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Is this a Horn Shark heterodontus anterior tooth? The tooth has the main cusp and two lateral cusplets with circular base. Small in size – 2mm across. Found in the Upper Eocene – Ocala Limestone Formation – location in Sumter County, Florida. Thank you.

Hello These are the adventures of myself and my dog Millie as we hunt for fossils and history along the Peace River. Our mode of travel is our 12’ Indian River Canoe, Balance. Im a 4th generation Polk county native, and Millie comes from a long line of Colorado ranch dogs. We do everything together. Including work, as I am a farrier for my day job, and the farm owners are more excited to see Millie than me! The goal of this journal is to document the learning along with the adventures. To go below our sieves, and learn why the river is presenting as it is. Other members have already posted pictures and info on every fossil I’m likely to find, but the river can still teach me/us why the hole I’m digging is delivering specific materials. Understanding what happened before what happened, happened. That’s what I want to know! Millie and I have been gifted this river and the ability to run it at a moments notice. That’s not the case for everyone. Even with access I still only get out for a morning or so a week. So this journal will also provide an avenue for those who can’t just jump in the boat with us. Jump in through this forum and help out along the way when you can/want. The more we learn the better the treasure!! Jp & Mille LET THE ADVENTURE BEGIN! Season opener - Oct 2023 water depth day of - 8’ and falling. Like most things I’m impatient about, starting Fossil hunting this year was rushed. Millie and I ran head on into a river that’s a solid 3’ too high for me to handle any real working conditions. There’s places to work. We just haven’t found many at these depths! Yet!! After work arrived and we got started towards the river. Late arrival and definitely some dark water running ahead but at this water height you just gotta keep the boat in the middle. Got in late but just in time for a welcome back from the Peace! We woke up ready! Well, I did. Camp and my “Field Office” ready. Now to get wet! Because of the water depth I tied leashes to all the heavy tools and tied some extra pool noodle to them. That way I could drop them and just pull up the leader. Brought the “Velvet Touch” probe. No stopping us now! “What” I was after wasn’t an option this trip. I had only two available spots in mind that would be under 4’ deep. Both those spots are in a very recent deposit that I’ve been getting lots of Pleistocene and some Pliocene mammal material from. I ended up finding the time frame expected, and possibly an extinct sand shark nursery area. The river had sifted one spot completely away during the last flood so I was left with only one place to put in effort! At 4’ it was at my cap for height. I’m 5’6’’ and I could only dig 2 feet down before I ran out of shovel. So I had to figure something out. First I tried to fill the sieve on the River bottom and lift it up. FAIL! never got it to stay put long enough to do anything productive before I’d loose it and it would pop up down stream pulling on the leash. Next I tried to lift the gravel to the sifter on the surface. There was so much water the shovel load was gone before I broke the surface! FAIL! At a max depth of 2 feet down I wasn’t going to be learning much about the geography or layers I needed to work through. So I shifted gears and decided to focus on just the top 2’ as effectively as I could. The third try ended up succeeding. I would loosen the riverbed into a loose filled hole that had collapsed on itself and then use my scoop on a pole thing to transfer the loose material up to the surface. Not the best method but I’m grateful to have been able to stand there all day. I’d work forward 3’ and over 1’ then back again. All at 2’ or less deep or I’d go under. I suppose if I feel like moving a bunch of river bed again we could come back here and go deeper! One of my questions about this area is what is it old enough to find within it? Another trip! Here’s the gratuitous highlights shot! Not a bad day! The alligator tooth got a yell but the sand tigers and mammal teeth got me really excited. Millie and I were exhausted and COLD! I learned a few things this weekend to put in the journal. Before that. Let’s eat! Steak for me and steak for Millie. Yumm. Lessons: 1. I need appropriate clothes. Like wet suit stuff. Can’t be under water like that all day again. I got chilly and had to warm up several times. 85deg out too! What I wear is fine for knee deep wading but definitely time to upgrade the wardrobe. (I did try my new dive boots and that was the only part of me that wasn’t cold) 2. Regular shovel handles are way too short. Amend as needed to your stature. I need a 12’ handle to dig a hole in this water. So I’m out! 3. Jack, (Shellseeker) is insane!! This was my first time hunting this deep and it’s right in his sweet spot. You’re an animal! He tried to assist my tool tuning but until you run out of shovel that’s a new feeling to adjust to. 4. At two feet deep this area is where I will come for younger land aged fauna and I can expect the standard peace river sharks teeth assemblage with a higher than usual volume of sand sharks teeth. This was a great day hunting and I learned a lot. Maybe not about what my intended question was or the areas I’ve been thinking of but a ton about gear and technique! KEEP THE FAITH AND TRY TO DO GOOD!! Jp & Millie Here are the finds from this trip and some info used to figure out the unknowns. sand shark and some Hemi Serra Peace River mix fun and unique things - The mammal molar ended up being a Giant Tapir. By shape and size 3rd or 4th premolar. No root. Should have given it away. Mixed bag bottom to top of left- Gator tooth gator tooth Crappy Barbra’s incisor Canine- size 22mm broken suggest coyote or smaller domestic dog. 25mm would be the target. Tiny molar - it’s broken but by the face and measurements it’s most likely a rodent. Camel type tooth frag. Upper right - various tiger shark species to identify with Florida fossil hunters PDF middle - two deer horn buttons. One I already had but these were found 5 feet apart. Same deer?!? Bottom right- Eocene snail and crab shell fragments. Those are 37.5 Mya.?? Snail identification was general to the Ocala formation results of similar snail species.

