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Hello, Could I get an ID on this mazon creek unknown? It has pretty high relief and strong segmentation with makes me think arthropod like a millipede, but I don't see any legs so maybe it's an annelid worm or something.

This mazon creek pit 11 concretion opened a couple days ago and looks kind of like a ribbon worm but the preservation is different than examples I've been able to find. Any insight would be appreciated thanks. Also my word suggestion prompted me to say Happy Thanksgiving!

This one was sold to me as the acorn worm Mazoglossus ramsdelli... it seems to match photos I see, but I'd like a second opinion, please: This one was sold to me as Archisymplectes rhothon ('ribbon worm') but I'm less confident about this one, so, same question as above. If it's not that, what is it?

Would somebody please help me make sense out of some of the things I’ve found? The stuff looks like fossilized organic material to me, but I really don’t know what I’m looking at. These are embedded in Pennsylvanian period shale found in the Narragansett Bay Area of Rhode Island. Some were found in woods near the Blackstone river, others were found in an undeveloped plot of commercial use land that’s been used as a dump for all sorts of rocks used in construction, etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hello all! I just recently purchased this specimen which was indicated to be from the Carboniferous, Bashkirian-Westphalian B, beds of Poland, dated to be Pennsylvanian at 314 mya. It was sold to me as a Trigonotarbid abdomen. The white square is 1 x 1 cm for scale. While I am no expert on arachnid orders, it appears to be lacking the segmented plates that surround the perimeter of the inner abdomen. Could this be part of some other segmented terrestrial arthropod, or could this feature be covered up by surrounded rock or have been damaged? I will be posting pictures of the specimen below, please let me know if you have any questions or need further information to support a conclusive ID. Excited to hear y'alls input!

I found this on a Beach on the west side of Narragansett Bay. I have found numerous plant fossils less than 2 miles away from here and I think that it has some potential to be a footprint. The impression goes deeper where there would be claws and it appears to have 3 toes. I would love to hear what others have to say. It looks very similar to others that I have seen from the Rhode Island Formation (middle to late Pennsylvanian). I will provide more pictures if necessary.

It'd been awhile since I last joined the Austin Paleo group for one of their field trips, so I was excited to finally catch back up with them at some sites about 3 hrs up north. The plan for the day was to hit up Brady and Santa Anna, but the weather forecast had put things into question. Originally, I had some rather ambitious sites lined up in the Llano Uplift afterwards. The rainy conditions, however, meant the river would be a little too high for walking. After a peaceful morning drive under the guiding light of the full moon, I pulled up to the first location where I was relieved to see things weren't canceled, and Melvin plus the gang were already crawling along the slick exposure of Strawn Group shales (Desmoinesian Series). Upon stepping out of the car, I was suddenly met with a confusing mix of cold drizzly rain and warm gusts of humid wind. It wasn't unbearable though, and I was more so focused on catching up with some familiar faces anyways. The hunting proved a bit treacherous. The ground shimmered with newly formed mud mounds that loved to stick under your shoes. Although it wasn't nearly as bad as wet Grayson/Del Rio matrix (Waco Pit), it was still a strenuous activity, having to climb the hillside in my new platform shoes. Things started off a bit slow. The weather dampened the mood, but with enough effort, people started making some decent finds. I was hopeful to prove my crinoid crown from last year was no fluke, so I went straight to business, closely inspecting every rock for anything out of place. It was a challenge to look for details through the mud. Nevertheless, it was a rich site and everyone kinda knew the spectacular finds would roll out one way or another. After an hour and a half of looking at hash plates and broken brachiopods, I found the first keeper. Especially since it was covered in mud, this guy was tough one to notice. I think 9 times out of 10 I would have walked over it. A small, smashed crinoid crown and arms Nearby I also picked up a small crinoid cup which are always fun to find. As we were wrapping up, I took a gamble wiggling out a mucky mass of what looking like a crinoid arm erupting just from underneath a bigger rock. It didn't take long to figure out it was most definitely a large crinoid crown. The species is hard for me to say, so I am open for suggestion. A large crinoid that took a bit of cleaning. The other side shows some arms, but there is a lot more matrix covering it. With all the rain, Melvin and Ed decided it was wise to skip what would have been a messy parking situation at Santa Anna in favor of an impromptu trip to the beloved Wilson Clay Pit of the Harpersville Fm (Virgilian Series). After about an hour of caravaning northbound, everyone gingerly parked their cars along the gravel margin. It took a bit of teamwork to set up some big rocks for a makeshift bridge across the mote separating us from the gate, but we pulled through. Others gave up a bit too early and decided wet feet for the rest of the day would not dissuade them from taking the shortest route across the puddle . Wilson was a good call as things were surprisingly easy to traverse once inside the quarry. All the rock fragments made for good footing. I had made a couple new friends who happened to be fossil forum lurkers. One of them was named Will, and I decided to help him out with finding some Pennsylvanian shark teeth. Once we located the right rocks, I tried to show him what to keep an eye out for. He was a fast learner and pretty soon we were both consistently spotting little pieces of Petalodus among other cartilaginous vertebrates. Sadly, I didn't find most of my cooler stuff until he was sick of all the hammering and ventured elsewhere to find inverts! The first keeper for me was a mess of associated Archaeocidaris plates and spines. Not nearly as pretty as those of the Brownwood Spillway, but still neat nonetheless. Archaeocidarid plates and spines Not long after, I made a rather unexpected discovery. I guess in the past I wasn't looking at each rock close enough. I had heard of Cladodont sharks being found in Wilson before, but never saw one myself. Over the course of the day, however, I found like 6 of them in varying condition. They are surprisingly common, but go unnoticed because they are usually so tiny. I have seen the species Symmorium reniforeme referenced in Wilson, but I am under the impression that these teeth are now classified as Glikmanius occidentalis. My favorite is the middle one below. Its white coloration makes it almost look like a modern shark tooth on the beach. Cladodont (Glikmanius occidentalis?) shark teeth. Surprisingly common in smaller sizes. "Deltodus" was the second most common shark of the day and I managed to snag one in near perfect condition. "Deltodus" Throughout the day I was really hoping to find a Petalodus as good as the one from last year, but alas it was not meant to be. Still, there were some decent ones that showed themselves now and again. One tooth has some really cool dendritic mineralization on the enamel. Best Petalodus ohioensis of the day. As I was writing the above excerpt on the dendritic Petalodus, I took a second look at it and just noticed a trilobutt on the back of the broken root! First Wilson trilo for me and it's on a Petalodus tooth go figure. I guess there's no other way I'd find one given my vertebrate fixations Trilobutt on Petalodus! It was about sunset when I left. Of course I was one of the last ones there along with Ed and Melvin. I need to work on my controlling my fossil hunting urges for sure. Anyways, it was a nice day for a hunt and definitely something I needed. The 3 hour drive back felt like nothing as all I could think about was what awaited me the next trip out. Thanks for reading!

