Search the Community

On Sept. 23 2010 a basically novice fossil collector was looking online trying to I.D. some shark teeth from Lee Creek. While he had been "collecting" for more than a decade it was not a truly serious hobby. While surfing the web he stumbled upon this fledgling thing called the fossil forum. Something told this guy to go ahead and become a member. When asked for a screen name, even though his name was Don he decided on sixgill pete. That was because one of his grandsons had called him that on a hunt. Well the rest is history. 10 years later to the day, he is still a member. Still learning, but now way to serious about these things we call fossils. I have met a lot of great people because of our forum, and unfortunately have lost a few of the great ones too. So I say, thanks to everyone for having me and putting up with me for these 10 years.

Central Texas has been experiencing a surprisingly cool September plus quite a bit of rain! And that equals some great fossil hunting! I have gone to a few old spots and a few new spots! All in the Cretaceous Glen Rose. I am just constantly amazed at the amount of fauna in the Glen Rose. It seems like I find something new just about every time I go out! I was happy to find a new species of echinoid - a Goniopygus sp. ( very different from the previous Goniopygus I've found) It's tiny tiny, only 5mm. And I found my first really good vertebrate material - a Pycnodont jaw with teeth and a large piece of turtle (plastron?). And even thought it's no echinoid...it's still an echinoderm - my best find of the month so far....a free swimming crinoid! I had never seen one of these but thanks to the Paleontological Society of Austin and our latest field trip, I found this lovely odd little thing! Plus some good Heart Urchins and some nice little Loriolias. Goniopygus sp. 5 mm Free Swimming Crinoid: 1/2 inch (1 cm aprox) Pycnodont Jaw with Teeth 1 inch A small Cidarid Fragment and some Leptosalenia and Cidarid spines A nice Heteraster obliquetus: 1 1/2 inch A decent Pliotoxaster comanchei. 1 1/4 inch A nice little Loriolia rosana 1/2 inch Turtle bone fragment 2 inches

While I have been out fossil hunting a bit in the Texas Summertime heat I am still having great fun with the Micro Matrix- it sure is pleasant to sit in the AC and poke about for fossils! I had some great little finds in the Mineral Wells matrix, but i am just amazed by the Bridgeport matrix. Even though it's still Pennsylvanian, it's very different from the MIneral Wells stuff! Different formations and all..... What's really neat about the Bridgeport matrix is firstly - it's bigger, typically. and secondly...it's COLORFUL! Reds and golds and purply browns and oranges. It's really lovely stuff!! Here are some of my favorites from the Jasper Creek formation. : First the Echinoid bits - I love these little "cat ghost" plates. 2 mm Most of the spines were incomplete, but I found a nice base and a nice spine, just not all one piece 7mm base and 1 cm spine A funky Echinoid plate 7 mm So many neat Crinoid fragements - arms, cup fragements, columnals, etc! All of these are aprox 5-8 mm except the first one which is a honking 1.5 cm. ) And this crazy crinoid spine that was broken and was regenerating before it died...hence the "dimple" on the end. Thanks fellow Forum Members for helping with that ID! 1 cm Love this crinoid column...I think it's my favorite. It's so Art Deco.....about 3 million years early. 1 cm Some other nice/ interesting finds Neospirifer Brachiopod 5 mm Not sure what this is...I assume a brachiopod. 5 mm Colorful Bryzoans 4 mm Bryzoan on a Crinoid 8 mm Girtycoelia sponges Each are aprox 5-8 mm Gastropods: Pseudozygopleura 4mm Possilbly a Phymataopleura? Not sure of ID 5 mm Possibly Goniasma? 5mm And then there's this thing......a bryzoan encrusting a sponge! 1 cm

New here, recently started collecting here in the Tampa and surrounding areas. Would appreciate any help in IDing a recent find. Found in a road construction site along with numerous echinoids. It was broken in two by a steamroller. Its 1.5" wide and 4.5" long. Appreciate any insight. Thanks!

