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Here it is, the tail end of winter and I find myself composing a "trip report" from way back in May!!!! Please excuse the tardiness, but it took 9 months for me to pick away at the concretions I collected and extract the fossils within. It was a learning process and I must admit, I DESTROYED the nicest ammonites that I had found. Instead of learning techniques on my lesser specimens, I jumped in and "prepped" the biggest and best first. What I ended up with were many bits and pieces of crumbled ammonites. And super glue did NOT fix the problem. The issue at hand: the matrix is very hard and the ammonite very delicate. Not a good combination for not knowing how and hastily prepping something. It was Memorial Day weekend, time for an extended road trip after a long winter. My wife and I had never been west of Minnesota in the 30 some years since departing Ohio for the Gopher State. So we thought the time was right to experience what our next door neighbor, South Dakota, had to offer. I must say, we were thoroughly impressed with the state's variety of landscapes and great people. Our excursion actually extended into a bit of Wyoming. From Devil's Tower, we worked back through the Black Hills/ Mount Rushmore/Black Hills Institute and the Badlands National Park, each with it's unique topography. I recommend visiting these sites to anyone that has not. Well worth the trip!!! As our vacation was drawing to a close, we again crossed the grassy plains (though we envisioned amber waves of grain, not grass) and overnighted in the town of Mobridge. The next morning, I was to meet up with Grady (gradycraft on the Fossil Forum) for a little fossil hunting in the Fox River Formation while my wife relaxes with her books at the motel. Though I was totally impressed with the state of South Dakota, I was not impressed with Mobridge's accommodations. Here is a view from our hotel room!!! Nothing to see but a large car wash out your window. Now I was going to leave my wife to this, while I was off enjoying myself. I did honestly feel guilty, but not guilty enough to stay behind! Grady met me in Timber Lake and from here, our adventure began. Shortly after exiting Timber Lake, the vastness of this landscape became apparent again. One could honestly feel what it was like for the indigenous Indians before European settlers arrived. One could envision herds of buffalo taking advantage of the lush grasslands around the area. A spectacular place!!! Here I am following Grady on the way to who knows where. Fifteen miles on gravel roads and we turn onto a "path" leading through a few rickety wire gates. Then off we were again. Still flat as a pancake, NO rocks in sight. Where are these fossils I kept asking myself. If it wasn't for the great scenery, I might have worried more that we were on some "wild goose chase". Another 10 miles off the beaten path and I was really beginning to wonder about Grady!!! Finally, a little variety in the landscape showed up and then we dropped into a small valley with a stream running through it. I was ecstatic when I saw Grady's brake lights. We must be there.

I picked up these white river formation teeth in bucket labelled rhino. I doubt that label. One is partial tooth and the other is a jaw section.

Sorry for the barrage of Hell Creek posts, I finally have time to go through some of my summer collections. I am having a hard time with this mammal tooth (Hell Creek Formation, Late-Cretaceous, South Dakota). The occlusal surface is heavily worn. I was thinking perhaps Cimolodon? or Mesodma? Any help / suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Scale bar = 1 mm

Hi, a friend bought this in south dakota about 20 years ago and had forgotten all about it. Any ideas on what kind it may be? It measures 16"w x 6" h and weighs about 40lbs.

I've been looking for a lovely SD ammonite for awhile, and I consider them on par with Canadian ammolites. There are a plethora of incredible specimens from Fox Hills Formation, and I settled on a Jeletzkytes as I found their shape appealing. Imagine my delight when I chanced upon a positive + negative! Today, this pair is one of my favorite ammonites. Without the matrix base, it measures roughly 4.6 inches high. Jeletzkytes nebrascensis 70.6 - 66 mya (late Cretaceous) Fox Hills Formation South Dakota, USA

I have collected lots of coral from southwest South Dakota. I believe the majority is horn coral. Despite having a few publications and checking the web, I have several I'm not sure of. A lot of what I find looks agatized. I have attached a photo of what I am guessing is chaetetes coral? Would ove some input. If if someone can suggest a listing of Fossil coral, sponges and Bryozoans with detailed photos or identification, I'd appreciate it. I feel like I have an idea on most of it, just not 100%. Many Thanks!

Would love to have a definitive ID on this small vertebra from the White River Formation Jackson County South Dakota.

From White River formation South Dakota. Has some appearance of Oreodont but it seems small.

We are planning a vacation in June to the Badlands area in South Dakota. I am wanting to do a fossil dig. Somewhere that is not expensive or and would like to keep what I find. Is this just a pipe dream? Where do I start? I am studying to be a middle and high school teacher in Kansas. I have always love fossils. I even have a T-Rex skeleton tattoo! I did contact the Badlands Park and they said you can keep up to 25 lbs as long as it is not a vertebrate. Please help! Thank you!

