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Howdy! My dad got lucky in a road cut that I *think* is Upper Glen Rose near Bandera, TX. Would love help IDing the vertebrae. Found among Porocytis, Heteraster, Hemiaster, DeerHearts, Tylostoma, etc. Thank you in advance!

So I am 90 percent convinced the site is Austin Chalk Formation. I have found a couple of fossils that lead me to that conclusion, a gastropod and a nautiloid specifically. That being said, I cannot quite figure out what these bacultes are. From the HGMS book the Boehmoceras arculus seems to be the closest but it says it is a curved shaft, which these most certainly are not. But the strong nodes on these are really not falling under any other possibility. Any insights? 3.5 inches 2 inches 1.5 inches this is the only one that you can really see the suture patterns. The nodes don't show up very well but they are there

Do y’all have any advice y’all could give me to extract a fossilized vertebrae bone that is under 6mm without damaging? like tools, extraction techniques, preservation of it, and identification of it. context: So, I am new at this and I don’t really know what to get or do to extract it. The fossil is small like very small around as small as fire ants, like maybe on the bigger side of fire ants. I don’t have any close up and clear photos of it right now, but the measurements is accurate, and I will add a quick sketch of what it roughly looks like.

Hello. New to the forum. Retired geologist (environmental) and ready to get back in to one of my passions, fossil collecting. As a young buck, I did lot of collecting in NE PA around the anthracite open pits. Late 70's went to USU and hiked a lot of locals in Wyoming and Utah. Anyway, just wanted to say hello. Jack....

Hello, Could someone who has the book "A Field Guide to Fossils of Texas" by Charles Finsley pm me photos of some figures from it? There are a couple specimens I want to reference. Thank you.

I only have these 2 photos. A friend has the fossil and doesn’t know where it came from. It measures about 11 inches in length. At this point that’s about all I know. Thank you all so much for your help to identify.

I found this Saturday here in SE Texas on a river gravel bank... it's a skull piece with an ear bone... an inner ear bone. Periotic... petrosal? Not big enough for the big mammals I think... so horse, bison, cow? Thoughts appreciated.

I found this vertebra Saturday here in SE Texas on a river gravel bank. I haven't found one like it before. It's 1.75 inches x 2.5 inches tall. 1.5 inches across the face. Vertebrae are the hardest for me to identity... so many possibilities and I have many that haven't been identified yet. Could this be deer or something else?

I found this bone fragment while hunting for shells on San José Island, Texas (near Port Aransas). There is a history of cattle ranching on the island and there was once a herd of wild horses (thus Mustang Island, just south of San José). When I found it, it was wet and a little darker — I expected that when it dried out, it would be a recent bone. After a month, it is still dark and heavy, so I am thinking it might be mineralized/fossilized. I heated a nail to see if it would burn or emits an odor, but it did not. I then used a butane torch and the result was the same. In my mind, it would be really strange to find a bone fossil on a Texas beach. Thus, I am turning to this group to help figure out what this bone is.

We got a donation at work of a lot of little finds from post oak creek Texas. I’m not familiar with the site at all and the labels for these appear to have gotten wet some time in the past. I looked at the book on Cretaceous sharks and rays of Texas and it made me more and more confused. Would love any help to get these relabeled. If not, they’ll sit for a decade, be thrown out or given away here are my really unsure ideas- 1. Texatrygon sp. or ptychodus sp. 2. Pseudocorax sp. 3. Not enough there ? 4. Not enough there ? 5. Goblin ? 6. Carcharias sp. 7. Carcharias sp. 8. Carcharias sp. 9. Not positive enough to guess 10. Carcharias sp. 11. Hybodus sp. 12. Not enough there ? 13. Ptychodus sp. 14. Too broken ? 15. Ptychodus sp. 16. Too broken ? 17. Fish tooth? 18. Enchodus tooth 19. Drum tooth? Not a vert. The bottom is flat and shiny 20. Small fish tooth 21. Slag? Super shiny in person 22. Stumped here. Bone? Coprolite? Straight shelled cephalopod? Just rocks ?

I’ll be in the Dallas area for the eclipse and plan to add in some fossil collecting. Have been to many areas NSR, Brazos, ect but saw recently about some ammonites and echinoids in the Lake Worth area. Will look in road cuts and construction sites but any recommendations on which roads are best cheers Doc

Went browsing around yesterday on a small bank I've looked at a thousand times just because I had the itch to do something I enjoyed doing personally and before I went home and had my twins thrown in my arms after work. I enjoy that too but I've been eager to get outdoors on the river. Easter weekend it's on! So I just stumbled down the bank not expecting to find anything and saw these two guys hanging out together... a severely worn glyptodont osteoderm and a nice, colorful Equus tooth. They were maybe an inch from each other. What a pair.

