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Yesterday (January 2nd) was only my second trip to Calvert Cliffs. I'm pretty new to fossil collecting, but thanks to the wonderful advice and reading the greatly informative posts from members such as @Darktooth @FossilsAnonymous @WhodamanHD @racerzeke @KimTexan and @paxhunter I had a lot of success and it was a much more productive trip than my first. Below is a brief summary and some pictures of what I found: I woke up, put on a few layers clothing, and had my coffee at 3:45am. After my morning pipe (tobacco...I actually make briar tobacco pipes as a hobby) I got in my pre-loaded truck and headed south at 4:45am. I made good time on the drive down as I hit 695 and got around Baltimore before the morning rush. At 7:10am I arrived at Brownies Beach and pulled in to a parking lot with only two other cars in it. After putting on my full waders, I grabbed my sifter and headed towards the beach. I planned this trip so that I could arrive midweek and get there early enough to catch some of the low tide (tides times were not friendly this week, but I start teaching classes next week so it was this week or wait until spring). Sunrise was at 7:24, but there was more than enough light to see...and what a sight it was. When I entered the beach area the tide was way, way out. I couldn't believe how far out it was, as it was past two small sandbars (if I get my GoPro video edited I will post it). Once I was on the beach I headed south towards the cliffs. I hurried through the beach area because I wanted to be by the cliffs with the tide so low. I know I missed teeth along the beach, but I wanted to get to the cliffs with the tide being so far out where I could hopefully find some larger teeth than what are common at the beach area. As I neared the end of the beach I ran into one woman who was there just to relax and walk on the beach. We said good morning and I knew who one of the two cars in the parking lot belonged to. Once I went around the point and turned my eyes close to shell line and started looking. Because of all the wonderful advice from this forum I had a much better idea of what I was looking for and how to best look. After a few minutes I had some ray plates, very small teeth, and my first ever vert. It wasn't even 7:30 and I knew it was going to be a good day. As I made my way down the shore line that I figured had been pretty well picked over from people being off over the holidays, I remembered a forum member saying 'you need to look in the places that others don't'. I approached a fallen tree that I remembered from my first trip a few weeks ago, and with the tide being so low almost the entire tree was exposed so I got down on my hands and knees and started looking at some of the gaps between the tree and sand...then it happened. You know when you day dream and picture yourself finding a great tooth or fossil? Well that's what happened as my eyes saw a pristine Mako just laying there (pictures below). I know its not a huge tooth or a meg, but to me being new to the hobby this was completely awesome and a trip maker. I think I still have a smile on my face from finding it. As I continued down the beach I collected many more teeth from various sharks. I couldn't believe it when I found an awesome cow shark tooth (my second trip maker) laying out in the open about 8 feet up the beach. Beside it was another good tooth as well that went in my pouch. Around 10:30 I ran into a very friendly gentleman and we chatted a bit. We talked about the weather and the cliffs, what he had found (a few hemis), and he told me a story of a fall he had witnessed a few years ago that was too close for comfort. A chunk of clay the size of a car fell and nearly crushed him, but luckily he heard some soil falling and he ran straight out into the bay right before the cliff fell. Although the clay chunk did't hit him, the water threw him up into the air when the clay hit. His friend who was a down the cliffs said he heard it and it sounded like a car crash....I didn't get this gentleman's name but I feel like I read his cliff fall story on here, so if you know who it may have been please let me know. I continued south until the tide started coming in pretty far and I thought it best to head back towards the beach since I didn't know how far it would come in or how high the water would get. I continued my search along the way back and made it to my truck around 2pm. I took a short break, ditched my sifter, texted my wife, checked email, watched a truck with two high school kids pull in to smoke a pipe (although this one wasn't filled with tobacco), and headed back out for one more quick trip down and back as the tide started to go back out. It wasn't until about 3:30pm when two more local fossil collectors came up behind me and we said hello and chatted. All in all, I only ran into 3 other collectors during the day so there was not a lot of competition (although I do like the interesting conversation). After finding a few more teeth and interesting fossils dusk approached and I headed back to my truck. After putting my gear away and changing into some dry clothes I started my trek north after a fantastic start to 2019. Below are some pictures of my finds from the day. I know what many of the teeth and other fossils are, but if you can ID something that a newbie like me probably wouldn't know then please do so as it will help me get better with this hobby. Thanks!

Hi, I would really appreciate an ID on these crustaceans found 2019 at Miami, Mermaid And Nobby beaches on the Gold Coast, Australia. I've done some basic research and came up with Pliocene era. Thankyou so much!

2019 INVERTEBRATE/PLANT FOSSIL OF THE YEAR (IPFOTY) Unidentified (trigonotarbid?) arachnid - Late Carboniferous (Westphalian D), Osnabrück Fm. - Piesberg quarry near Osnabrück, Germany Congratulations to @paleoflor!!!

2019 VERTEBRATE FOSSIL OF THE YEAR (VFOTY) Ichthyosaurus sp. (possibly I. communis) - Jurassic (Hettangian) - circa 190 MYA - Preplanobis Beds, Lavernock Point, UK Congratulations to @Welsh Wizard !!!

