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Last year, to celebrate finishing my undergraduate degree, my girlfriend and I went on a long (9,000+ mile) road trip around the western US and at long last (a little over a year since their discovery) the last of the fossils we found are out of the refrigerator and I’ve finally gotten all of them photographed. Here are some of the highlights and best fossils we found. A rough map of the route of the trip While the trip wasn’t entirely fossil centric we wanted to hunt at a few cool spots along the way. We chose to visit 5 fossil locations, the first of which was Clarkia Fossil Bowl in Idaho, a fantastic location for Miocene age leaves (Langhian Stage, ~15Mya) tucked behind a motocross track. These poor fossils have been through it all in the year between when they were found and when I finally got them dry. They’ve been soaked several times, gone mouldy twice, frozen at least once and flown across the Atlantic Ocean, all before spending the last 8 months in the refrigerator. Amazingly all but two of them survived perfectly including one of my favourite finds, a tiny flower. A maple leaf (genus Acer) still partly covered in matrix but with the stem intact. At some point I hope to get this one prepared. The best leaf find of the trip, with beautiful red coloration and mottling from fungus. A partial leaf, with beautiful vein preservation. The next spot was the American Fossil quarry in Kemmerer Wyoming to look for Eocene fish (Green River Formation, Ypresian Stage, ~53-48Mya). Splitting though the material left out by the quarry we found a few fish, primarily Knightia and Diplomystus. The best Knightia, including the best fish of the day with its head still partly covered. Some of the Diplomystus. The first needs some repair as it broke through the tail. The second has a counterpart as well and I’m hoping to frame it soon. And a mystery fish, I don’t know what species this is, it could just be Knightia or Diplomystus but it doesn’t look like the others we found. The star find came close to the end of the time at the quarry, a section of a puddle layer packed full of Knightia, at least a dozen fish piled on top of each other. The quarry manager was kind enough to let me take the blocks without splitting them thinner since the material is full of fractures and likely would not have survived. The layer as it split in the quarry (US size 13 hiking boot acting as a rough scale). The three pieces I managed to recover. The blocks are currently in a storage unit in Washington until I can figure out how to get them prepared. I am hoping the first two pieces can be reunited and the part and counterpart can be mounted side by side but I’m unsure about how to accomplish this. If anyone who prepares Green River fish has any ideas please let me know. The third locality we visited was Westgard pass in Inyo California, hunting for Cambrian archaeocyathids (Poleta Formation, Cambrian Stage 3, ~ 520Mya). We were only there a short time as there was a lot of driving to do that day, but I still managed to find one example in cross section. My girlfriend was more lucky, finding four examples. These are our favourites, particularly the third, which exhibits some dimensionality in addition to the cross-section. I’m absolutely thrilled to find anything Cambrian, and to make things even better the fossil locality is just down the road from the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, home to living trees more than 4,000 years old and one of my favourite spots on the whole trip. We also visited Capitola Beach to search for rolled cetacean bone. I found two examples with one clearly showing the cancellous internal bone texture. To cap off the trip I wanted to do a fossil hunt in my home state of Washington. Since I still don’t know where to go to look for the elusive Pulalius crab, we decided to search the West Twin River site for shrimp concretions (Pysht Fomration, Oligocene, ~22-33Mya). We found over a dozen of these containing partial shrimp. I think they are all Callianopsis clallamensis since this is a common species at this locality. The first concretion that I found after identifying the right material. Another shrimp nodule containing a large section of claw. The head of a shrimp. Two non-crustaceans, a gastropod internal mould and a beautiful white bivalve in a small concretion. A mystery concretion with something eroding out from both ends. And last, one of the strangest concretions I have ever seen. The outside is hardened but the inside is a soft clay consistency with several bits of shrimp shell, completely the opposite of the hard in the middle concretions I’m used to. In all, it was a fantastic trip. I would love to go back to all the sites we visited, and there is so much more to explore next time I’m stateside. I’m looking forward to getting out hunting again. Stay tuned for the next big trip to celebrate finishing our masters. Benton

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53842626

I have tried without confidence on my IDs for these finds from Sweetwater County, Wyoming. I suspect Sycamore?? It would be great to get these labeled properly!!!! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

It has been 10 days since my trip to Wyoming came to a close. I have done a rough cleaning of my finds and will display some of them for you. To begin with, I had a continuing education class in Jackson. The scenery around the Tetons is truly breath taking. But I was eager to depart and begin a fossil hunting adventure with the 3 free days I had left. I love my bald eagles and found this photogenic pair as I departed town. My first stop was NE of Farson in an attempt to find some petrified palm wood. Here is the "road" which brought me to where I thought I should be. No petrified wood was found but I did put a few specimens in my bucket. I believe these are some algal structures??? They littered the butte that I was hunting on. This was not the start that I wanted, but just enjoying the openness of the Wyoming countryside made up for the lack of finds. I finished the day by taking in this sunset before departing. Tomorrow will be a new day and the fossil gods may be kinder, at least I hope. The next site is south of Wamsutter, and the hopeful finds will be "Turritella agate". This Green River Formation (Lamey Member) fresh water snail species is really Elimia tenera, not turritella. I must thank @jpc for directing me there without a hitch. This site appeared on google earth to be a hop, skip, and a jump from the gravel road. It is MANY MANY JUMPS!!! Had he not told me to continue until I saw these hills, I would have experienced my second failure. As you approach the hills, the road forks and the right fork takes you up on top giving you this view. UP top, Elimia are everywhere, for miles and miles!!! Every dark rock in this next photo' foreground contains them. An individual rock typical of what you see in the previous photo:

