What are Your Most Significant Finds in Florida?

[Colossalfossils15]

I never knew that Florida had such a plethora of fossil hunting opportunities. I have visited Venice Beach twice and found fossil shark teeth, fossil plant (most likely Crinoidea) impressions in rock, and fossil shells. I have wanted to visit the Peace River formation for a while now, and I know that there are other spots in Florida that seem to hold some promise. So I'm curious, since I'm basically just starting out hunting for fossils myself rather than buying them, as to what some people who also fossil hunt in Florida have found, and where you found it?

[mrieder79]

Gainesville creeks are known for small shark teeth and the occasional megalodon.  Jacksonville dredge piles yield teeth and the occasional meg (usuallly beat all to hell).  Jacksonville and ponte vedra beaches yield teeth.  Don't expect to find megs there.  

[jpc]

Many quarries have fossils.  And if you join some local clubs they might actually let you in.  Google 'florida fossil clubs'.  This will help you meet others who think fossils are better than TV.  

[DinoMike]

 My best Florida find would have to be the Eremotherium sp. ground sloth claw tip that I found in the now-closed-and-flooded Caloosa Shell pit mine in the Ruskin, FL area back in the late 90s.

 

[FossilDAWG]

Just a note: crinoids are not plants, they are echinoderms related to starfish (more properly sea stars) and sea urchins.  I am also not aware of crinoid fossils being found in Florida, and I'd appreciate seeing some photos of your finds if that is possible.

 

Don

[Colossalfossils15]

16 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

Just a note: crinoids are not plants, they are echinoderms related to starfish (more properly sea stars) and sea urchins.  I am also not aware of crinoid fossils being found in Florida, and I'd appreciate seeing some photos of your finds if that is possible.

 

Don

Yes, I can upload pictures of my finds. They aren't big, but I am just starting out, and I'm happy with what I have got so far

[Al Dente]

Those look like eroded pieces of sand dollars.

[Colossalfossils15]

[Colossalfossils15]

These were all of my finds. It wouldn't let me upload all the pictures at once. 

2 minutes ago, Al Dente said:

Those look like eroded pieces of sand dollars.

And I cannot see how the one on the left can be a sand dollar, you can see the individual fronds and stems of whatever it was. I'm not insulting your advice, I just am questionable as to if it's sand dollar

[Al Dente]

10 minutes ago, Colossalfossils15 said:

And I cannot see how the one on the left can be a sand dollar, you can see the individual fronds and stems of whatever it was. I'm not insulting your advice, I just am questionable as to if it's sand dollar

 

There is a large Miocene sand dollar- Abertella that breaks apart and looks just like these fragments. When I get home tonight I'll see if I have any of these fragments to show you.

[Fossildude19]

Definitely not crinoids, either.

Nor are they plants.  

Regards,

[Colossalfossils15]

17 minutes ago, Al Dente said:

 

There is a large Miocene sand dollar- Abertella that breaks apart and looks just like these fragments. When I get home tonight I'll see if I have any of these fragments to show you.

 

Thank you for your reply and information, and yes, if you can post some pictures of what you have that would be appreciated! 

11 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

Definitely not crinoids, either.

Nor are they plants.  

Regards,

Okay, thank you

[Al Dente]

Here are a couple photos of an Abertella fragment. Unfortunately I no longer have the box of fragments that I thought I did. I recently did some downsizing. Here's one I kept. This is from the Miocene Pungo River Formation at Lee Creek in North Carolina. The ones found at Lee Creek have all been heavily abraded.

[Missourian]

Mollusk shells everywhere! I think it can be said that Florida is made out of shells.

[FossilDAWG]

Thanks for the photos.  I agree with the other posters that your specimens are worn pieces of sand dollars, not crinoids (though they are distantly related to crinoids), and not plants.  You also have a nice bull shark tooth, a couple of ray teeth, a stingray barb, and a couple of olive shells.  Florida is certainly a great place to collect fossils!

