022. The Gondwanan Origin of Tribosphenida (Mammalia). Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, pp.1-14. Yours, Paul H.

Germany is one of the top fossil-hunting destinations in Europe, having plenty of easy-to-access, highly productive localities that are visited every day by experienced collectors and families alike. The Swabian Jura (or Swabian Alb) region (southwestern Germany, near Stuttgart) has a highly significant geological heritage, which is part of the network of the UNESCO Global Geoparks since 2015. The most popular destination within the park is the area around the village of Holzmaden. In the early 20th century, several quarries dotted the area. Nowadays, the mining operations have almost completely ceased, but one or two of them can still be accessed, for instance the ‘Schieferbruch Ralf Kromer’ quarry, located in the neighboring village of Ohmden. By paying a 4 euros daily ticket, you can access the place (in our case even with the car) and collect fossils. You may keep everything you find, except for the highly unlikely case when you find something that is of scientific interest. The rock which is exploited is a finely laminated limestone, called Posidonia Shale. It has a dark colour, due to the high amount of organic matter and mineral oil. These rocks are Toarcian (Lower Jurassic, around 180 million years ago) in age. At the time a sea extended over the area, which was affected by a monsoon climate. During summer months, water stratification led to the bottom waters and sea floor being oxygen-free. As a result, bacteria and scavengers were absent: organic matter was very slowly decomposed and, if it was quickly covered by sediment washed in, it had a high chance of being preserved, turning with time into fossils. The taphonomic conditions explained above account for the often exceptional preservation of Holzmaden fossils. Several complete specimens of ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, thalattosuchians (so-called sea crocodiles) and fish are known. Flying reptiles and dinosaurs are extremely rare. Molluscs (bivalves, ammonites) and crinoids are very abundant, whereas arthropods and echinoderms are rare. _______________________________________ I visited the Swabian Alb Geopark in August 2022 with a friend (@Marcosaur) , stopping at the Kromer quarry for two days. Here follows a brief account of my experience: The Kromer quarry yields a very high number of ammonites, ranging in size from a few millimeters to 40 cm or even more. Brachiopods and bivalves are less common. Crinoids and fish are not preserved in the layers exposed in this quarry; disarticulated reptile bones (chiefly vertebrae) and teeth can be occasionally found and if you are extremely lucky, you may even find articulated specimens. First, here is a panoramic view of the quarry from near the entrance. The fossil-rich layers are best exposed at the opposite end, but, not knowing this, my friend and I began excavating in a different location. Soon, however, we realized that and we moved to a better site. At this point, things improved quickly. We could work on larger limestone surfaces, which split more easily, so that we could prevent the fossils from breaking. Here you can see a panoramic of the quarry from above: View of our definitive excavation site; most of the large slabs lying on the ground were packed with fossils: Ammonites were extremely abundant and they made up more than 90% of the fossils that we found. They are always flattened and pyritized, thus being golden yellow in colour. When you split a rock, you get part and counterpart. Three genera are predominant in the Kromer quarry: Dactylioceras, Lytoceras and Harpoceras. The former attains small to medium size, whereas the other two are represented by large specimens. A slab could preserve countless Dactylioceras shells on its surface, making the slab itself almost completely yellow and shining, a delight to behold! We recovered two or three Harpoceras specimens, 20 to 25 cm in size. We didn’t find any Lytoceras, only fragments; however, other people working next to us did find some and they were massive, more than 30 cm in size! Here you can see several Dactylioceras specimens: And here a massive slab, fully covered by countless Dactylioceras! Bivalves and brachiopods are usually not pyritized and dark in colour, thus being less easy to spot on the slab surface. We recovered only a handful of them, but they were quite well preserved. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any vertebrate fossil and, as far as we know, neither did any other people working during the two days that we were there. If they had, the news would have spread pretty quickly! The limestone is quite hard and it often doesn’t break along a line. The thicker the rock, the easier it can be split in flat surfaces, revealing part and counterpart of the fossil specimens. When working with large slabs, a crowbar is essential. It was by lifting such a heavy slab that we saw before our eyes a complete Harpoceras: it was our best find and we committed not to break it, by carving out a slab that we could then lift and put aside. Soon we exposed another specimen right next to it. Here you can see how that looked: Two other Harpoceras ammonites: Another Harpoceras, this time a counterpart: To sum up, this two-days trip in the Kromer quarry was highly succesfull and rewarding, despite a slow start in the first day and the hot temperatures. The trunk of the car was fully loaded by the end of the second day! I highly suggest to anyone visiting southern Germany to stop at this place, you won't be disappointed. Besides, you can then visit the impressive UrweltMuseum Hauff in Holzmaden, where many wonderful fossils are on display. I will upload a post about my visit to the museum soon. Last thing, my friend and I recorded a short video (in two parts) at the quarry, where we kept track of our progress and finds. The dialogues are in Italian only, but I guess that you could let the fossils speak for themselves! Here it is - Part 1: - Part 2: If you want further information, here are two useful links: - Website of the quarry: http://www.schieferbruch-kromer.de/ - Overview of the Posidonia shale: http://www.holzmaden.com/Holzmaden_fossils_informations.html Thank you for the attention, Italo40