Me and my good friends take a weekly sojourn on the peace, away from crowds. Last weekend I made the mistake of letting my buddy dig my hole with me, first shovel full, sitting right on top was a big fat chub tooth. Never the less, it was paid forward to me. 1) Posterior Meg's 2) Typical Peace river Fragladons 3) Lone Sand Tiger 4) Pathological Bull 5) Random Reptilian vertebrae 6) Chunky lemons and Bulls 7) Honker of a horse tooth 8) Fat tigers 9) Upper and lower Snaggletooth

Found this perfectly whole shell in dried mud fossil pile. Someone told me it's not a fossil? I believe it is but couldn't ID it. Help?

This little shell is the size of a pencil eraser. It came out of a larger fossil shell I found. Best photos I could get so far.

So to piggy back on my ID post, I did a door knock and got permission to dig in a creek on an expansive cattle farm, this was a trip just to scope out the lay of the creek using my 👀 and it totally didn't disappoint. Deer Pedicle Tooth/Frag of unknown origin Fish Vert perhaps? Creek worn Horse tooth Holmesina scutes? Broken posterior meg Honker of a puffer plate

Hi all, here is an elephant tusk section from Polk County, Florida. What type of elephant can it be? IMG_9710.mov

Went to scope out a private creek that i permission to dig, just looking for eye finds.. Safe to say this is petrified wood..or something else?

Hi there! I am not sure, but my research so far has led me to believe this may be a coprolite, perhaps from a turtle, but I am not sure. Any help identifying would be greatly appreciated. I’m also very interested in what the blue crystals are. It was found in Florida in a parking lot, so I’m sure it was not initially from there. Whenever the Gulf coast is dredged, they haul it to a place called Fort drum in the middle of the state. A really cool, retired vet runs the place and I have mined for calcite crystals there with my girlfriend and his guidance. It is a lot of work but a lot of fun and we found a bunch. Perhaps this has come from the ocean, and somehow wound up here I am not sure. Look forward to your responses! Thanks so much.

Found both these teeth near the peace river i've never found this kind of tooth shape. Im pretty sure its a type of mako but was wondering if anyone could an ID it or give any type of information.

