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Showing results for tags 'new jersey'.
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Walking a NJ cretaceous stream and this popped out. Is it ratfish related? Also, interestingly, found these three Enchodus fangs/palatine all within 5 feet of each other.
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Hi everyone, Went to Big Brook recently and found many belemnites but also the following items. I imagine they are mostly concretions but it would be cool to find out otherwise. (1) Thin long bone fragment - I was able to break a piece off so I don't believe it to be old. (2) Top Femur looking piece (3) Tooth Looking Piece (4) Crescent Inch long piece (5) Tooth-ish Piece (6) Another Tooth-ish Piece (7) Final Crescent Piece Thanks in advance for any assistance!
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Hi everyone,been awhile since I had time for a quick hunt and a post,and a long winter,being 70 degrees Friday took off work early with the wifey and so glad we did,was such a beautiful day and so fun being in the woods/streams,favorite finds was the sawfish,croc and the little sand tiger
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Looking to try my hand at finding amber in NJ. Any tips in collection? I.E. sifter, shovel, black light, what methods to collect work best? Thanks.
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Since Thanksgiving I'd only been out collecting once. Snow and cold, car repair, work, and other personal matters effectively kept me out of the field. Finally, yesterday I was able to get back out again. I wasn't waiting for ideal conditions and it was COLD!!!!! Temperature only reached 38 degrees and there was little sun for warmth. Winter collecting for me is usually the Cretaceous brooks of Central New Jersey, two hours south of where I live in New York City's northern burbs. Most of the time I go with frankh8147, a great companion, but unfortunately not free that day. He was out collecting Pennsylvanian ferns. Normally we go to Big Brook, but since I was going solo I decided to hit Ramanessin instead. I have a favorite spot I hadn't been to in many months I thought worth checking out again. After I arrived I first I hit a different spot that's closer (and much easier to get to) where I found a hadrosaur tooth last year, a small area that's either hot or not and this time it was not. After a half hour of sifting I decided it wasn't worth staying in that spot so I moved upstream to my favorite area. Getting there was a challenge since there were more downed trees and one I had to crawl under, getting my clothes wet and muddy in the process. Finally got there and started sifting. The first sift turned up what I believe is a small crocodile tooth, 5/8ths of an inch long. It is only my second Cretaceous croc tooth I've ever found and knew already it was going to be my find for the day. A bit later I found a Protocallianassa morton (ghost shrimp) claw, one of my best (includes the bottom pincer). Besides those two finds it was nothing to write home about: The four common shark teeth, Archaeolamna kopeingensis, Cretolamna appendiculata, both mackerel sharks, Scapanorhynchus texanus (goblin shark), and Squalicorax sp. (crow shark), a small shark vert. I picked up a few of damaged goblin shark teeth as giveaways. Also found a small Anomoeodus phaseolus (a pycnodontid shell crushing tooth) and a small Enchodus fang. Also found a partial rodent (beaver) incisor. Most likely recent but could be Pleistocene. I left a bit early because of the cold, but over all this was, after a long hiatus, a fairly nice return. Looking forward to more outings this spring with Frank and then up to New York's Paleozoic sites.
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I am at a loss with this one. Kind of a crimped texture (reminds me of an empenada edge) on the edge. It most reminds me of an ostreid bivalve, but I'm not used to the invertebrate material at this Monmouth County, New Jersey Eocene/Miocene site having this texture. Could be a tooth of some sort, but nothing like I have seen before. Hopefully the photos are good enough to have a few new ideas added to the mix.
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Possible scute? Found in NJ cretaceous streams. Thoughts?
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Hello thanks taking the time to view my post, a good friend ask me if I could help him out with this Fossil so I joined Up. This was dredged up off the coast of Cape May New Jersey. Any information on it would be greatly appreciated. regards joe
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Found this little thing a few years ago in a stream where Eocene Manasquan Formation is exposed (although I can't entirely rule out Kirkwood Fm). The four possibilities that I see are 1) ray tail spine barb, 2) fish fin spine, 3) crab claw pincer, or 4) jaw. This doesn't look like any of the ray barbs or crustacean pincers that I have collected so I am leaning towards 2 or 4. While the color/texture looks similar to the Eocene material from this site, it could be modern. What do y'all think?
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One of my rarest fossil finds! This is a Pseudocorax affinis that I found while hunting in New Jersey's Cretaceous age streams. This is a very rare find for the area. It's in really nice shape too. One of my favorite teeth.
