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Hello everyone, I'm Sarah from New Mexico and new to this forum and fairly new to this new hobby. I recently beat cancer so I've decided I needed to focus on something I've always had a love for and that's geoscience as a whole. I've always been a bit of a Rockhound and collected a small pile of them then heard great things about this forum so here I am! Hope everyone is happy and healthy.

Check the entries below carefully and cast your vote! PM me if you notice any errors with the entries. The poll ends November 6th. Be sure to vote in our other FOTM poll, HERE. 1. Rhizolith Plant Trace Fossil - Duncannon formation, Late Devonian - Near Hyner, Pennsylvania, USA 2. Eopachydiscus marcianus Protoconch - Duck Creek Formation, Early Cretaceous - Near Valley View, Texas, USA 3. Pentremites pyriformis with Brachioles and Stem - Upper Mississippian - East Morgan County, Alabama, USA 4. Anisopyge sp. Trilobite Parts - Lower Permian Fort Apache Limestone - Arizona, USA 5. Greenops widderensis - Hamilton Group, Widder Formation - Arkona, Ontario, Canada 6. Eldredgeops iowensis southworthi - Widder Formation, Devonian - Hungry Hollow, Ontario, Canada 7. Asaphiscus wheeleri - Wheeler Shale Formation, Cambrian - Utah, USA 8. Tridenticeras peramplum Ammonite - Austin Chalk Formation, Late Coniacian - North Texas, USA

Check the entries below carefully and cast your vote! PM me if you notice any errors with the entries. The poll ends November 6th. Be sure to vote in our other FOTM poll, HERE. 1. Pallimnarchus pollens Osteoderm - Plio-Pleistocene - Australia 2. Hybodus Fin Spine - Atherfield Clay Formation - Yaverland, Isle of Wight, England 3. Temnodontosaurus tooth - Lower Jurassic - Germany 4. Marsupial Tapir Jaw - Plio-Pleistocene - Australia 5. Plesiosaur Vertebrae - Late Cretaceous - New Jersey, USA 6. Cosmopolitodus hastalis Mako Tooth - Pliocene Yorktown Formation - Craven County, North Carolina, USA 7. Hesperotestudo Giant Land Tortoise Foot and Associated Osteoderms - Pleistocene - Sarasota County, Florida, USA

The VFOTM contest was a close one in September. The two winning finds were 'firsts' for both members. Congratulations again to Doren and Mike! Since it is October, I could mention you should try to make a find so amazing that it 'scares' you when you find it; or find something that has 'haunted' your fossil hunting dreams...but, that's easier said, than done. So, you better just 'go scare up' some fossils! Remember...carefully read the rules below, make sure you include all the required information, and submit your fossil! If you have a question about a possible entry, please send me a PM. Please pay special attention to Rule #5: Before and After Preparation photos must be submitted for Prepped specimens not found during the Month of the Contest. In addition to keeping the contest fair, this new qualification will encourage better documentation of our spectacular past finds. Best of success to all, and good hunting! Entries will be taken through October 31st. Please let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for sharing more of your fossils and research this month. To view the Winning Fossils from past contests visit the Find Of The Month Winner's Gallery. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Rules for The Fossil Forum's Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month Contests 1. You find a great Vertebrate Fossil or Invertebrate/Plant Fossil! Only fossils found by you. 2. Post your entry in the Find of the Month topic. Use a separate post for each entry. (Only two entries per contest category.) 3. Your Fossil must have been found during the Month of the Contest, or most of the significant Preparation of your Fossil must have been completed during the Month of the Contest. 4. You must include the Date of your Discovery (when found in the contest month); or the Date of Preparation Completion and Discovery date (if not found in the contest month). 5. Before and After Preparation photos must be submitted for prepped specimens not found during the Month of the Contest. 6. You must include the common or scientific name. 7. You must include the Geologic Age or Geologic Formation where the Fossil was found. 8. You must include the State, Province, or region where the Fossil was found. 9. Play fair and honest. No bought fossils. No false claims. Shortly after the end of the Month, separate Polls will be created for the Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month. In addition to the fun of a contest, we also want to learn more about the fossils. So, only entries posted with a CLEAR photo and that meet the other guidelines will be placed into the Poll. Within a few days, we will know the two winning Finds of the Month! Now, go find your fossil, do your research, and make an entry!

I and other members will be heading to Fossil Rock campground to hunt pit 2 on Sunday October 19th 2014. Hopefully the weather will corporate and we can get our buckets filled! Come and join us. It doesn't matter if you've never done it before, i will be happy to teach you what to look for and how to be successful in your 300mya scavenger hunt. We will meet at the Shell gas station in Coal City @ 8-8:30am. It's just west of rt.55 on 113. Hopefully this link will help http://goo.gl/maps/z6m7q Supplies you need and may want. -shovel, pickaxe, rockhammer (basically a good and sturdy digging device). We will be digging through hard shale. -a pair of gloves to keep from collecting blisters -a pair of extra clothes and boots/shoes definitely helps on the ride home. -a bucket, backpack, rock bag (anything that will handle about 5lbs-50lbs worth of rocks) -water is a must, water, water, water -snacks and food is up to you -hiking boots, old pair of shoes, etc. They will get dirty. -i would say bug spray, but being so late in the year hopefully they won't be too crazy. -also it's $5 a person to dig at the campground. This pit is great for very well preserved plants, wood, insects and horseshoe crabs. I have found some awesomely preserved stuff there. These are some of the hardest nodules you will collect anywhere in the Mazon Creek area, and sometimes they take over 30+ freeze/thaw cycles to pop. As i stated above, we WILL be digging, so eat your Wheaties. You can hike around and try and surface collect, but since the spoil piles aren't that tall it may be a waste of time. Here's a live weather link to check the weather for that day. http://m.accuweather.com/en/us/coal-city-il/60416/weather-forecast/332818 Hope to see you there!