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Last year my son and I took a trip to one of my favorite museums, the Kenosha County Public Museum. This museum isn't the biggest, BUT it's free, very educational, beautiful, kid friendly and the dioramas are unforgettable. While there I noticed that they had mislabeled a simple pyrite blob for a critter that I am way too familiar with, the Essexella Jellyfish. So last Saturday I took full advantage of the warm weather that had blown in (a blazing 55 degrees) thawing us from our wintery grip, and made the hour trip to donate a proper Jellyfish. I also decided to donate a few more Mazon Creek fauna pieces that they didn't have. For most of you that don't know this, Kenosha County has been one of the best spots to find complete ice age mega fauna in the US for the last hundred years or so. Located on the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan, the Kenosha Public Museum proudly houses a cast from a local find of the most complete Mammoth ever found in the US. It also has a recreated dig sight from a local find as well of a rare Mammoth butcher site. All of these were found about 30mins from my home. But unlike most mega fauna hunters, I don't have the luxury of rivers to sift. These fossils are either under wetlands, 4'-10' of clay or are in a neighborhood with a house sitting on top of them. Because of this though when they are found they are usually almost complete and well preserved. To this day there is still a Mastodon under a local lake that I will not name. Hopefully funding will come soon so it can be finally uncovered, and I can only hope to volunteer my time to be a part of it. I'm getting off topic....... I highly recommend anyone that is visiting the Chicago or Milwaukee area to take a walk through the Kenosha Public Museum. It is small, but jammed packed with simple to understand information. The dioramas are just amazing. If you're at all interested in woodland Native American culture, this is the place for you. As most museums do, it has a timeline walkway that brings you from creation to modern day. This museum also has many other things to do and see, and it sits next door to a Civil War Museum and just down the street from the Dino Museum. The pyrite smear that I will call the Golden Ghost Faux Jelly. My chosen donated fossils (Jellyfish, associated group of Jellys, shrimp, shrimp molt, sea cucumber, coprolite and a Macroneuropteris. continued......

I had a muddy but good hunt today at NSR. I found a nice variety of items.

I had a short but good hunt today at the North Sulphur River Texas. I found Cretaceous, Pleistocene and Middle Archaic items. NSR has it all.

Hello, I need a little help identifying these Gomphothere teeth. The first one is Miocene age, from Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am not sure where the second one is from. Thanks in advance! Sincerely, Jay

Hi forum, I recently acquired what is supposedly a tusk from a gomphothere collected in Bosnia. It does look to be same shape and relatively the same size as other tusks I've seen, but you be the judge. I've never seen a gomphothere tusk available anywhere before this one. Are they uncommon to find? Thanks! Lauren

This was pulled from the Peace River (FL) several years ago. My science teacher (gradeschool) at the time told me it was likely a chunk of a mammoth or mastodon tooth. I never had a reason to question it, nor was it really valueable based on size or condition but I thought it was cool. I've got some guys at work questioning the validity of the claim, so I'm looking for a second opinion of someone who actually knows what theyre talking about (I don't). I know these types of finds are pretty common in the Peace river along with Shark teeth and a host of other less exciting finds. Any info/tips/ID's anyone can provide I would appreciate a lot! The piece is very light, and smooth on one side. Not sure if that helps. It was sifted from gravel/sand. Thanks for the help!

When I spotted this there was only about a 2 inch diameter piece exposed through the ground. I started digging and finally pulled out the camera to take some in situ shots. Based on size I will guess proboscidean limb bone. It's a little beat up, but maybe someone can tell me which bone this is. It measures 16 inches long. The head is 5 x 7 inches.

My great uncle found these when he lived in Alaska 70 years ago - should they be donated? to whom? sold? what research value if any would they have. One is quite large.

