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Hi there, I believe I found a brachiopod fossil (pedicle valve). I'm hoping for some help identifying it more specifically - family, genus, or species? It was buried a few feet deep on an eroding, sandy hillside about 30 meters above sea level. The hill is about 2 kilometers from an inlet around the Puget Sound region of Washington state (glacial till). Please see attached photos. It looks like there might be other shells fossilized within the cavity. Please let me know if you need more info/different angle photos. Thank you in advance for any help!
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Hello all, I live in Washington state! I recently discovered fossil hunting/rockhounding and during some online research, I had stumbled upon this forum multiple times, so I decided to join! As of now I don't have much experience with fossils and so on, but I hope to go on my first search soon! My first big goal would be to discover a well preserved crab. Thanks for reading!
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Hello! I don't see too many aturia specimens from Washington on this forum so here are a couple from the last 2-3 weeks of hunting down south in Pacific County. I've read they are Oligocene in age and come out of the Lincoln Creek Formation. What's interesting, however, to my knowledge most fossils coming out of this formation are in concretions. Does this mean the fossils you find loose like this eroded out of a concretion or were they deposited/fossilized in a different manner? Cheers! -Cam
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Here's a partial odontocete skull found in the Lincoln Creek Formation of Washington state, early Oligocene. Found by James Goedert. I stepped over it while asking him about paleomagnetic measurements or brands of coffee, he turned to answer and spied it! Nice find.
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Some very, very tiny moon snails from the Lincoln Creek Formation (late Eocene-early Miocene), Centralia Washington. I think these are Natica as opposed to Polinices. Affixed to shale with superglue and consolidated with paraloid.
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Weather was pretty decent Monday-Tuesday, so I thought a trip back out to the Peninsula would be nice. Twin Beach is good place to find marine Oligocene fossils. I read a paper recently that proposes that the fossils here may have been part of a 300+ meter deep sea shelf community that was slowly uplifted. Callianopsis clallamensis ghost shrimp claws, extremely common here. Regret cracking this one, would have looked really good prepped. Many of the shrimp fossils have calcite crystals that have formed inside them. Lucina hannibali clams, next to the trace fossil shrimp burrows, probably the most common fossil at the beach. A Lirracassis sea snail! But obviously it either weathered out or someone beat me to it. Luckily I found my own! Here it is after I prepped it out. I'm really new to prepping, but I think it turned out pretty well. I think I used too much paraloid, it's a little shinier than I would have liked.
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Went out to central Washington with some friends yesterday to check out some fossils spots and grab some agates (trip report forthcoming). Found this on Old Blewett Pass near Cle Elum. This is either from the Chuckanut Formation or the associated Swauk Formation, both Eocene. It was found among leaf and palm frond fossils. Any ideas?
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Extracted my first Lincoln Creek formation (Washington State) fossilized crab from a locally collected concretion.
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I've been on a ghost shrimp claw kick lately, working through the concretions that I collected over Presidents Day weekend (February 21st for all you non-Americans). This one came out pretty nice! Species is Callianopsis clallamensis from Washington State. Prepped with a Dremel 290.
