Amateur Fossil Hunting In The Bay Area

[paleoRicklis]

Ah one knows a place in the Bay Area, CA where an amateur fossil hunter can fossil hunt in our modern times, if you h ave an answer post it on the member introduction I am obsessed with paleontology and excited to be here by paleoRicklis

Thank you

I am really desperate!

[DD1991]

If you're looking for fossil sites in the Bay Area, here's a short but simple list:

1. Alameda Creek (type locality of the extinct dolphin Kampholophos)

2. Pleasanton, Alameda County (yields Desmostylus hesperus)

3. Marin County (has yielded remains of cetaceans, sirenians, pinnipeds; type locality of the primitive fossil rorqual Parabalaenoptera)

4. terrestrial mammal fossil sites in Contra Costa county

5. marine mammal fossil sites in San Mateo county

All of this is taken from Paleobiology Database (which is a good inventory of every known fossil site worldwide). As the type specimens of Parabalaenoptera and Kampholophos have been found in the Bay Area, the Bay Area as a whole is a good spot to find marine mammals. As a matter of fact, much of Alameda and Marin counties was underwater during the Neogene.

[Regg Cato]

http://www.fossilsites.com/STATES/CA.HTM

Take a look at this site as well; I've found it very useful and comprehensive (though sometimes the information is a bit frustrating for older/poorer quality sites).

PDB is a good site but does not contain EVERY known site worldwide, only those that have been referenced in the literature. I use it a lot for research but I find it's not always as useful for planning trips.