Found this tooth near the peace river it looks like a hastalis tooth but the root is very wide and its much more girther than any other hastalis tooth ive ever found. One of my friends told me it could be a transitional fossil but I was hoping for more opinions on it.

Poking around a local creek, found a beautiful meg with some root decay (such a shame) and what looks like a fossilized cat turd or peanut ... any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hello fellow paleontology buffs! I have recently returned from a trip to the Venice area where I did some surface/ beach sifting for fossils. I need to get out and dive there next time. I would love to have some help identifying fossils that are tripping me up. I recognize that there are a LOT of them. Sorry!!! I organized them on to a PDF because there were a lot to look at, but please let me know if it does not open up and I will upload them as images instead. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.

Between 2020-23, two collectors who scuba dive for fossils throughout Florida and Georgia have recovered 5 chesapecten (including two paired valves) with morphological characteristics that signal a Miocene age. These characteristics include an acute byssal notch and a byssal fasciole that is strongly differentiated from the shell’s auricle in terms of sculpture and elevation. The largest of the adult shells also displays an active ctenolium. Additionally, one of the paired specimens displays significant gapes between valves when matched (the other pair was preserved as found by glue according to the collector and cannot be matched). These aforementioned traits are also emblatic of Miocene age for Chesapecten. These shells were recovered from the following areas in Georgia and Florida: Savannah River, Effingham County, Georgia (Collector 1) Specimen 1 (W = 108.0 mm) R valve L valve R valve - close up of byssal notch and fasciole (most of fasciole has been degraded) R valve - close up of ornamentation L valve - close up of ornamentation Profile Close up of matrix, gray sand Savannah River, Effingham County, Georgia (Collector 1) Specimen 2 (W = 101.6 mm) R valve R valve - interior R valve - close up of byssal notch and fasciole L valve - note barnacles are modern species, not fossilized L valve - interior L valve - close up of ornamentation on auricle Side profile of pair, showing gapes Front profile of pair, showing gapes Cumberland Island, Camden County Georgia (Collector 2) Specimen 3 (W = 114.3 mm) R valve, note encrustation is recent not fossilized R valve interior, thick shell apparent Close up of byssal notch and fasciole Close up of ctenolium, although modern encrustation makes it difficult to see what is going on in the ctenolium Close up of ornamentation St Mary’s River, Nassau County, Florida (Collector 2) Specimen 4 (W = 117.5 mm) R Valve R valve interior, active ctenolium and thick shell apparent Byssal notch and fasciole Close up of original sediment, note the olive and gray coloration Profile Suwanee River, Hamilton County, Florida (Collector 2) Specimen 5 (W = 69.9 mm) R valve, subadult specimen R valve interior, shell is thick for a subadult Unfortunately, stratigraphic data were not collected for these shells. However, among the Miocene strata from Coastal Georgia and NE Florida currently described in the literature, the Ebenezer Formation of Weems and Edwards (2001), of Upper Miocene (Tortonian age), appears to be the most suitable match based on the age of the Ebenezer and the characteristics of the shells found. The shells collected resemble Chesapecten middlesexensis of the Upper Miocene of Virginia and North Carolina. The Ebenezer was originally defined by Huddleston (1988) as a member of the Coosawhatchie Formation (Middle Miocene). Weems and Edwards later elevated it to formational rank based on differences in lithological and dinoflagellate composition compared to the rest of the Coosawhatchie. The Ebenezer formation consists of gray to olive-gray, fine- to medium-grained micaceous sand and stretches from South Carolina to NE Florida. Five mappable members are apparent and separable by distinct unconformities. The lower four members correspond to dinoflagellate zone DN 8, while the uppermost member corresponds to DN 9. Revision of the Ebenezer to Formational Rank from Weems and Edwards (2001) According to the dinoflagellate zonation of de Verteuil and Norris (1996), DN 8-9 aligns with the Little Cove Point Member (DN 8) and