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I found this partial skull while hunting in the Peace River (Florida, Bone Valley formation). I am thinking it's either a raccoon or possum. Is there any way to tell? I am fairly certain it is not fossilized and it's pretty fragile.

Went fossil hunting again in Florida's Bone Valley Formation. We returned to the Mammoth site where the large tusk section was recovered on the previous trip. After extensive searching in the area, no further Mammoth specimens were found. We still believe more of the beast is buried nearby, but this site is large and it's like looking for needles in a haystack. So, we are done with this site for a few months until the river drops further to allow better searching. We left the Mammoth site and continued downstream until we arrived at another one of our "honey holes" - a spot in the river that has previously produced numerous Pleistocene megafauna fossils. The site did not disappoint. We were likely the first hunters to arrive at it (it's too far downstream for casual lookers) and there was a lot of low-hanging fruit laying around. Josh proceeded to do some diving in the murky waters, and I waded around the knee-deep tea-colored water - doing a lot of the same bending and stooping that I do while shelling at the beach. The sun was directly overhead at this time, so it illuminated the coffee-black water and made it appear a tan tea color that was much more transparent. Things on the river bed could be easily seen. Lots of pebbles, logs, branches, clay lumps that resemble rocks, and fossils. All of these things are laying in a chaotic mess all over the riverbed in certain places. This lighting would not last, once the angle of the sun changes, the level of illumination drops and the tea colored water slowly changes to opaque coffee black. While the Sun was good, I found numerous bones including some vertebra and phalanges - the former is likely alligator and the latter is probably deer. Some of those appeared to be recent Holocene specimens and some were fossilized and were late Pliocene to late Pleistocene. Also found were numerous turtle scutes, some soft-shell turtle plastrons, some unidentified "chunkasaurus" bone fragments, a piece of Miocene coral with calcite replacement, and a strangely shaped bone of some kind. I left the best for last. Although not a fossil, I found an intact coyote skull that is in wonderful condition and has almost all of the teeth, including the canines. Also found was a partial small skull that is likely a raccoon or possum. These will clean up nicely and go into my growing collection of skulls. Footnote : strangely, we found NO shark teeth, which is very unusual for this site. Although, to be fair, we weren't really focused on shark teeth this time.

This is an oddball that I am having trouble identifying. Does anyone know what this is? It was found in the Peace River, Bone Valley formation, Hawthorn Group, Florida in mixed Miocene/Pliocene/Pleistocene deposits. Black cube is 1cm square. Thanks!

Summer is usually a drag for SW Florida fossil hunting. I was flushed out of the Peace River on May 28th and have not been back. So I was commiserating (generally whining) with my pretty constant (in season) hunting buddy Steve a week ago. What can we do,, what can we do? Steve was a drag line operator for most of 25 years in Bone Valley Phosphate mines and has lived within walking distance of the Peace River most of his adult life. So, he and I both made suggestions on a Florida Fossil Focused agenda for what turned out to be yesterday!! 1) Arrive at Steve's home and unidentified fossil museum to check out some of his treasures and maybe purchase a few of my favorite tiny horse teeth from the Miocene era phosphate mines. Here are just a few of my new tiny horse teeth.... 2) Take a road trip in the Vicinity of Fort Meade, checking out feeder creeks to the Peace River, to determine whether these smaller creeks present an opportunity for fossil hunting. I am not trying to dissuade anyone but it is worth your life to go into many of the creeks I saw. As an example, little Paynes Creek is normally 1-2 feet meandering thru the woods. We went over a bridge where it was a torrent 30 feet wide and 8 foot deep. Best to wait until that subsides. 3) We were on a historical trip back in time visiting the Phosphate mines from 30 years ago and 100 years ago, passing old rusting mine buildings, cemeteries where mine towns used to be and are not any more, roads that went nowhere, huge tracks of land with no trespassing signs from MOSIAC Company. Steve talked about places he work for decades that had perfect Red Megs that no one bothered to pick up because the money was in mammal fossils. He said that in the 1970s, anyone could walk into the mines searching for fossils. The owners did not care as long as you stayed away from buildings and equipment during working hours. Kids would go searching for fossils on Sundays. 4) We were in the area , so we stopped at the Phosphate Mine Museum in Mulberry Florida. Really interesting place, I liked the baby Gomph tooth, Rhino tusk, Croc, and dugong ribs... In that 1st photo above, that is a Drag line bucket from decades ago. The museum fills the area with pebble rock that contains small fossils and tiny shark teeth from the mines. There was a family with 2 kids digging for fossils. I was fortunate to have some waste fossils in my pickup that I gave them and they thanked me profusely. I am not selective when I hunt, I pick up almost everything that is not rock, sort it out at home and on my next trip back, dump it back in the river, so broken unidentified bones, dugong ribs, ray teeth, turtle pieces, etc, etc. Sometimes fragments of gator . mammoth, mastodon, horse teeth. 5) From the museum, we went across the street for the big mac meal with fries and a drink. And then back to searching for those feeder creeks and defunct phosphate mines. All in All , it was a better fossil day than I had in over a month. We talked about visiting more local museums (Bradenton, Clewiston, Ft Myers), Steve loaned me a book on Florida Artifacts and so I have a lot of fossils activities to do for a few weeks until I need another day, hunting with Steve.