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Tiger Mountain Amber (Tukwila Fm./Renton Fm. [Boundary], Middle to Late Eocene)
Barrelcactusaddict posted a gallery image in Member Collections
![Tiger Mountain Amber (Tukwila Fm./Renton Fm. [Boundary], Middle to Late Eocene)](//content.invisioncic.com/e327962/monthly_2022_03/small.465122074_ScreenShot2022-03-16at6_32_45PM.png.d23ce6bb60e38cca975dc006975ef251.png)
From the album: Fossil Amber and Copal: Worldwide Localities
- Subjects: Three exceptional specimens of amber, recovered from exposures on Tiger Mountain, Washington State; this is the second of two videos detailing the specimens' natural fluorescent and phosphorescent responses: longwave UV light (Convoy S2 flashlight) was used in this entry. All were prepared by hand using a diamond needle file, 240 to 3,000 grit SiC sandpaper, and chromium oxide (ZAM compound) on a Selvyt microfiber cloth. - Amber's Source Formations and Age: The amber-bearing coal contained within the the Tiger Mountain, Tukwila, and Renton Formations spans a geologic timescale ranging from Middle to Late Eocene in age (~41.3-33.9 Ma). - About Amber Phosphorescence: Phosphorescence is the noticeably-extended emission of radiation from an illuminated subject, after the source of illumination has been removed; the atoms of certain hydrocarbons within the amber, when irradiated by high intensity UV wavelengths (LED or dedicated UV light sources), achieve a higher energy or "excited" state; the rotation of atoms becomes the opposite of their rotation in their grounded "non-excited" state, allowing for a longer release of radiation (light). The light emitted in fluorescence and phosphorescence is always a longer wavelength than the source of illumination. *Regrettably, my camera could not record the full duration of the phosphorescence of these specimens, or all other specimens (Chiapas, Sumatra, Baltic, Claiborne, Dominican), for that matter; multiple tests on all three Tiger Mountain specimens showed an average response of nearly 8 seconds, after 4 seconds of sustained direct illumination. These results are comparable to that of the Chiapas amber specimen from one of my previous videos. Source: https://file.dnr.wa.gov/publications/ger_ri21_strat_eocene_king_co.pdf© Kaegen Lau
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![http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/gallery/image/55506-tiger-mountain-amber-tukwila-fmrenton-fm-boundary-middle-to-late-eocene/Tiger Mountain Amber (Tukwila Fm./Renton Fm. [Boundary], Middle to Late Eocene)](//content.invisioncic.com/e327962/monthly_2022_03/small.large.SAM_3200.JPG.b7fbd52dccc769c8818be74743b23872.JPG)
From the album: Fossil Amber and Copal: Worldwide Localities
- Subjects: Three exceptional specimens of amber, recovered from exposures on Tiger Mountain, Washington State; this is the first of two videos detailing the specimens' natural fluorescent and phosphorescent responses: 140 lumen LED light (yellow phosphor) was used in this entry. All were prepared by hand using a diamond needle file, 240 to 3,000 grit SiC sandpaper, and chromium oxide (ZAM compound) on a Selvyt microfiber cloth. - Brief Description of Deposit: Tiger Mountain amber occurs in lignitic coal seams, mainly contained within two Geologic Formations, namely the Tukwila and Renton (along their boundary); there is also a third, the aptly-named Tiger Mountain Fm., that hosts amber-bearing coal, though not to such a degree as the former two. The Tiger Mountain Fm. (roughly 2,000 ft. in depth) underlies and is inter-bedded with the younger Tukwila Fm., while the Tukwila Fm. is overlain by the Renton Fm.: the amber-bearing coal contained within the three Formations spans a geologic timescale ranging from Middle to Late Eocene in age (~41.3-33.9 Ma). - About Amber Fluorescence: The light blue fluorescence emitted by some of this amber upon exposure to LED and sunlight, bears a remarkable resemblance in color and intensity to that of blue Dominican amber. Various aromatic hydrocarbons, naturally contained within the blue variety of amber, are responsible for this fluorescence. Blue amber is commercially mined from three major sources: Sumatra (Indonesia), the Dominican Republic, and limited production from Chiapas (Mexico) deposits. Source: https://file.dnr.wa.gov/publications/ger_ri21_strat_eocene_king_co.pdf© Kaegen Lau
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About a month ago, I took advantage of a 3-day weekend to go out to the Peninsula with my brother and came back with a bag full of concretions. Now I'm just trying to work through them. Been getting a lot of duds or incompletes, but here are the last 2 I did. I'm fairly pleased with this claw! I inflicted a lot of damage on it (I use a Dremel 290 which doesn't quite have the feather touch of an air scribe), but it's very complete, and WOW, the color on this one! This one is pretty big, and I like the patterns you can see on it. However, a commonality I'm seeing with these bigger ones is that they always seem to be missing the dactyl, the upper movable portion of the claw. I don't think it's that I'm shaving them off, I would still see them if I were doing that...I think they just tended to detach and float away before the claw had a chance to fossilize. Anyways, that's what I've got to show right now! If they come out nice, I'll post any more that are worth showing. I'm really holding out for a big one that still has the dactyl.
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Prepped another ghost shrimp claw from Twin Beach last night. I think it turned out pretty well. Unfortunately, the glue I used to reattach some of the little bits of exoskeleton left a bit of residue which you can see in the picture, but I don't think it detracts from the piece all that much.
