Search the Community

Hi, I was recently looking at some small fossils under magnification and think I might have a couple trilobite parts mixed in with a bunch of brachiopods? One fossil appears to be a "cheek" and is about 8mm on it's longest axis, the other appears to be the side of the body and is only about 3mm long. These are from the lower Silurian in Door County, Wisconsin, USA. This area is part of the Niagara Escarpment and trilobite fossils are pretty rare in this area (although I'm sure they were here). I work at a local museum and I'm trying to put together a comprehensive list of confirmed silurian fauna specimens actually found in the county. Thanks in advance for your help! Joe Taylor

I was combing a beach on the southern shore of Lake Ontario for fossils when I found these. The surrounding rocks are Ordovician and contain mainly crinoids and branching corals. I found these two in the water a few feet off of the shore. They look like cephalopods to me, based on the segmentation and shape, and I have seen a nautiloid fossil that was found there a few days ago, but I don't know what kind of cephalopod specifically. I thought the first one might be a crinoid stem except that it tapers off slightly.

While rockhounding in the area of the Niagara Penninsula, I found an odd-shaped piece of metal about 5 inches beneath very thick, wet mud. The place in which I found the object was in a very shallow stream, which ran over sedimentary rock of the pre-Cambrian shield. After a closer inspection at home, I believe I may have found an iron-mineralized piece of a petrified wood, intertwined with two separate vines. A friend suggested it may be a rusty drill bit although I have doubts based on the location it was found. It is 3 1/2" long and 3/4" wide. It is heavy and seems hard like a metal. It is somewhat magnetic. It appears mostly brown, with spots of orange, and some light brown mud residue. I am assuming the vibrant orange colour is rust although there are also pale-orange spots which resemble the interior of a stick. Before cleaning the specimen, I would appreciate any opinions/advice. I am only able to attach two photos, but I will upload the rest in the response section. Any help is much appreciated!

I found this in Niagara Ontario, in Upper Ordovician/Lower Silurian rock. The rock is mainly crinoid limestone. I'm not sure if it's a fossil. I wish I had a measurement, but I found it by accident, and didn't have a ruler.

Can anyone help me identify this fossil? I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth salvaging or if I can dissolve it in acid to remove the sphalerite. This was inside a dolostone boulder in Niagara, it looked like a rock within the rock so I chipped it out carefully as I could.

Hello everyone, my name is Nolan. I'm new to the forum. I've never posted anything before, but now I find myself at a loss to identify my latest find. Any help you can give me would be really appreciated! INFO Location: Fort Erie, Ontario. Details: It's rough with random black spots. The item is ridged on both sides and it has a slight curve to it. The main body of the item has a different texture (see final photo). The top has a different type of brown stone connected to it. The item was found by chance on a beach, on the northern side of Lake Erie, by the town of Fort Erie. It's currently spring time and the ice is just starting to melt of the beaches. I've attached some photos below that should help with identifying the item. If you require other information or photos just let me know. Thank you for your time!

