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I swear, every time I think I have a good grasp on the identification of Cretaceous fossils, I find ten more that stump me! Anyway, I found this 'fishy' fossil this morning and could use some help with ID. My best bet is on ratfish spine but I'm really not sure. Anyone know? Thanks again!

I don't usually pay much attention to the shark teeth I find but this little guy caught my eye for some reason. Anyone know what kind of shark it's from? Thanks! -Frank

This is from the Campanian of New Jersey. Ankylosaur, some other dinosaur tooth, or something else? What do you guys think? The tooth crown is ~4mm long by ~3mm wide.

Hit Ramanessin Brook on Sunday (Late Cretaceous, marine, New Jersey) and saw a nice hunk of matrix with mollusk impressions sticking out of a gravel bar. Rinsing it revealed a gorgeous Enchodus palatine! I've never seen vertebrate remains in the NJ brooks in hard, fine matrix like this. And the chunk is riddled with gastropod and bivalve impressions and an impression of the worm tube Hamulus - my first. Score of the day!

Hello fellow fossil forum members this is Trevor. This is the first episode of hopefully many displaying my hunts into the Cretaceous streams of New Jersey. Within each episode there will be five stories (in this case four since I was too impatient) that are five of my hunts. I will title each hunt according to how I felt on it and I will title each episode based on my expectations or what I desire to find. Mechanized Depression (Hunt 1): Duration, 3.5 hours. My grandma and I drove up to a small cretaceous stream on April 22nd. The forecast predicted rain and the forecast was correct. While my grandma read in the car, I sifted and surface scanned and came away with a considerable amount of finds for such a short time. I almost sifted continuously throughout the entirety and it seemed as if I was working on a production line. The rain and loneliness caused the situation to feel very dreary and I eventually went back. I also had a bad blister. My best finds were a Meristodonoides sp. (hybodont) tooth and a fragmented hadrosaur tooth. It's a Trap! (Hunt 2): Duration, 5 hours. Date, April 23rd. I went with my father to Ramanessin Brook and walked for about 25 minutes before finding the spot I had sifted at a few weeks ago (where I found a decent Ischyodus bifurcatus plate). The spot yield little but I did come out with some nice condition shark's teeth. In a futile attempt to find a better place to sift I just keep digging in a bunch of random spots. I finally decided on a place and told myself that I will stay in the place till I find some good. After about 6 sifts I called my father and said that it was going really slow. He wished me luck and hoped that I find a mosasaur. I hung up and in the next sift I found a small, half inch mosasaur! I instantly called him back up and told him the pretty cool story. I stayed for a little longer craving more but I did not find anymore, well next time I said. My best finds were the mosasaur tooth and a 5.5" bone I found. Bright Exploration (Hunt 3): Duration, 5.5 hours. Date, April 29th. My father drove me to Ramanessin Brook again and I went to the same spot I had found the mosasaur. I did the exact same thing as I had done before: I dug some random holes in the stream and surveyed the area. It was after a little while that I noticed there were finds on the gravel bars. I have continually been so unfortunate as to have someone always search the bars before me. I don't typically surface scan because I never think I will find anything. This time was different and I was the first one there. I walked upstream and continued. On one gravel bar I spotted what at first I thought was a weird piece of rubber but upon further inspection I noticed it was a 3" really worn Ischyodus bifurcates plate. I was overjoyed because I had not found one this large before. After exploring a little I decided to turn back and sift some more. The day was slow other than some bones or teeth. I went back to my dad and he showed me a mosasaur tooth he had found. Since he never really searches and never really cares much this was incredible. He said it was just sitting on the surface. I was so angry for not having searched them. Well alas, it was okay. Hearing Noises (Hunt 4): Duration, 6.5 hours. Date, May 10th. I went to Ramanessin again with my father. I was really tired since within the two days prior (Mon. and Tues.) I had three AP exams that made me extremely stressed and tired. I had gotten little sleep and had not eaten breakfast. I went to where I found the mosasaur on trip two and after about half an hour I found a mosasaur tooth with about half the enamel on, okay I was confident. My confidence plummeted with time as I found less and less. There were bumps such as when I found a small piece of cartilage. I decided to move on and sifted haphazardly. I kept finding worn teeth and enchodus jaws and then I found a worn baby mosasaur. I was surprised I had spotted it. I looked in the water since the day was clear and sunny and found some nice goblins. I ended up at a larger gravel bar and decided that is was where I would spend my time. I was tired and decided to eat some food and lay down. As I ate I had the urge to roll on the gravel bar as a soldier does and I came away with two larger goblin teeth by seeing them on the ground. They were right next to someone's footprint. I thought I hear someone call my name and kept looking behind me on this ridge. Two or three times gravel sloshed into the hole I dug and made me jump; I thought someone was behind me. After this I decided to leave. At the end I found a really nice Xiphactinus tooth and a really worn mosasaur tooth. Trip four is on top and trip one is on the bottom. Various Bones Larger Bone Ratfish Jaw Pieces Enchodus Jaw Pieces