the Windmill Point Member (DN 9) of the St Mary’s Formation of Maryland and Virginia. Alignment of the Ebenezer to St Mary's Formation of MD and VA from Weems, Self-Trail and Edwards (2004) All specimens display similar characteristics which include an acute byssal notch, differentiated byssal fasciole, slightly inflated right valve, and a hinge size in adult specimens that is relatively small for adult chesapecten with the exception of Chesapecten covepointensis (DN 8 St Mary’s Formation) and in some cases Chesapecten santamaria (DN 9 St Mary’s Formation). Also, these shells could possibly be divided into two distinct variants although issues with preservation which appears to be somewhat better outside the Savannah River region may exaggerate these differences. Nevertheless, the Chesapecten collected outside of the Savannah River Region exhibit stronger, more raised ribs and have thicker, heavier shells compared to the specimens collected within the Savannah River region whose shells are thinner and ribs are lower and less pronounced. This is especially true of Specimen 1. Possibly that these variants originate from different members of the Ebenezer Formation. According to Weems and Edwards, “outside of the Savannah region, beds no older than dinoflagellate zone DN 9 occur”. This suggests that the shells collected outside of the Savannah River Region likely belong to Bed 5 of the Ebenezer Formation. Figure 3 of Weems and Edwards (2001) [shown below] suggests that someone scuba diving for fossils in the Savannah River is likely to collect in Bed 4. Therefore, it is possible that the Chesapecten specimens recovered from the Savannah River belong to Bed 4 of the Ebenezer Formation. This stratigraphic information aligns with the observed morphological differences among the specimens and tentatively supports the significance of these variations. Needless to say, more specimens are needed to confirm. Lateral Gradation of the Ebenezer from Georgia to Florida - Fig. 3 from Weems and Edwards (2001) Ward (1992) has remarked that the period between Chesapecten santamaria (DN 9) and Chesapecten middlesexensis (DN 10) represents a considerable loss of the fossil record in the stratigraphic succession of chesapecten. These Chesapecten, which bear a strong overall resemblance to Chesapecten middlesexensis while displaying traits of preceding species (smaller hinge, more differentiated byssal fasicole), could help bridge this apparent gap. Notably, no other Chesapecten in this age range outside of Maryland and Virginia have been reported in the literature. Personal Remarks The equivalency of these shells to the St Mary’s Formation, not the Eastover formation is surprising to me given the strong resemblance to C. middlesexensis. If anyone knows of any findings correlating DN 8-9 to the Eastover, or of the Ebenezer to DN 10 please let me know. Also, if anyone has any additional samples of similar shells from similar sites, even in SC please let me know. Thank you! References de Verteuil, L., and Norris, G., 1996, Miocene dinoflagellate stratigraphy and systematics of Maryland and Virginia: Micropaleontology, vol. 42 (Supplement), 172 p. Huddlestun, P.F., 1988, A revision of the lithostratigraphic units of the coastal plain of Georgia; the Miocene through the Holocene: Georgia Geologic Survey Bulletin, no. 104, 162 p. Ward, L.W, 1992, Molluscan biostratigraphy of the Miocene, Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain of North America, VMNH Memoirs, no 2, 152p. Weems, R.E, Edwards, L.E., 2001, Geology of Oligocene, Miocene, and younger deposits in the Coastal Area of Georgia: U.S. Geological Survey, no 131, 129 p. Weems, R.E, Self-Trail J., Edwards, L.E., 2004, Supergroup stratigraphy of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains (Middle? Jurassic through Holocene, eastern North America): Southeastern Geology, volume 42, p 191-216

I about to apply for a fossil permit and I understand all aspects except submitting vertebrae fossil? What are the steps and when would I submit these fossils? Also what do I fill out to submit them? Thanks!

I am new to this forum so I apologize if this post is incorrect in anyway. We found some new bones we are unfamiliar with in the Peace River in Arcadia, Florida we’d like some input on. The first bone has a weight of 1,028 grams and the second bone has a weight of 203 grams to give a complete picture of their sizes. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for looking!