I found a petrified turtle head and some other pieces that I need help identifying as well.

Does anyone have a clue what this distal humerus came from? I found it in Pleistocene gravel in southeast Texas. From the limited images, I have found online I do not think it is bison. I’m leaning toward horse, but wondering if it could be tapir. I would appreciate any insights.

Greetings, Found what appears to be a fossilized backbone segment. Location is San Antonio, TX, but this location may not be relevant, as this specimen was found in imported decorative rock along a community sidewalk. Incidentally, this is the same decorative rock where I found part of a mammoth tooth, which was previously reviewed here. This item weighs 5.4 oz, or 153 grams. There appears to be cancellous or trabeculae bone throughout, with what appears to be nerve channels. I've cleaned the item with warm water and a soft toothbrush. Your review and evaluation is appreciated.

Please help me ID this fossil I found in my backyard in Tarrant County, Texas. I was digging a new flower bed. It was found 6-8" deep. It's 1.5 inches long. Grateful for any help you can give me in ID'ing it!

Piggybacking off of the fantastic trip report @Jared C wrote about our Eocene excursion, I thought I'd go ahead and publish an account of the solo expedition I embarked on several days prior. Some of you who are familiar with my past endeavors in the fossil rich creeks and constructions of North Texas may know that dinosaur material has been a huge goal of mine for a while now. The Woodbine offers a shot at fulfilling such a dream, though dinosaurs are still very difficult to come by. Luckily, the uniqueness of its environment means that a day without a dino is by no means an unsuccessful one as a plethora of other strange and wonderful things can be found in their stead. After an early start, I set out with a sizeable list of new sites in the Upper Woodbine. There were some mild successes to start, but to keep things concise I will only speak of the final and most productive spot. By now it was midafternoon and the winds were howling at full force. After floating about, examining various chunks of oyster hash, I at last reached a stopping point. Before me was a massive boulder, the size of a car, with a fantastically complex arrangement of debris cemented to one face. From afar it was just a greyish mess, but up close I could pick apart the various oyster shells, driftwood, Thalassanoides, etc. This mixture of debris and later considerations led me to believe that I was gazing upon an ancient storm deposit. Oyster shell hash Up until this point, I had been unsuccessful in finding any sign of vertebrates. I laid myself upon the slanted body of the boulder and got my face as close as possible to its heavily ornamented surface. Like a visual puzzle of sorts, it was very inviting to look at. Intuition told me that there had to have been something of worth hidden within the noise. Phosphate and carbonized wood It took a bit of time, but sure enough I eventually found a tiny pebble of phosphate lost in between the fissure to some branching burrow. The familiar sheen immediately reminded me of the jet black teeth I had once pulled out of the basal Atco conglomerate. With a little more wind in my sails, I continued perusing until I was met with something much more substantial. First phosphatic Cretodus semiplicatus of the day I had found a beautiful Cretodus semiplicatus. To those whom the Woodbine is foreign, such a find may seem pretty lucky as Cretodus is usually a rarity in most places. However, the marginal marine deposition of the group means that coastal predators are represented in very high numbers, so much so that C. semiplicatus is often the most common taxon of large shark to be found. Contrast this with the deeper waters of the slightly younger Bouldin Flags Fm in Central TX, where the same species occurs in much smaller numbers (though admittedly the individual sizes of the teeth are often considerably bigger). Anyways, I got to busting it out which proved difficult. The high density of durable oyster shells halted my progress greatly. Somehow I managed to extract the tooth as a clean chip without it poofing away into a million fine particles. From there, I began finding a large quantity of phosphatic bone material. Most were reptilian in nature and either obviously belonged to turtle or likely belonged to a croc. Sadly, the resilient nature of the matrix and fragility of the bones made a clean extraction more or less impossible... for me at least. Croc vert likely Terminonaris cf. robusta T Turtle elements Random ammonite fragment As my walking continued I began finding some occurrences of sandier depositions that were much easier to dig through and even richer with phosphate. What surprised me most, however, was their appearance. C. semiplicatus in situ In my eyes, those pictures above look as though they could have been taken along the shores of any sandy beach saturated with seashells. The soft sand was so loosely packed, the slightest pressure could disturb the granules and send them drifting away. As I scanned, I couldn't help but imagine the tropical storm or hurricane that must have taken place here 96 million years ago in order to create this flash-frozen formation. The wind suddenly felt of an ocean breeze, and the cloudy backdrop like a Mesozoic sky in recovery from absolute chaos; Alone, I wandered the shore. A couple of croc teeth. Likely Terminonaris cf. robusta To round off the day, I found some beautiful, though damaged, croc teeth. Like the critters asleep in this dune, it seemed I had lost track of time, so I made my way home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have a bit of micro matrix to go through, but as of now, these are the species of vertebrates found: Cretodus semiplicatus Cenocarcharias tenuiplicatus Meristodonoides rajkovichi Pseudohypolophus mcnultyi Some nice pycnodont teeth were found Mostly Haimirichia amonensis, but I will take a closer look later Terminonaris cf. robusta I really thought I saw a dino tooth sticking out of the sand when I first spotted this. Actually it is an inarticulate brachiopod ( @Tidgy's Dad enjoy!) called Lingula subspatula. Thanks for reading!

