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Hello! I’m new from the DC area and appreciate this forum. I’ve been to NJ and MD sites, but am a novice with this hobby as of late 2023. I love searching solo or with our kids, but also am curious if there are any vegans or punk rockers around here?! I just shared some finds for ID help from NJ but will post some others in coming days that I have from MD. Looking forward to an upcoming trip to SC, too! ❤️ Resources on your favorite books, podcasts, etc always welcome, especially for a gem and fossil obsessed elementary aged kid (and his dad).

I used to hunt Paint Branch Stream in College Park MD for fossils as a child (slightly before the Ray Stanford nodosaur find) and never found much. I returned after many years today (place was really bulldozed, shame) and found a great section of formation and tons of wood impression and lignite fossils. Also found two magnificent flat, thin possible footprints. I’m attaching the best one of which I dropped and broke to my great dismay. Let me know if you need additional shots or angles. I really want some insight on if it is a track. Notice that the clean break revealed the cross section which showed folds and sunken areas that match up perfectly with the “track”. Thanks in advance, I’m new here

I found this specimen recently and have been perplexed by it for a while. To me it appears to be a tooth, though if it were I don't know from what. I looked at it from under my loop and it does have some small dimples in it, and is made of shiny black material, which is what drew me to that possibility in the first place. It looks similar to teeth I've seen posted on the forum before, especially in the Pennsylvanian shark tooth topics. I did some searching and oddly enough ended up finding images from a ptychotrygon. I don't know what it is exactly, but form the images it has a resemblance to that shape. I tried taking the best pictures I could, but the object is pretty small. So I guess my questions are if it's actually a tooth and, if it is, what kind is it? It comes from the early Cretaceous Potomac Group, Patuxent (?) Formation (possibly Arundel however) from near Washington DC. Thanks for any help!

Hello everyone, This is my first posting on TFF (although I've been lurking on the forum for a while) and I am excited to be joining a community centered around one of my main interests. I have seen that this forum houses a very kind and helpful community, and I was hoping that some may be interested in helping a - very new and inexperienced - fossil hunter. I will be in the Charlottesville area for Labor Day weekend and I am in search of any tips for finding fossils in that area or general locations where they might be. I am willing to drive up to 3 hours to other locations in Virginia or locations in West Virginia, North Carolina, or Maryland. I have heard that there are some fossils in parts of George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Virginia and I would be very glad to hear where I can find fossils there and if a permit is necessary to hunt for invertebrate fossils in that location. I am most interested in hunting for fossils from the Ordovician, Devonian, and Carboniferous periods, but any fossils would be great. I greatly appreciate any tips or information!

Hey everybody, this is a possible fossil I found in June of 2010. The matrix is roughly 6 1/2 CM long, and it was found in Arlington, Virginia in a small stream by an apartment building. If I could get any identification ideas on it I'd be really grateful, even if it isn't a fossil!

In the past month or so, I've been finding these rocks which I'm starting to think contain fossils, or trace fossils. What exactly? Perhaps you can tell me. Obviously I'm new here but also, new to paying attention to and researching rocks. These were found in Washington DC.

My family and I have been in Maryland since Thursday evening. The past two days have involved alot of walking and intense heat. My calves and feet are sore and I have got a good sunburn. Friday morning we met up with forum member @RCW3D and his daughter. He took us out to a Miocene exposure along the Potomac River. We started our hunt a little before 10am and I think we got finished around 2pm. We all managed to find some goodies. RCW3D'S whale vert and articulated marlin verts definitely were the prize of the day. But I was happy with what I found though nothing as exciting. I found an assortment of sharkteeth, a nice shark vert, a decent size fish vert and misc bone pieces. Devin did pretty good himself scoring a beautifully colored snaggletooth, a drumfish plate ( which he misplaced) a fish jaw minus the teeth, a nice shark vert, and some other goodies. My wife and older son found a few teeth but weren't really hunting. RCW3D helped my kids out by pointing out where teeth were by drawing a circle around them and sometimes just handing them stuff. We had a really great time and appreciate the time he spent with us. After we left, we grabbed some lunch and headed over to Mataoka cottages so the boys could swim and I wanted to do a little shell hunt. We stayed a couple hours found a few shells and sharkteeth and went for a late dinner. Today my wife wanted to go into Washinton DC, visit the monuments and a couple museums. I won't bore you with all the details. Basically a whole lot of walking in scorching heat. Anyways we are headed back home in tomorrow morning. A short trip but it was a good one. Here are some pics. #1- My finds

I found this nice petrified wood specimen while collecting in the early Cretaceous Potomac Group sediments in Washington DC recently. It is pretty well preserved for this unit, with nice surface features, knots, and growth lines present on it.

Here’s how to find D.C.’s accidental museum of paleontology By Sadie Dingfelder, Washington Post, August 18, 2016 https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2016/08/18/heres-how-to-find-d-c-s-accidental-museum-of-paleontology/ D.C. Lawyer Hunts For Fossils In Nation's Capital Weijia Jiang, WCCO 4 News At 6, Nov. 26, 2016 http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/video/category/news-national-news/3583834-d-c-lawyer-hunts-for-fossils-in-nations-capital/ The web site is: Fossils in the Architecture of Washington, DC: a guide to washington's accidental museum of paleontology http://dcfossils.org Yours, Paul H.