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a friend of mine found this fossil in upstate ny. my best guess is that it’s some sort of coral, but i’d love to hear other opinions! it’s about 10 inches by 7 inches by 6 inches. thanks in advance!!

Hello everyone! I'm really new to the fossil world and I found this forum site while looking for locations near me to hunt for fossils. I recently got sucked into this world more than ever before when I read "The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs" by Steve Brusatte. It's a really good read and it inspired me to look into fossils here in Western, NY. I know it's going to be a lot of Devonian fossils near me, but I'm really excited to start getting out there and looking. I welcome any tips or any suggestions for good threads here on the site for getting started or locations to start looking. Thanks! - CasualCoprolite

Hi all! I'm a hobby hunter who normally visits Penn Dixie near Buffalo NY for my fossils where they tell me what everything is if I can't ID it myself. But my mom went for a hike recently in our creek (Groveland, Livingston County, NY, USA) and came back with these three fossils. At least, we're pretty sure they're fossils! I'm sorry that the measurements are in inches, my mom doesn't have anything with metric measurements on it. Each square is 1inch (~2.5cm) I tried to give her the best instructions to take pictures like the pinned post, and this is what I got lol. I'm going to attach them each to separate messages so they don't get all jumbled. Here's the first one:

My wife and I made our 2nd trip up to Deep Springs Rd on Saturday. Nothing spectacular but figured I would share our finds. Also posted a couple items in the identification forum. Grids are quarter inch. Starting with a mortality plate. I like this one because its a nice flat plate and easy display piece with several different shell types represented:

I collected today in an exposure of the Helderberg Group in NY. The Helderberg Group is Lower Devonian, and rich in marine fossils. We found this in the mine and could not come up with any kind of ID. It is possibly part of a horned coral? Or a brachiopod? Please let me know your thoughts. I can also provide more photos if necessary, I tried to capture the different angles. It is an interesting thing.

Got up to DSR for the 2nd time yesterday. Didn't have anything spectacular but will post some finds over in the trip forum. (Deep Springs Rd, Devonian, NY) Had 2 items I can't identify. First up is a 3/4 inch long piece: Second is a rather undefined semi-oval blob. I have both dry and wet views:

What is that impression? Coral?

This was another interesting thing I found as a kid in my backyard. There are a few of these on the rock. And theyre definitely not bolts. It is not threading. They are layered rings.

I have multiple finds just like this one. Walking on stone walls as a kid I would see these often. But never as heavily concentrated as this one. I have no idea about this other than my area is known for devonian period fossils. I've ordered a rock pick and hammer online so I can start cracking more rocks open

I'm looking to get a group hunt. I have family in the address but never hunted it before. Anyone want to go?

