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Hello Everyone! After my very successful trip to Charmouth last time, I have been on 4 single day trips across the months of February/March/April, and wanted to share each days finds. I was once again looking for bone fossils - and had more luck than I possibly could have hoped for as far as I am concerned! I spent the majority of the time on Charmouth beach, though I did walk across to Lyme Regis Church cliffs on a couple of days. DAY 1 I found 4 very nice bone fossils, including my first articulated vertebrae, and my first definite piece of jaw! Apart from the damage to one side, the bone quality on this Ichthyosaur tail vertebra is very nice - an excellent start to the first day. My first set of articulated vertebrae! The base of the neural arches are also present though most has been been worn off. A nice section of Ichthyosaur jaw, with some other bone fragments stuck in the pyrite. A fairly worn Ichthyosaur vertebra which at the time was my largest to date. DAY 2 3 Bone fossils were found on day 2 - all of which were vertebrae. 3 Articulated ichthyosaur vertebrae - although these are worn down to pretty much a pebble - I was still over the moon with this. Next challenge would be finding 4 articulated! Another single tail vertebrae, the size and preservation on this one is so similar to the one I found in day 1 (and only found a week apart), which makes me think these could be from the same animal. Half an Ichthyosaur vertebra, which shows the bone tie shape nicely. DAY 3 4 Bone fossils were found on day 3, including my best preserved ichthyosaur vertebra, and a section of jaw with some worn down teeth. My assumption on this one is that it is an Ichthyosaur paddle digit, though I wasn't aware that they could be sloped like this? But the bone surface on the top and bottom have the lines radiating from the centre like I have seen on other digits. My best preserved vertebra to date, the photo doesn't do it justice but the bone quality is amazing on this one, and it has pretty much 0 wear from the sea. A quite worn unknown piece of bone, although the shape initially suggested paddle digit to me, I'm now not so sure A very small section of jaw with some worn down teeth! This one was just staring at me on my walk back to the car to drive home. DAY 4 This is easily the best day I have had fossil hunting to date - and I think I will be hard pressed to beat these finds. 2 Good sided articulated Ichthyosaur vertebrae from- need some mudstone cleaning off. This was the first find of the day - and it only got better from here on. A Partial Caturus sp. fish skull! Probably my favourite find to date. I am able to identify the branchiostegal rays at the bottom there but if anyone with more knowledge about fish skulls recognises any of the other skull sections please let me know. I assumed that the next bone up from the rays in the below photo is the dentary/angular but again I am very new to all this. This bone appears to have an ovular cross section from the second photo below which is what made me think jaw. 2 Nice sized ichthyosaur vertebrae with the neural arches present - in the matrix. A small piece of bone, I wasn't too sure on this one, and it may be too small to really know what this could have been. I found some nice ammonites, crinoids and a devils toenail too, though as I was mainly looking for bones, hence why I didn't end up putting them in this post. I actually managed to find more bones than in my 5 day trip from before where I was looking for bones. My favourites definitely have to be the fish skull, the large articulated vertebrae with neural arches, and the jaw with teeth. Needless to say I have definitely 'caught the bug', and will be returning again soon.

Hi everyone! A few months ago I came across a post by another user displaying their impressive collection of marine reptile bones they collected between Lyme Regis and Charmouth, U.K. I had no idea that you could have such success with bone fossils along this stretch, so I decided to take a trip and see what I could find. I had a great time and found a good amount of bone pieces, Here is what I came back with after 5 days of looking on Charmouth beach, in order of finding: Now some closer photos by type. I found 2 full Ichthyosaur vertebrae, one from the ribcage section (which I forgot to include in the overall photo), and one from the tail: One very small partial Ichthyosaur vertebra: 2 Ichthyosaur paddle digits: 2 pieces of Ichthyosaur rib bone, from very differently sized creatures! These two are harder to identify, the best guess so far is possibly part of a shoulder bone on the left and possibly a piece of Ichthyosaur jaw on the right, though they are quite rolled and thus hard to get a solid ID: A partial fossilised shark fin spine from a hybodus shark: Another unidentified and heavily worn piece of bone, perhaps from the skull of something, the man in the heritage centre seemed to think it wasn’t Ichthyosaur or plesiosaur: and finally, another unidentified piece, possibly some part of a fish? I have a separate ID post for these last 2 with videos and more photos of you have any ideas for them! All in all extremely happy with what I found, and will definitely be returning!

This looks similar to some jawless fish bone I’ve seen. Could this be some? Ordovician, Wisconsin, Dane county, Madison.

Hello! I found these fossils(?) at Estabrook park which is part of the Devonian Milwaukee formation. They appear to be external moulds. These were found near the Lindwurm and Berthelet Members. Are these jawless fish? Big brachiopods? Non-fossils? I’m stumped on these. The formation is known for its plants, giant fungi, jawed and jawless fish, Cephalopods, and Conulariids. So sorry for the lack of scale! I need to start carrying a tape measure with my fossil hunting backpack.

Hello, I'm interested to know if there's any way to narrow down what kind of animal this fossil is from? My dad tells me it was given to him by my great grandmother, who likely purchased it from a university in Western South Dakota in the 1940s or 50s. Our assumption is that it would have been discovered in that area, around that time. The fossil is about 4" x 1.5". I think it's so cool, but beyond guessing that it's "a bone" from "an animal that had bones," I'm at a loss. Thanks for any help!

Never seen this texture on a brachiopod or bryozoan before. Found in Wisconsin gravel.

This is in my buddy's backyard, we know nothing of the type of rock we are in Jefferson county, Missouri. We noticed this on the side of a bluff. I think it's a about 1meter long vertebrae almost like an alligator or some kind of big lizzard like a komodo dragon though I don't know if or when alligators would have been in Missouri. Appreciate your time

I found this tooth in the overburden sight at my work. I actually found this tooth first, and went to grab a survey flag to mark the pile. On the way I found the shark tooth i just shared in an other post. It was an exciting day. Anyway, from looking at the molar patterns of other horse tooth fossils I think that this is a three-toed horse (Perissodactyla Miohippus ?). Judging from what I think is wear on the tooth ridges, I would hazard a guess that the horse was an old timer? While I personally am not fond of horses, it was really nice to have pieces that I could clearly identify for once, instead of various fragments of a fossil jigsaw puzzle.

I have a lot of these and I dont what to overload people. Here is another fossil i found in the overburden at my plant. Ocala formation in alachua county Florida. I dont have the slightest clue what this could be from, but i think it is big and probably a mammal.

Hi all, I recently acquired this coprolite specimen, and the only information I got from its owner was that it was from Adams Co., IL. The segment is phosphatic and measures 45 mm long with a 30 mm dia. In addition to crinoid inclusions, it looks to have eaten something that looks like coral. Did anything even eat coral? I am not at all familiar with the stratigraphy of the area. Based on what I have read, I am assuming it is carboniferous (Mississippian?), but if anyone out there is familiar enough with the area to narrow that down, it would be greatly appreciated. I am also trying to identify any species in the area large enough to have expelled this beauty that is known to munch on crinoids. Is the crinoid identifiable from the segment shown? There also appears to be some sort of impression or track on the exterior. Perhaps it can help narrow down the timeline. Thanks a bunch!