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Showing results for tags 'northern california'.
Found 19 results
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Fossilized bone found on beach - marine mammal or other large land mammal? California Beach Find.
Lisa warner replied to Lisa warner's topic in Fossil ID
Thank you in advance for any help with an ID for this fossil. This is my second try on this forum - trying to follow more of the advice - thank you for your patience with my learning curve. Found on a beach in Northern California. Asked a friend who knows about marine mammals and fossils and he commented, "It doesn't remind me of a marine mammal, seems more like a mammoth or other large land mammal". From what I can see, it looks like part of a joint ... maybe the socket part of a ball and socket joint? I took another set of pictures using the handy centimeter graph paper.
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- large land mammal
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Found near Crescent City (Del Norte County) California. is this potentially a mammal tooth ?
Suchascenicworld posted a topic in Fossil ID
Hi everyone, So. I am not from California but received this as a gift. I do have a background in Paleoecology (with a focus in the Pleistocene trophic ecology) but I am a bit out of practice as I have been working with extant systems for the past 10 years. In addition, my focus primarily involved East and Southern Africa. In any event, I am not quite sure yet. It is highly mineralized and I see what looks like algae. From what I gather, it looks like it was in the ocean for some time. the shape (especially in the first image) along with the highly mineralized cross section (enamel?) reminds me of a proboscidean...but I am not quite sure. I have been trying to look into the geology and paleontology of the area, but haven't found much for mammals outside of cetaceans...which I know little about. Any input would be greatly appreciated! thank you
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Sorry for the low image quality, I have nowhere else to photograph stuff (my desk is not better either )
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Hi everyone. I found this piece of petrified wood in Sonoma County, Ca. I have found lots of petrified wood in wine country because near by we had a volcano erupt millions of years ago. I am just wondering why this piece looks like no other petrified wood pieces I have seen or found. Does this piece look specific to a particular plant species? I was thinking that it looks a lot like a branch or stem of a succulent. Any feedback is very much appreciated.
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Chatting with Lizardite about Northern California geology
DPS Ammonite posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
@lizardite I thought that we should move this interesting reminiscing about northern California geology and paleontology out of the member introduction section so that more people might see it. Continuation from: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/122442-greetings-from-carlsbad/&tab=comments#comment-1339414 Here is one of my interesting finds from the Bay Area. The most recent palm fossil found in Northern California. I could not convince UC Berkeley to keep it. -
These two pieces were found among some personal items from a friend who passed away recently. No information at all was available. It's possible they were originally found in Northern California but that is purely speculative.
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I wanted to very briefly share something really pretty awesome. Some folks here know that in addition to Fossils on Wheels, I also work for the Gateway Science Museum. It’s a small children’s science museum and our fall exhibit is going to be about fossils. We are part of CSU Chico and the Geology Department is using our facilities to do some preparation work on a few fossils for the exhibit. I took some pictures of one awesome specimen. The table in the center of the frame contains multiple pieces of a Shastasaurus. It is a remarkable and scientifically important specimen. It was found near Shasta Lake and it’s Triassic. Close to complete and containing something special that I can’t really elaborate on. All of those bundles are ribs and verts. The second picture is a close up of one slab. I got to pick it up and it is really quite heavy but not everybody gets to hug a Shastasaurus so totally worth it lol In the far right of the picture, you can see the edge of a table and on that table is a partial Mastodon jaw includes a complete tusk though in two pieces. I’ll take pictures of that and a baby whale piece next time I’m at work. My desk is to the left of the whiteboard you see in the frame. My workspace has been taken over by large fossil critters !
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- ichthyosaur
- northern california
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I recently went to Capitola beach for the first time. I found three of what I believe are cetacean fossils but I am very new to paleontology so I am not quite sure. These were found right on the beach under cliffs in the Purisima Formation. The images are quite large so I will post them in the comments Here is #1
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Carter and I got to do some fossil hunting in the late Cretaceous Chico Formation for the first time last weekend. We had previously not had opportunities to poke around our local formation so we were pretty excited. My kids grew up hiking trails, restoring habitat and rescuing wildlife. They went to work with me frequently and helped out with field work for school. Carter, in particular, really enjoyed the work and the time outside so we were both excited to get outside and do something new. We tried to different locations and our exploration consisted of light surface sifting. We did not get a chance to really dig but that was fine. Fossils were the true goal. Father son time was the goal. Outdoor time together. Not being able to do our presentations has been tough on us so a fun day was good stress relief. We found some shells that were modern, a few that might be fossils and something that Carter thought was a shark tooth in the micro matrix we were taking with us to put under the scope. Carter was correct. He found a shark tooth. I recognized it immediately when we got home and I was SHOCKED at what I was seeing. He found a Squatina tooth !!!!!! I have not seen many Chico Formation teeth and we only had two, both Sand Tiger. I knew Squatina was possible but I didn’t expect to find one. I’m even happier because Carter found it. It was in his bag. I was so happy to tell him that we did find a tooth and it was an Angelshark. Due to their unique adaptations and conservation status, they are a shark we talk about a lot in our programs. I take this as a good omen concerning our future of fossil education in Northern California I was also extremely happy to tell him a short time later, he had found a second tooth among the many tiny shells. It’s not complete but looks exactly like the two Sand Tigers we already have. Two shark teeth isn’t a lot volume wise but I absolutely consider this a hugely successful hunt. I have a tiny bit more matrix to look through so perhaps there is more to find. Either way, it was just a great day with my kiddo !