Well, I think I am done. I was out on Memorial day. The water was waist to chest level. I rarely go back to back days so Wednesday the 30th was possible. I had an interesting morning -- see below. 6 inches up was barely hand-able... We left a little after noon. Did find some neat fossils: This place is worth a return visit. Interesting open cavity at the end of the root. Very fragile #s 2,3,4. I know what these are... because I have seen them previously. I find thousands of the Asian clam ,an invasive species in the Peace River but I am hoping that @MikeR can identify this salt water clam from an earlier age. Then a Sawfish or Shark vert which are relatively uncommon. Finally, one I am unsure of: I have seen those "eyes" on the inside of a turtle shell... so I think that is what this is, although the shape is odd. See this thread. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/71000-prospecting-trip/. This season started off slow and started picking up in December. I will miss going to the river, but it gives me time to sort , catalogue, and pay attention to other important facets of living. Its all good.

Hunting between thunderstorms and deeper water. During the rest of the season, I note those places where I am finding fossils but have low water conditions...because of lower back issues, I generally refuse to hunt where I must bend over the screen. However, I do remember where such spots exist for days like today. An excellent day, some unusual, finds, a couple of megs, and then these: A odd bone, I have not previously found, but believe to be an Equus Splint bone: Another interesting fossil which I think most likely a large Sloth dermal scute. Finally, my best find of the day, a piece of jaw with a Hemiauchenia m3 molar in nice cream - brown colors.. These are really nice finds... but I was cherishing the end days of the 2017-2018 season with a friend on a day with sunshine in the morning and rain clouds later in the day. Does not get better than this... Jack

The Peace River is a magic place, It always has surprises in store, even when I am finding little that is Spectacular!! Look at this selection found while hunting today. Some NICE Hemis, a flake from tool making, even a wild boar tusk (hollow inside and modern) and then The botryoidal translucent brown mineral growing on the fossil is chalcedony. Chalcedony often fills the empty spaces in fossils, especially wood and bone. Did I mention a calcified sea urchin spine .. NEAT !!! Even got 1 Meg (very 1st find of the day), and a couple of calcified Barnacles.... I have never found a calcified barnacle in 10 years of searching this river... I love the diversity of finds... something new i every sieve. And the water was cool and the sun was shining.

Hello everyone been ages since I’ve visited this site so I figure I’d share a trip I went on Saturday. I went out with a good buddy of mine and a guy I haven’t met before to try Peace River. We put in at Wauchula and went a few miles from the boat ramp in our canoes. After a few hours of digging we found some interesting stuff I’ll include pics of what I found . This is probably my favorite find of the day, a giant stingray plate chunk, anyone ever see any like that?

A hunting partner asked me to ID this canine, approximately 1.25 inches. I think I know what it is because of the "ripple" in the enamel, but feel better if backed by TFF expertise. I usually search TFF and the internet for matches and saw an old TFF post from 4 years ago that never quite identified this tooth. This TFF thread discusses Peccary. In the above thread, @Harry Pristismakes this comment: With the wear facet on the outside of the curve, Gary, your find is an upper canine. That's what I seem to have , a very small peccary looking tooth with the wear facet on the outside of the curve. Are there other possibilities for the Peace River Miocene - Pleistocene mix? Thanks for the help, Jack

