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In June 2016, during a trip to Italy, I went for a morning to the Natural History Museum of Milan to check out the fossils they had. I was slightly disappointed when I learned that the Scipionyx samniticus holotype specimen was no longer housed over there, but the museum did on the other hand have some rather neat fossils. Here they are 2 labyrinthodont skulls from the Permian of Madagascar (Sakamena Formation?), preserved as part and counterpart: 1) Parotosuchus madagascariensis 2) Indeterminate capitosaurid 3) Resin casts of the skulls Pterosaur phalange from the Triassic of Italy Dermal "armour" of a Bothriolepis canadensis from the Upper Devonian of Canada Edestus heinrichi (eugeneodontid chondrichthyan similar to Helicoprion) tooth from the Carboniferous of the USA (they didn't give more specific location details) Astreptoscolex anasillosus (polychaete worm) from the Carboniferous of Mazon Creek, USA Well preserved skull of Askeptosaurus italicus from the Triassic Besano Formation (Besano, Italy) Hope you liked it! Don't worry guys, I'll post more from this museum in the next few days.

Some of my best 2016 Finds, Tell me what you think! both Impressions and fossils,

The Winner of the 2016 Invertebrate / Plant Find Of The Year is the Megokkos sp. crab with epibionts from the Late Eocene/Early Oligocene of Oregon, USA!!! Congratulations to bruce on his 2nd FOTY win!!! Finding and prepping your own fossils is its own reward; but this one is truly special. Thanks to @bruce for sharing it with us! I would also like to congratulate, again, the other eleven winners in 2016!

The Winner of the 2016 Vertebrate Find Of The Year is the Dracoraptor hanigani associated dinosaur bones from the Jurassic Lower Lias (Hettangian Stage) of South Wales, U.K.!!! Congratulations to Nick (Welsh Wizard) on the discovery of additional associated bones from his newly published dinosaur! Thanks to @Welsh Wizard for sharing part of a world class find!!! I would also like to congratulate, again, the other eleven winners in 2016!

Hello TFF! I just wanted to take a minute to share with everyone some of our finds from 2016. I do most of my digging up in Kemmerer, WY trying my hand at fossil fishes. 2016 was a pretty exceptional year in that along with our standard hundreds of 18" fish and thousands of split fish we pulled 2 VERY LARGE specimens. quite rare really. it averages out to about 1 every 2 or 3 years normally, so 2 in one summer is AMAZING! These panels have all been finished and are ready to hit the market along with the large gar and the croc! Fingers crossed that they sell so we can open up next year! I hope you all enjoy coming along. ALL of these panels feature 100% natural fish with 0% restoration. NO PAINT, a few have been inlaid though. In the last picture, the branch does have around 2% restoration because it was in multiple pieces needing to be glued.

It is that time, again...time to look back at the monthly winners in our 2016 contests! You can exhaust the descriptive terms needed to elaborate on these finds, but we still need to pick a winner. Opinions are welcome. (disclaimer: The Fossil Forum is not responsible for physical or mental maladies that occur while making your decision. Please consult your own mind, family, friends and strangers if you need assistance making your choice. ) Review these winners and cast your vote for the 2016 Vertebrate Find Of The Year! You can vote in the other contest HERE. The Polls will end on January 14th. 1. January 2016 VFOTM - Dracoraptor hanigani associated dinosaur bones from the Jurassic Lower Lias (Hettangian Stage) of South Wales, U.K. 2. February 2016 VFOTM - Edmontosaurus annectens Hadrosaur Metatarsal and Caudal Vertebra from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Hell Creek Formation of South Dakota, U.S.A. 3. March 2016 VFOTM - Partial Probocidean tusk from the Pleistocene deposits of Florida 4. April 2016 VFOTM - Cetacean tooth from the Middle Miocene Round Mountain Silt of California, U.S.A. 5. May 2016 VFOTM - Diprotodon optatum lower jaw from the Pleistocene deposits near Queensland, Australia 6. June 2016 VFOTM - Heliobatus radians stingray from the Eocene Green River Formation of Wyoming, U.S.A. 7. July 2016 VFOTM - Unidentified small fish from the Early Eocene (Ypresian) Fur Formation of Denmark 8. August 2016 VFOTM - Triceratops horridus ceratopsian dinosaur horn from the Upper Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation of Montana, USA 9. September 2016 VFOTM - Allodesmus sp. pinniped canine tooth from the Late Miocene Santa Margarita Formation of California, USA 10. October 2016 VFOTM - Associated shark vertebrae from the Upper Cretaceous Eagle Ford Formation of Texas, USA 11. November 2016 VFOTM - Stingray barb from the Burdigalian (Miocene) deposit of Portugal 12. December 2016 VFOTM - Partial Chiroptera (bat) dentary from the Late Pleistocene of Florida, U.S.A. Congratulations to all these winners! @Welsh Wizard @Troodon @joshuajbelanger @ynot @Ash @sseth @Sylvestersen @Charizard @caldigger @John S. @Vieira @old bones