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- chico formation
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How to clean & store sand dollar fossil for newbie
Norcalnovice posted a topic in Questions & Answers
Hi, First time on this site and in need of advise. A BF & I found this sand dollar fossil at Stinson Beach a couple years ago. I want to make an effort to ensure I’m storing it right. I’m also curious how to clean at least the sand off, but maybe separating the large broken chunk from the (fingers crossed) undamaged sand dollar attached. Would that be detrimental to the fossil? thank you for all time & help, I can confidently say I know nothing. X Jake
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This fossil was found near water (Pit One area) in Shasta County, California. It was mostly covered in a hard dirt that took some soaking and a soft tooth brush scrubbing to remove. I could see a tiny bit of the band on the rock through the dirt but nothing else. To say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. I am not sure what this is.... But I do have a guess. Maybe a turtle or small lizard/newt? The underside has what looks like two vertebra or maybe pieces of shell. I am totally out of my element when it comes to bone fossils. With only three toe/finger bones to go on Google wasn't much help. I was a desperate woman so I followed one suggestion for testing fossils.... Offically I am now a rock licker. Lol I hope Fossil Forum can help with my mystery because I'm not licking another fossil toe.
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This Miocene/Pliocene bone was probably collected near the coast north of San Francisco in Marin or Sonoma Counties. Is this a whale bone? What part? Is the long narrow bone on top in the proper place relative to the other larger bones or is it unrelated? The length of the bone is 7.5 inches. Note that under the top bone, the 1 or 2 bones appear to have their bumpy and darker non cancellous surfaces exposed. @Boesse Thanks, John
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Hi all. We found this on the rocky Pacific Ocean beaches about 50 miles south of Mendocino, CA. To my untrained eye it looks like a winged insect or perhaps scales. Or am I seeing what I want to see? The photos give dimension and one shot is 7X macro. Any thoughts or comments are always greatly appreciated!
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This piece of chert is about 10 millions years old that was found east of San Francisco, CA in volcanic and lakebed deposits. What are the 0.3 to 0.6mm wide tubes- palm fiber?
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Hello, I'm new to the forum and pretty new to fossil collecting. Most of my collection consists of fossilized footprints on slabs of Arizona flagstone that was going to go into a walkway and patio. But I did take a trip to Colorado last year and hit up a couple of publicly accessible sites where I collected fossilized clams and crinoids with my 9yo daughter. I can't wait to go back. What brought me to the forum was wanting to identify the tracks I've found. I think most of them are Chelichnus, but I have at least one slab with a three toed critter running across it. I'd love to hook up with groups for fossil hunting in the Northern California and Western Nevada areas, though I know fossils are pretty scare around here. Maybe I'll just buy a few more pallets of flagstone and watch videos of fossil hunting, lol. There is a pretty amazing rock shop with a huge fossil collection west of here, but buying doesn't match the thrill of finding. Anyway, I think I'll be glad I joined up with the forum here. Thanks for listening.
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Hi, I found this on the beach in Northern California and am just curious to know what it is. I can't tell if it's just a shell or bone or if it's actually a fossil. Just thought it would be fun to find out. Thank you!
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Hi all! I'm glad to be here and I am eager to go on a dig in the Northern California area (above Sacramento closer to Placer and Nevada Counties). Tips and hints greatly welcomed and appreciated! Cheers! -Chili Rae
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I took another trip out to the Scotia Bluffs, Located in Northern CA, on monday. Here is a description of the geology according to wikipedia: The course of the lower Eel River changes from northeasterly to westerly as it encounters a resistant formation of fossiliferous upper Pliocene marine sandstone 15 miles (25 kilometers) inland from the Pacific Ocean.River turbulence has created deep pools beneath steep sandstone cliffson the northeasterly bank. Tributary streams, including Nanning Creek, cut steep, narrow canyons through the cliffs. The southwesterly bank ofthe river is an alluvial plain extending to the estuary. The community of Rio Dell occupies the bank opposite the cliffs.[1] The cliffs expose abundant remains of ancient clams and sand dollars.[2] This is a beautiful spot and has many fossils, but not a whole lot of variety. The area is constantly changing and somewhat dangerous during the rainy season, but it has been an uncharacteristicly dry winter this year. I had another good day and found many scallops and clams as well as some moon snails. There were an incredible amount of clams this time, I probably could have brought 100 home, but I figured I'd leave some to appease the fossil gods. In fact if anyone wants a clam, PM me with your address and I will mail you one. I included pictures of my finds for the day. I am particularly pleased with the trace scallop fragment, it stands and displays very nicely. I am getting more familiar with the site and will be going back today to hopefully find some sand dollars and maybe bring home some concretions to experiment with cracking them open. Happy Fossil Hunting, Rodney
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Hi, My name is Rodney and I am a fairly new fossil hunter from coastal Northern California. I am excited to find this website and I will be coming by here often. I have been a rockhound for awhile now, mainly in search of beach agates with banding. I first started getting interested in fossil hunting about 9 months ago after I noticed some fossil shell clusters in sandstone while camping on the Van Duzen river. Since then I have gone back and also found marine fossils at moonstone beach and trinidad head. I know about Scotia Bluffs and Centerville Beach, but haven't been yet. I have found fossil sand dollars, clam, dogwinkle, scallop, barnicle, and more. What prompted me to write this post is some shells that I found at the beach on the south jetty recently. They are all between 2-3". My wife found the whole shell (last picture) when she was walking our dog there. I'm guessing it's a fossil of a cockle shell in limestone or shale. I went to the same spot to check it out. The last two times I went I found these shell fragments which appear to be agatized. Could these be fragments of fossils which have been filled in with or attached to chalcedony or quartz? One of them has a bluish moonstone like iridescence and they all appear to have banding. Is this possible or am I mistaking shells for something else? They seem too thick to be shells. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm going to keep going back to look for more; these are cool and I've never found anything like them on the beach before. Also if anyone knows of any good local spots or tips that would be great. I have checked out a few helpful websites, but I'm still not entirely sure what to look for. Thanks
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