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Hi there. My name is vicky. I live in a very remote part of the karoo in South Africa. I am completely inexperienced at anything to do with fossils. I found something that looks like it might be a fossil while mountain climbing and need some help please
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You can look for them, just not collect them, right?
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Any help with an I.D. of the object in the pics will be greatly appreciated. Was collected in the surf in Cape Town, South Africa, where I often pick up fossilized shark teeth, horse teeth, bone fragments, earbones, etc. Have not found any similar object before. Thanks.
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During a visit to a stream between Empangeni and Eshowe in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (we found a series of circles on mudstone. I wonder if they are cut sections of fossilized tree trunks. Below there are two photos for your perusal. Thank you in advance for any information or personal opinion. Regards, Americo Bonkewitzz, PhD
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https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/life/2018-03-22-mammal-like-reptile-lived-alongside-the-dinosaurs/
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- alfred brown
- dicynodont
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It has been a while since I have been online. So this is one of those very unhelpful posts where I know very little about this fossil's origin. It was purchased in South Africa and the slab is very well preserved. I am hoping this is not a fabricated fossil because the detail is exquisite. This is also a chance to show off my new Nikon D810 camera. I will answer any questions to the best of my ability.
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Africa May Be 'Ground Zero' for Earth's Magnetic Field Reversal
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Geology
An Electro-Blob Under Africa May Be 'Ground Zero' for Earth's Magnetic Field Reversal By Stephanie Pappas, Live Science, March 7, 2018 https://www.livescience.com/61958-africa-blob-earth-magnetic-flip.html The open access publication is: Hare, V.J., Tarduno, J.A., Huffman, T., Watkeys, M., Thebe, P.C., Manyanga, M., Bono, R.K. and Cottrell, R.D., 2018. New Archeomagnetic Directional Records From Iron Age Southern Africa (ca. 425–1550 CE) and Implications for the South Atlantic Anomaly. Geophysical Research Letters. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017GL076007/full https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322657982_New_Archeomagnetic_Directional_Records_From_Iron_Age_Southern_Africa_ca_425-1550_CE_and_Implications_for_the_South_Atlantic_Anomaly https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vincent_Hare The poster is: Hare, V., Genevey, A. and Gallet, Y., 2015, December. New constraints on historical dipole field decay: Four centuries of archaeointensity from Cape Town, South Africa. Poster. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297508242_New_constraints_on_historical_dipole_field_decay_Four_centuries_of_archaeointensity_from_Cape_Town_South_Africa https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Vincent_Hare Yours, Paul H.-
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- archaeomagnetism
- geomagnetic excursion
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A new paper is available online: Christian F. Kammerer (2018). The first skeletal evidence of a dicynodont from the lower Elliot Formation of South Africa. Palaeontologia africana. 52: 102–128. Pentasaurus is the youngest dicynodont from Africa, and it helps explain footprints found in South Africa in the 1950s that were considered to be made by dicynodonts. Literally, the land of Nelson Mandela may be known for treasure troves of mammal-like reptile fossils, but Pentasaurus is different in that it is the first Late Triassic dicynodont record from South Africa.
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- lower elliot formation
- pentasaurus
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Africa’s rich fossil finds should get the air time they deserve Julien Benoit, University of the Witwatersrand The Conversation, February 21, 2018 http://theconversation.com/africas-rich-fossil-finds-should-get-the-air-time-they-deserve-91849 https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/in-their-own-words/2018/2018-02/africas-rich-fossil-finds-should-get-the-air-time-they-deserve.html Yours, Paul H.
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- africa
- fossil heritage
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3D Printable Model of Massospondylus, Sauropodomorph, South Africa
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
Dinosaur Enthusiasts Can Now Make 3D Prints Of A 200-Million-Year-Old Massospondylus At Home By Samriddhi Dastidar, Tech Times, January 15, 2018 http://www.techtimes.com/articles/218811/20180115/dinosaur-enthusiasts-now-make-3d-prints-200-million-year-old.htm http://www.morphosource.org/Detail/ProjectDetail/Show/project_id/426 The paper is: Chapelle KEJ, Choiniere JN. (2018) A revised cranial description of Massospondylus carinatus Owen (Dinosauria: Sauropodomorpha) based on computed tomographic scans and a review of cranial characters for basal Sauropodomorpha. PeerJ 6:e4224 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4224 https://peerj.com/articles/4224/ 3D model of BP/1/5241 Massospondylus https://peerj.com/articles/4224/#supp-2 Yours, Paul H.-
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- 3d digital representation
- 3d model
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New depth limit for deep-sea marine burrows University of Leeds, January 10, 2018 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180110080549.htm “Scientists have found fossil evidence of deep-sea marine life burrowing up to eight meters below the seabed -- four times the previously observed depth for modern deep-sea life.” Ancient outcrops give new depth limit for deep-sea burrows http://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4165/ancient_outcrops_give_new_depth_limit_for_deep-sea_burrows The paper is: S. L. Cobain, D. M. Hodgson, J. Peakall, P. B. Wignall, M. R. D. Cobain. A new macrofaunal limit in the deep biosphere revealed by extreme burrow depths in ancient sediments. Scientific Reports, 2018; 8 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-18481-w https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-18481-w Yours, Paul H.