Plant Fossil Trip Where: Naches Formation, Central Washington State, USA Age: Considered middle Eocene to early Oligocene When: July 04, 2020 My short YouTube video of the trip: We arrived at the primary collecting site after a three hour drive through low clouds, over a 1656 m high snowy pass, and through miles of deer infested roads. On the way up, I stopped and inspected 3 other locations in the hopes of finding additional sites; one area yielded fossils! Future site! The collecting site is simply a cut bank on the side of the road, utilized by families and clubs for years. Immediately upon arriving, I started looking through, and splitting, the loose shale accumulated towards the lower level of the cut. I've always found something here, and this time was no different. A couple of whole leaf fossils and tons of bits and pieces later, I continued up the hill. I stopped at an outcropping of shale that I had found a Florissantia sp. fossil at, on the previous trip. This trip proved no different as the same area gave up five more flowers, two on one piece! After finding the flowers and keeping a couple more leaves and stems, I loaded up a small box of unsplit shale to be prepped at a future time, when the weather is bad or we get locked down again... Overall an exciting trip, and I can't wait to go again!

I cover 5 counties in SW Mo for my job, and always go fossil hunting. Always crinoinds and their bedmates, unilt this. Low water crossing washed out, so I went hunting. I found this unique fossilation of something. The rock I drug home is 2' x 18". No other fossils except those pictured, anywhere else on the rock. There is another grouping of this same still in the creek, except still attached to creek bottom, that I cannot remove. This was found in Bryant Creek, east of Ava, Missouri in Douglas County. My thinking is possibly some type of foliage? There are no other characteristics. Thank you.

Any ideas on this?

So here are two more fossil "leaves"- one I found in Missouri but not sure where and the other (dark) purchased at a gem and mineral show in St. Louis when I was a kid-I have no idea where it was found, but I do remember it was a "local" show. The first was part of my early fossil museum ( at that time there was no fee for entering I was only 12!!! ). Am I correct with the little card?. Don't know how I came up with the species. I don't know the other one at all but it was "found" and then filed/sanded into this shape is all I know. Thanks for any help i.d.ing! Bone

New pieces of same rock (new pics as well). ..These 2 rocks are part of the same rock posted before. We split new layers, and found what looks like a branch or leaf to the untrained eye. Any ideas for me to tell my kid who wants to start a museum Thank you. My 6 year old son found a strange large rock with a mid section of discoloration. The top of the rock seemed like limestone and the bottom something else. We split it open and he found this. The rocks were probably imported to support the local stream bed in Emmitsburg, MD. They look like worms, or roots in a rock. Any ideas?

As a young kid - in the late 60s - we went fossil collecting not too far from Denver (where my parent's friends lived). I think we paid but I always thought it was a state park or something. I collected fossil leaves like the attached. Does anyone know the spot? Thanks

Hi all, first post here, though have been enjoying all your posts for a while. I have been dragging my hubby around on fossil trips for years. Most recent few in the Princton, B.C. area. What an amazingly rich area for rock/ fossil hounds. I had to call and end to the days hunt a couple times now, I have created a fossil hunting monster ;-) Couple images from a recent hunt.

I just returned from a fossil hunt in Iowa and Wisconsin enjoying the fall colors as I looked for fossils. But the reality of the seasonal changes occurring hit hard this morning. I had soaked some of the fossils in a 5 gallon bucket of water overnight so as to loosen the mud on them. Mother nature added the maple leaves and ice overnight as it dipped to 22 degrees! Florida, here I come!!

Fossils found at Douglas Pass, Colorado this weekend. Seed?, Unidentified leaves. Shells. (Elimia tenera and unidentified clam). Plant fossils were found near the Radar Dome. The shells were found at a much lower level.

The ancestors of these trees are almost never found south of the equator, until now. https://m.phys.org/news/2019-06-argentine-fossils-oak-beech-family.html

Last week took a short drive (11 miles of road and 3 on beach) to our local fossil area. 99.9% of our finds are plant parts. Mostly Alder and Willow leaves with some Meta Sequoia tossed in. Some times a birch leaf will find its way in. In the right rocks I've found a number of what I believe are alder cones as well.. After I get back home I'll start working on IDs. Unfortunately the literature is scant but was given one that has some local info. Some planes will have single leaves in good shape. While others are stacked on top of each other but the leaves are damaged. It looks like they preserved after they started to rot. There are other areas with a wider selection of leaves but you have to take a boat. And with our tide changes (between 7-25ft) it can take some planning. I will add more once back home and can work on more photos

This is not a great photo, it was taken after sunset at the site of discovery, and it's a bit dirty. I still need to trim the huge chunk and wash it off, and it now sits in a spot with poor lighting, so this is the best I can do for now, but maybe someone who knows Cretaceous flora can suggest an ID for these leaves based on the general outline? The one on the right especially has 3 clear lobes, and note the stems. Platanus? I have never found this type before, in 9 years of collecting up there.