[WARNING: As is my custom, this trip report is exceedingly long, verbosely worded, and copiously illustrated with photos.] (It may be a good idea to find a comfy chair and grab a drink and some popcorn.) Since Tammy's retirement earlier this year, we've been busier than ever. We finally made it to Iceland this summer and saw dozens (if not literally hundreds) of waterfalls in that geologically interesting country. While talking about waterfalls ("fossar" in Icelandic), Tammy had realized that I had somehow not yet seen Niagara Falls. Tammy did not do a lot of vacation traveling when she was younger but had visited Niagara several times in her youth. She decided it was high time I experienced the power of Niagara. It could have been a simple trip--a flight up to Buffalo, a day out on a boat getting drenched at the base of the falls, and home again with little more than a long weekend invested. Somehow though, I have a remarkable knack for constructing enormously detailed travel itineraries--and this trip was no exception. Our anniversary month is October and so with the prospect of some multi-chromatic autumn foliar displays we decided that we'd plan a roadtrip that included Niagara Falls as its underlying motivation. It didn't take me long to realize that there are a lot of great TFF members up in the New York and Ontario area. Additionally, some members from the Virginia/Maryland area suggested meeting up during our last roadtrip through the Carolinas but that trip was already lengthy and involved. Perhaps, I could combine visits with a number of TFF members along the way and do a roadtrip down the Eastern Seaboard? As I started contacting prospective members to get the idea kickstarted, the starting point of our trip changed and we tacked on several extra days to the start of our trip. My brother and his wife had just bought a new house in the north side of Chicago. He decided that since all of the family holidays (Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas) were already claimed by other family members that he would start the tradition of Oktoberfest at their house--first Saturday of October. The itinerary for our trip was still in its early stages so we were easily able to incorporate a trip up to Chicago and link it to the start of our roadtrip. We considered flying from Chicago to Buffalo and picking the rental car there but the cheaper airfares were (not surprisingly) at rather inconvenient times (who wants to check into a hotel in the wee hours of the morning?) but an alternative soon presented itself. Since one of the places we'd hoped to visit along the way was the Devonian Hungry Hollow site in Arkona, ON, we'd have to backtrack west if we started in Buffalo but it would be conveniently along the route if we simply picked up the rental car in Chicago and started the roadtrip from there. This also allowed us the opportunity of visiting the small town of La Porte, Indiana where Tammy lived at one time. Things were falling into place. Of course, that is not to imply that my roadtrips are in any way quickly improvised--I think I spend as much time planning them as I do driving them. Starting the trip in Chicago allowed us both to visit family and work our way through all of our favorite food groups (authentic Chinese, Indian, Middle-eastern, and deep-dish pizza ) before gorging ourselves on lots of tasty German food and Oktoberfest-themed adult beverages at my brother's new place. Finally, we were ready to start rolling some miles (and kilometers) onto our trip odometer and we picked up the rental car and got underway. We planned on making London, ON for our first night and since it turns out it is only a mere 6 or so hours driving from Chicago, we had a bit of time to drive through La Port. It had been nearly 40 years since Tammy lived there and (as expected) much of the area was barely recognizable and not much as she'd remembered it. There were a few landmarks still in place and it didn't take us long to find the house her parents owned in town. The main floor was the Chinese restaurant they owned and the second floor above is where they lived. It's always interesting indulging some nostalgia and visiting places from the past. After a bit of driving around town we picked up the highway and in time crossed the border into Canada at Port Huron. We got to bed late that night but we had one of the longer driving days behind us already. On the road again--and a stop at a childhood home in La Porte.

Hello! I found this rock along the trail at the bottom of the canyon in Whirlpool State Park, NY, along the Niagara River. Very curious to know what the fossils might be. The rock was in a pile of recently fallen shale from the side of the canyon. I was tempted to keep it, but left it there for others to find and enjoy! Thanks for your help!

I'm new to this forum but thought you might be able to help. I found this fossil near to the whirlpool rapids in the Niagara River gorge in southern Ontario, Canada. As far I can figure out this looks like a leaf, perhaps some sort of angiosperm. It is a few centimetres long. However, the geology of the area is almost completely Silurian rocks. This wasn't found in situ so could be from rocks in the cliffs above, younger rocks no longer found in the area or introduced by people (unlikely). So two questions really. 1. Type of fossil? 2. Geological time period/range of fossil? Thanks!

My wife and I have been fossil hunting in the Calvert Cliffs region (read: some beachcombing, some sifting, some stick-your-hands-in-the-muck-and-see-what-that-is) for a year or so now, and we're slowly starting to feel like seasoned vets on that front. We're getting ready, however, to take a road trip to Niagara Falls, and we're looking for some solid fossil hunting locations to hit along the way. We'd love to hit a good trilobite site in north PA or western NY state, and possibly also somewhere for ferns and other similarly aged fossils in Schuylkill County PA or thereabouts on the return trip. The fact that it's the dead of winter may present some issues, but we are looking for recommendations for fairly easily accessible sites along our route. To summarize it, consider a straight line path from Washington (DC), to State College (PA), to Jamestown (NY), to Niagara Falls (ON), to Binghamton (NY), and back south to DC via I-81 to either I-83 or I-476. I understand that the Penn Dixie site in Hamburg is closed to the public until May. Is it possible to get to the 18 Mile Creek site at this time of year without walking through freezing cold water (or slip-sliding our way over ice)? If not, any suggestions for productive alternate sites would be great. We are not necessarily looking for a proverbial gold mine -- just somewhere that we can reasonably drive to and park, walk a ways, maybe break a few rocks and bring home some interesting things. Sending me a PM is fine if discretion about locations is warranted. Same deal goes for good sites along the I-81 Corridor in PA. Preference given to places that don't require us to own hip boots, waders, or jackhammers... One final question for now -- anyone know if there would be any customs issues if we had a bunch of fossils in our car when crossing over into Ontario? Thanks for reading and for any recommendations! Edited to add: if this belongs in a different sub-forum (i.e. this one is maybe for completed trips only?) -- sorry, please feel free to delete/move it!

I found this in the Niagara Gorge about 2 years a go around the power plant area.