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- bioturbation
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This was discovered in a boulder that had fallen from the Elliot Formation, making it between 210 to 190 million years old. It is a bit of an obscure fossil, but does anyone have any suggestions? found in Free State, South Africa, Drakensberg Mountains.
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Hi all, I found those bivalves on Milnerton beach (Cape Town, South Africa). The beach is known to have fossil shark teeth and whale bones, but I don't know if they have fossil seashells. They do have modern ones. Those shells, because of many different features, do make me think that they are fossil. Anyways, I'm interested in 2, if not 3 things: • Species • Fossil or modern • (if fossil) how old If this species is (locally) extinct, then I think I can quite confidently put them down as fossil, but otherwise I'm not sure. The things that make me think that they are fossil are: • they are very thick • they are dull • they feel very hard (a lot like stone) Those features are applicable with shells found on the Zandmotor (NL), to see if they are modern or fossil; whether they are applicable in Cape Town I have no clue. Thanks in advance, Max (PS to mods: this may seem like a duplicate copy of a previous topic I posted, but this one is for different fossils; the text applies to both cases)
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Hi all, I found those bivalves on Milnerton beach (Cape Town, South Africa). The beach is known to have fossil shark teeth and whale bones, but I don't know if they have fossil seashells. They do have modern ones. Those shells, because of many different features, do make me think that they are fossil. Anyways, I'm interested in 2, if not 3 things: • Species • Fossil or modern • (if fossil) how old If this species is (locally) extinct, then I think I can quite confidently put them down as fossil, but otherwise I'm not sure. The things that make me think that they are fossil are: • they are very thick • they are dull • they feel very hard (a lot like stone) Those features are applicable with shells found on the Zandmotor (NL), to see if they are modern or fossil; whether they are applicable in Cape Town I have no clue. Thanks in advance, Max
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Hello fellow fossil hunters, After one month, sorry for the delay, here it finally is: my trip report of the fossil hunting in Cape Town, South Africa! First off, I just wanna say this: before my trip to SA, I asked here whether it was possible to hunt there. Everyone said that SA had strict laws on fossil hunting, and that I would have no chance there. Obviously I was disappointed, yet also confused, because on Fossiel.NET (Dutch version of TFF), there were two locations with lots of info about them in SA, and they didn't say anything about the law. After that, on Instagram, I met a guy that lived in Cape Town, and his posts were those of fossils he had found there! So I sent him a message asking about the rules, and he said the following: fossil extraction/digging is forbidden, but if the fossils are found in loose sediment, you are allowed to pick them up. Which was great news, because this meant I could hunt at Milnerton! Now, to the report. As we arrived in the parking, we saw the big sandy beach stretching out. As we got onto it, we could barely see 20 meters in front of us. Then the fog cleared up slightly, giving us a better view of the beach. We then met a lady who was also hunting for sharkteeth, and she gave me some tips for searching. As we continued our walk on the beach, after about an hour of having found nothing except for a few modern seashells, we arrived at the lighthouse. We got up close to the lighthouse and noticed some people sitting there, with a towel in front of them. We went over to see what they were selling, and, of course, there were sharkteeth! Extinct giant whites (mako's) and great whites, many complete and in good condition. They also made necklaces out of the teeth that were less well preserved. So we bought 3 sharkteeth from them, and also got a small necklace for free, all that for only 120 ZAR (more or less 8 USD)! They were extremely nice with us, and gave us many more tips for finding fossils, as we had explained that we also love to find them personally. Thanks to their very helpful tips, we soon found some teeth too! And we also found some pieces of bone, very similar to those I find on the Zandmotor, my usual hunting spot in the Netherlands. Finally, towards the end, I even found a big whale vert! All in all it was an amazing day, and the weird weather made it a unique experience.
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Hi all, Here are a bunch of minerals I found lying on the ground in the Madikwe Game Reserve (South Africa), where I did my safari. Me being a noob in minerals, I have no clue what they are. Can you help me with the ID of the different minerals? Thanks in advance! Best regards, Max Photo 1: these look like different kinds of quartz (?). Photo 2: other minerals that don't look like quartz to me... (I think that the one bottom-right is an iron mineral; it's magnetic. The one top-left has been found as such, and I highly doubt it's been polished by humans. This having been found inland far from the coast, do you know what might have polished it?)