Hi everyone. I've recently discovered that I'm absolutely fascinated by the fossils and associated Geology of the UK. It started with a visit to Kimmeridge bay with my 8 year old Son, where we saw the large ammonite impressions on the foreshore. I've also been fortunate enough to visit rarely seen fossils through my passion for Caving. I live close to Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire, where I've found dozens of fascinating little treasures from the Jurassic mud spring there. I'm also within striking distance of some superb locations in Somerset and Dorset. Although new and naive, I am keen! So much so that I've set up a little fossil prep workshop in my shed, complerte with air scribe, dust removal etc. Very early stages of the apprenticeship though!

Hi, I 3D-printed another model, this time it's a life reconstruction of Passaloteuthis, a belemnite from the Jurassic. Several exceptionally preserved specimens have been found in southern Germany, on which I based this model. It is printed on an Anycubic Photon Mono X in white resin and painted using acrylics. The eye lenses are printed seperately from tranasparent resin and painted from the back before assembly. This will be my last 3D-print for the next time, unfortunately. Cheers, Thorsten

Hi there everyone, I just wanted to get some opinions on something. This is supposedly a sauropod transverse process. Can anyone confirm or reject that claim, or just give me your thoughts? It just says “a Jurassic site in Wyoming”, so that could narrow down the potential family/species. I’m sure you can tell it’s apparently the top and bottom of the same bone, just broken and missing a bit in between. Thanks for any and all help!

Howdy! I’ve recently inherited a small amount of money, which I intend to spend on a high quality fossil. Merry Christmas to me! (I’m sure my Mom would approve…) I’ve always wanted a Solnhofen dragonfly. Attached are a couple photos of a specimen of interest, identified as Aeschnogomphus. I’ve requested UV photos if possible of specimen, which is in Europe. I know it’s essentially all real. But is there artistic enhancement? Seller says no repair, but can’t say whether it has been enhanced. It is very, very expensive, a once in a lifetime purchase. Probably a good investment. But perhaps too expensive to buy online…From someone I don’t know… I can provide website name or link if allowed on this Forum. I also have my eye on a Burgess Shale fossil as an alternative, authenticity guaranteed, from a very reputable guy I’ve purchased from before. Any thoughts at all would be much appreciated. Cheers!

Hello, I've got 5 teeth from Niger I thought I'd post all at once to get ID input. Thanks for any help you can offer. (1) Labeled Afrovenator. Tiouraren Formation of the Agadez region of Niger: Posterior looks to be about 2.75/mm Anterior looks to be about 2.5/mm (2) Labeled Afrovenator. Tiouraren Formation (Niger) Posterior looks to be about 2.25/mm Anterior looks to be about 1.8/mm (3) and (4) Two labeled Eocarcharia. Elrhaz formation, tenere desert, Niger. Is it possible for the anterior denticles to not extend to the bottom on Eocarcharia? On both of these, it looks possible that they were worn away on the bottom portion, but looks a little more to me like they end. Maybe anterior teeth? (3) Posterior look to be about 3/mm Anterior look to be about ~~2.5/mm Ending of anterior carina (4) Posterior about 3/mm and less perpendicular than the others, I think NO SERRATIONS PRESENT ON ANTERIOR, given the wear facet. (5) Labeled Eocarcharia. Elrhaz formation, tenere desert, Niger. Separated from (3) and (4) because it seems different enough from them to draw attention to to the diff. Posterior maybe 3.5/mm Anterior maybe ~~3.5/mm THANK YOU!!