Can y'all take a stab at this upper scull? Whiteriver formation, South Dakota. Going to tackle prep on this but not until I have a few easier pieces under my belt.

Right up front, I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. I left the vertebrae in place so these are the only photos I have. This series of 8 vertebrae were found weathered out in what I believe to be Whitewater, Brule in the general area of Interior South Dakota Badlands. I would love to have an ID!

Any ideas on how to remove the green lichen staining from this partially weathered turtle without doing damage?

New member, 1st post. Lifelong collector, recently re-enthused after finding this in South Dakota during a hunting trip. Take pity on the new guy and my first attempt at fossil photography. Would love to put a name to this!

So as the tags indicate this is my first attempt at prepping a fossil. It is something I always wanted to do, but never thought possible. My wife, adult son, and I attended a gem and mineral show here in Michigan a couple weeks ago. As we were strolling around looking at all the displays and vendors we stumbled upon this. I think I was hooked before I finished reading the sign.

Well I finally started repairing the shell I got in Denver. Starting with the bigger parts, with obvious placement and working out. Currently holding a part as the glue dries Im using a 5 minute epoxy on these two sections, mainly due to difficulty holding long enough for a 30 minute or two hour one. The shell is not as yellow as in this picture. warning, this will be a long documentation of my work as I go along

This is my first matrix of multiple ammonites. Beautiful detail and colors in this one.

I was going through some matrix, from my last dinosaur dig trip, using a microscope to look for anything small. In that process I found something real small a micro. Its slightly larger than 1 mm. One of the smallest fossils I've ever found. Cephalic hook, dermal denticle or something else? Hell Creek Formation, South Dakota Any input would be appreciated. Sorry its the best picture I can take with my digital scope. Two images with a little different contrast. Thank you for looking.

A number of years ago I acquired this bone from a fossil dealer near the Badlands of South Dakota. I'm looking to see if someone can ID this piece. I know that it is not Oligocene in age, and am not sure where he got it from.

I enjoy reading old books. My grandfather worked for some years as a type setter and book binder and so I've inherited a number of great old reads from him. I'm currently working my way through A Treasury of Science from 1943 which is a compendium of older writings of varying ages. Similar to the nostalgia of watching old movies (or more like curiosity of watching movies that pre-date me) I find it interesting to read about the current level knowledge that is captured in those pages when reading from a vantage point some distance in the future (hopefully with an expanded view on the subject material). What Darwin labored with in chapter after chapter of his On the Origin of Species can now be succinctly stated in a few paragraphs in a Wikipedia article. Reading older or even antiquarian books makes me feel like a time traveler from the future (which, in fact, is pretty much what I am--relatively speaking). In a chapter of the treasury I'm currently reading called Flowering Earth, the author (Donald Culross Peattie) wrote in 1939 about the history of plant life on the planet. From the first protozoans to gain energy from chlorophyll through the ages of stromatolites, the fern and lycopod forests that gave us our coal, the early conifers including the Sequoia that shared the planet with dinosaurs, the cycads, and finally angiosperms and the rise of the modern plants. Quite an enjoyable read with the more eloquent and flowery (no pun intended) writing style of the 1930s. Here is a page on cycads that I read last night: What caught my eye while reading this was, of course, the existence of the Cycad National Monument. Why hadn't I heard of this before? Sure, there are infinitely more things that I'm unaware of than what I can hold in my brain at one time but surely I would have come across this before. Last night I made note to formally put this place on my short list of places to visit in South Dakota (there are apparently a couple obscure modest size sculptures to see there as well ). This morning while researching the Fossil Cycad National Monument I was disheartened to read that I'd missed my chance at seeing it by over half a century. It turns out that without proper protection that Professor G. R. Wieland's efforts to protect this outcropping of important Cretaceous cycad fossils were in vain. Vandals slowly stripped all the remaining visible fossils from this location and the national monument status was withdrawn in 1957. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_Cycad_National_Monument In an effort to use this sad state of affairs as an example it has become a cautionary tale to inspire existing notable places to better protect their precious treasures. https://www.npca.org/articles/1008-gone-but-not-forgotten http://nature.nps.gov/geology/nationalfossilday/fossil_cycad.cfm http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2008/08/pruning-parks-delisted-over-half-century-ago-fossil-cycad-national-monument-1922-1956-cautionary-tal2805 I believe our membership has more respect for fossils and would never have taken part in this national monument's decimation and dissolution so I post this here mainly because I found it interesting (and sad) and because this tale seems to have faded from popular memory through the years. It provides a good example as to why some places require management and protection--real protection (not just a proclamation by the President). Cheers. -Ken

I bought this opalized ammonite last month from a gentleman in Westerly, Rhode Island. Here's where he got it...