For a little while now, @Mikrogeophagus and I have been trying to meet off the forum and hit some spots together. With spring break ending yesterday, we finally found the perfect opportunity before our classes resumed. Tyler had recently singled out a promising locale for middle Eocene crabs, one that neither he or I had visited. As it later turned out, I had passed by the spot before but never committed to its investigation. I was pleasantly surprised at its serenity, and Tyler and I found easy conversation as we weaved through beds of touch-me-nots and waded through silty waters. Our first efforts were concentrated on a small tributary that branched off and reconnected with the main stream. We knew we were looking for concretions, but did not know the nature of them and assumed most would be duds. It was with that attitude that it smacked open my first concretion of the day, decimating a crab inside! While certainly disappointed, we were both enthusiastic about the find - it meant we were in the right place and we now knew what to watch out for. Concretions started popping up quickly, sprouting out of the black banks like earthen easter eggs. Many proved fruitful, with a surprising proportion containing the crab Harpactocarinus americanus. At the time, we didn't know the name - content with just the thrill of discovery in a beautiful setting. We soon discovered some crabs were robust enough to have survived the currents of the stream and could be found in gravel - though just their carapaces. We each claimed one side of the bank and enjoyed success, while occasionally checking the gravel islands between us. One of my favorite finds was this unsightly avocado shaped concretion, bearing a claw that promises a beautiful specimen inside: Displaced carapace found among roots on the river bank: Notice the eye holes! Harpactocarinus americanus wasn't the only critter of note at the locale: Giant gastropods were found in unusual proportion compared to the famous Whiskey Bridge locality of equivalent age, but there was a conspicuous lack of shark teeth. Deep into the hunt, Tyler did find two - one irrecoverable blade in a concretion, and a smaller Negaprion(?) to act as the only success on the fossil vertebrate side for the day. Soon after, Tyler found a large Belosaepia ungula prong, shown here from its underside. These are uncommon cuttlefishes that had a horn (called the "prong") growing on its backside like a short, stiff upturned tail, a character that can still be seen reduced and vestigial in some modern cuttlefish. The hash around this spot was thick - so choked with shells that it resembled asphalt in some places: The site even had a nice sampling of extant fauna - a small Thampnophis proximus (western ribbon snake) could not escape gentle capture, and an alligator gar jaw laid out by recent currents caught my attention. I decided to hang on to it - it may prove a handy reference for general fish anatomy. One of the final finds of the day after a long stretch of barren ironstone was another H. americanus, peeking out of hard iron stones and covered by moss. I pulled it away easily, and upon turning it over was met with a beautiful sight: Look at that pincher! And so concluded a successful scout with a new friend, right as storm clouds rolled over and the first heavy drops of rain fell. Tyler and I walked back to our cars with an aura of victory, and I gave him another concretion. I'm excited to see the results of his upcoming freeze-thaw cycles. May y'all enjoy quality preps and fruitful hunts this spring!