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I went out on a fossil hunt last Thursday to one of the streams I like to hunt at. It was only around 28 degrees F when I arrived so I didn't have the highest hopes. I ended up having my best day both quality and quantity wise! I found my first New Jersey hemi as well as my first tiger shark tooth. Also found a really nice sized sand tiger as well as one that would have been a monster if it was whole. Hope you guys enjoy!!
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Hi everyone, I hope you're all having a good start to 2021. Tonight I'm sharing a fossil which has been in my possession for a number of years. I found it on my first trip to Big Brook in Monmouth County, New Jersey when I was only 11. Some veteran fossil hunters took a look at what I found and told me it was a dinosaur bone. Being a novice I took their word at face value, however after a number of years dinosaur hunting out west, I was able to see that this ID was incorrect. When I showed it to a paleontologist at my local university he did not think it was bone at all and perhaps some plant material. At this point, however I am confident it is actually bone, and most likely from a marine reptile. An interesting comparison I made was with a piece of dugong rib I found on Florida's Peace River. I found that both were quite dense, with small outer pores and minimal spacing in the cancellous tissue (especially when compared to true dinosaur bone). Additionally, the presence of apparent bite marks suggest to me that this is not a concretion or plant material. The fossil is about 6.4 cm in length and 2 cm in diameter. I would like to hear some opinions on it. Thanks, Noel A close up of the bone surface. The quality of the photo was not what I had hoped. Closeup on one of the apparent bite marks.
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Hi Everyone, New to the forum here but thought you guys might be able to help me ID some finds from today. Was out today for a few hours with my daughter and we found 2 items that I think might be Dino material but maybe not. I was thinking maybe a hadrosaurus tooth and a long shot on a worn dryptosaurus claw. The claw is interesting because it is definitely not coprolite as it’s rock and not sandy.
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Hi everyone, I was at the Big Brook Preserve lately, and in amongst the usual batch of oysters, shark teeth, belemnites, and an ammonite fragment I found one piece which I can't quite identify. I initially thought it was a piece of Enchodus jaw, but when I got it into better light I wasn't so sure. It seems to have definite bone texture to it and I am almost certain it's fossilized, but it doesn't quite match with anything I can think of. (Sorry if the pictures aren't great, I tried the best I could with my desk lamp.) Thanks!
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Hi everyone! I found these at the Big Brook Preserve in Colts Neck, NJ in May of 2020. This was my first fossil hunt so I'm pretty sure I was at the wrong exact location but I was nearby. I found them directly in the creek and had to use a sifter. This was also after a rainstorm. I'm not sure if anything here is a fossil, but I figured I'd ask the experts! Please let me know if you want closer pictures or other angles of any of them. Thanks for taking a look! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
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I have more old finds to put out there today. All of these were found in the early 2000s in the various Monmouth County brooks (Big Brook, Manasquan River, Ramanessin, etc). Unfortunately, I have no more detail on locality. All of these were specimens that I showed to Dave Parris a long time ago but I didn't take very detailed notes. Along with suggestions for identifying these, I would also love to know which might be special enough that a museum or researcher might want to add them to their institution. I'm not interested in donating to a private collector but if any of these are significant, I would like them to be available to researchers. Below are the notes that I have from showing these to Dave P. More images in the replies. A - Jaw Section from a carnivore. Gray fox is a possibility B - Wood Turtle Plate - Glyptemys insculpta? - Xiphiplastron? C - Deer Like Tooth - Left Lower 3rd - premolar - recent to sub-recent D - Small Beaver Tooth - right lower 2nd molar E - Metatarsal I - Beaver or Dog radial or clavical (I'm not sure that this note is actually for this specimen) J - looks like a cetacean vertebra to me L - looks like a piece of a Shark River Fm coral or bivalve
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Going back through some of my early finds. I collected this guy back in 2002. My identification tag merely says "Manasquan? 2002". I know, I know, naughty not to keep better records. The preservation does indeed look like material from the Eocene Manasquan Formation from the Manasquan River and at that time, most of my collecting was occurring in the stretch of the river that is largely upstream from the mixed Miocene/Eocene basal Kirkwood. I did, of course, also visit Cretaceous localities, and I can't entirely rule that out. Ideas for what kind of creature this is from?
