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As a late Father's Day gift and early Birthday present (I turn 39 tomorrow ) I spent 4 hours Saturday morning in the Glen Dean Limestone. A Carboniferous (Mississippian) formation. As usual, I was channeling my inner mountain goat and scrambling around a Central Kentucky roadcut. As I pulled up to the road cut my heart sank. Grass had grown on the exposure. If memory serves, the last time I was here was in the middle of September of last year and the exposure was bare. Most finds are small so I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find much. Luckily my fear and apprehension was unfounded. As a side note... I wasn't intending to use a screw driver for scale, but you will see the tip of one in multiple pictures. I was using it as a way to mark where the fossil was while digging my phone out of my pocket, but since it is there I will tell you that it is 5mm wide to give a little perspective. With the finds being on the small side, and surface collecting the norm, these were my weapons of choice. A collecting bag of some sort is preferred here over my usual plastic container. It's been my experience that the bag conforms to the slope better and tends to roll up on itself should it start to tumble down the hill side preventing its contents from spilling out. Below is a typical section of ground here. It is littered with bryozoan and crinoid stem fragments. I knew the day was going to be good when my first find was this very long example of Archimedes sp. I'd estimate it to be about 7 inches (nearly 18cm) long. In an exposure that is notorious for broken and flattened fossils, this was a real treat. Unfortunately it was in a rock that was too thick and wide to chisel it out of. I'm fairly certain my chisel and hammer would have worn out long before the rock did. Horn coral are always nice to find. Especially these, which are some of my favorite. Zaphretites spinulosum. Another favorite find from this exposure is crinoid cups. There are multiple species of crinoid here. Crinoid calyx cups are on the uncommon to rare side of finds, but I made out like a champ with crinoids on this trip. Stick around to see some of my rarer finds of the day. Echinoderms are probably my favorite type of fossil to find, and so crinoid cups are great, but my absolute favorite thing to find here is blastoids. Pentremites is the genus to be found. There are several species known from the Glen Dean. That is it for the field pictures. Next up are a few pictures of finds taken after I got home. Horn coral (Zaphretites spinulosum) Calyx cups from various species of crinoid. Blastoids! All are species of Pentremites. The ones on the left are massive for the formation, and rare. Although they are preserved in the typical fashion, crushed and deflated. The middle are more common and are typical size and preservation. The ones on the right are typical size, but are inflated. Pardon the fingers, but it was the best way I could find to get a clear picture of this particular blastoid. I wanted to show the preservation detail. Lovely. Extra long crinoid stems that I grabbed. An line up of brachiopods found here. The last three on the right are typical of the preservation. Just like anything else here they are deflated and crushed. The middle two are new to me species and were found at the transition layer from shale to limestone. The three on the left are preserved in a rare fashion being that they are inflated. Close ups to follow. Again, pardon the man hands. And finally these next few pictures are of the rarest of my finds from this formation to date. These are small gastropods. I still need to research an ID, but @Jeffrey P told me about these when we hunted the location last year and mentioned them as being very rare for the exposure. We only found a couple of broken fragments between the two of us after hunting for 6 hours or so. I found 5 complete ones this time around. Next up is a crinoid cup that has plates attached. I also found a grouping of crinoid arms. These do not go together and were found far apart. Not quite a complete calyx, but maybe next time. That concludes my report. It was a good turn around to a slow fossil year for me. I added many new and rare (for this exposure) things to the collection. I couldn't have asked for a better Father's Day/early Birthday present! Thanks for looking. Edit: I almost forgot the rarest of the rare! I have never read about trilobites being described from this formation and have never seen any other than this tiny pygidium. A small (4mm), but extremely rare (and possibly undescribed) find.