Hi, I found these in the Carbonado Formation Washington State. 42 - 47 million years ago. Eocene under a coal seam. I found this bark of some mysterious looking tree. Around the same rock were tons of leaves, all similar to one species (except one leaf which I will also include). I am hoping people can identify the family of tree for me. I also am posting some strange "cattail" / "horsetail" like stem / leaf because this could possibly be a branch from this tree. disclaimer: I am still trying to figure out my phone. The last photo is more clear, larger and detailed. The only difference was, I held my phone sideways. Maybe this is what I will do in the future. First I will post the bark

I found this fossil in Newcastle, Australia. I believe it is three glossopteris leaves and some fragmenary material. Is this correct?

Much has been already said about Florissant, so I’ll be concise with my words. 34 MYA, lake environment, ash fall, pay dig. Controlled hunt: they dig and dump piles, you select chunks and split them at picnic tables. Not the death defying adventure I crave, but fun to do once, fill a Riker with common finds, and say I’ve been there. You can buy the same rock and have it shipped to you, but since we were in the area, I prefer the on-site experience and selecting my own rock from the piles. Hint: Skip the blocky and/or grainy stuff and target the thinly laminated, shaly stuff that is beginning to split on its own. If you see black organic matter, even better. Exploit those planes. A montage of pics follows.

How’s everybody doing? I’ve got some fossils I need ID’d. They are from the Manning Canyon Shale in Utah. They are Late Mississippian/Early Pennsylvanian in age. Thanks!

These are some fossil glossopteris leaves from different beaches around the Newcastle area. The rocks they are found in tend to be very hard to break, but yield lovely fossils. Good luck!

This weekend I went on another fossil hunting trip with my dad. We went to a place called Bacchus Marsh which is around 65 km east of Melbourne. Here we went looking for Tertiary plant fossils such as Laurus and Cinnamonum. The site was a creek bed under an old bridge. The bridge was located next to the Western Freeway which connects Bacchus Marsh to Melbourne, and extends north to south, eventually emptying into the Werribee river (about 2km away). The creek also goes under the freeway through two tunnels and you can look for fossils on both sides of the freeway, but the side near the bridge had the best rocks. The rocks we looked for were Ferruginous sandstones which are late Paleocene (59 million) to Middle Miocene (14 million). The creek was dry and it didn't look there had been water in it for a long time.

I have shown many people these... I believe they are leaves... Can anyone else see the overlapped leaves? Or negative images... Not your typical leaf fossil I know... Curious if anyone else can see it....

I received this relatively large fossil about 4 years ago as a Christmas present from a friend. All the information I have about this specimen is that "it comes from the Carboniferous", it was bought from a peddler at the local Christmas market without asking for the provenance. Now I am trying to definitively identify it. I compared it to all my fossil ferns and to many pics online, and some photos of Pecopteris polymorpha are particularly similar in shape. ^This is one of the images I found online. There is a surprising similarity even with the surrounding matrix, could my fossil come from the same formation? My specimen measures about 180 x 140 mm.

Patagonian fossil leaves reveal rapid recovery from dinosaur extinction event, November 7, 2016 http://phys.org/news/2016-11-patagonian-fossil-reveal-rapid-recovery.html Ancient insect bite sheds light on mass extinction event that killed dinosaurs: Insect damage on fossilised leaves suggest biodiversity recovered quicker in the Southern hemisphere. by Léa Surugue, November 7, 2016 http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ancient-insect-bite-sheds-light-mass-extinction-event-that-killed-dinosaurs-1590317 outhern Hemisphere bouced back TWICE as fast as the North from the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3906280/Southern-Hemisphere-recovered-TWICE-fast-North-asteroid-wiped-dinosaurs.html Fossilized Leaves Reveal How Earth Recovered After Mass Extinction by Jen Viegas, Seeker, November 7, 2016 http://www.seeker.com/fossilized-leaves-reveal-how-earth-recovered-after-mass-extinction-2083544755.html Southern Hemisphere recovered faster from dino strike BBC News, http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37872115 After Dinosaur Extinction, Some Insects Recovered More Quickly, Trilobites Blog, by Nicholas St. Fleur. NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/08/science/fossilized-leaves-insect-bites-patagonia.html?_r=0 The paper is: Donovan, M. P., A. Iglesias, P. Wilf, C. C. Labandeira, and N. R. Cúneo, 2016, Rapid recovery of Patagonian plant–insect associations after the end-Cretaceous extinction, Nature Ecology & Evolution. (2016). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-016-0012 http://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-016-0012 Yours, Paul H.