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Hey all I was out collecting in Vienna, Illinois yesterday and amongst what I found was this which looks like vertebrae. The thing is it looks to me to be a fossil but I'm not sure. It's about 3/8 th inch diameter. The area is Mississippian in age. Please can someone help, is this a modern critter vertebrae or indeed fossil. It was laying with a bunch of crinoid stems

Hey y’all, I found these fossils in my garden, in northern Illinois. The last two photos are the same rock, but flipped over. I can see some feint outlines of something, but I’m not sure if it’s a fossil or not. Anyways, I was wondering what they are and how old they could be! Thank you so much

As many of you know I recently bought a Mazon Creek collection from my friend of mine that I have known and collected with for the past 30+ years. Along with the fossils was a lot of his paperwork on the fossils- not where they were found, etc., but pictures and times that he loaned specimens to museums. One specimen was a winged insect that he had loaned to a person from Harvard (Museum of Comparative Zoology- MCZ). Bob did not have a picture of the fossil and kind of thought it was a dragonfly. This person had visited the Mazon Creek Open House that was held on October 27th, 1984, at Northeastern Illinois University, which was the home of the Mazon Creek Project. Bob had brought the fossil to show other collectors and probably to get an id. The person asked if she could borrow it for study at Harvard and he agreed and “loaned” it to her and later received a receipt for the fossil and personal letter from her. That was the last time he had ever heard anything about the fossil. This has always been a sore subject with Bob and he would mention it all of the time, and that is why I have always been turned off to loaning any specimens. A couple months back I told Bob that I was going to reach out to Harvard and see if they could tell me anything about the fossil, since it was never returned. I sent a nice e-mail to them along with PDFs of the receipt and letter. About two weeks later, I received an email response from a Curatorial Associate at MCZ Harvard. She advised me that they looked at all of their Mazon creek fossils and could not find a particular fossil that I was describing with the information and # that I had for the specimen. Mind you, the receipt had a number assigned to it as well as what it was, as far as their identification (Spanidoera). She did send me an attachment, that contained all of their fossils from Mazon Creek. She further advised me, that after the person that borrowed it left Harvard, she went to another school to get her PhD and then advised me where she might be currently working. I thanked her for the information and that she advised me that they will continue to keep an eye out for the fossil. I then did some more searching, and I actually found the person that I had been looking for and an email address for her. I sent her an email and attached the same email that I sent to Harvard and I expounded by stating that I was Bob‘s friend and that he has talked about this for the past 25 years. She got back to me and stated that she was on vacation and when she arrives home, she would look through some of her old boxes from MCZ, but also stated that it could be in the MCZ Collection , but hard to locate. I thanked her and waited for a response. She got back to me on Wednesday and advised me that she was going to go through the boxes over the weekend. A couple of hours later I received a follow-up e-mail from her advising me that the had found the fossil and it matched up with the number that was assigned to it. I was so happy. I asked her to send me some pictures of it, which she did. She sent a very nice email, apologizing and say that she did not know why she did not return it after she left MCZ and thought maybe she was going to do a paper on it, or something else, but she did not remember. Either way, it was great that she went through her stuff and found this piece. She mailed the fossil out to me on Friday and I received it this evening. I have not let Bob know, as I want to drive to his house and show it to him and then let him know what it is. She also included a nice letter that I will present to him. I advised her that I will send her a picture of Bob holding the fossil. I know what many people are thinking, why did he not check on the fossil before? All I can say is that is how Bob is, he loaned it and just figured it was lost, although it always bothered him. In addition, he does not have a computer and since I had the receipt and letter, something that I did not know he had in the past, I decided to play detective. If I had known about the letter and receipt, I would have handled this decades ago. Now for pictures of the fossil. This piece was not freeze/thawed by Bob, as most of his fossils were. Looking at it, I can tell that he found it opened in the field. One side has great detail, if he had found it when it first opened, it would have been outstanding. Still this is a great looking piece, and in my opinion, large for an insect. If anyone has an ID, pass it on please. As stated above the woman who borrowed it listed it as “Spaniodera”. I am wondering if it is from the family Geraridae?

Any ideas on this micro tooth? Sand grain-sized. Holocene sediments ancestral Lake michigan.

Today was Day 2 of ESCONI’s Braceville Shaft Mine Trip. Rich @stats will add some pictures from yesterday’s visit. He advised me that there were several FF members in attendance, including, but not limited @connorp , @bigred97. I believe that there were 50 participants yesterday and I believe that there were that many today. The weather was great for collecting, with the temp hitting a high of 80 by the time I left at 12:30 pm. People arrived a little before 9 am for the welcome talk and information on the site and collecting details. As usual, I brought a lot of fossils to dump for the participants. I had Mazon Creek fossils, other Pennsylvanian plant material from Danville, Illinois, Pennsylvanian brachiopods from Olgesby, Illinois, Ordovician hash plates from Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, Fossil shells from Florida as well as dugong ribs, Mississippian hash plates from Vienna, Illinois and I even dropped in a few echinoids from Morocco. It is a great way for me to get rid of excess stuff. @stats also brought a bucket to dump, in addition to stuff he brought yesterday. Here is a picture of FF member @CrustaceousBaki Caroline heading in to start collecting. Here she is getting her dig on. FF member @deutscheben was also out collecting today, here are a couple pics. Continued on next post.

