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I recently collected some Muncie creek concretions from the Kansas City area. I had previously only found a few concretions, but this time I was fortunate enough to end up with about 10. Several had Conulariid sections preserved, which I was excited about. Back home, I cracked open the remaining concretions. One of them had a tiny little brachiopod, and I didn't think much of it. Later, looking at it under magnification, I was astounded when I found the remains of the preserved pedicle! This is where I am sad to say, that in my excitement, I forgot to take pictures of the fossil prior to me prepping around the shell to aid in id. Anyways, after prepping around the shell with a hand scribe, I was excited to find that it was also my first lingulate brach. Orbiculoidea capuliformis Sorry for making you read all of that, here are the photos: Scale is in cm. Here are several interesting articles/papers for anyone interested. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:373816/FULLTEXT01.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/figure/a-b-The-brachiopod-L-chengjiangensis-represented-by-stout-pedicles-marked-by-numbers_fig1_24424671 Despite being small, there is a lot of potential with Muncie Creek shale concretions. I learned a lot about them, and their existence, here on TFF. @Missourian has found many astonishing finds, and I noticed that soft tissue preservation is prevalent in many of his best concretions. Hope y'all enjoyed this. Have a great day, and a great weekend -Jay

They are hard like a rock with tiny crystal's all over them

This was originally a rock that I thought looked like it was in the shape of a small hip bone or something. I collected it in Marlboro NJ a few years ago, but just recently got the urge to tinker with it. I started to dissolve some of the rock away. After about a quarter inch was removed I thought it looked like the upper half of a newborn or embryotic dinosaur that had been slightly crushed. I have been told it is just a concretion, but I am still convinced it is a baby dino. I have no idea how this would happen. However,. All the pieces are there Eyes, ears, nose, mouth, spinal cord, chest cavity, arms. I believe the large ear looking thing is the crest folded down. You can even make out little fingers and two lungs when looking at it in person. Let me know if anyone else sees this or if I am delusional.

Very well preserved crinoid cross in the internal body sutures in the bone and even some skin or tissues between the sections

I found this really cool looking fish which is most likely a Knightia, but it's preserved in ventral aspect. The rear portion of the fish is missing including the dorsal fin so many of the diagnostic characteristics have been lost, but I still believe this is a Knightia based on the overall shape of the skull and the shape of the body. My question is more of a matter of ID'ing bones, because the main reason why I like this fish is you can see many of the bones that the typical Knightia does not show. I can see two operculum, one on each side. The lower and upper jaw I THINK are visible which is kind of weird because this is a ventral fish. The "gill" pieces which are my favorite part of the piece I think are called branchiostegals correct me if I'm wrong. But with many of the bones I have no clue. If anybody has input about this feel free to post what you have to say, I'm all ears!

While rockhounding in the area of the Niagara Penninsula, I found an odd-shaped piece of metal about 5 inches beneath very thick, wet mud. The place in which I found the object was in a very shallow stream, which ran over sedimentary rock of the pre-Cambrian shield. After a closer inspection at home, I believe I may have found an iron-mineralized piece of a petrified wood, intertwined with two separate vines. A friend suggested it may be a rusty drill bit although I have doubts based on the location it was found. It is 3 1/2" long and 3/4" wide. It is heavy and seems hard like a metal. It is somewhat magnetic. It appears mostly brown, with spots of orange, and some light brown mud residue. I am assuming the vibrant orange colour is rust although there are also pale-orange spots which resemble the interior of a stick. Before cleaning the specimen, I would appreciate any opinions/advice. I am only able to attach two photos, but I will upload the rest in the response section. Any help is much appreciated!