Here we are with our 2019 VFOTY contest entries. These are all 12 (13, a baker's dozen!) of our VFOTM winners from 2019, listed in the order of the month they won. Carefully review these entries and vote for the one you think deserves the title of 2019 Vertebrate Fossil Of The Year! Poll closes on the 25th of January just before midnight. You can also vote for the 2019 Invertebrate / Plant Fossil Of The Year contest HERE. 1. Bison sp. (likely Bison bison) - Pleistocene (2.6-.01 Ma) - Collin County, TX, USA 2. Holmesina sp. giant armadillo jaw section - Late Pliocene-Pleistocene - Sarasota County, FL 3. Capybara skull - Pleistocene - Brazos River, Texas 4. Lepidotes mantelli fish - Valanginian, Early Cretaceous - Sussex, UK 5. Ground sloth claw core (exact species unknown) - Pleistocene - Santander, Colombia 6. Ptychodus marginalis hybodontiform shark tooth - Cretaceous, Turonian (Eagle Ford South Bosque Member) - Travis County, Texas 7. Pseudemys floridana or P. williamsi turtle carapace with predation marks - Miocene-Holocene, Bone Valley Formation - Peace River, Florida 8. Articulated ichthyosaur vertebrae with rib, paddle bone and belemnites - Jurassic - Yorkshire Coast, UK 9. Ichthyosaurus sp. (possibly I. communis) - Jurassic (Hettangian) - circa 190 Ma - Preplanobis Beds, Lavernock Point, UK 10. Upper and lower peccary jaw section - Miocene, opal bearing bentonite clay layer - Royal Peacock Opal Mine, Humboldt County, Nevada 11. Mammuthus primigenius, woolly mammoth molar - Weichselian, late Pleistocene (40 Ka) - Zandmotor, Netherlands (dredged from North Sea) 12. Small Fish jaw with teeth (unknown species) - Jet Rock or Alum Shale Series, Upper Lias, Jurassic - Whitby, North Yorkshire Coast, England 13. Palorchestes sp. (P. azael?) marsupial - Pleistocene - Queensland, Australia

Here we are with our 2019 IPFOTY contest entries. These are all 12 of our IPFOTM winners from 2019, listed in the order of the month they won. Carefully review these entries and vote for the one you think deserves the title of 2019 Invertebrate / Plant Fossil Of The Year! Poll closes on the 25th of January just before midnight. You can also vote for the 2019 Vertebrate Fossil Of The Year contest HERE. 1. Manticoceras sp. goniatite - Frasnian Matagne Formation, Late Devonian (382-372 Ma) - Chimay area, Belgium 2. Lepidostrobus sp. lepidodendron cone (strobile) - Westphalien B, Upper Carboniferous - near Lens, Northern France 3. Calamites sp. horsetail tree trunk segment - Pennsylvanian - Southeast Oklahoma 4. Nahecaris frankei (phyllocarid) - Emsian (Early Devonian) - Burg-Reuland, Belgium 5. Triarthrus eatoni trilobite (ventral view with eggs) - Ordovician - Beecher's Beds, Walcott Quarry, near Rome, New York 6. Eurypterus remipes eurypterid - Late Silurian, Phelps Member, Bertie Group - Herkimer County, New York 7. Unidentified (trigonotarbid?) arachnid - Late Carboniferous (Westphalian D), Osnabrück Fm. - Piesberg quarry near Osnabrück, Germany 8. Asteroceras and Promicroceras ammonites - Jurassic - Lyme Regis, Dorset, England 9. Glyptoxoceras subcompressum(?) heteromorph ammonite - Santonian, Haslam - Mt. Tzuhalem, Vancouver Island, Canada 10. Litoricola macrodactylus crab - Lower Thanetian, Paleocene - Southwest France 11. Devonoblastus whiteavesi blastoid - Widder Fm, Hungry Hollow Member (Middle Devonian) - Arkona, Ontario 12. Amoeboceras alternoides ammonite and Dicroloma cochleata gastropod - Jurassic, Upper Oxfordian - Bronnitsy, Moscow Oblast, Russia

Early this winter morning,no rain in Northern France ,it was the time to make my last 2019 carboniferous hunt The first site With a good Annularia to start Few nice Pecopteris frond And a nice Eusphenopteris And a really good Alethopteris That was the main finds of this morning

I found this on Blind Pass Beach in November 2019 Not sure what it is - I thought it looked like a bird wing but not sure. It is 5cm long 3cm wide and weighs 25 kg. Thank you for any help.

I know this is probably foolish to even ask, but can anyone give a likely identity to this 22 mm phalanx I picked up in the Santa Fe yesterday?

Since I'm done with the Peace River this year, I thought I would start sorting this season's finds in preparation for my report to the Univ. of Florida. I usually throw all the small teeth I find into a jug for give aways, but I had set these 3 teeth aside because they looked a little different. Just wondered if they were anything special. They all are serrated on both edges.

Hey everyone! Even though we are well into 2019 I thought I should share my top ten finds of the year. These will not be ranked as each one has their own value to me although some are rarer than others. Let me know if you want a better view of any of the fossils. 1. Bird Talon (Hawk or other raptor), Peace River, Florida.

Here is The Association of Applied Paleontological Sciences online guide for fossil dealers and other paleo related info for the 2019 Tucson (Arizona) fossil, gem and mineral shows. The guide lists dealers by speciality and venue. The guide has some blank pages (advertisements missing?). https://aaps.net/pdf/2019-AAPS-Guide-final-lo-res.pdf

Just a few minutes ago, my clock just changed from 11:59 PM 12/31/2018 to 12:00 AM 1/1/2019. Happy New Year to my fellow TFF friends and members!!! ~Macrophyseter

Once again it's time for the Paradoxides to dust off the top hat and ring in the new year. I'm eagerly looking forward to another great year of spectacular fossil treasures at TFF. Happy New Year 2019!