Hello all! This is a little photo project I've been working on for a while. When I first started Fossil Hunting I was content to collect whatever. Then I was excited about Identifying what I was finding. The education continued and now I work to identify the geological formations I am collecting in and am able to know what fossils to look for in what areas. The Pocket Texas Geology website is invaluable for finding out the formation of a specific area (while not 100 percent accurate, it's pretty good). So I wanted to create a post that would help with Central Texas Cretaceous Fossil Identification and this Species by Formation post. There are a couple of great websites for North Texas Fossil ID, but none (that I am aware of) for specifically Central Texas. I am considering Central Texas to be the counties of Hays, Travis, Comal, Blanco, Bexar, Kendell, Williamson, Hill, Burnet, Llano, Bell, Coryell, McLennon and Bosque. And bear in mind, this is not a comprehensive list of all species found in these formations...still working on THAT! But this is what I have found and ID'd so far. I believe it contains MOST of the more commonly found fossils, plus some uncommon fossils. If you see a mis-identification, please let me know! Also, there are more formations than I am presenting, but these have been the most accessible to me. I will list them by ascending order of time period. My time periods are approximate. (Be aware, I am not a geologist nor paleontologist, just an avid amateur, so take it for what it's worth! ) Cretaceous Formations: Glen Rose, Walnut, Comanche Peak, Edwards , Georgetown, Buda, and Austin Chalk. Glen Rose Formation 106-110 MYA (Upper and Lower Glen Rose combined here) ECHINOIDS From smallest (1/16 inch) to largest (3 inches) Row 1. Row 2. Row 3. Row 4. Row 5. Row 6. 1. Hyposalenia phillipsae Echinothurid plates Plagiochasma texanum 2, Paraorthopsis omalensis Pygopyrina hancockensis Loriolia rosana 3. Polydiadema travisensis Goniopygus whitneyi Pseudodiadema aguilerai 4. Leptosalenia texana Hetearaster texanus Heteraster obliquetus 5. Coenholectypus sp. Pliotoxaster comanchei Phymosoma texana 6. Cidarid sp. Tetragramma tenerum Paracidarid texanus ECHINODERMATA ETC. Smallest (1/8 inch) to Largest (i Inch) 1. 2. 1. Isocrinus annulatus Isocrinus annulatus Echinoderm Madreporite 2. Balanocidarid Spine Echinoid Spine Balanocidarid Spine AMMONITES Both are approx 3 inches 1. . Engonoceras piedernales Hypacanthoplites mayfieldensis DECAPODS From smallest (1/4 inch) to largest (1 1/4 inch) Row 1. Row 2. 1. Crab Claw Unknown Crab Claw Unknown Pagurus banderiensis 2. Pagurus banderiensis Pagurus banderiensis Pagurus banderiensis ETCETERA From smallest (1/4 inch) to largest (2 inches) 1. 2, 3. 1. Foramnifera Orbitolina (single) Pycnodont Teeth Porocystis globularis 2. Spirobus Worm Coral Heliopora labyrinthicum 3. Foramnifera Orbitolina (group) Annelid Worm GASTROPODS From smallest (1/2 inch) to largest: (5 inches) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 1. Neritina sp Semineritina apparata Pleutomaria glenrosensis 2. Natica texana Nerinia texana Nerinia harrisi 3. Fusus haysensis Turbo cuyleri Anchura monolifera 4. Nerinia incisa Pseudomelania pupoides Tylostoma traviensis 5. Turritella sp Natica traski Cerithium bosquense 6. Tylostoma turmidum Purpuroides harperi Lunatia praegrandis BIVALVES From smallest:( 1/4 inch) to largest: (6 inches) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Other Bivalves : Smallest (2 inches) to largest (6 inches) 10. 11. BIVALVES 1. Lima wacoensis Arca texana Ludbrookia arivechensis 2. Trigonia whitneyi Unknown Bivalve Plicatula parkerae 3. Brachidontes pedernalis Chlamys santoni Granocardium pseudopendens 4. Neithia occidentalis Cardium congestum Arctica comalensis 5. Trigonia gordoni Homomya comalensis Laternula simodsi 6. Psilomya walker Trigonia wendleri Homomya knowltoni 7. Tapes decepta Panopea henselli Arctica texana 8. Psilomya banderiensis Protocardia texana Arca medialis 9. Cyprimeria texana Idonearca terminalis Arctica roemeri 10 . Kimbleia capacis Peilinia crenulimargo Liostrea ragsdalei 11. Lopha comalensis Ceratosterean texanum Exogyra guadalupae