Please help identify this fossil found in Big Brook NJ. Similar to Belemnite but much larger than what is normally found in Big Brook, and has the pocked outer surface (see Belemnite samples in 3rd picture for comparison)..

Found this horn coral on Trilobite Ridge in the NW corner of NJ this past weekend. The 2nd picture is the back side of rock. Is it possible to identify the species with these pictures? Thanks, Mike

Just signed up after looking over the site. Glad to see there are a lot more people interested in fossils and hunting for them, beside just me and my girlfriend. We have 3 boys that are all about electronics and videogames and for the past few years we've been trying to show them that there is more to the world then 4 walls and a tv. Trying to show them the weight of finding something and holding it i your hand, and knowing that no other human has touched or has seen what you have in millions of years. With that said I would gladly take any advise on anything fossil, gem or mineral related that I can. My only down fall is that I'm in the "arm pit" of New Jersey. Between MY to the north and PA to the west. All the way up in the corner. There are locations near me but not NEAR me. Any help would be great! Thanks, Mike

I found this the other day in a NJ brook. The characteristics are consistent with fossilized bone but beyond that, I'm stumped. Does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks! More pics One more...

Hello. I'm new to the forum. I found this in a New Jersey creek recently. Does anyone have an idea of what it could be?

Opinion: NJ’s ‘marl’ pits yield dinosaur wonders Michele S. Byers, Daily Record, April 29, 2017 http://www.dailyrecord.com/story/opinion/letters/2017/04/29/new-jersey-fossils-dinosaurs-marl/101025078/ Yours, Paul H.

Hey Everyone, Just saying hello to you all in the Fossil Forum community. Living in NJ, my first fossil find was in the carboniferous areas of PA where I found some fern prints and obviously I was hooked. My collection is built upon a lot of shark teeth, ammonites, enchodus, Xfish and other such cretaceous era finds, and plan a trip to Peace River sooner or later to find my Meg. This is a great place to share a same passion, and I look forward to seeing your finds and sharing mine as well! Nick

Hello, First post, looking forward to many more including trip reports. I enjoy taking my family on a "hunt" from metal detecting to rock mining but this was our first time looking for fossils, it was addicting! My two boys 9 and 12 are nature kids and could spend all day exploring along with my wife. I had a trip planned to the Jersey shore and started researching finding shark teeth on the beach, which led me to a site about Big Brook Fossils in NJ. We decided a side trip was a must! We stayed about 2 hours and found quite a few sharks teeth, some I am still working to identify. Here is where I need your help, it could just be a rock, but the proportions seem to be that of a skull, along with tooth sockets. I was thinking snake/lizard, but to be honest, I have no idea what I am looking at and would welcome your opinions! TOP - seems to have two eye sockets SIDE - Seems to have some sort of ear socket, more like a lizard than a snake UNDERNEATH - Teeth sockets? Thanks for looking and I can't wait to post about our next adventure! Matt

Hello Everyone, I've been lurking for a year or so on the forum, and appreciate the members intellect and interaction on this forum. I do a lot of sifting streams, and came upon this bone washed out from the mud bank in what is usually a NJ Cretaceous stream, though I believe there are some Pleistocene? era fossils that are found there from time to time. Any idea what it may be? Interestingly, there were some type of rodent? gnaw bites on it too from what looks like a long time ago. I have a few other images I will upload too. Two other small bones were found alongside it that may or may not be related to it. Thank you for letting me into your community! I will most definitely be sharing other finds with you all. Nick

As suggested by Dr. Earl Manning this may be the first occurrence of Paramobula fragilis reported from New Jersey. As the name implies these things are fragile and are normally found incomplete as is this one. Looking to see if anyone knows of previous specimens from NJ. Specimen will most likely end up in the New Jersey State Museum collection. Common name – Extinct Devil Ray Scientific name – Paramobula fragilis (CAPPETTA 1970), aka Mobula fragilis Age – Miocene Formation – Kirkwood Formation john

1. Coral? Urchin?