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Showing results for tags 'pennsylvania'.
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Good afternoon, I have submitted photos of this fossil to multiple local groups in hopes of a possible identification to no avail, therefore I have turned to this forum and home to figure this out! I hope it to be a calamite cone fossil but I have been wrong before, so I am asking for a second opinion. Thank you very much! Important information: This fossil was pulled off a shale cliff that is abundant in calamite and fern fossils. The cliff is located near Carnegie, Pennsylvania (Western PA). The specific fossil has both calamite and ferns on the reverse side. Edit 1: The size is about 1.5 inches (3.81 cm). Information that is possibly helpful but may not be: The cliff has a few layers of coal and black colored shale, while the majority of the cliff is a grey colored shale. This rock was pulled off just above a black shale line.
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Hello everyone! I'm very new, having started my hunting a couple months ago. I live in northern Allegheny County (Pittsburgh, USA) and have been searching for Pennsylvanian-period flora in shale in the Glenshaw Formation at Pine Creek. There is also an old quarry nearby that seems to have some sandstone specimens. I'm here to learn, connect and hopefully get some identifications. So far I think I've found: Lepidodendron, Sigillaria, Cordaites, Stigmaria, Calamites, Sphenophylum, Alloiopteris, Neuropteris, Alethopteris, Sphenopteris, Odonopteris and Spiropteris. However, still a little confused by a couple of finds, haha. Anyway, happy to have found this site.
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Asteroidea (starfish) from Ordovician of Pennsylvania
traveltip1 posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Saturday dawned a bit chilly, but the sun peeped out from lingering clouds to brighten a stellar day of fossil prospecting in the Ordovician bedrock of central Pennsylvania. We strolled along the limestone ground, like beachcombers peering in shallow shore waters, when my relatively newbie friend exclaimed, "That looks like a starfish!" Bingo...Indeed it was an Asteroidea. I'm guessing it's genus Urasterella, and I wonder how rare is this find. The specimen's longest ray is 1.75 inches (4.45 cm). Photos are the rock slab and a closeup of the mostly complete starfish, as found.
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My family and I are on short end of season camping trip in Southeastern Pennsylvania and decided to head over to Gettysburg. These have probably been covered here before but I got some pictures of the famous Dinosaur Footprints on the Bridge! My son loved it (I’m gonna pretend more than me ). Anyone know of anywhere I can go searching for some fossils while I’m in the area that’s around the Gettysburg area??
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Stigmaria ficoides is a type designation for roots of scale trees (Lycopods). The main roots have scars, usually ovate, where the rootlets once attached. In this specimen you can clearly see not only the main root but rootlets coming off of the main root at right angles on both sides. The white highlights on this plate are iron oxide left from the original plant material. The site where this was found is part of the same formation as the famous St Clair locality, which is known for its white fern fossils.
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- carboniferous
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I found this near a small creek in the Casselman Formation right outside of Pittsburgh. It was originally covered in some sort of black matrix, most of which I scraped off. It really looks like a piece of bone (maybe a tibia or a radius?) to me, but I might just be crazy. Thanks!
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From the album: Plants of the Lewellyn Formation
Root of a Lepidodendron (scale tree) with rootlets radiating out at right angles along both sides. The white powder highlighting the imprint is iron oxide, most likely pyrophyllite, left over from the actual plant. Lewellyn Formation (same formation that runs through St. Claire) Lackawanna County, PA Pennsylvanian age -
Last fall, I drove out to Centralia, PA, the famous burning town. The coal vein below the town caught fire, creating random sinkholes filled with toxic gasses. The town was abandoned. The buildings were bulldozed. Only the most foolish set foot in the town limits. Today, however, the fires have mostly followed the coal vein out of town. I was out once in September, just to check the lay of the place, then returned in October to find fresh "No Trespassing" signs. Darn! Six weeks ago, I got a report that the signs were down. The person making the report said they double-checked with the locals in the next town and were told that yes, it was fine to go fossil hunting out there. So, today my hubby and I went to investigate. The signs were indeed own, replaced two with Keystone State logos. One banned motor vehicles. The other announced that the property owner agreed to allow game hunting but a permit was required. That was it. In we went. The fossil outcrop is part of the Lewellyn Formation, which also runs through the now-closed St. Claire site. Lepidodendron, calamites and cordaites cover almost every inch of the shale. The impressions are coated with shiny, black graphite, white pyrophyllite and kaolinite, plus some bits of other colored iron oxides and even some shiny pyrite. If you go, be warned that the slope is steep and treacherous. I used rock climbing gear so that the scree didn't slide out from under me, sending me sliding fifty feet or more down the hill. The woods at the base are navigable, if a bit tangled in spots, and are littered with everything that weathered off of the slope, including occasional large hash plates.
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- carboniferous
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Petrified wood trip in the Triassic of Pennsylvania
traveltip1 posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
I enjoyed a productive weekend hunting petrified wood in the Triassic age, approximately 210 mya, Newark Supergroup of Pennsylvania. The first 2 photos show a single specimen's 2 sides, illustrating profuse checking in the wood, and a likely rotten dead limb knot at top. Specimen weighs 19 pounds.
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Really not sure what I have here, it definitely stands out from the surrounding matrix. I found this chunk at the Rockville Quarry site north of Harrisburg PA. There are some brachiopods in the surrounding matrix.