I was cleaning up my "fossil prep room" and found this specimen I meant to ask about months ago. It was found at the base of a Kentucky road cut that had Kope Formation. It is paper thin and actually popped off of the matrix. I then glued it back on. It seemed to look better associated with the trilobit. I am hoping to ID this as specific as possible since it is quite different from what I have found before. THANKS!!!! Mike

I spent Memorial Day morning fossil hunting the Carboniferous in the Salem Limestone (Formation) of Central Kentucky. Hunting the Salem at this particular road cut is a bit of a gamble. There are things to be found here, but good weather, timing, and a bit of luck are needed to have a chance at coming across anything worth writing home about. I have found almost complete Conulariids here, but also watched them crumble in my hands. I didn't bring home bucket loads of fossils this time out, but still, it was a good day. The sun on my face, flowers to smell, and plenty of rocks to break. The bottom half of the Salem Limestone isn't limestone at all, but friable shale that is grey in color. It can be interbedded with layers of a limestone, or a densely packed detritus layer. The Shale is full of fossils, but alas it weathers poorly. If it is exposed for more than a week it crumbles in your hands and turns into the rubble that litters the bottom of the cut. Forget about trying to split any of it when wet as it also tends to break apart. The key to hunting the stuff is to wait for a hard rain that breaks fresh slabs off the face of the exposure, hope for a couple of days of sunny weather to dry it out, then split it shortly after. Wait much longer and the whole boulder will start to fall apart. This is made worse during the colder months with freeze thaw cycles. The detritus layer is just that. A dense layer composed mainly of fossil bits and pieces. It's still worth a look as I found some crinoid cups and trilobite fragments here. The upper part of the formation is limestone. Two different varieties, one coarse and one fine grained. Both are more sparse with fossils than the shale layer, with the coarse grain being the more fossiliferous of the two. You can find brachiopods, coral, and occasionally trilobites here. Here is a picture of the tallest part of the exposure. With 3 distinct level cut into the hills side. I channeled my inner mountain goat and climbed, scrambled, and hiked my way up, down, and around every level. Each level is 12-15 feet (4-5 meters) high. Some pictures from the field: And here are a few of the things I brought home with me. Chondrites? I'm unsure of this one, it may be nothing. Possible ichnofossil? Feeding trail perhaps? Smaller ones (Helminthopsis) can be found here. I picked this up because of the large brachiopod and the tiny gastropod. A sampling of coral. Syringopora maybe? A very weathered trilobite pygidium. It is only about 1cm long. Here is a heartbreaker from a previous trip. I learned the hard way that the friable shale here is better split when dry. A conulariid that split nicely, but the wet rock caused it to fall apart. You can see bits and pieces left as well as the lingering impression. It would have been a nice one had it held together. I picked up a few other things as well, but failed to take pictures. Some of the small horn coral and bryozoan similar to what was shown in the field pictures. I may not have come home with my backpack overflowing, but I still had a good time splitting shale and climbing up and down the road cut. Just getting out and about was enough for me. Oh... I mentioned smelling flowers. I'll leave you with a sampling of the local flora that added to my scenery.

Any ideas on this fragment from the Silurian Bisher Fm. Kentucky? Measures 1 cm.

Thanks in advance. This is one of a group of presumptive fossils found in my daughters' backyard by me and my granddaughters'. It appears to be in a St Louis Limestone formation in Bronston near Somerset Kentucky.

Haven't posted here in forever, but can anyone tell me what I've found here? It initially struck me as a plant, but at the same time I can sort of make out what resemble a crayfish head (complete with antennae) and claw. Neat to look at, whatever it is. About 6cm long. Pikeville Formation, eastern KY

Found in a small void deep in red clay and limestone, no idea what it is. Tube worms? Coprolite? Psuedofossil? Any help is greatly appreciated

Thanks beforehand. My young granddaughters (8 and 5 yo) have went fossil hunting in their backyard around Lake Cumberland in Kentucky and as I am not experienced in identification and cleaning techniques I appreciate all help given to identify several examples of what we collected.