For a little while now, @Mikrogeophagus and I have been trying to meet off the forum and hit some spots together. With spring break ending yesterday, we finally found the perfect opportunity before our classes resumed. Tyler had recently singled out a promising locale for middle Eocene crabs, one that neither he or I had visited. As it later turned out, I had passed by the spot before but never committed to its investigation. I was pleasantly surprised at its serenity, and Tyler and I found easy conversation as we weaved through beds of touch-me-nots and waded through silty waters. Our first efforts were concentrated on a small tributary that branched off and reconnected with the main stream. We knew we were looking for concretions, but did not know the nature of them and assumed most would be duds. It was with that attitude that it smacked open my first concretion of the day, decimating a crab inside! While certainly disappointed, we were both enthusiastic about the find - it meant we were in the right place and we now knew what to watch out for. Concretions started popping up quickly, sprouting out of the black banks like earthen easter eggs. Many proved fruitful, with a surprising proportion containing the crab Harpactocarinus americanus. At the time, we didn't know the name - content with just the thrill of discovery in a beautiful setting. We soon discovered some crabs were robust enough to have survived the currents of the stream and could be found in gravel - though just their carapaces. We each claimed one side of the bank and enjoyed success, while occasionally checking the gravel islands between us. One of my favorite finds was this unsightly avocado shaped concretion, bearing a claw that promises a beautiful specimen inside: Displaced carapace found among roots on the river bank: Notice the eye holes! Harpactocarinus americanus wasn't the only critter of note at the locale: Giant gastropods were found in unusual proportion compared to the famous Whiskey Bridge locality of equivalent age, but there was a conspicuous lack of shark teeth. Deep into the hunt, Tyler did find two - one irrecoverable blade in a concretion, and a smaller Negaprion(?) to act as the only success on the fossil vertebrate side for the day. Soon after, Tyler found a large Belosaepia ungula prong, shown here from its underside. These are uncommon cuttlefishes that had a horn (called the "prong") growing on its backside like a short, stiff upturned tail, a character that can still be seen reduced and vestigial in some modern cuttlefish. The hash around this spot was thick - so choked with shells that it resembled asphalt in some places: The site even had a nice sampling of extant fauna - a small Thampnophis proximus (western ribbon snake) could not escape gentle capture, and an alligator gar jaw laid out by recent currents caught my attention. I decided to hang on to it - it may prove a handy reference for general fish anatomy. One of the final finds of the day after a long stretch of barren ironstone was another H. americanus, peeking out of hard iron stones and covered by moss. I pulled it away easily, and upon turning it over was met with a beautiful sight: Look at that pincher! And so concluded a successful scout with a new friend, right as storm clouds rolled over and the first heavy drops of rain fell. Tyler and I walked back to our cars with an aura of victory, and I gave him another concretion. I'm excited to see the results of his upcoming freeze-thaw cycles. May y'all enjoy quality preps and fruitful hunts this spring!

I received these from my friend who passed last year. I am not sure where he found this. It was in a case with all North Sulphur River items, but these do not have the density/hardness of items I have found from there. They are very flaky. I think these might have come from Montgomery LA, but anyone's guess is as good as mine. I think they belong to a mammoth, they were separate in the case, and they do not appear to exactly line up to make a single tooth, one is slightly larger than the other. Anyone care to comment?

Hello, everyone! Below are a few finds from the North Sulphur River and Post Oak Creek, and I’d love to get some help with identification. The ruler is in centimeters. 1. This first picture includes two mammal teeth (top two)(fossilized or no?), ???, and a small bone that appears to be fossilized. these were found at Post Oak Creek. 2. This bone was found at the North Sulphur River. 3. Nautilus found at NSR. Could anyone help with identifying the species? 4. Jaw fragment? Found at NSR. 5. Coprolite? It appears to have fragments of bone(?) in it. Found at NSR. 6. I found this tooth at NSR a while back, but someone recently IDed it as Latoplatecarpus (mosasaur). I can’t find too much literature on Latoplatecarpus; could anyone give me more information on this tooth and the animal it comes from? Thank you!

Hey guys! reposting this with better description and High res pictures with a better camera and measurements. Found this near a natural spring on a hill cliff side in central Texas on the surface after clearing trees from land on the side of a hill kinda of cliff like and eroded. the specimen is hard and heavy, lots of porus holes(see pics) did the lick test and seems like more of a a fossil thank a rock but Im a newbie. i did some recon on the geologic data base for rock type and time period in my area and added that in the images. it tells a little bit about the geological makeup here. Im kinda on the border of two of them. any thoughts are much appreciated and thank you all so much for your time.

Hey. I have started rock hunting and have found quite a lot that may or may not be fossils. I have found a large number of fossilized shell, but those are the only ones I’m 100% sure are actually fossils. If anyone could help me out on what characteristics to look for or any other advice it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you 😊 I have included pics of a few I’ve found. #1 #2 #3