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What I believe to be a carpus of the major chela of a ghost shrimp. Not an unusual find for me, but this was found near an exposure of Pittsburgh Bluff formation where previously I have only found them in Astoria formation.

Hello all, I am new to the fossil forum ( obviously). A little bit about myself: I have formal training and education in vertebrate Paleontology. I double majored in Geology/ Zoology in college and continued to get a Phd in vertebrate Paleontology. I was the adjunct professor of dinosaur Biology at the local community college until the shutdown. My specialization is theropod dinosaurs, but I have experience with a variety of fossil animals. My area of least experience is probably fossil mammals, so you will likely see me posting some pics of bones on here for second opinions. When it comes to dinosaurs I've worked with basically everything. If you can think of a dinosaur, I've probably dug up something like it. I've also worked on mapping sauropod and pterosaur tracks of the Morrison fm. Since moving to Oregon ( United States) I have had difficulty finding work in my fields of study, so I decided to start trying to survive on my own. I am a bit out of practice ( 5 years of not practicing paleo), but have recently started getting back into the swing of things. I have begun research into reconstructing paleo climate of the oregon coast using bivalve shells, specifically pecten, as a biological index for measuring chemical changes in sea water. I have mainly been looking into the newportian stage of the Astoria fm ( 15-18 million year old rocks). This represents the mid- Miocene. I have collected several vertebrate fossils on the coast, most of which haven't been prepped or I'd yet, but I know for a fact that I have a couple of whale vertebrae ( one juvenile, one mature) as well as a large juvenile pinniped/ walrus, a deep sea fish vert cross section ( complete with diploe), a section of shoulder blade and rib from (?), a vertebra from something like an otter, and a bone I have yet to make any decisions on. I look forward to getting to know all of you, and share knowledge.

In a week or so I am going to drive the 5 hours from Tacoma WA to Beverly beach Oregon. I know I will find some fossils there but I also know there are many good spots around this area or maybe on the way that many Oregonians or other fossil hunters may know. My main trip goes like this. 1. Leave Tacoma WA 2. Drive to Gleneden beach 3. Drive to Beverley beach 4. Drive to seal rock beach. 5. Drive home. I am hoping for a little guidance for this because I am driving so far, I want to be sure I'll find something. My goal is to find some clams and maybe some turritellas from the Miocene. Let me know any suggestions that would be on the way / are near the Oregon coast. if anyone could tell me about their experience near Beverley beach I'd love to hear what you found and how to best find fossils there. I am open to Private messages about specific sites as well

I found this recently at the base of the cliffs near the Beverly Beach area along the Oregon coast, which I understand is part of the Astoria Formation. My first thought was it was wood but the spongy inner layer indicates the possible endosteum and therefore bone (see left picture). In the pictures above, the cross section of the specimen is on the left and the negative impression is on the right. In the above picture, the specimen is resting in the negative impression above some carbonized wood remains. Any help help ID'ing would of course be appreciated. By the way, if this would be of interest to an academic, any contact info would also be appreciated. I have much more precise location information and didn't dig into the cliff where it came from for fear of destabilizing the cliff and having an amateur muck it up.