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My wife and I returned from a great trip to north Florida about a week and a half ago, but I finally have time to post a trip report now that our Easter visitors (our kids) have left and headed back to their homes. Fair warning, if you are looking for some great tale of finds on the Peace River, this is not the post for you! Probably one of the few posts on the Forum from a trip to Florida that does NOT include the Peace –. This was not solely a fossil trip, but rather a sight-seeing trip with some fossils stops included, I try to include as many stops as possible but it is always a delicate balance. My wife enjoys fossil hunting (but her tastes are somewhat limited, primarily trilobites and sharks teeth), but not as much as I do, and she therefore reaches her limit much quicker than I, so I try to find the best spots I can and space them out and we both have a good time. I had sent away for and received my Florida Fossil Permit a couple months back in anticipation of the trip, and then half way between Texas and Florida I realized I had left it at home – doh!! I wasn’t overly concerned though as the main focus of the trip was invertebrates and sharks teeth, neither of which actually require the permit to collect in Florida. Oh well, it was the thought that counts! I had done a bunch of research heading up to the trip and consulted a few FF members for advice (more on that in a bit) so I had a list of potential sites many of which had reported fossils in the past, but the current state was uncertain. I was trying to get a selection of Eocene through Quaternary sites to collect and was not coming with a canoe or kayak which quickly limits the collecting places in North Florida. Enough babbling, on with the trip report! Our first stop was on our way to Florida Caverns State Park at a river side bluff of the Marianna Limestone (Oligocene aged). This is in fact the type section of the Marianna Limestone, but time has not been kind to this exposure. Between development and vegetation, there was virtually no exposed rock but I did manage to find of few pieces of the formation strewn about and the one large chunk shown below on the left contained the large foram Lepidocyclina along with other fossils. There was also a mostly complete bivalve in a small piece. All of these need cleaned up and I hope the large rock will hold some more goodies that can be exposed once I have the chance to look at it closer. The visit to Florida Caverns State Park was very nice. I was pleasantly surprised as I did not know Florida had a cave like this. I have been in most of the large cave systems in the US, and this one had bats and nice cave formations even though it is not a particularly large cave. The ceiling rock in places is just rich with fossils as you can see in the picture below. There was even a sharks tooth sticking out at one place, but I did not get a good picture of it. Next on the list were several stops to try and find a decent exposure of the Miocene Chipola Formation which is present across the northern part of the Florida panhandle from Walton to Gadsden counties. Unfortunately, development, vegetation and high water in the creeks/rivers prevented me from accessing any of the fossiliferous portions of the rocks at four different stops, including one I had been to a couple of decades ago and collected some beautiful fossils. I’ll show below some Chipola fossils that although they were not collected on this trip, they are some of the 30 species of bivalves and 38 species of gastropods I collected from a location in Calhoun County many years ago but was unable to access this trip. A quick search of TFF will yield many other beautiful Chipola specimens by other members in albums, etc. After another State Park or two we were headed on down the road to our hotel with not much in the way of fossils to show for the day. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a random pile of dirt along the road with suspicious white blobs. A quick stop resulted in several fossils out of what is presumably the Ocala or Suwannee Limestone from a nearby quarry, including one echinoid that needs a good cleaning before I can tell what it is. I’ll have to ID the items I found and see if I can determine which formation these are from. In north Florida, this constitutes a major “outcrop”!

