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I’ve been trying to ID this huge cephalopod I found from the Glenshaw Formation in Brooke County, West Virginia. So far, I’ve considered the following: Millkoninckioceras Kummel, 1963 Mahoningoceras Murphy, 1974 I was all in on the latter name until I noticed the sutures were fairly straight compared to the deep convex flank sutures. Whitney (1882) called the sutures deeply concave on the holotype of Mahoningoceras (original description in photos below). The umbilicus is open. The specimen appears to be flattened. I believe the ventrolateral shoulder is about the middle of the bottom whorl in the second photo with a scale. The largest coiled nautaloid I've found in this formation could fit within the center whorl of this specimen. It seems that the body chamber would add another 1/4 whorl length. With metric scale: Coated with paraloid:

Hey again everyone! I have a LOT of overdue trip reports, experiences, and finds I’d love to share. Ive been busy traveling around Texas exploring and having the best outdoor fun before I buckle down and start my academic journey. I want to start off saying Happy Holidays and Happy New Years to everyone here! I will never forget anyone who has been kind to helped me, especially this year, and I wish everyone only the best. I literally mean it! Some of you remembered me from years ago and scrambled to help me like a guardian angel- I’ll make you guys proud someday. These adventures are me trying and improving- handling life the BEST I can and spending time outdoors. This year for me has been… insane. Some of you already know this, if not long story short, only months ago I found out I was diagnosed with a serious and legitimate trauma-related amnesia where I lost most of my memory from a set of years which unfortunately included most paleontology related things I knew and did & any trace of my blossoming paleontology career when I was 17/18 years old when I even had a science job. During the pandemic I started remembering random terms & latin names, instinctively and luckily found my way back here but at that time only for collecting. It wasn’t until late summer this year I remembered who I actually was, what I wanted to DO and WHY I moved to Texas. The shock was… very intense. I have made phenomenal progress processing & accepting… having to relearn so much and move forward. The progress I’ve made in only months takes a lot of patients years to reach to my point of mental healing and I’m proud. I really believe if I keep at it I’ll catch up to my peers academically AND become closer to the person I used to be, become who I should have been by now. I’m even ready to relearn how to drive again so I can go on more adventures with other future paleontologists! This post is me trying my hardest and even seeing new things. My roommate is helping me study both for paleo-memory related things & for my placement test. Late in November I decided to join DPS! What better way to re-learn and meet people than to join a club. We went out on a private trip to the OK border and I instantly found a giant Eopachydiscus and a few other ammonites including multiple Mortoniceras & a baby Oxytropidoceras. Im actually working on a personal research paper for the giant ammonite- for FUN! I want to be able to publish this ammonite’s story someday- there appears to possibly be deep predatory teeth marks on one side of the “shell” and I want to know more about my prehistoric friend. That day was extremely important because I met Roger F. for the first time- the gentleman who co-wrote my TX Cretaceous shark book! He’s one of my favorite people now to talk to since we both love prehistoric sharks. I was SO flattered I was mentioned heavily in the December paleo newsletter for my recent finds- it’s reassurance that others see I already made significant progress! MORE PICTURES! In-situ too! Next adventure, I wanted to take a weekend off to explore the Red Beds of northwest Texas in early December! I went to the Seymour Whiteside museum and to try to find my own Permian freshwater shark Orthacanthus teeth! I came out here to also see an artist friend but I also accidentally met one of my female paleontologist heros, legendary Holly Simon, and she presented me with an Otodus meg. shark tooth- wished me luck on my paleontology career. I wasn’t prepared! While Mesozoic marine vertebrates are my career-goal focus I thought it would be fun to get my nails ruined in that red Permian soil and learn about other animals- especially Xenocanthids! The Diplocaulus on display were adorable. Ya’ll should definitely visit the Whiteside Museum of Natural history! MORE PICS Excited to get my own hands dirty and 3 hotel muffins later- we drove waaay out across Archer & Navarro formations to find a good public exposure. Some great nature shots! I found a giant centipede exo which I took home! I found an excellent exposure which we actually used a Permian lithography map of a formations in Utah (same age!) to help locate a layer where the teeth could be! (Successful btw!) I saw what I needed and scooped up some of this gravely stuff the rain washed out in a baggie for later. I surfaced picked a tiny microfossil fish tooth (?) and later when I got home- MY PRIZE! Tiny little Orthacanthus microfossil! When we were actually there we tried looking through the gunk and wet sieving it in the creek with no luck of a larger tooth. We were also very close to Wellington Formation in OK and another day took a trip out there. That drive was wild because we drove through a park for a picnic area that had like 15 wild turkeys appear out of nowhere running around and they were even falling out of the trees over us! It happened so fast… I couldn’t react to take a photo but I have an IG vid of it. We drove around EVERYWHERE in search of a famous pond- now super closed to the public btw. I eventually found out where it was and we got as close as we could in the “creek” off the roadside without actually potentially trespassing. I lucked and found the TINIEST gravely spot in the “creek”of what I was looking for, crossing my fingers, scooped a baggie for home. SUCCEESS AGAIN! Two more teeth and wow different color than my Texas one! I still have most of the bag to sift through! We drove alll that way. For micro freshwater shark teeth. xD MORE PICS TO BE CONTINUED- Reached photo MB limit

