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Last week, I had the opportunity to explore a pile of gravel deposited along a road just north of Tampa, Florida. Echinoderms of many types were found weathered out. Some I have IDs on but others perplex me. The condition of many may make identification improbable. But who knows!! @Sacha, unfortunately, this road experience was not nearly as nice as my trip with you. But I feel my finds are of a similar nature. The first one is moderate in size, fairly round and is thick. Agassizia floridana????? The second I am sure is Eupatagus antillarum. The third I am confident is Durhamella ocalana. The 4th and 5th have stars. Neolaganum durhami is my guess. The stars are different between the two, the fifth one being raised significantly more than the fourth. So maybe 2 different species??? The sixth, seventh and eighth are totally unknowns. Number 8 has a definitive star and is quite small. Nine and 10 also are total unknowns. Both are very small.

My brother and I visited Levy County Florida on May 5 as a short diversion on a recent family trip to Florida because I was determined to find an Eupatagus antillarum (Eocene echinoid from the Ocala Limestone) It has taken 10 days to post a trip report because, well, I had to return home, clean the fossils and write a poem. Write a poem because this trip would not have happened if I had not met the TFF Chief Poet @snolly50 in a lovely rhyme-off in support of a recent TFF auction. I would not have been introduced to @Sacha … and @digit … and then read some of their posts and seen those beautiful echinoids!!!! And so in honor of the fossil chain: Ode to THE Echinoid This Eocene invertebrate is regularly found, Reports from Fossil Forum members really do abound! I read with so much interest, @ClearLake’s and Sacha’s posts, And vowed that I would find this treasure somewhere near the coast! Pentameric symmetry, is subtle in this kind So beautiful this lovely gem, I’ll seek until I find! Adorned with petal-shaped tattoos, with nature’s ageless art It did not need this added way to catch my beating heart. Irregular describes its shape, a dome-topped oval-oid Sought in Ocala Limestone, a fossil quest enjoyed! Irregular its status too, a state fossil in waiting What must occur to elevate this echinoid’s curating? Star of Levy County, exquisite echinoid Eupatagus antillarum! I am now overjoyed! Our foray followed an excellent afternoon with Ken (digit) and his wife Tammy wherein we received advice on the search image …as well as such wonderful hospitality that it reminds me, again, that fossil hunting always introduces me to the most welcoming people around. Although we hunted for only a couple of hours, we found several different items and three Eupatagus antillarum. They may be common, but they are new to me and I believe the largest specimen may be exceptional. As for (tentative) IDs, (corrections welcome) top row, left: Periarchus lyelli floridanus (Fischer, 1951) - big sand dollar bottom row, left Rhyncholampas ericsoni (Fischer, 1951) - high test, star shaped peristome bottom row, middle Neolaganum durhami (Cooke, 1959) - little sand dollar entire right column Eupatagus antillarum (Cotteau, 1875) - main attraction of the site! Whenever I hunt in Eocene material, I invariably end up looking for crab (I can’t help it). So, the second photo is presented for comment. Crab or “Just My Imagination?” (I can’t help it) Thank for reading.

a friend and I traveled to the florida barge canal on Saturday. it is a 4 hour trip for us. besides the usual finds, my friend found this, and we were wondering if it looks like algae to anyone else, besides us. lol. thanks. ( second photo is of my best finds of the day, still needing a final cleanup....also found a 4" sand dollar that broke getting it out of the bank....and a 5" thick, 6' long section of broken sand dollar edges all in hardened stone...ugh. )

It's been a couple years since I last posted on this forum. Life got a bit more hectic due to health issues and a work promotion. Recently though I've finally had more time for fossils. I found a shark tooth today on the way home from work that I'm not familiar with. The tooth was found in a pile of limestone large gravel, sand, and chunks of chert that had been brought to the site from an unknown but local mine. I just happened across the pile unexpectedly and decided to stop even though it was drizzling out and I was hearing a bit of thunder. Other fossils I found in the same pile are shell castings, sponges, bryozoan, and a few echinoids. The location is the Ocala area of Marion County, Florida. I believe this part of the Ocala limestone and is eocene in age. While the root is a bit damaged and there's a chip in the blade the cusplets look to be in perfect condition. I'm leaning towards this tooth being a mackerel shark but it's not an exact match. Can anyone correctly identify it?