Hello fellow fossil hunters. Below is a photo of the array of fossils I found. Each fossil is labelled with a number and it would be awesome if I could get each one identified. I thought ahead and took the photo on grid paper with each square being 5mm. Item 1 is just some quartz crystal I picked up, item 4 is a piece of some unidentifiable shell and the rest are legit fossils. I am a rooky and an amateur so please let me know if I get anything wrong or if I need to add any more detail. Location: Batesford Limestone quarry, Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Geology: Sometime between the Miocene to Oligocene Epoch. Formation: All specimens were found in loose waste heaps inside the quarry at the deepest part. Assembly: The Geelong area was once part of an ancient inland sea hence the limestone deposits. The fossils consist of a lot of marine life, crustacean shells, ancient Mako shark teeth, some sort of cone shell worm. Some Megalodon C. teeth have been found in the quarry too (dont know if that helps out) Discovery: All items were found in a loose pile of ground limestone at the deepest part of the limestone quarry. Characteristics: Item 1 is just some quarts. Item 2 looks like the shell of some crustacean, reminds me a lot of the ribbed shell of a lobster (same as item 9) with the small and circular cones protruding up and away from the shell. Item 3 is a very small snail shell, very similar to the small ones you can find on any Australian beach. Item 4 is a rough cut out of some shell of some sort, no major identifiable features besides being smooth. Item 5 looks to be some sort of forking coral with branches that have been visibly broken off at some point. Item 6 appears to be a part of a mollusk shell, the edge is circular with different patterns further up the shell following in the same direction. Item 7 looks to be part of a large snail shell, larger than item 3, with brown streaking marks following the grain of the shell. Item 8 is another part of forking coral, I believe its a different species than item 5 due to its smoothness and lack of branches as compared to item 5. Item 9 is identical to item 2 only being a little smaller. Item 10 appears to belong to a create similar to item 2 and 9, however, the piece looks to be whole (as in not broken off), a standalone, small plate of armour, almost like a 1 x 3 flat Lego brick with the same type of protruding cones as the previously mentioned items. Item 11 is what I believe to be the tooth of a Isurus Desori (Mako Shark) after doing some research of other finds at the quarry. The tooth is almost banana like in shape being extremely narrow and sharply pointed, made for penetrating prey's skin. Item 12 is very similar to item 15, being a long cylindrical shell, almost like a fossilised worm hole with the exception of a small bulb on the tip which is more profound in item 15 and item 13. Item 13 has more details in the form of tiny dots drawing vertical lines down the cylinder of the piece with a similar bulb to that of item 12 and item 13. Item 14 appears to be part of the shell of a what Australians call a "Pippy", its scientific name being Plebidonax Deltoides. Item 15 is identical to the smooth item 12, just a bit longer, however different to item 13 which looks to be the same species given the same shape and bulb at the tip with the exception of the detailed bumps running down the side of the cylinder.

Hi Again! for Easter this year I decided to go to the Calvert cliffs for some Easter egg fossil hunting. it was a lovely day out got to talk with some nice folks. I wanted to share some of my finds and my IDs of them to check if I got them right before I put labels on them in my collection. 1) Stingray teeth, most likely eagle ray, although the grayish one looks to me like a duck billed ray. 2) Mako Shark Isurus hastalis upper 3) Hemipristis Serra upper 4) Extinct tiger shark Physogaleus contortus 5) Extinct tiger shark Galeocerdo (I think the one below is a lower) 6) Crab claws ( is there any resources on specific crabs, some of these don't look like they belong to the same species) 7) Turritella plebia 8) Scallop shell (Chesapectean?) 9) Fish jawbone fragment (looks like sockets on the top) 10) Bone shard (there seems to be two divets below)

Hello all, Was hoping for some help identifying some recent finds from the Charlie Creek in the Peace River of Florida. I'm still a novice with ID'ing so I was hoping for some guidance as to where I I went right and wrong. I believe they are, in order: a worn cetacean tooth, turtle nuchal scute, a fragment of stingray barb. The last set I am unsure of. Perhaps some bird clavicles? Thanks for any help you can give, Al

Hi guys I won some matrix from a forum auction, thanks @Monica for putting it up so I’ve searched about half of it and this is what I’ve found so far i need to do research on the species found in the creek but I have grouped them vaguely into families 1. Shells, I won’t bother identifying these 2. Fish jaws 3. the best quality ray bars, myliobatis sp. I think 4. Various carcharinus species 5. Various negaprion species 6. Phyllodus species 7. daysatis sp. 8. Mustelus sp. 9. daysatis sp. 10. Various button fish teeth 11. Lagodon sp. 12. Pointy fish teeth 13. ray spines 14. The real prize, Isitius triangularis 15. the random broken bits and bobs