 

Don

[Colossalfossils15]

Yes thank you for sharing your photos! I still am happy with what I found, since I didn't have fossil sand dollars in my collection previously.

44 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

Thanks for the photos.  I agree with the other posters that your specimens are worn pieces of sand dollars, not crinoids (though they are distantly related to crinoids), and not plants.  You also have a nice bull shark tooth, a couple of ray teeth, a stingray barb, and a couple of olive shells.  Florida is certainly a great place to collect fossils!

 

Don

Thank you, I thought that tooth was a Dusky shark tooth. I matched it up perfectly to a diagram in a brochure at Venice Beach. And also, which are the ray teeth; the things on either side of the shark tooth?

[abyssunder]

I'm pretty sure that Al Dente is right about the echinoid plates.

 

 

Nice finds, BTW.

 

[Colossalfossils15]

1 minute ago, abyssunder said:

I'm pretty sure that Al Dente is right about the echinoid plates.

 

 

Yes, they do look very similar ti each other. I just am still a little bit skeptical about my other one, although it does look similar to the patters shown in the other pictures. Only because my other one is flat and hard like a stone, not at all the same texture-wise or thickness of the sand dollar pictures that were shared

[abyssunder]

As it was shown, the patterns are identical, but the preservation status could be different due to the the weathering processes. Yours looks like they were tumbled by waves before being washed ashore.

[Colossalfossils15]

That is true, I figured that could also be the case. Thank you so much for your help. And one more thing; do you think my shark tooth is a bull or Dusky shark? I have looked into it and I can't decide which it is. FossiDAWG said it looked like a bull shark

 

[jcbshark]

There's tons of great finds laying around Florida for sure. I hunt about a 50 mile area from Venice on out. Some of my best finds are a couple complete Mammoth teeth, got a nice short faced bear canine, some partial giant beaver and sloth teeth, a bunch of nice Megs.... it goes on and on lol. It's really tough to pic my best find as it's a sliding scale: )

[sixgill pete]

14 hours ago, Colossalfossils15 said:

That is true, I figured that could also be the case. Thank you so much for your help. And one more thing; do you think my shark tooth is a bull or Dusky shark? I have looked into it and I can't decide which it is. FossiDAWG said it looked like a bull shark

 

 

From the location of the foramina ( the small hole in the center of the root) I would say the tooth is Carcharhinus leucus a.k.a. Bull Shark. 

 

 

[sixgill pete]

16 hours ago, Colossalfossils15 said:

And also, which are the ray teeth; the things on either side of the shark tooth?

 

The ray teeth  are the items on the left and right  in the picture under the shark tooth. The item in the center is a sting ray barb section.

The things on each side of the shark tooth appear to be bone fragments to me.

[Colossalfossils15]

1 hour ago, sixgill pete said:

 

From the location of the foramina ( the small hole in the center of the root) I would say the tooth is Carcharhinus leucus a.k.a. Bull Shark. 

 

 

 

Thank you, and good information also!

1 hour ago, sixgill pete said:

 

The ray teeth  are the items on the left and right  in the picture under the shark tooth. The item in the center is a sting ray barb section.

The things on each side of the shark tooth appear to be bone fragments to me.

 

I thought that all of those were barb sections previously, but now that I'm looking at them again, I can definitely tell the difference. And thank you for telling me what the things on either side of my shark teeth look like, I appreciated it!

[Colossalfossils15]

2 hours ago, jcbshark said:

There's tons of great finds laying around Florida for sure. I hunt about a 50 mile area from Venice on out. Some of my best finds are a couple complete Mammoth teeth, got a nice short faced bear canine, some partial giant beaver and sloth teeth, a bunch of nice Megs.... it goes on and on lol. It's really tough to pic my best find as it's a sliding scale: )

 

Thats so amazing! I'm just starting out, so I really hope that I can find even some of the things you mentioned. Where do you dive for the Megs, or have you found some on shore or in a river somewhere?