When it comes to fossils, I am a generalist by nature. I haven't met a fossil that I didn't like! However, in an attempt to narrow my focus a bit, I have decided to take a cue from Adam ( @Tidgy's Dad ) and start this thread. I hope to showcase some of my collection, but more importantly have a central place to post IDed specimens, information I have found regarding them, and/or ask for help with IDs. Hopefully other's will get enjoyment from seeing the specimens and potentially learn a thing or two. So come along on my journey through the Carboniferous! If you haven't had the pleasure of getting lost in the Cambrian, Ordovician, or Silurian with Adam, you are doing yourself a disservice! I highly recommend his below threads. Adam's Ordovician Adam's Silurian Adam's Cambrian Now, let's go! Kentucky is known far and wide by fossil collectors for being within the Cincinnati Arch, and having wonderful Ordovician fossils, but what many fail to realize is that the Ordovician makes up a small percent of Kentucky's exposed strata. By far the most represented time period is the Carboniferous. With Central to Western Kentucky being mostly Mississippian in age, and Eastern Kentucky (and part of Western) being predominantly Pennsylvanian. There is a reason that coal is big business here! A simplified version of Kentucky's geological survey map, but it gives you a good idea of the distribution of what can be found. Image borrowed from: Bryson, Lindsey & Gomez-Gutierrez, I.C. & Hopkins, T.C.. (2012). Development of a new durability index for compacted shale. Engineering Geology. s 139–140. 66–75. 10.1016/j.enggeo.2012.04.011. An adaptation of the KGS map found here https://www.uky.edu/KGS/geoky/index.htm I'm lucky enough to be within an hours drive from most represented time periods. Excluding the Tertiary/Cretaceous and Quaternary, but I live in the Mississippian area and find myself hunting that time period more often than not. The Mississippian here is mostly marine in nature with brachiopods, corals, bryozoans, and the like, being the norm. While the Pennsylvanian is a mixed bag of marine and terrestrial life. More information regarding the geology of Kentucky can be found at the Kentucky Geological Survey website here. I would also recommend the open access papers below regarding the Carboniferous and it's invertebrate fauna. I have not studied terrestrial and vertebrate life much yet, but will showcase those finds and related research material as they come. Mississippian Fauna of Kentucky Pennsylvanian Invertebrate Fauna of Kentucky The fossils will come next, and I plan to post a new one regularly (Daily? Weekly? Monthly?) as time permits. So sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the adventure. Carboniferous here we come!

This fossil(?) was found on the roof of a cave in the Renault or Ste. Genevieve Limestones in Kentucky. Mississipian period. I apologize for no scale. It is about 6 inches long I talked to some usgs fossil guys but they weren't sure. They thought it could be from an armored fish. It is unlike any fossil I've ever seen. I originally thought it was just chert, but on closer look, it appeared to have bilateral symmetry. It seems like whatever was in there was replaced by the chert. Although, I'm not really familiar with how fossils form. EDIT: the fossil was very much 3D. The part closest to my finger, facing perpendicular to the wall appears to be be concave.

Hey all! I found a hunk of Isotelus! Found in Fort Mitchell, KY this last weekend. I am wondering if this is actually a fragment of an Isotelus Rex?! Let me know your thoughts. It's been a bit since I posted on the website and I'll be sharing over a years worth of hunting soon!!!! All the best, Steve

This fossil was found in Nicholas County, KY. USA. I believe it is a branching fossil from Devonian strata period but not sure. I appreciate any information . Also curious if its worth anything. Thanks!

Here are some finds from a late August to early September long loop road trip, fossil hunting through Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Kentucky. I'll appreciate detailed specimen identification help. First photo shows brachiopods & a trilobite from the Devonian Silica Shale Formation near Sylvania, northwestern Ohio.

Hi Everyone, I took a 2 week trip to the Ohio Valley, arriving back in New York about a week ago. It was primarily a family visit since many of my relatives now reside in the Elizabethtown, KY area. However, the Ohio Valley, as some of you know, is very rich in Paleozoic fossils and I just had to make a few stops on my way there and back as well as between family engagements. I will try to share enough to give you all a gist of it: It was a long day's drive from the northern suburbs of New York City to Richmond, Indiana where I spent the first night. The next day I was headed down State Road 101 to Garr Hill, to collect in the Upper Ordovician Liberty Formation. It was my first time at the site and everything I found was collected from loose rocks at or near the base of the outcrop. A couple of pictures:

Im new have found abunch of bone. Not shur what turns dynos to gems but i have teeth skin and whole specimens in sap i think. I need alot of help