For the past few days I’ve had very little sleep. I thought that I had messed up sleeping way past the low tide time, but in hindsight that Meg was gonna be mines anyways so it really didn’t matter. It’s been a while since I’ve collected some good material, It’s been a bit of a hit and miss so far but I think my luck is finally starting to turn over. I’ve been going to this Paleocene spot a lot lately so I figure it would be nice to change thing up a bit. Anyways, from the title you guys can probably infer that I’ve found my first Meg of 2021 which I’m pretty happy about because I found none last year. Anyways, I also found a posterior mako, some nice snaggles, a thresher, croc tooth, puffer fish mouth plate, a retroflexis mako tooth, my largest bull shark tooth to date, and a crab carapace to top it all off. Probably one of my most productive days on this small stretch of beach, I’m really looking forward to April 17 when I can go past the ropes (on a guided trip I don’t do trespassing) here’s the spoils from yesterday: Here’s all the stuff from this beach. Without my large screen I’d get maybe a quarter of this.some of the best teeth I got from this small beach. Biggest tooth by far is that gigantic bull shark.pictures of the mini megalodon. Yes, I know it looks like a bull shark tooth but the root is thicker than the bull sharks I found today and it has a very worn bourlette on it. But I assure you it’s a Meg (unless it isn’t and I’m told otherwise) good trip all around! Can’t wait to come back here soon.

I collected these micro shells during a recent trip to the Middle Miocene Choptank Formation near Matoaka Beach Cabins. I have consulted a couple publications and yet I am a bit stumped on these last nine fossils. Any help further narrowing these down would be greatly appreciated! Thank you very much! #1- Calliostoma sp. but it doesn't seem to fit any in the publications #2- Drillia? #3- Busycon? #4 #5- Parvilucina crenulata? #6- Caryocorbula cuneata? #7 #8 #9

I visited my favorite shark tooth site today and came up with a couple of nice ones. But that's not the reason why I'm posting this time. This item here came out of exactly the same layer where I find most of my good shark teeth, but I have absolutely no idea what it is . It's from the Miocene Burdigalian exposure in the Lake of Constance area which I've been visiting for a few years, but I've never found anything like it here or anywhere else for that matter. I've not only found shark and ray teeth, bivalves and bryozoans here, but also the occasional rare land mammal tooth, so the layer was built right at the shoreline as far as I can tell, or at least in the tidal zone. I'm stumped! Any ideas? The object measures 4x2cm. A few pieces broke off which I managed to glue back into place, so I think that it's more or less complete.

Haven't posted in awhile but the other day I got out for a little while. I'm wondering how rare it would be to find a Blue Marlin Tail bone in Central Va. I didn't snap a shot of it yet because I was thinking it was just a rock like most of the stuff I find. But after looking around today I found something that looks like it and it was either a Bonito or Blue Marlin tail piece. I be back later and will post a pic. Thanks!!

I was hunting a site on the Potomac looking for some Eocene and Miocene fossils yesterday. When I got to the site I found this gorgeous snake vertebrae about 15 minutes into my trip, so I knew it was going to be a good day. After that it was slow collecting for the next few hours, I was only picking up a tooth every once in a while despite the incredible conditions. But then, 10 minutes before I was about to leave I stumbled upon my best chubutensis yet at about 2 3/4 in. (or 7 cm) rolling around in the surf. One that I have been dreaming about ever since a starting collecting two years ago. A total trip maker! I hope you enjoy the pics!

I was hunting a month or so back at a site that has some pre_Equus horse teeth, and a very few of the fossil have a light tan coloration. Sometimes the surrounding rock has a similar color. and then this 2.3 inch find: Originally, I thought it was concretion, but have changed my mind. Let me provide some more photos and encourage your input and insights.