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Hi all, On my trip to South Africa, I went fossil hunting at some point (trip report hopefully coming soon). I went to a beach in Cape Town called Milnerton beach (famous for its extinct giant white (aka mako), great white and meg teeth). I also found a few other things, namely a few undefined bone pieces. Anyways in those bone pieces I found this one. It's kind of reminding me of some really thin mammoth tooth, maybe a piece of it? The third pic looks like a chewing surface. Have I really found something cool, or is my imagination just toying with me? Also, does anyone know what epoch the fossils from Milnerton come from? Best regards, Max
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Fungus-Like Fossils Reported from 2.4 Billion-Year-Old South African Basalts
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
Earliest Fungus-Like Fossils Discovered in 2.4 Billion- Year-Old South African Bedrock (The fossils are 2 billion years older than previous finds and could dramatically alter the timeline of the emergence of life on Earth Jerry redfern, April 24, 2017 https://www.seeker.com/earth/earliest-fungus-like-fossils-discovered-in-24-billion-year-old-south-african-bedrock Fossils may be earliest known multicellular life: study by Marlowe Hood, PhysOrg, April 24, 2017 https://phys.org/news/2017-04-fossils-earliest-multicellular-life.html The open access paper is: Bengtson, S., B. Rasmussen, M Ivarsson, J. Muhling, C. Broman, F. Marone, M. Stampanoni, and A. Bekker, 2017, Fungus-like mycelial fossils in 2.4-billion-year-old vesicular basalt. Nature Ecology & Evolution 1, Article number: 0141 doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0141 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0141 Yours, Paul H. -
Hi all, During my May holidays, I will be going to South Africa for a safari! I am very excited about the trip. We are also going to spend a few days in Cape Town, and I saw that it was possible to hunt for fossils there (finds include sharkteeth, like megs or great whites), on the beaches Big bay beach and Milnerton Beach. https://english.fossiel.net/sites/fossil_site.php?plaats=287 But I remember hearing that fossil collecting in South Africa is forbidden. But that surprises me, because nowhere on the link above does it say that it's forbidden to hunt, in fact it seems more as if they encourage you to hunt... Therefore I was wondering: is it possible to hunt at Cape Town? If yes, under what terms? If no, then why would Fossiel.net supply a location description that's illegal? Best regards, Max
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Hi I found this rock that I split open thinking it may be an Agate. Then decided to polish - my first ever polish. I notused what looks to be fish eggs or frogs eggs and was wondering if this could be a fossil? I cant tell you where it came from other than somewhere in South Africa. I bought a collection of river rock pebbles form the hardware some years ago for outside my patio drainage. The kids have been breaking the pebbles up over the years finding Agate, Maganatie and other interesting rock formations however this looks diferent to the usual.
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Fossils of 2.52 Ga Sulfur-Oxidizing Bacteria from South Africa
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
Life before oxygen: UC geologist uncovers 2.5 billion-year-old fossils of bacteria that predate the formation of oxygen. University of Cincinnati, November 29, 2016 http://magazine.uc.edu/editors_picks/recent_features/bacteria.html Ancient rocks hold evidence for life before oxygen, University of Cincinnati, Press Release, November 29, 2016 http://www.heritagedaily.com/2016/11/ancient-rocks-hold-evidence-for-life-before-oxygen/113484 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161129144840.htm Geologist uncovers 2.5 billion-year-old fossils of bacteria that predate the formation of oxygen by Melanie Schefft, PhysOrg, Nov.29, 2016 http://phys.org/news/2016-11-geologist-uncovers-billion-year-old-fossils-bacteria.html The paper is: Czaja, A. D., N. J. Beukes and J. T. Osterhout, 2016, Sulfur-oxidizing bacteria prior to the Great Oxidation Event from the 2.52 Ga Gamohaan Formation of South Africa, Geology. vol. 44, no. 12, pp. 983-986DOI: 10.1130/G38150.1 http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/early/2016/10/07/G38150.1.abstract Yours, Paul H. -
I know it isn't that old but I would love an ID.. I just discovered there was a nature photography thread, and I was going through my photos from my trip to the KNP in 2013 and I came across this photo of a giant skull.. I apologize that I can not remember the actual size, obviously I didn't get out of the car to check! I took this photo with hopes of looking back one day and figuring it out, I couldn't get a good focus on it but maybe it is very clear to someone anyhow
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Found this thing that looks like a fossil of some kind, but I am not sure at all. Can someone please tell me what it is?
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Hi There! I found this on the beach and it looks so much like a tooth. Can somebody help me out. And tel If its something cools or if its just a piece Of coral.. Or shell Thanks!!
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Slide 1 I recently started reading up on stromatolites after I learnt that we have stromatolite formations and living tufa cyanobacteria colonies in the rocky beaches of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The cyanobacteria found here are unique, their habitat is the semi-freshwater pools where freshwater from springs meet the sea where they line and grow on the submerged surfaces of the pools. The stromatolites have irregular forms and my observation is that quite often they are concave plates opposed to the more well known dome shaped forms. Here is a photo I took at Schoenmakerskop this morning. The cyanobacteria colony is in the centre and the stromatolite formations in the background Picture 1 I was wondering how it is that the reefs are often arranged in straight and parallel lines, some drama must have played off here over millions of years! Here is an example of the convex shaped plates (How old are they?) Picture 2
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