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Hello everyone! I found this yesterday in a Cretaceous stream in Monmouth County, New Jersey. It measures 3/4th of an inch long. I was thinking Hadrosaur but I've never seen one this thin so I figured I would look for some other opinions. As always, all help is greatly appreciated! Frank
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I’ve had Big Brook and Ramanessin on my shark tooth hunting list for a while and finally made it up to both today. It’s a 6-hour roundtrip drive from where I live and with the days still pretty short this time of year, I had originally planned to spend my limited time just at Big Brook. After an hour-and-a-half of mostly striking out on shark teeth there, however, I decided to head over to Ramanessin, which both @Bob-ay and @PaleoNoel had recommended. Luckily, the two spots are only about 10 minutes apart, so I didn’t waste much time in transit, and I was rewarded with much better gravels at Ramanessin than I’d found at Big Brook. Some pictures of my trip and finds are below. While I’d hoped to find more intact shark teeth in the Cretaceous streams today (nearly all that I found were partials), all-in-all, I had an enjoyable trip and found a decent variety of things for my first time in the area. I look forward to returning! I parked at and entered Big Brook via Hillsdale Road. Unfortunately, there weren't a ton of exposed gravels there today (I was walking in the direction of Boundary Road, though I stopped about 2/3 of the way there). My first fossil find of the day: Belemnitella americana. These are pretty common and I had a couple from Big Brook already via a trade with @butchndad but this was my first belemnite find ever! I found this Enchodus petrosus fang on one of the first decent gravel bars. It measures 36 mm long and turned out to be my find of the day. This was the only (mostly) compete shark tooth (it's missing the very tip) that I found in my hour and a half at Big Brook. I believe it's a small Cretalamna appendiculata. I only found two other fragments of shark teeth in the time I was there. Photos from Ramanessin coming up...
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Ramanessin or Big Brook for First NJ Cretaceous Hunt?
bthemoose posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
I’m thinking about heading up to NJ tomorrow for my first Cretaceous hunt, and would love any advice from more experienced members, both generally and for this time of year (other than dressing for the cold of course). I was thinking Ramanessin as I’ve read here that it’s better for shark teeth, but I’m open to Big Brook as well if you think it’s better for a first trip. Along the Calvert Cliffs I mostly surface collect—is that also an effective strategy at Ramanessin and/or Big Brook, or is sifting likely to produce better results? Any advice on where to enter/park would also be helpful. If I do go to Ramanessin, I’ve read that there’s limited parking on Holmdel-Middletown Road across from the elementary school (I’m assuming parking at the school itself will be a no-go since it’s a school day, though I’m not sure if they’re doing in-person classes). Thanks in advance for your thoughts! -
I wanted to show a fossil I found years before I ever joined this forum or took a step in the Cretaceous brooks. This is a Crinoid specimen I found about 20 years ago at the Delaware River in Burlington City, NJ when I was a kid. The Deleware River has a good amount of fossils brought down here from the glaciers. At the time, I did a horrible job prepping (if you can even call it that) this fossil and pretty much destroyed the middle of it. A few months ago, I re-discovered this in a closet at my parents' house. I took some time, polished up the middle, did a little trimming, and now I'm actually quite fond of this so I figured I would show it off! Have a good winter season of collecting everyone!
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I found this in my back yard, it appears to have three tiny fossils (approximately 1cm in size each), getting pictures is hard! I am a very amateur collector, so I really don't know much. I live in Roxbury, Morris County, New Jersey, USA.
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Hello all! For those not familiar with the Pinna Layer, it is a very small layer representing a very short period of time (weeks to years) after the meteor impact that caused the great extinction of the Cretaceous period. A very thin layer at the bottom of it actually tests positive for Iridium. Last Summer, I was invited to finish off the last remaining outcrops and along with a very small group of other fossil hunters (including other members here), we finished off the last accessible layer - a project which ended just a few weeks ago. It was a group effort and due to the importance of this layer, all of the important finds were donated to MAPS (New Jersey) for future research. That said, it was a complete 'win-win' as we were able to keep a lot of great fossils! In the near future, you will be able to see the donated fossils in 3-D so I figured I would save that for later and show the fossils that now reside in my personal collection. I'll start with my favorites - a Discoscaphites (probable Jerseyensis) I found right on the Iridium layer, and a Discoscaphites Iris cluster. Both prepped by my friend Ralph Johnson.
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Went out fishing to make a few last casts for the year and found my 1st shark tooth off New Jersey beach today! Small guy but my 1st off the beach!! Nor’easter few days ago moved a lot of sand around. Anyone care to help identify, and possible age?
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I went to the Ramanessin brook a few months ago for the first time, while I was busy looking at my cretaceous shark teeth I completely forgot about this thing I found. To me it looks just like a bone but I have never found any type of bone in New Jersey before, I'm curious if it is one. And if it is, is it possible to identify what this could possibly be from.
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