It is that time, again...time to look back at the monthly winners in our 2016 contests! You can exhaust the descriptive terms needed to elaborate on these finds, but we still need to pick a winner. Opinions are welcome. (disclaimer: The Fossil Forum is not responsible for physical or mental maladies that occur while making your decision. Please consult your own mind, family, friends and strangers if you need assistance making your choice. ) Review these winners and cast your vote for the 2016 Invertebrate / Plant Find Of The Year! You can vote in the other contest HERE. The Polls will end on January 14th. 1. January 2016 IPFOTM - Unknown sea urchin from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Lower Himenoura formation of Kagoshima, Amakusa Japan 2. February 2016 IPFOTM - Apoderoceras sp. ammonite from the Lower Pliensbachian (Lower Jurassic) of Dorset, UK 3. March 2016 IPFOTM - Ogygiocarella debuchi trilobite from the Ordovician Llanvirn series of West Shropshire, England 4. April 2016 IPFOTM - Torynomma quadrata crab from the Lower Cretaceous of Queensland, Australia 5. May 2016 IPFOTM - Aturia alabamensis nautiloid from the Eocene Castle Hayne Formation of North Carolina, USA 6. June 2016 IPFOTM - Didontogaster cordylina polychaete worm from the Late Carboniferous Francis creek shale of Illinois, USA 7. July 2016 IPFOTM - Lacoea cone from the Pennsylvanian subperiod of Ohio, USA 8. August 2016 IPFOTM - Megokkos sp. crab with epibionts from the Late Eocene/Early Oligocene of Oregon, USA 9. September 2016 IPFOTM - Crinoid with stem, calyx, and arms from the Ordovician Lexington Limestone (Devils Hollow Member) of Kentucky, USA 10. October 2016 IPFOTM - Lepidodendron obovatum scale tree fossil from the Westphalian (Carboniferous) of Bruay en Artois, Northern France 11. November 2016 IPFOTM - Lingula squamiformis inarticulate brachiopod from the Brigantian stage (Mississippian) of County Durham, UK 12. December 2016 IPFOTM - Loriolia rosana echinoid block from the Lower Cretaceous Upper Glen Rose Formation of Texas, USA Congratulations to all these winners! @David in Japan @Koss1959 @TNGray @Jesuslover340 @sixgill pete @fossilized6s @saysac @bruce @MikeD @nala @TqB @-AnThOnY-

Merry Christmas/Happy holidays everyone. There are a few more days left in 2016, so still time left for something amazing to happen, but I thought it's about that time that some of us reflect on the year that has been. I purposely listed best find and trip separately, sometimes finding something awesome makes for your best trip, sometimes a best trip is all about the experience - the locality, the people or the challenge. At at least that's how it works for me. My best trip was an overnight trip up the North Canterbury coastline at the start of the year: I didn't really find anything of note but it was quite an adventure and I also learnt a lot about the local geology. I'll never forget the peaceful solitude of camping under the stars by the crashing surf: My best find is a tough call between a dolphin skull I found earlier this year on this trip and a large shark vert I recently found: Both aren't prepped yet. I'm hoping to get them CT scanned before touching them with a scribe or chisel. Im hoping to get them shipped to Australia for scanning and prep. Looking forward to hearing others experiences of 2016.

Yesterday's trip to the Peace was moderately productive, but this item may be interesting. I almost threw it away because half of it is broken, but it looks somewhat different than other osteoderms we normally find. Can anyone suggest what the animal was? It looks some what like a small sloth osteoderm that was identified for me last year, but so much bigger.

My sister found this last week on a Delaware beach. Can anyone identify it for us? Thanks!