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Cretaceous Plant Fossils from Sucia Island, Washington, are Paleobotanic Mystery
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
Discovery of Ancient Plant Fossils in Washington Points to Paleobotanic Mystery Brendan M. Lynch, KU News Service, University of Kansas, February 15, 2022 Plant fossils found in San Juan Islands like ‘finding a penguin in North America’ The Seattle Times, February 18, 2022 The paper is: Tang, K.K., Smith, S.Y. and Atkinson, B.A., 2022. Extending beyond Gondwana: Cretaceous Cunoniaceae from western North America. New Phytologist. Early View, Online Version of Record before inclusion in an issue. Also, there is: Mustoe, G., 2008. Sucia Island: the geologic story. Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, United States Yours, Paul H.-
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I joined a few weeks ago but hadn't introduced myself. My primary interest is getting started in micro-paleontology. Would love to hear about fossil collecting from members here in Washington state.
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So I’ve got a few questions all at once. Over the years I’ve inherited a number of my great grandfathers rocks (he was also into paleontology and geology) but I’m not sure what they all are. I’m guessing 1 is some sort of mineral, not a fossil. It, along with 2 and 4, were found digging the foundation of his home in south Charleston, WV. I feel like 2 might be petrified wood, but if it is I’m very curious about the side that’s black and very crystallized. 3 is from Seneca rocks in WV and I feel like must be a fossil but I really don’t know what. 4 again looks like petrified wood to me, and 5 for a complete change of geography, is from Washington state, somewhere at the beach (as vague as that is). I imagine it’s just some sort of mineral inclusion in an ocean tumbled rock, but thought I’d ask. My last question is geology related so apologies but I don’t wanna have to go make a bunch of new friends on some geology board so I had hoped one of you would be able to help me. Great grandfather hand made this board of rocks and minerals but it’s missing alabaster and lepidolite. Anyone have any idea where I might acquire single, small samples of both of these minerals so that I might complete the set? As always many thanks for taking the time.
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I didn't get out hunting much last year, still working on figuring out how to research and find spots, but a friend of mine invited me out to do some collecting at one of his spots up in Washington State. I took some family with me and we went out over the Winter break in mid December. Pretty cold but beautiful! We're mainly looking for concretions weathered out of the formation, but occasionally you find Callianopsis claws loose in the formation, usually very brittle and in poor condition. Lots of mollusks to be found as well as crustacean material Our most common find were these Macoma We also found some Turritella and Acila The find of the day came pretty early on, Robert found this nice leaf, apparently pretty uncommon at the site Our spoils after the first hour of hunting A giant Callianopsis claw I found, sadly the rest of the concretion has weathered away leaving only an imprint with some shell And on the other end of the spectrum a tiny one found eroded out We didnt find any Pulalius, Aturia, or vertebrate material but we had a blast and found some pretty nice crustacean pieces Here's what's almost certainly a crab carapace, have to prep it to ID And a piece that looks to have both claws from Callianopsis and maybe some other pieces from it Both of these will have to wait until my micro scribe arrives for further prep, they're both very fragile with poor separation. While we were up there we stopped at Olympic National Park
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Combing for Concretions on the Olympic Peninsula
Neanderthal Shaman posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Hi everybody, Boy, it's been a while since I made a post, but then it's been a while since I did any kind of fossil hunting. A friend of mine who I met while volunteering for a nature center invited me out on a camping trip to the Olympic Peninsula. He claimed to know a couple beaches where the concretion game is really good, and he sure wasn't wrong! The weather was mostly terrible; bitter cold and heavy rain punctuated by occasional blue sky, but when you love beachcombing as much as we do, you forget about it! This is the Pysht Formation at Twin Beach. Lots of concretions were eroded out of it, especially because of the recent storms. Before long we had filled multiple bags up with them. Callianassa ghost shrimp claws are what we were after, and we found one already naturally split open on the beach. My portion of the haul. The ones on the bottom side of the box have that oblong shape that is a good indicator of having claws inside. I did split a round one open with a chisel and hammer only to break a perfectly good claw into a million tiny pieces. My friend is a wiz with the air scribe, so at some point in the near future we're going to spend an afternoon in his garage exposing some of them that way. Those 3 on the bottom I will definitely be saving for his air scribe. I've never used one before, so I'm excited to give it a try. There were some nice fossilized clams littered around the beach. I think these are Lucina. Petrified wood with some Teredo bores. There were some awesome non-fossil finds to be had as well. Lots of small, shiny quartz pieces that I find good for fidgeting with during some of my more boring classes. I was stoked to find this absolutely massive giant acorn barnacle (Balanus nubilus). Apparently it's the biggest species in the entire world. Who knew!