Firstly, a big THANK YOU to @Jeffrey P for hanging out with me for the day! What a knowledgeable, generous, and all around swell guy! If you ever get the opportunity to hunt with Jeff, I highly encourage you to. Jeff and I met at around 8:30 am, and after a quick transfer of his gear to my truck, we were off. We first drove about 45 minutes south to the small town of Wax, to hunt the Upper Mississippian. Specifically to look for blastoids and crinoid calyxes that were known to be found in the area. As it happens, luck was with us! Unfortunately, I didn't take the field pictures that I typically do. Due to the fact that I went swimming with my phone a month or so ago . I am down to using my wife's old phone that I found in the junk drawer (Yes Jeff, it's pink... ). I didn't take it out much to avoid the inevitable drop down the hill side. Especially since it doesn't even have a protective case... Jeff snapped a few pictures. Maybe he will chime in and add them when he is able. For the first few minutes we didn't find much besides crinoid stems, bryozoans, and the deflated or crushed brachiopods common to the site. The main species of brach found in the area doesn't seem to have fared well during the fossilization process. Finding a nice inflated one is a rarity. After a few minutes of adjusting our eyes to spot the small finds located here, we started to pick out the blastoids. Jeff was the first to find one, and gifted it to me as he had already collected a few on his previous trips here. Thanks Jeff for gifting me my first blastoid! Most of the blastoids, while small, were whole and nicely preserved. Here are a few examples. I did happen to find the largest blastoid from the site, and one of the larger ones Jeff had seen from here. Super pumped about this one! Crinoid calyx were also to be found here. We only found a few, but being that these were also a first for me, I was extremely excited to find them! The brachiopods I previously mentioned were abundant, and besides crinoid stems, were the most abundant fossil to be found here. Again, they are almost always deflated. Finding a nice inflated one would be a real treat. These other little Spirifer(?) brachiopods could also be found. Although they were more uncommon that the previous ones. They are very small and delicate. Often crumbling when trying to pick them up. Bivalves could be found here also, but were extremely rare. Jeff was excited to find a couple, but I struck out. Other things that could be found were crinoid stems, the odd solitary rugose coral, and of course the ever present bryozoans. We then headed to a site a few miles down the road in Leitchfield. Stay tuned!

Hello! in the early 2000's, the Ring Road project in Hardin, County (Elizabethtown, KY) had been in progress. My father had a coworker friend who lived along the road and was able to obtain a few loads of the rock busted by contractors to be used in his yard. My dad scored some as well and it was used for landscaping. Ever the budding Geologist, I of course explored the rock pile and found this particular find to be both intriguing and perplexing. I've attempted to positively ID it for years. I've shown it to a shark expert, local geologists and the KY Geological Survey...none have a clue. Though they offered to buy it for a museum haha. They did say they think a fish or shark is most likely probability. Although I was looking forward to identifying it myself, I've wasted quite a bit of time attempting to do so and would like some assistance confirming the identification theories I have. Thank you! State: Kentucky | County: Hardin | City: Elizabethtown Strata: Since I'm uncertain the exact location, I used the Rockd app to determine the strata in the area. Results are: Ste. Genevieve Limestone, St. Louis Limestone, Salem Limestone. All late Mississippian.

I found what I assume to be a fossil or trace fossil, but I have no idea what it is. Found this on a bed of other rocks on the bank of a creek in south-central Kentucky. I'm sorry the measurements are in imperial, I could not find a metric ruler.

First of all, is this a hypostome? If so, is it a damaged one from Isotelus? Found in the Kope Formation, Ordovician along AA Highway in Kentucky. Thanks for looking at it and giving an opinion. Mike

Hello! I found this crinoid in Hardin County, KY earlier this morning that I would love to be able to ID further beyond "crinoid" haha. I found it as is (no prepwork or cleaning) in a scree pile of misc Mississippian rocks and so not sure if specifically from Salem limestone, Harrodsburg limestone, Borden formation, St Louis limestone, etc. I've included pics of the front and back of the rock/crinoid. If it helps with ID'ing, the darker portions of the rock seem to be that tar-type limestone (and not surface dirt or soil, etc). In reading the published literature on KY crinoids there seems to be quite a few genera identified from this era and this part of KY and so I would also like to learn from you on how one might narrow down a crinoid's genus. Would also be iinterested in hearing your opinions on if it would help having it prepped out a bit by someone. Thanks in advance for any assistance you could provide!