Hello again. I got the time to scrub off my finds from Friday and found one of interest (and a second that I haphazardly split open that I think is a dud). The top one’s shape remained after several rounds of intense scrubbing, and feels slightly 3D in the middle. Other views of top one: Is there anything in the top one or is it just suggestive mineral staining? Additionally, since there is a crevice present around the entire perimeter, would you recommend I try and pry it open or leave the concretion as is? Lastly, just so I can document the correct number of concretions collected on my permit, which of these four examples (if any) would you consider to be a concretion or half concretion. “a” and “d” are extremely thin, both likely part of the outer “shell” of a concretion. “b” is just an odd shape, and “c” is thick but flat. As always, thank you!

Hello. I’m currently at Mazon and after about 1 1/2 hours of intermittent hiking and searching, I found a hillside that seems to be rife with concretions. I’m somehow lucky enough to have a tiny bit of cell service. I am concerned, however, that I have stumbled upon someone’s discard pile rather than a concretion gold mine. Most of the 100+ concretions were found either on the surface or very slightly embedded in the soil within a 30 foot radius, and most have jagged edges and are only half a concretion. A couple have even been larger than my hand. As such, I know it is difficult to tell without being here, but is it more likely that I’ve found an area where concretions have been exposed and opened naturally or have I stumbled upon someone’s recent search area? Thank you! P. S. I brought these together in one pile from around to demonstrate the majority of my finds. In situ: Large:

Hello, I opened/cleaned off some nodules I had collected recently and I am unsure if they are fossils or just formations of how the rock separated. Thank you in advance for your time. Also, if anyone has any recommendations on fossil books, that would be appreciated. 1) I am not sure if my eyes are lying to me or not but I see what could be a shrimp. I see the formation of a shrimp body. Also what appear to be two eyes and a nose. Again, maybe I am just seeing what I want to see. 2) Not really sure what this could be. I did not think it was anything at first but then I opened another nodule (3) and saw the same formation. Possible bivalve? 3) Same as 2

Maybe a long shot, but I'm hoping someone might recognize this. It looks like a piece of some arthropod exoskeleton to me, but further than that I have no idea. It was collected in the Pennsylvanian of Illinois. The site it collected from is terrestrial/freshwater. It is dominated by plants but has produced bivalves, branchiopods, and shark egg cases – typical fauna for a site like this. Some other possible arthropod bits have showed up, but nothing obviously identifiable. I would expect horseshoe crabs and/or insects will show up eventually, but nothing definitive yet.

Hi, We found this fossil on the edge of a nearby lake. Can you please help me to identify it? It's about a half inch long. I'm located in Northbrook, Illinois, USA. Thanks in advance!

Hello, While searching for concentrations in Mazon Creek, IL, I discovered you can find Crinoid stems in rocks around the area. I have found a few of those but recently I found a couple that are similar but not as easily identifiable. Below are the two samples in question. Thank you for your time and assistance with the IDing. 1) This sample is very similar to the type of rock I find the Crinoid stems in. Seems to be like fossilized coral with the holes. Specifically, I am looking at the spiral with a bump in the center. I think that is an impression of a Crinoid stem that was there before but not sure? 2) This sample is a different kind of rock it seems. It is lighter in color and has some sparkles in it. The feature in question is the 'flower bud' type formation I see in the top center of the rock. It is smooth and it has depth. Compared to how the rest of the rock is rough, I have to imagine this is something different.

I found these while splitting some black shale collected at a private club in Grundy County. The first 3 pics are of one specimen and the last 2 are of another specimen but not as well preserved. Thanks.

Hello! I’m hoping you all can help me ID this scapula; it should be fairly easy for you all. I was creek hunting for native artifacts in northwestern Illinois, and I almost stepped on the end of this scapula, trying to stay on the edge of the bank. I found it buried deep inside the eroded hillside wall, so I know it wasn’t brought there via creek from another location. Only the “socket” was sticking out. It was 10-12 feet below the surface. I was hoping it was bison, but guessing it’s equine. The end could not be located. Once pulled from the bank and it dried out, it became extremely brittle and fragile. I’m thinking it might’ve been used as a hoe and the end broke off in use. Also, is there any way of dating such a thing—ie ideas on if or where I could go or whom I could talk to about it? Thanks so much for your information and insight!

Hello, I am new to the fossil finding hobby. I have been finding nodules with no discernible fossil but are different than others. If anyone could tell me what these are, that would be great. Thanks for your time. These 2 have grey circles in the center. Are these just mineral deposits? This one is similar but it also has crystals in the center, almost like a geode? Then I also find nodules like these that have this strange inner part.