Today I went with 2 friends to a hunting spot that has been productive for months , but was beginning to run out of gravel that one of us had not sifted thru. Most of the morning we spent seeking gravel, and finding small shark teeth, turtle bone, footpads and spurs, a few pieces of mammoth tusk, dugong/manatee rib sections, a couple of baracuda teeth, and one !!!! horse tooth. The day did not improve for my friends. This is actually where LUCK comes in... We have an excellent hunting spot, all 3 of us are excellent hunters with great techniques, we are digging within 20 feet of each other. I got hot at noon; We packed up and left 2 hours later. These days are the ones I recall when I'm the one finding little/nothing. Given all these fantastic finds, you might ask which I liked best... The juve mastodon spit tooth...versus the 2nd Calippus I have ever found. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/46940-three-toed/ I believe that this tooth is Calippus (16.25x19.25x20 mm) but maybe slightly larger than my Calippus Elachistus from May of 2014... Feeling good, Feeling GOOD and unbelievably LUCKY...

I have suggestions of really large lemon, small mako and sand tiger without cusps, Help

I was out hunting today, and found some unusual stuff for me. Example of a known is this Galeocerdo contortus . I do not find them with this level of preserved serrations. To me this means a likely Miocene location. So three (3) requested IDs First: Second: In a different location a week ago, I found the one on the left. Maybe concretion, with strange circular "pore"... but then the one on the right today. So this is something, possibly fossil or what? Last, A Ray mouthplate: Worn , very thin, Can someone id the specific ray? Thanks for all comments and replies. A VERY interesting day with many unique and unknown (to me) fossils.

Trying to identify 2 Verts from the Peace River, Florida. Initially I thought that the 1st vert was shark. It is unusual. Hopefully someone recognizes the big circular "hole"... The 2nd is beat up a little, maybe harder to identify

Out today to the Peace River, Great day, great weather, good friends. Barely time to post a few photos of finds before going to sleep. Many of my co_hunters keep only the best and toss the rest.. I keep everything I find somewhat interesting. So a couple of group photos... In the 1st photo, a collection of Glyto stuff in lower right, a couple of very strange mammal verts that I might put up in the Fossil ID section tomorrow. Upper right is a unique Mammoth tooth fragment. 2nd photo has an Equus Phalanx on the right, a couple of lower hemis (38 and 45 mm) on upper left. A few more photos: Other side of Mammoth fragment: The backside of that round vert on right of photo #1, I have no clue on this one. and finally, a small chunk of coral with crystalized polyps. I have found these before and could track down the name. Some of these finds are relatively rare for me.. I also enjoy finding different stuff. Hope you do also Jack

I found this at the weekend in a creek off the Peace River in Florida. It's pretty worn, but you can still see the serrations along the edge of the crown. My initial reaction was that it was a tiny posterior megalodon. It's only 0.5" wide however. Any thoughts? The bit that confused me was that it curls up slightly when laying flat (see third photo)

Wondered if I could get a little help ID'ing these two shark teeth I found at the weekend in a creek off the Peace River, Florida. I found lots of nicely colored Lemon, Tiger and Dusky shark teeth over the weekend but these two were a little different Tooth #1 - This is the yellow tooth with the curved tip. This had the hallmarks for a Lemon with the flat root, but the very curved tip looked odd. Is this a pathological Lemon or another species? Tooth #2 - This looks like a symphyseal tooth but I don't think it's a Tiger as it's not got any fine serrations. Any thoughts. Both are about 0.5". Thanks in advance Attached to this posted is Tooth 1

This is the time that my northern relatives like to seek warmer weather, so I am juggling guests, traveling , and fossil hunting... I was out Sunday and not again until today.. Once again, I went to a location that I had thought was dug out years ago, including lots of trips by me. Here is a group photo of the "best" finds... A great Butterfly osteoderm, 2 chunks of fossilized wood, a camel_llama tooth without roots, a nice 33mm Meg and a tarsal or carpal from an unknown (to me ) mammal. Extra credit for identifying what type of tree provided the wood. The tarsal/carpal is 32x24x13 mm. I am used to seeing Equus tarsals or carpals. This one seems really small and maybe is not equus. All comments, suggestions appreciated. Some more photos:

I have a minor medical procedure tomorrow morning. Nothing serious but it will keep me out of the Peace River for a week or so....So today I went hunting for the last opportunity before a layoff. Did I tell you that I am lucky? I have 4-5 hunting friends and when asked, they all claim that I must be one of the luckiest fossil hunters in the world.. You can judge. My friend Dave had found a Meg in a new location for him and suggested we go back to the same location today. When I got to this "new" location, I realize that I had dug this same spot extensively back in 2013-2014. However, the depth of the river in down from last moth and Dave indicated that he had found deep gravel with lots of hemis, tigers, duskys, lemons and a few Megs.. Sounds interesting , We really had a workout expanding the hole down and out. I was in waist deep water to start and shoulder deep water at the end of the day. Lots of small teeth, plus , horse and chunks of Mastodon, Mammoth, and ivory...Dave was finding similar fossils plus a number of nice small Megs. Nothing unique Until. Dave thought this might be tusk because of the obvious layering. I am not positive, but If it is not tusk, there are few sources of 4-6 inch canines in the Peace River watershed. Let's see what Bobby think for this find. @Boesse I could not be more pleased. ANY identification yields a super rare fossil, even one that is broken in half. As we paddled back to the bridge, Dave indicated (half_humorously I hope) that he may not be taking me to his new locations in the future.

Great day, hunting with a friend, warm, sunny. Did not even need a wetsuit. and then unknowns!! I love unknowns because it gives me a chance to learn and study thesenewly acquired fossils. First a tooth found by my hunting buddy. I have no clue what this is.. Next a medial phalanx.. almost 2 inches.. and finally a vertebral process.. I once found a Mammoth process almost 14 inches... this one is not that large... In the same hole, I found a 3 inch Sloth Proximal Phalanx... Lots of bones today.... As always, identifications, suggestions, and comments are greatly appreciated. Shellseeker

I was hunting in a lot of smaller gravel (almost Pea gravel) and thus found many smaller fossils.. Here are 3 of the one I was unsure of the identity. All suggestions and comments appreciated. Jack Fossil #1 Mammal tooth Fossil #2 Mammal Incisor Finally #3 a shark vert...

Out hunting today... found lots of interesting stuff, but this thread is about one find. I have found lots of small pieces of ivory, and a section of Mammoth tusk, and a small Mastodon tusk (I have been lucky but I give my luck lots of hard work and opportunity). Today I found a large chunk of Ivory and my hunting buddy said it was "Bark Ivory" and they make knife handles out of it, but be careful because it might break... So this is just a discussion and set of questions when I find something and want more details. What is Bark Ivory? It does not seem to have Schreger lines.. these lines are straight in one direction. Does not ALL ivory have Schreger lines? What is the pock_marked rough exterior? Is it natural pre-mortem or some sort of boring worms? If this stuff is fragile, how do I stabilize and/or polish to make those knife handles.. Inquiring minds want to know. and I am thinking that some fossil hunters may have answers. Thanks.

Out on a beautiful day with friends, returning to a location that had produced some good finds where I knew what I was finding. The river was up a foot since we hunted last and since my specific location was already pretty deep, I had to move and find another spot. The finds were "odd" .. lots of broken mammal teeth, few small shark teeth, and lots of scutes and bones. Example: Found a complete Glypt/Dillo osteoderm smaller than a dime and my smallest Meg ever. But this is an ID thread: 1st -- foot pad or hoof core??? 2nd... Antler or tusk tip?? Finally 3rd , a vertebrae with both processes broken off All guesses, requests for different views, suggestions appreciated. Thanks Shellseeker

I met a friend near Arcadia on Tuesday. He gave me a Sand Tiger he had just found. A couple of questions: How many different species are called Sand Tiger? How many of those existed in Florida? What is the proper scientific name for this 1.4 inch Sand Tiger? I was slightly confused and wanted to share my acquisition of this very nice tooth... I was out today and found a small shark tooth (along with lots of other stuff) that I have never found before. I use a 1/4 inch screen and this tooth dangled over the river.. I was lucky to catch it as it fell... So , which shark, which position.... Is this tooth complete???

Was hunting yesterday in the Peace River. Good friends, sunshine, LOTS of small shark teeth, a couple of nice finds and a couple of unknowns. My BEST Meg of the day was small and broken: A very complete and large (2.5 inches across) Puffer Fish Mouthplate: A JAW with 2 teeth, I think it is raccoon but would love confirmation... and then this fossil (2.75 x 1.0 inches) for identification. This bone is complete! I thought I knew what it was before looking at the end in this last photo... Now I will look for TFF and Florida experts... Interesting fossils with good friends on a beautiful day....