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Hi! First time posting here. Curious about a rock that looks like a fossil imprint. Can anyone help me identify what it could be an imprint of? Found many years ago in North East, Pa. thanks in advance for any help!!
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Fossil hunted with my college roommate today towards the deer lake region. Here is about 1/2 of my haul, will be excited to clean them and remove some matrix eventually and uncover them more!
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- devonian
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I'm currently planning out some sites to check out in the Central PA area... I'm trying to stay within 1-1.5 hours of Harrisburg if possible. Right now I am considering trying my luck at exploring the Rockville Quarry or what was left of it, as well as just taking a shot in the dark and checking out a few streams in the area. My first official fossil hunt was last Friday (Aug 28) at the Swatara fossil pit. Found a few shells and what I believe to be a partial trilobite exoskeleton or imprint. Definitely going to check that site out again though. Does anyone have any tips/locations for the Central PA area? Right now my holy grail is a complete trilobite but I'm so new to the game that I get excited at any remnant of a previous life.
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Hey FossilForum Fam! I finally decided to make an account and get to know you all and share some of my own experiences! I am just getting into fossil hunting after splitting open a few rocks up in Tioga county and finding a few shells in them. I currently am in college outside of the Harrisburg area but while not here spend time in the Philly suburbs. I would love to get to make a few connections and geek out about fossils! Currently, I am on a quest to find my first trilobite, spent my first true fossil hunt at Swatara St. Park, and came up with just some shells. -Andrew
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I recently visited a few formations around PA, The Montour preserve pit happened to be on the way and I stopped by, The location was quite picked over as @historianmichael told me, but we did manage to get some nice finds. I will post a trip report later but for now, I want to get some IDs for some of my finds from here and another location. First, is what I thought in the field was a brachiopod but upon closer inspection, I realized that this is probably my first pteriomorph mollusk which is very exciting for me, my question is: Which? I looked through Linsley and multiple look similar, I just don't have enough experience with these to really be able to tell.
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- devonian
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Hello again Fossil Forum, Last week I posted a few pictures of what I thought might be fossil wood that I found on my property in Southeastern PA (Montgomery County, just over the Philadelphia County line). It seemed that it was possible that my rocks were fossils, but also maybe not... One helpful user suggested that I might polish some of the ends (hopefully crossections) of a few pieces. So below and in the next few replies I will post some pictures of a few pieces, for the polished parts I used a cabbing machine. I live at the bottom of a relatively steep hill and these pieces were all found within about 50ft of each other. If there seems to be some variety, that is in keeping with what I found after consulting several geological maps of my area: my property appears to lie at the precise intersection of precambrian, lower paleozoic, and cambrian regions and includes both sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. If not fossil wood, possibly stromatolites? ...or just more interesting rocks?? For discussion purposes I'll number the pieces and put them in separate replies. Thank you again for any thoughts, information, and opinions!
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Found this back in April on a mountain, still amazed by the detail. Not sure what species it is, the area is mostly Carboniferous.
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Americaspis americana, dorsal shield endocast from jawless fish, Silurian in Pennsylvania
traveltip1 posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
I found these, endocast impressions of dorsal shields of the jawless fish Americaspis americana, in the Silurian of Pennsylvania. There are 2 1/3 dorsal shields shown. A complete shield measures approximately 2.4 x 1.0 inches (6.10 x 2.54 cm).
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Hello Fossil Forum! I love rocks and rock hounding (but very amateur) and I look at the ground wherever I go. I picked up these rocks from a few locations in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Most collected over the past year, found in hillsides (not streams). I think that they all look somewhat like petrified wood and was curious if anyone else has found similar samples from this area and/or knows anything at all about them. Thank you in advance for any thoughts, information, and opinions!
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I inherited my grandfather's modest fossil collection, and in it was this 8 cm wide by 19cm long fossil that I need help identifying. It is pointed at one end, has external ridges and an internal hollow at the other--features that look tooth-like to me, but I'm a newbie at this. Unfortunately I have no information on location of discovery or likely age. My hope is that fossils like this are common enough that one of the more educated and experienced here will recognize it right away. I'd be grateful even for best guesses that help me direct further research.
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Rhynchosauroides trace (trackways) from Triassic in Pennsylvania
traveltip1 posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
I found these Rhynchosauroides trace fossil trackways well-defined in the Triassic red bed sedimentary deposits in the Newark Basin in southeastern Pennsylvania. Lincoln cent shows scale.
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Hello everyone, These were all found in St. Claire, PA. Mahantango Formation. Anybody know what these are? #1. Looks like octopus suckers in brown outline. Is it a coral? #2. Crinoid star stems? #3. Cylindrical molds, what are these?
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Hello everyone, All of these were found in St. Claire, PA. Llewellyn Formation. Any idea what they are? #1. Plant leaf of some sort? #2. Scaley looking fossil?
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I found 4 nice good-size specimens of petrified wood, from the Newark Basin Triassic sedimentary deposits, in southeastern Pennsylvania. Photo shows that all pieces are a light chocolate brown color. There is a quarter coin for scale. These are from the same location where I previously found two large specimens, which I posted a few years ago. This material seems to be rather scarce.
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