Hi! I recently found a lot of various items in Peace River in Florida. There are a few of them that I wanted to find help with, so I attached them below and numbered each of them so the pictures would be less confusing. I wasn’t sure if this would be easier than creating separate threads, but if it would be better to split them up I can do so. The first specimen is the main item I would like help identifying. I believe it’s a body of vertebrae but I was hoping to find out what animal it could be from. If there are too many in one, I am content in receiving the identification for the first item alone. All measurements are in centimeters but inches is on the bottom of the ruler. I’m very new to all of this so your help and kindness is greatly appreciated!

Can someone ID this as maybe a whale tooth or pig tusk? Found in Bowling Green, FL

Hi all, I found this as a child on a vacation years ago, not entirely sure where it came from but I grew up in Atlanta and most of our vacations were in Florida or along the east coast, this was found most likely in Florida or along the Georgia Barrier Islands, but it could be from as far north as Hilton Head Beach in South Carolina. Anyone have any idea if this is a fossil coral, or just a regular piece of coral that is well-weathered? What species might this be? Thanks all.

I found this tooth in the peace river it seems to just be the Crown since the majority of the root is broken off. Wondering if anyone knows what it is. Looks like some type of cetacean tooth, but im hoping for mammal. If anyone needs additional photos please just ask. Thanks

Shown below is the tooth of a camelid, from the Miocene of the Bone Valley Member in Florida. It was sold as that of a Procamelus, but the Florida Museum page on the Palmetto Fauna doesn't list Procamelus as being present in it. The only camelids listed are Pleiolama, Hemiauchenia and Megatylopus. I personally believe the tooth to be from Hemiauchenia, but I have my doubts, particularly given the fact that I can't find much literature on the dentition of Pleiolama or Megatylopus for comparison online. The tooth also has an unusual ridge, as can be seen on the left in the first photo, which is a feature that doesn't appear to be present in the many Hemiauchenia specimens I can see, unless the ridge is a fragment of the most posterior projection of an M3. It is my understanding that @Harry Pristis is something of an expert on Floridian mammals. What do you make of the tooth? The tooth measures 2cm long (1.8cm if one disregards the projection of matrix on the right side of the tooth) and 2.4cm tall. Thanks in advance for any proposed ID's Othniel

A Fossil A Day....keeps the blues away! Or something like that... I started an Instragram account (jamielynnfossilquest) and am posting a fossil a day, so I figured I should do that on here, to REAL fossil enthusiasts! I'm a few days behind, so I will start out with a few more than one a day but then it will settle down to One Fossil (but I will admit, I'll probably miss a few days, but I'll double up or whatever.) I'll start with Texas Pennsylvanian era, but will branch out to other locations and time periods, so expect a little of everything! So enjoy A Fossil A Day! Texas Pennsylvanian Fossils: Nautiloid Agathiceras ciscoense Brachiopod Neochonetes acanthophorus Trilobite Ditomopyge sp. Gastropod Straparollus sp. Bivalve Astartella vera Cephalopod Brachycycloceras sp, Brachiopod Cleiothyridina orbicularis

We found this skull in the Peace River in south central FL. Can anyone help to ID? Many of the people I was with who are FL natives, and frequent fossil hunters, seemed to believe it is alligator. But I’m not convinced. It doesn’t resemble any of the crocodilia species. It lacks all teeth (and tooth cavities) and the overall shape is completely different. Based on the fused vertebrae at the base of the skull and the dental formation, I would have suggested either a bird or, more likely, of a marine species? On a not so serious note, I also would have been more inclined to believe it was of Jar Jar Binx. 😅

I found these two teeth in a creek near the peace river pretty close to eachother. Not really sure what they are was hoping someone could ID them. They are listed as find 1 and 2 respectively.