Hello, FFers: I'm wondering if anyone can tell me anything about these filamental fossils from the U. Ord of Kenton County, Kentucky. Given the structure under the mike, I'm guessing bryozoan, but I'd never seen anything quite like this before. Can anyone tell me more? Including, maybe, an ID? (Or a different direction, if I'm wrong about their being bryozoa.) The scale in the first pic is in mm. Thanks!

Hi! I am from southeastern Kentucky. I am a newbie who is looking to explore and get new knowledge and experiences. My collection has so far been mainly bought fossils and a few tiny different shells and shell impressions that I have found randomly and in gravel. Are there any other Kentuckians that can point me in the right direction to areas where I can find anything? Hopefully these areas would be in lower eastern Kentucky as do not have ability to travel far right now due to world happenings. Thank you in advance for any tips!

I was able to get some much needed "me time" yesterday. With all the worries of the world I have been in a foul mood lately, but I am happy to report that my mood has brightened significantly. . There is nothing like crawling around on a road cut, and hunting fossils, to really lift one's spirits! I spent a couple of hours at an upper Ordovician road cut that has been on my list to check out. It is an exposure of the Grant Lake Limestone. Shortly after I arrived, I realized that I was in for a real treat! This particular exposure is more fossil than limestone. Brachiopods are everywhere! Vinlandostrophia dominate the exposure; with Hebertella coming in a close second. Other brachs are also found, but less abundant. Orthoconic nautiloid fragments are frequently found and bryozoan encrusting is a common sight. I also found a few gastropods, and one trilobite piece that I am excited about. Unfortunately I did not take pictures in the field. It was a conscious decision. I just wanted to enjoy my time, relax, and focus on the hunt. I'll get some next time as I will definitely be going back. I did take a few pics of my better finds at home. Enjoy! First up are the Brachiopods. I found some nice whole Vinlandostrophia, and Hebertella, and what I think is Rafinesquina ( @Tidgy's Dad ) . I also took home a few single valves for study of the internal structure. I think with a little bit of clean up these will look great! I was happy to find some orthoconic nautiloids. They have been sorely lacking in my collection. I will have to research what species are found in this formation to come up with an ID. I have a few ideas, but need to confirm. Here are a few gastropods and bryozoans. I can't resist the alluring whirls of a gastropod. They seem to be uncommon in the areas that I hunt so I grab them whenever I see them. I believe these are new species of bryozoa that I will be adding to my collection. Which is exciting! Here is a tril-o-bit that I found. I'm very happy with it. Typical trilobite fragments from this area are not usually identifiable. Except to say they are possible trilobite pieces. This is a cephalic doublure of an Isotelus. Thanks to @piranha for help with the ID. All in all it was a great time. I got to relax a bit, forget my troubles, and brighten my mood. I also added some nice pieces to my collection. It was a good day!

I was able to get out and hunt a new Ordovician spot today. A full trip report is coming, but I’m too curious about this one to wait. In the field I grabbed this thinking it was a large trilobite genal spine. After getting it home and doing some quick cleaning and research, I am less convinced. I’m not even sure that any trilobite from this time period/formation would have spines this size (still researching). From a quick glance at a Kentucky Geological Map it looks like I was in the Grant Lake Limestone (Upper Ordovician). I’m probably way off base here. Trilobites (and bits) are barely in my wheelhouse. What do you all think? I have outlined the general shape of the whole specimen in the below photo as it is obscured by overlying matrix, and a brach, towards the wider end. It has striations running the length and is flat for the most part, but the inside of the “spine” appears to be more rounded.

I recently acquired some fossils that were said to have been from the Breathitt Formation of Leslie County, Kentucky. The majority of the specimens were smaller slabs of rock with fern/horsetail fossils (Neuropteris, Sphenopteris, Macroneruopteris, Alethopteris and Calamites). However, two of the specimens that i received were quite large and I am struggling to come up with an identification for them. Specimen #1 - The rounded fossil measures 27.5 cm (10.8 inches) wide and is 7 cm (2.8 inches) at its thickest point. (second specimen will be in second post due to photo size restrictions)