I found these sea urchin fossils, in the Cretaceous in the Atacama Desert, near Antofagasta, Chile in South America. I think they are genus Hemiaster.?

Hello again. About 2 years ago I found the following Echinoid (I think) in the northern province of Drenthe in the Netherlands. I was actually looking for interesting rocks and at first I thought that's what I had picked up, a piece of rounded/worn flint or chert. On closer inspection it looked like something that was once alive. Actually thought it was a long dead starfish, but after some googling I 'm fairly certain it's a type of Echinoid like a Conulus or maybe Salenia. Some background info: the area this was found was once covered with glacial ice that originated in Scandinavia, the Saale Glaciation (347,000 to 128,000 years ago). The glacial ice has deposited numerous large erratic boulders from which the famous 'Hunebedden' were constructed some 5,000 years ago. Along with those, heaps of smaller rocks and boulders were also laid down in the northern provinces. I suppose the same glaciers also transported fossils from the Scandinavian countries to this and the surrounding area. This was found on the surface of an area quite unique in the country. A glacial deposit covered in patches of heather and super fine white sand. The top 5 to 10 cm of sand contain loads and loads of smaller rocks of different kinds, so I suspect this Echinoid was deposited along with them and wasn't a species native to this area. Based on some photos from https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/echinoid-directory/index.html I'm thinking this is a type of Conulus that lived in the cretaceous but that's as far as I dare to guess. Hoping somebody can further ID or correct my own ID. The specimen is 25mm in width and feels as if it's been worn by sand and wind (which certainly happened to some rocks I found in the same area) Thanks

I found this interesting fossil the other day, and have struggled to find out what it is. It's from the Jurassic of Northamptonshire. Scale is centimetres. It's partially broken, so may have been completely spherical? Many thanks. Sorry the pictures are a little dark.

What do you think it is? The definition I got on the local forum is "conditionally classified as Plegiocidaris" Guides/handbooks on Moscow Mezozoic (unfortunately mostly outdated) list 5 genera: Echinobrissus, Rhabdocidaris, Acrocidaris, Holectypus and Cidaris. For this and neighboring stratigraphic zones Echinobrissus and Rhabdocidaris only, mainly the latter. Both are defined by spines, sometimes isolated plates

I am proud to introduce my new most prized fossil - Paracidarid Echinoid from the Glen Rose Formation of Texas, Cretaceous. A.K.A My Precious I've been looking for one of these for YEARS and my new fossil friend from Dallas gifted me this beauty he found in the Texas Hill Country. So now, in addition to the segments and partials and spines that i found... I now have a whole one. MY PRECIOUS 3 inches diameter

I justify my going out to fossil hunt right now as "exercise"! Everyone needs exercise! And I have had some really good "exercise" lately! I am to the point in my fossil collecting that it's about finding "better" specimens and the very occasional new thing (which is SO very exciting!) Two in particular have eluded me for a while : Oxytropidoceras Ammonite and Leptosalenia mexicana Echinoid. I have found partials and bits and pieces, but had been unable to find a good one...until now! All are from Texas Cretaceous . The Oxytropidoceras is not the prettiest one in the world, but it's mine and it's a whole one, so I am super happy. 4 inches diameter Fort Worth or Duck Creek Formation This little echinoid has been a real bugger to find. I'd found one, in beautiful condition, only to have it fall apart on me and I found another that is so water worn it's almost impossible to tell it's a L mexicana. So FINALLY I found a lovely one! It's not showing up as well in this photo, but it's a deep purpley grey color! 1/2 inch Walnut Formation And some other good finds - some nice crab claws! Two are unidentified (if anyone knows, please do tell!) and the other is just a nice big one, albeit a bit broken. Unknown crab claw from the Walnut formation: A small unknown crab claw from the Glen Rose Formation: And a honking big Pagurus banderiensis from the Glen Rose Formation: Plus it's always great to find some "better" fossils. Here are a few nice finds: A nice Heteraster from the Walnut Formtiaon; Plus a nice Gastropod Anchura And even a "lowly" bivalve - known as a Texas Heart: Cucullea blancoensis