Hey guys! Here's something a little different from me... Echinoid Hunting! This was an extremely fun and productive fossil hunt, finding some of the oldest fossils Florida has to offer. In this video you even get a tour of my fossil-filled vehicle, which could have been a whole video in itself hahaha! You may also notice a quality change. We got some sweet new gear! Give the video a watch if you're interested and have some time!

In an effort to do something while the Peace and the Santa Fe decline from flood stage, I went back to Yankeetown to look for echinoids without any real expectations. Tide was low and the wind was strong out of the east so the water level was very low. Screening was pretty much out of the question without serious back strain, so I spent a few hours on hands and knees looking between all the footprints for something that holiday week hunters may have missed. I brought home nice examples of several of the more common species including Eupatagus antillarium ( only 5 examples which, I think, shows extraordinary self control) one of which was a nice matrix specimen, several Neolaganum durami (one pictured and one in matrix), 1 small Rhyncholampas ericsoni, 1 nice Agassizia clevei and best of all 1 Eupatagus ocalanus (still to be verified) in the bottom left of the picture. Sorry the picture isn't the best, but I can't figure out how to improve the contrast to how the detail. I'm pretty new to this echinoid stuff, really only interested since last years contributions to the invertebrate collection at UF. Posts like this one are probably pretty basic to most forum members, but I'm feeling pretty chuffed about the variety of species that can be found in Florida. It's nice to have access to echinoid sites during high river water levels too.

Got some micro fossil matrix from the Inglis fm in Yankeetown, FL yesterday & was poking around in it. Found several flat disc's (echinoids), a few tiny urchins, urchin spines & this oddity. I think it's a tooth, but from what I have no idea. Just over 5 mm in length, very glossy & slick which made it hard to pick out of the matrix & kinda beautiful. Not sure what to make of it, but I'm hoping the folk's here can. Looks like it may be a frontal tooth, if it is a tooth. The marks on the ruler in pic 1 are mm.

I took a quick trip to Yankeetown, FL this week because, although I've been there a number of times, it is one of the few locations I know of that isn't under water this year. I screen sifted for a couple hours and got some nice examples of echinoids already in my collection. I'm paying more attention to these sand dollars and sea biscuits since the variety in my collection is growing and my contribution to the Univ. of FL Museum really piqued my interest. I was hoping I could get proper species names for the specimens in the following photos. These would be from Ocala Limestone, Inglis Formation. First the small sand dollar. These are quite common, in good condition and rarely larger than the larger on shown. Next is the small sea biscuit. I think there are 2 different species in the picture, but the more oval one is probably in to poor condition to ID. The other inflated obloid ones are not that common and are what I'm primarily hunting for when I go back to these islands with the exception of the still allusive sea urchin. I appreciate the help. Thanks for your time.

Ear bones have never been my favorite thing. And, that's a good thing 'cause - except for mysticete whale bullae in some locations - ear bones are hard to find. Here's one I've had for a long time. I have always thought of this as an ear bone of Zygorhiza, an archaeocete whale; but, I have no confirmation of that. The bone is in three pieces, broken along old cracks judging by the stains. It may have broken in my collecting bag - I don't remember. The broken surfaces reveals a dense, white, glassy material. Anyway, the interior is so surprising, and the cross-section of the bone is so interesting, that I have never glued it back together. I thought I'd share some images, and maybe someone here will recognize the bone.

Here is the summary of my finds from the Florida Eocene (Ocala formation) matrix sent to me by member Sacha. Please feel free to correct me on anything. I am here to learn. This matrix is chock full of Fibularia vaughni. I did find a very few of what seems to be a different species shown here above the Fibularia vaughni. From what I have read, this is as big as they get. No wonder I did not find any larger ones. The last view of each is the profile. The top image has a much higher profile I can't figure out what this is. It almost looks like a baby echinoid. This is a centrodorsal from a comatulid crinoid. Thanks to Al Dente. There are lots of broken bits of echinoids throughout the matrix including the spines. continued in the next reply