Cabin fever made me stupidly ignore the weatherman (another institution I no longer trust) and head out into the 100% chance of rain and cold. Tried to avoid getting wet, as it WAS cold. Tried a very old spot, and was surprised at the results (the beach where I normally hunt has lost all its sand (?) and I've found no teeth their my last three trips). No rain, Birds were uproariously singing, Spring on the way! The creek was high and icy, saw no aquatic life. Anyway, found a bunch, showing the most interesting. Although big makos are nice (and I like the piebald one better though the 2" black one is nice!), I'm always excited by the little ones (which is a good thing, since mostly what i find)-- four angel shark, a couple broken cowshark and symphyseal/ parasymphyseal sand tiger tooth, and lots of drum teeth (turned one on the side as it apparently still has the attachment as well as the glossy "cap"):

Last couple of days, I have been searching the internet, for Hipparion horse teeth, Beaver Molars, and small whale teeth driven by TFF threads to answer questions in my mind or help to identify a fossil. I was doing a google search for "Whale tooth Florida jaw" and triggered this fossil, supposedly found in the Miocene of South Carolina !!!! That is close to Florida so we might have the same fossil whales here !!! and @Boesse might help me to identify it. The final aspect is that it was not all that pricey, and since I only have 2 pieces of toothed whale jaw in my collection, snapped it up.

Found in PaleoPack. Looks to be a broken shark tooth. May be of a snaggle or sand tiger?

A friend cut a polished a silicified lacustrine Miocene stromatolite from central Arizona that I found. Thanks Stan C. It is about 8 inches in maximum length. Two faces were cut that show the upward convex growth. I am currently looking for a researcher to help write a paper about these and the other plant fossils that occur in the area. A piece that was cut from the same colony as this piece is being donated to the Pinal Geology Museum in Coolidge, AZ. https://pinal geology museum.org Another Arizona museum wants one. I am seeing if other local institutes want one. Top of colony. Bottom. Side. Side. Detail.

We were very fortunate to get quite a bit of Calvert Formation micro matrix and some great teeth from @sharkdoctor. This is my first exploration of this formation and I am loving it. Lots of Carcharhiniformes material and it will take me a little time to ID some of Carcharhinus teeth but that is a good learning experience. I need the practice. The very fine matrix has been my favorite. I’ve found a few Scyliorhinus teeth, a few Squalus teeth and a few Mustelus teeth. Raja teeth are way more common than in STH. I’ve searched a lot of STH matrix and found 2 Skate teeth. It took me 10 minutes to find two in this mix. I have a lot more searching to do but I am really enjoying this. Pic 1 Scyliorhinus Pic 2 Squalus Pic 3 Mustelus

I am at a loss with this one. Kind of a crimped texture (reminds me of an empenada edge) on the edge. It most reminds me of an ostreid bivalve, but I'm not used to the invertebrate material at this Monmouth County, New Jersey Eocene/Miocene site having this texture. Could be a tooth of some sort, but nothing like I have seen before. Hopefully the photos are good enough to have a few new ideas added to the mix.

I had the opportunity in January and February to visit a couple of Miocene and Pliocene deposits in Maryland and Virginia that were full of fossil shells. I ended up picking up a couple of extras in hopes of trading them to help expand another member’s fossil collection and to expand my own collection. I primarily collect plants and sea life but am always looking to add something new to my collection, so if you’re interested, let me know what you have in mind and let’s work out a deal. I can also throw in some other stuff from my trips if you’d like. I would be willing to trade these individually or as a group. Chesapecten nefrens with barnacles Chesapecten middlesexensis with both valves, measures 18cm wide Chesapecten middlesexensis, measures 16cm wide Chesapecten middlesexensis with barnacles Chesapecten jeffersonius, including the right one with barnacle scars

Hi Everyone! I went on a one man expedition to Matoaka Cabins last weekend, picked up some wonderful finds. but a couple pieces I discovered are puzzling me. I am all but certain they are bone. And I am also confident they are fossil based on the color, texture, and density. But Id like to know if there is any further identifying that can be done outside of them being bones? I admit its likely a bit of a long shot as they are isolated specimens, but any best guesses would be appreciated. My speculations are: long one is a cetacean rib segment. Small one is fragmentary fish vert. I can provide detailed photos of other angles if requested.

For those who are not versed in Calcaneum, this thread may help. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/107376-mammal-calcaneum/ It was a great day in Florida.. I was out fossil hunting, and this bone dropped in my sieve. The site I was hunting tends toward Middle Miocene, about 90% marine. It is rare to find Pleistocene material, but there is always a mixture possibility. Let's figure this one out together. Look at the fossil below, size is 3.6 x 1.6 inches (91.4 x 40.6 mm), look at the thread above. Tell me what you think.