I headed out to the North Sulfur River yesterday morning. It was a beautiful day, and as always, there was some good stuff to be found.

So-this collected yesterday in the Kansas City area again, but not sure what "layer" as the road cut was a jumble of mixed rock. My first thought was sea urchin spine, but I see only one row of spines, similar to what you see on many crustaceans; even though it is half-buried I thought sea urchin spines had generalized "points"?.... thanks again for all your patience reviewing these! Bone

I took a trip yesterday (Easter Sunday) morning to a few river sites in a neighboring county. The first spot I went to is a Pliocene exposure of zone 2 Yorktown Formation. While I found the normal culprits of teeth, mako's, hemi's and a small meg; it was the unexpected find that made this trip. While I have found fragments, I have not found anywhere near a complete echinoid there. Well Easter changed that, the Echinoid Bunny left me a good egg. I found a gorgeous complete Arbacia improcera. A rare Pliocene echinoid, my first. As found: after the first cleaning: second cleaning: third and final cleaning:

Hey everyone! This will be my first attempt at a trade in the TFF. Im offering a variety of fossils from the Price Creek Formation of Humboldt County, Northern California. This formation has been dated to late Miocene early Pliocene. As far as to what I’m looking for in this trade, I love all things Mollusca! Gastropods, Bivalves, Ammonites, Belemnites or Brachiopods, I’ll take them all. Invertebrates of any kind will strike my fancy though. The weirder the better. I’ve seen some Ram’s Horn Oysters that are awesome! I have no qualms about trading for these as a whole set, however shipping would be cheaper. I’m willing to ship anywhere in the United States, if your international I’m afraid that you’ll have to absorb that cost. I really appreciate all the knowledge that members have been forthcoming with sharing. Please pm me if your interested. -Nick

I've spent the last few trips Socially separating on the Peace at Zolfo Springs. Yesterday I found some pretty interesting stuff. I've switched back to a 1/4 " screen for a while because the 1/2" and the extended shovel handle was killing me. As a result, I've gotten a ton more small shark teeth, but have been able to process a lot less material. This was the total take for Tuesday. The invertebrates are the most interesting I think. In the lower left corner is a juvenile Abertella aberti with some minor damage but an intact perimeter. I've got a question about the sea biscuit though. It is clearly a Ryncholampas sp., but which one? This is Hawthorne group, not Suwannee, so should I assume it's R. chipolanus? Close up pictures follow.

Help request! I am putting together a tool for judging rock age based on very crude, whole-rock, hand-sample observations of fossil faunas/floras -- the types of observations a child or beginner could successfully make. I view this as a complement to the very fine, species-level identifications commonly employed as index fossils for individual stages, biozones, etc. Attached is what I've got so far, but I can clearly use help with corals, mollusks, plants, vertebrates, ichnofossils, and the post-Paleozoic In the attached file, vibrant orange indicates times in earth history to commonly observe the item of interest; paler orange indicates times in earth history to less commonly observe the item of interest. White indicates very little to no practical probability of observing the item of interest. Please keep in mind that the listed indicators are things like “conspicuous horn corals,” purposefully declining to address rare encounters with groups of low preservation potential, low recognizability, etc. Got additions/amendments, especially for the groups mentioned above? Toss them in the comments below! Thank you..... https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tVm_u6v573V4NACrdebb_1OsBEAz60dS1m4pCTckgyA