Hello! I am a "newbie" to this forum.,however, yesterday I posted my first finds from Big Brook for Identification and I was incredibly impressed and humbled by the amazing responses. While I know that a number of forums (especially for folks in NJ) involve fauna deriving from the Triassic, Cretaceous, and maybe even the Eocene and Miocene..however, I want to avert the attention to the Pleistocene. What is there not to love about Ice age mammals? They were so strange and yet so familiar..and towards the end of their days (at least in North America) people actually encountered these critters! Out of all of the extinct giants of the past..we can say with certainty that humans (in North America) either hunted or scavenged large beasts such as mammoths (14 mammoth "kill sites"), mastodons (one very convincing site), extinct bison (numerous sites), giant camels (there are a few) and giant sloths (ditto). Additionally, while there is no solid evidence of large (and extinct) carnivores being present at early North American Archaeological sites (which makes sense on so many levels..but I wont get into it)..it seems incredibly probable that humans at one point or another encountered two types of sabertooth cats (Homotherium and Smilodon), one..or maybe two extinct wolves (including the Dire Wolf), a lanky and probably carnivorous bear (Short Faced Bear) as well as a lion that just so happened to be the biggest cat that has ever lived (American Lion). Having lived and worked in the African bush on several occasions..I can appreciate that. So, apologies for the rant..However, I want to divert the attention to searching for the remains of these animals in NJ, NY, and eastern PA. This is especially true for the east coasts "Ice age poster child"..the American Mastodon. What is there not to love about a bizarre and hairy proboscidean?! I know that the remains of these critters are rare..and that finding them is often a result of chance encounters..often with heavy machinery. Moreover, I do not want to support the notion that one should be searching for the remains of mastodons (and other ice age mammals) in situ. I am a Taphonomist, and like many of you, I endorse doing some proper science on the remains of these enigmatic creatures. However, There are areas where fossil hunting is legal..and the remains that do wash out are often out of context and are therefore not very important for proving insight (such as Big Brook). I was born and raised in NJ..however, I have had the amazing opportunity to work at very important sites in East and Southern Africa. As stated, I specialize in the Plio-Pleistocene..and I had always been fascinated (since I was a boy) on the elephant (relatives) that used to live in my neck of the woods. Here are a few questions that I hope the community can answer: I have been curious about this prospect for years and I am looking forward to any encouraging and insightful responses: 1. Have you found mastodon bone or teeth (including cusps) in NJ/NY/Southern PA? 2. if so..how often? 3. Are there any (legal) localities that you are aware of that I should look into in NJ where mastodons can be found (I am not talking about the middle of the ocean!..more like big brook) 4. What do individual mastodon cusps even look like?! This is especially true for stream and brook areas where teeth can become rounded. 5. If you have found cusps..can you post a picture on this specific post so I can gain some insight on what to look for. Once again, thank you so much for your time!

I'd like the forum's opinion on this piece, of which I have very little information: It is a tusk of some sort, broken at one end and perhaps the root end at the other? It appears to be a piece of petrified wood at first glance, especially the side with the long crack down it. However it is much lighter than petrified wood, and the broken end shows the signature hollow center. Pics are below, the grid on which the specimen is on are 1"x1", for size comparison. This came from a craigslist purchase of all things. It was part of a large lot (about 100 pieces) that this lady had in storage, many fish fossils and other things I still need to identify, these belonged to her father who I took was deceased and was selling everything at a steal as she needed to clean the storage unit out and didn't want to haul 'rocks' around. I believe that this is Mammoth or Mastodon as in addition to this tusk there was a partial Mastodon tooth and a large, broken Mammoth tooth- I will post about the fix for that later- in this collection I purchased. Due to the above I know nothing about where this came from or how old it is. It has the large crack on the one side but it doesn't go all the way through, there might be a coating or shellac on the piece, I can't tell. Any thoughts or feedback is appreciated. I'll answer any questions to the best of my ability, and appreciate any feedback!

Post any mastodon teeth you have. I love to see the different mineralization these things have, some are really unique. I only have this partial but it has some pretty cool colors. Post any nice gomphothere stuff you have too.

Hey guys, new to the forum but here is my collection focused on proboscidea but I collect other things mainly Oligocene mammal teeth and jaws, I don't have anything titanothere yet though.... also some dinosaur bones like my ceratopian jaw hinge, I've identified all of my fossils are except for the white gomp tooth on the stand, I think it might be Chinese platybelodon. anyways here it is. thanks -Rylawz

Hi everyone, Elliot and I took a trip down to our local libary today , firstly to exchange his books and secondly to sign a petition to stop the local council from closing it ! One of the books was called Evolution by Eyewitness Science of which so far is very interesting with the bookmark settled on a chapter called Extinct animals we are starting to read about the Mastodon . More interesting still is reading about the gentleman Charles Willson Peale , when he found a mastodon skeleton in swampy ground and found the excavation to be very difficult. He had to design a machine to bale out the water from the pit. ( now this is the best bit to which we closed the book until tomorrow night ) This was operated by a large tread wheel , and the tourists who flocked to see the excavation were put to work operating the wheel , Peale himself painted this dramatic picture of the scene.! Does anyone else know about or have a interest in this extraordinary person. Regards, D&E

Mastodon Tooth Found By Fisherman The Inquistor, Oct.4, 2012 http://www.inquisitr...d-by-fisherman/ Texas fisherman hauls in big catch, KUVE http://www.kvue.com/...-172573701.html http://www.kvue.com/.../172513821.html http://www.kens5.com...-172561521.html Is Mastodon Tooth Found By Fisherman Real? Davy Villanueva Believes He Found Ancient Wooly Mammoth Fossil, international Business Times, October 4, 2012 http://www.ibtimes.c...-mammoth-fossil Best wishes, Paul H.