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I recently found this on a beach in Washington state. I think I may have found a tooth, but I am very unsure what kind it is. It looks most similar to pictures of horse teeth, but it’s my first tooth fossil. I could be totally off and it’s not even a tooth.
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I need some help identifying this plant fossil. It appears to be a fruit of some sort, as it has a prominent reddish stain that surrounds the entire fossil. This specimen was found in the upper strata of the Raging River Formation in King County, Washington state. While the Raging River Formation is primarily noted as a marine fossil facies, the report by J.D. Vine, (1969), lists "woody fragments of trees and leaves were found associated with the marine fossils, but specific species could not be identified." This specimen was found at site #648 as listed in the above report.
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This kind of reminds me of a pine cone:
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Hello everyone, Been a while since I made a post. Back in December I found a nice shell: Looting Lincoln Creek - Fossil Hunting Trips - The Fossil Forum. I'm not good with shells, I assume it's a conch of some kind. Anyways, having it out of the matrix has renewed my interest in it, and I was hoping someone might be able to tell me what kind of shell it is. Was also wondering if anyone knows a way I could keep it from falling apart, maybe with something I can coat it in. Just holding it for the picture, it felt like it was about to crumble to pieces. It is from the Lincoln Creek Formation in Washington, and dates back to the Oligocene.
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On the way back from some lab work in the Tri-Cities, I got to stop at the Ginko Petrified forest in Vantage, Washington. Most of these trees are miocene. Buried for millions of years, they were unearthed and transported by the incomprehensively large deluge that carved the various gorges through which the Columbia flows at the end of the last ice age. There were some petroglyphs at the park as well. Their original location was nearby, but they had to be relocated for construction of a reservoir. Some of them had been defaced, because apparently some people just can't help themselves.
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Picked up a few more shells from the Lincoln Creek Formation while out on a walk, and thought it would be fun to make a composite piece with them. Was pretty easy, just used superglue to fix a couple of moon snails and a scaphopod to a tiny slab of shale from the formation. For my first composite piece I don't think it looks bad, but I was obviously a little too excessive with the glue.
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This is probably an exercise in pareidolia - but could it be a brain endocast? This was self collected July 9, 2011 on San Juan island in Washington State. It was found on private property near the shoreline on the SW corner of the island. The local geology is a complex mixture of Orcas chert and formations of sedimentary and volcanic layers contorted together, peppered with glacial deposits. There are other fossils in the vicinity, including various plants and what I believe are devonian era fish fossils. At first, I thought this was a thunder-egg or nodule that turned to chert/agate. Then, it struck me that it looked like a brain. Perhaps a brain coral of some sort? But it doesn’t look like the photos of brain corals. It did look more like the stromatolite fossils, but no clear match. Something from my biology studies years ago noticed what looked like features of the mammalian brain. But brains don’t fossilize. It also looked too big to be a brain, especially a single lobe without a cerebellum. Was it part of a marine mammal brain? Some sort of brain endocast that turned to agate? It weighs 77g and has not been thoroughly cleaned. One of the photos included is 'as found' and the others show the fossil after it was rinsed off. I haven't given it a thorough cleaning to avoid harm to the sandstone-like coating. I’d love to hear what people think.
![Tiger Mountain Amber (Tukwila Fm./Renton Fm. [Boundary], Middle to Late Eocene)](http://content.invisioncic.com/e327962/monthly_2022_03/small.465122074_ScreenShot2022-03-16at6_32_45PM.png.d23ce6bb60e38cca975dc006975ef251.png)
![http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/gallery/image/55506-tiger-mountain-amber-tukwila-fmrenton-fm-boundary-middle-to-late-eocene/Tiger Mountain Amber (Tukwila Fm./Renton Fm. [Boundary], Middle to Late Eocene)](http://content.invisioncic.com/e327962/monthly_2022_03/small.large.SAM_3200.JPG.b7fbd52dccc769c8818be74743b23872.JPG)
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