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of going on an ESCONI trip to a giant shale pile in Danville, IL in search of Pennsylvanian fossils. I was fortunate enough to find a beautiful Trigonocarpus seed. (I included it for comparison to specimen 3). Second specimen seems to be another seed I can’t quite identify. After some research, I’ve come up with basically nothing. It’s textured, and has the shape of a teardrop. (Below) As for number 3, I actually just noticed it today while going through some of my finds. I don’t know if it’s wishful thinking, but it looks kinda similar to my Trigonocarpus seed, but with more ribs. I was thinking possibly Holcospermum because of how ribbed it is? Unfortunately it’s a little hard to see as not much of it is exposed. Could just be nothing, but I thought it looked peculiar. (Below)

Hi, I recently found several small stromatoporoid fossils while hiking in an area of glacial kames, NE Illinois. The fossils I find here have been buried in silt, sand and clay for about a hundred thousand years, and they're sponges! But I love them! They're entirely silicified, vinegar, clr, and muriatic acid does nothing to them. They aren't in matrix, they're just very, VERY, dirty. I may have to accept some as they are, but was hoping a could do more for the ones that are less porous. Already soaked them in SIO and it did whiten them a bit. First pics are before SIO soak. I've been reading about oxalic acid, boiling, chlorine bleach, H2O2...not sure if anything else will work besides patience and a toothbrush... *Also, this is just a hobby so I don't have any equipment other than a dremel, some picks and wire brushes.

New details of Tully monster revealed 3D scanning of enigmatic fossil may have brought an end to debate about whether it is a vertebrate or invertebrate University of Tokyo, Nature, April 17, 2023 70-Year-Old Mystery Over Bizarre 'Tully Monster' May Finally Have Been Solved Science Alert, April 18, 2023 The paywalled paper is: Tomoyuki Mikami, Takafumi Ikeda, Yusuke Muramiya, Tatsuya Hirasawa, Wataru Iwasaki, Three-dimensional anatomy of the Tully monster casts doubt on its presumed vertebrate affinities, Palaeontology: April 17, 2023, doi:10.1111/pala.12646. Yours, Paul H.

Hi all! I hope this is appropriate for me to ask, but I was just wondering if anyone knew of any roadcuts that are good to hunt at in the Rockford area. I'm planning on visiting the Burpee Musuem today, then hopefully fossil hunt around the area. I've heard talk of roadcuts that are quite rewarding there, but I can't find the exact location of them. If anyone is willing to share please let me know! If not that is ok too Thank you!

I found this fossil about a year ago in Kane County, IL along the fox river. I’m not really sure of what it is, but if I had to guess possibly the internal mold of a Crinoid stem or an archimedes bryozoan?

Some of my favorite neospirifer specimens I found yesterday in Oglesby, IL! They’re nothing too crazy but I think they’re pretty cool regardless. Just felt like sharing.

Found in Kane County, IL. Never seen anything like it before around here, found buried in dirt near the fox river with few other pieces that had broken off.

Today I made a quick stop at a local show that is put on by the Des Plaines Valley Geological Society. The show is runs for two days and ends tomorrow. It is held at the Des Plaines Park District Leisure Center, if you are in the area, stop by and check it out. There are several vendors, a silent auction, raffle, kids corner, displays and exhibits. This was my favorite, a cool rock store diorama, I would love to own it. Silent Auction- Some Raffle items- Being in Illinois, there a number of nice Geodes at cheap prices, I bought a couple for my grandson. A couple I bought. Some random pics-

Hello, I recently posted about my second trip to Mazon Creek in the Trip Forum. I added some pictures of my fossils to ID but I believe that was the wrong forum to ask that in. I am now posting those pictures in this forum so I can get some more help. Below are some of the fragments I found. I apologize if this is excessive posting. Thank you in advance for your time to ID. The pictures below I believe are jellyfish 1) 2) Below are some I believe could be Tully fossils. 3) Looks like the fin? 4) Could be the body 5) Looks to me to be a beak, not sure if any other creatures found in this area would also have one? Very smooth to the touch. These are fossils that I have no clue what they could be. These were already fractures when I found them so some of the fossil could be lost. 6) 7) 8) Tried to clean this one best I could. Kind of resembles a leaf to me. 9) Strange grooves that go in a circular shape. Also a big divot that almost leads to a stem like opening?

@RCFossils @stats @connorp @Mark Kmiecik I do not think that I have posted these unknowns that I have. If I have, I do not have an ID. What do you think about these 8 pieces?? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Hystriciola delicatula?? 7. 8.

Hello, I'm considering purchasing some unopened Mazon creek nodules to open for fun, since I'm unable to hunt fossils myself. I'm inexperienced with the material so I wanted to ask if there is a rule of thumb for judging if a nodule is going to be good or potentially contain some rare stuff? Here is an example batch I'm considering. The nodules range from 4-8 inches. My gut tells me the very long thin ones are most likely the common plants like Pecopteris, and that I should try to get more of the round/oval ones?