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Hey Gang, Started trying to put away some more of the stuff in the garage and ran across an echy in matrix that I found and had dismissed as unidentifable as it had this encrustation that I just couldnt seem to remove at the time....Well been playing it with most of the day I now see a majority of the test is there and I was thinking it looks like a Schizaster...wondering what you all think? Anyone have any similar finds from Sarasota County? All I could find that seemed close was a Eocene Schizaster from the Ocala Limestone. I am working in APAC spoil piles in Sarasota County and its all Plio-Pleistocene there so that presents a dilemma if its S.armiger (Clark) as that seems to be much older in age .... this seems to be heart shaped but almost round 2.9cm long X 2.7cm w and 2.5 cm tall. Also looks maybe more similar to an Eocene Schizaster ocalanus listed in the Florida MNH Galleries specimen 183665 but I'm just guessing...orafice positions look closer than the Agassizia's pictured in the gallery that are of early Pleistocene age (and coincidentally from the Caloosahatchee which is present at the site) and are similar in overall test shape. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/invertpaleo/display.asp?catalog_number=183665&gallery_type=Florida%20Echinoidea Any help is appreciated. Edit: added dimensions and photos/comments about S.ocalanus. Regards, Chris

I love taking these trips to SMR Aggragates for 2+ MYA shells and an occasional vertebra fossil, Not a lot of time , lots of rain water around, and mostly smaller fossil shells, This was last Sunday and I also spent National Fossil Day helping out at the South Florida Museum on Saturday, When the Peace River is out of season, I look for hunting where ever I can. This pretty little Mako came my way on Saturday and some nice shells on Sunday. SMR is always rewarding. I have a bunch of larger shells to clean and sort. That can be fun also with a lot of matrix mixture inside the bigger shells. Enjoy, Shellseeker

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a topic asking for help with some mollusk IDs. MikeR kindly identified them for me, and suggested that they were from the Upper Pliocene Pinecrest Beds of the Tamiami Formation. Today I'm posting the rest of that batch of fossils. These were collected from the same site as the last bunch. This time, I have an idea of what they might be, I'm largely looking for confirmation or correction. My IDs are based entirely on the Florida Museum of Natural History image galleries online. All scales are centimeters, with half-cm marks. First, a conch. Is this Melongena corona? Second, a murex. Phyllonotus globosus? Third, a miter shell. Pleioptygma ronaldsmithi? Fourth, a wentletrap. Pyrazus scalatus? Fifth, a thorny oyster. Arcinella cornuta? I have several more that I'll post in the comments.