Hello, I picked up this small trilobite with no provenance or label. However based on the other material it was with I suspect it is Pennsylvanian-aged possibly from Kansas. Can anyone verify the bug and potentially the provenance as well? The long pygidium makes me think of Ameura, and I believe the lack of a median preoccipital lobe rules out Ditomopyge. However compared to other examples I see the glabella seems narrow and the cheeks very wide, so perhaps I am completely off. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

How should I prep this 6 cm wide crushed conulariid that is covered in a massive bryozoan and is from the Pennsylvanian Naco Formation of Arizona? It is only the second one that I have found. The matrix is a shaley limestone and is full of bedding cracks. Flakes are falling off either side of the fossil. I would like to take most of the matrix off the back side by hammer and chisel along a bedding plane 1-2 inches below. I can make any thickness of Butvar B-76 solution in acetone. I am afraid that covering the conulariid with Butvar might not hold it together if I try to split the rock and inch or so below the fossil.

This fossil with faint triangular outline is covered in a bryozoan was found in the Pennsylvanian Naco Fm. near Kohl’s Ranch. Is it a flattened conulariid? 2 cm coin for scale.

Just curious if these are fern seeds??? During the summer, I slipped over to Ambridge, Pa. to collect a few ferns. Multiple nodules were discovered and the more I thought about it, the more I became suspicious of "seed". Thanks for looking. I am very uneducated when it comes to plants. Mike

I went on a trip to the Braceville spoil pile (Pennsylvanian deposits of Francis Creek shale, similar to other Mazon Creek locations but more marine) with the ESCONI club last week. Some of my concretions have already opened and there are a few things I am not sure about. Most of these might be totally unidentifiable, but just in case wanted to check - any input would be great. 1. I think I see some resemblance to a partial whorl of Spiropteris (curvature, and it seems like there are 1.5 whorls present). Could that be the case or it just some miscellaneous plant bit? 2. This one cracked poorly - is this worm identifiable at all? I don't see any evidence of jaws or segmentation. 3. This one is just weird - possibly a coprolite or a bivalve mold? If so, it would be a quite large bivalve. I don't see a hinge or any evidence of shell texture though. 4. Possibly a messed up Achistrum? 5. The elongated leaf in the middle somewhat looks like a small Cordaites leaf?

Hello! I had the privilege of joining ESCONI to Mazon’s Pit 4 yesterday and came across this concretion. There’s a very good chance it’s nothing, but I thought the 3D shape might be peculiar. The concretion is about 1.5 cm wide in total. Thank you for looking!