Howdy! I've been hunting mostly plant fossils in the Pittsburgh area for about two years. This is a sampling of some of my favorite pieces. I hope you enjoy! All are Glenshaw Formation finds. 1. Neuropteris fimbriata 2. Metacoceras 3. Metacoceras 4. Asterophyllites 5. Lepidodendron obovatum 6. Neuropteris Ovata 7. Crenulopteris acadica 8. Brachiopod, Linoproductus? 9. There are over 50 little fossils on this plate, lots of Cyathocarpus arborea and I think Calamites and Psaronius "bark" 10. Cyathocarpus arborea 11. Crenulopteris acadica and stem and bark? 12. Crenulopteris acadica and Alethopteris 13. Crenulopteris acadica, Altheopteris 14. Calamites 15. Neochonetes 16. Crenulopteris acadica 17. Neuropteroid, Neuropteris Ovata? 18. Crenulopteris acadica 19. Cyathocarpus arborea and Calamites 20. Neuropteris 21. Not sure about the one on top, but the other two look like Crenulopteris acadica 22. Big Calamite 23. Crenulopteris acadica and Calamites 24. Aphlebia/Rhacophyllum? 25. Neuropteris scheuchzeri 26. Neuropteris ovata 27. Asterophyllites 28. Sphenopteroid 29. Neuropteris 30. Alethopteris 31. Asterophyllites 32. Petalodus tooth 33. Brachiopod 34. Neuropteroid frond 35. Aphlebia/Rhacophyllum? 36. Annularia 37. Lots of brachiopods 38. Neuropteris ovata 39. Horn coral, stereostylus 40. Cephalopod, pseudorthoceras

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!

I will be using this thread to post what I have found fossil hunting in the Mazon Creek area, including the ESCONI Braceville pile, Mazonia/Braidwood, and any other sites I get a chance to explore. Although I had been to Mazonia a few times previously with virtually no luck, my first successful trip was with ESCONI last September at the private spoil pile they have access to. These first fossils are all from there. I have tried to give the best IDs I can- please jump in if you think I have anything wrong. I also forgot to put something in for scale on this first batch of photos, my apologies. First are three that I believe to be Essexella asherae, all very different looking though. The first is quite large, 7.5 cm across, and I love the red color. Next are two Achistrum sp., the first is my favorite fossil I have found from Mazon Creek thus far- curled up neatly in the nodule and nearly complete. The second is partially pyritized- I couldn't find any similar examples online, so it seems fairly unusual. Here are a few Mazonomya mazonensis, the top one is adorably petite- the shell is less than 1 cm across. This is small impression fossil of some bark- I'm still learning to ID the Pennsylanian flora, so I'm not sure exactly what this would be called. This appears to be a trace fossil, possibly a tunnel of some sort? I believe this is a coprolite. Finally, a few incomplete worms. The first I have identified at the tail end of Didontogaster, while the second nodule seems to have a few thin worm-like fossils preserved- perhaps Flabelligeridae sp.?

Possible Diplopoda-3.tiffHello all, I’m hoping someone could lend their eyes and give their opinion on something I found. This is from a small rock I found near the Narragansett Basin area of Rhode Island. I recovered it from an undeveloped plot of commercial land that is sometimes used as a construction fill dump, so I don’t know where it originally came from. It appears to have a symmetrical pattern, but I could be seeing what I want to see. Rhode Island fossils are from the Pennsylvanian Period (mostly ferns, horsetails, some trilobites and occasional insects). If anyone could shed some light on this I’d be very appreciative!

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!

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!

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.