UPDATE: August 20, 2013 - A new site for Wattieza - the world's oldest known tree Since posting this, the debate about "orthocone" versus "Devonian tree" has been settled. The Devonian tree experts have weighed in and confirm that these are Devonian tree shoots. They were growing in a swampy shallow marine environment similar to how modern mangroves grow. Since our original discovery - which represents an entirely and previously unknown site for Devonian Wattieza trees - my wife and I have collected more than a dozen separate fossils including some with surrounding substrate, from this site. I have cleaned most of the specimens and am taking closeup photos from all perspectives, now, to show such things as the central tube (called a stele) that runs through the core and the texture of the outer covering. In addition to Wattieza we have also discovered a separate Devonian plant species which we are attempting to evaluate and identify. Here is a photo from our SECOND site visit that shows the actual small Wattieza stump fossil that we collected, placed in front of a photo of the same fossil in the substrate as we found it. You can also see the adjacent "stick" which we currently believe is NOT part of the Wattieza stump - a separate closeup of the stick is included. We are currently looking at our several "stick" fossils and planning to cut one to look at the cross-section pattern, to try to determine the plant species. We feel that these finds have the potential to add new information about Devonian trees and plants, from this new site. It is also significant that we found these in a Devonian site where there are normally only marine fossils so we appear to have found a rare "island" of ideal conditions where young mangal Wattieza trees were growing in a paleosol where the conditions allowed fossilization. Geologically, these fossils are at the lower end of the "Tully limestone" formation. Our Devonian tree/plant finds confirm our thinking as "advanced amateur" paleontologists that as amateur fossil hunters we all can and should be using our time and knowledge to discover new sites and add to the fossil record. The small "army" of fossil hunters represented on The Fossil Forum have a unique opportunity to look in places where scientists may not have an opportunity - or inclination - to search. Once in awhile we discover something important, which seems to be the case here. OUR ORIGINAL POST Before I write our 4th of July trip report, I asked for some ID help with 3 tube shaped fossils we discovered at Tully, NY (Devonian, Hamilton Group) - the first opinion I received is that these are orthocone cephalopods. A contrary view is that these are Devonian trees! I modified the description slightly from the original post to reflect the current debate which has made this a "hot" topic. Have to admit, it's kind of cool that our first major fossil trip this year has sparked such an interesting discussion! Nan and I found these in situ sitting vertically in the substrate of a new construction site. I had found a few very large (2 inch diameter) cylinder shaped segments in the rubble that looked like cephalopod pieces and they were the largest we have seen to-date, so we were intrigued and started pulling away the substrate in the vertical walls exposed by the bulldozer. The first two fossils were found about a meter apart and the third was found about 300 meters away over a hill, but in the same level strata and depth. I'll do some minor cleaning, take better pix of the recovered fossils and segments, and add them soon - there appears to be a siphuncle structure running through the center, and other clues to the identity. Here is a quick view of how and where they were found - of course we realize it's very rare to find this type of fossil vertically embedded in the substrate. Nan found the first one, I found the next two and excavated all three - will provide more photos soon but hoped to get an ID first. The third sample had about 2/3 with the bottom portion missing. The first two appear to spread out slightly at the bottom. Several people suggested these could be trees and a few said other creatures but most people I talked to before posting this seem to agree they are orthocone cephalods. Aside from their size and shape (which is unusually large for the Tully shale so these are rare especially found in situ) - the primary convincing evidence is the siphon (siphuncle) protruding from the tip of the top of one of the specimens. This structure runs like a worm through the center - the other segments show holes in the center where the "wormlike body" ran through it. This argues against trees or other creatures but a few people claim that Devonian trees did have a similar center structure. The most confusing aspect is the lack of hard shell which should be present if this were a cephalopod - so what does that suggest? Another type of creature? Did they moult their shells and is this the "soft shelled" phase? Or is this a tree? Here is the top segment from the best specimen which clearly shows the siphuncle protruding at the center. In addition to the segmented tube shaped structures (they are all about the same diameter and length) there appear to be tentacle shaped structures on the left side although I didn't recover those when I extracted the tubes. Of course if this is a tree, then it is possible that those structures could be shoots. The tentacles or shoots were not recovered and are only shown in the photo which unfortunately limits the analysis. Here is how the debate seems to be shaping up: Pro Orthocone Cephalopod - These 3 specimens were found in what appears to be a Devonian marine environment where all of the fossils found there have been marine fossils. They have a small center "worm like" structure running through the center that looks like a siphuncle (siphon). They are all segmented and all the same approximate length and diameter. One was partially collapsed and distorted (some segments bulging outward). No one has suggested a cephalopod species that this might represent. Pro Devonian Tree - The horizontal strata where they were found contained very few if any marine fossils so they could be small young trees growing in the water. There is no trace of any shell fragments which is unusual if this is a cephalopod and the segments don't resemble cephalopod shells. There is a thin outer "skin" which could be consistent with ancient horsetail type bark. In the cross section of the segments, there are no concentric circles - in early trees there was pith, not traditional wood with concentric growth circles and some people have indicated that the first Devonian trees did have a similar center structure. The center core that looks like a siphuncle would be a core structure called a stele. Piranha suggests that this could be Wattieza sp., a prehistoric cladoxylopsid tree from the Middle Devonian that was discovered in Gilboa, New York which would be consistent with the location which was the Hamilton Group near Tully, NY. This genus has been called the earliest known trees. One of our goals for this fossil trip was to find something larger and distinctive/unusual and apparently we've done that. Another goal we've had since last year was to find a Devonian plant of some sort and it would be cool if that's what this turns out to be. I'll be just as happy if these are orthocones. The debate is hot on the ID for these and with all the attention and help from everyone, we should zone in soon. I'll take some more closeup photos this week and post them here. These are some of the largest fossils Nan and I have found so far and certainly the largest we have found in situ - it's fascinating that we found these exactly where they died and were preserved, 385 mya. I have to admit I felt like RomanK, who finds a lot of stunning in situ fossils and I have to admit, I was consciously trying to think like Roman and inspired by his example while searching for these fossils, which involved a lot of "excavation." UPDATE: NEW PHOTOS/CLOSEUPS At the end of this blog (page 3 and 4) I posted some new closeup images.

Good morning! I have been puzzling over this piece of what I believe to be a type of rugose coral, a little over an inch across at its widest, 1.5 inches tall but a fragment of a whole. The closest thing I could find might be ketophyllum perhaps? It was found on the western edge of the Otisco Valley in central/western NY state, between Skaneateles and Otisco lakes. The layers if the area I am know of are is Ordovician/Silurian/Devonian, i am not certain as to its original bedding plane location as it was a post thunderstorm erosion find, all sorts of fresh material came down the gorge, but i think it came from above the “famous” layer of Staghorn coral that emerges on the east side of Skaneateles lake. It popped right out of the shale I split and is almost graphite in appearance, the "stump" nodes that look like broken off appendages and the vertical pattern (vs the typical horizontal growth bands in the common staghorn corals) make it very different from anything I have found in the area, it almost looks soft-bodied, realizing how unlikely that is. I love the detail in this piece, it looks like there may be preserved damage/healing that occurred in life but I may be reading too much into that thought. Additional angles attached, just quick ipad shots but they may be helpful. No visible septa on either end, nothing radial or even patterned, although it looks like there may have been an internal, central structure. Thank you! It may have come down from the Devonian Otisco Member of the Ludlowville Formations (Upper Hamilton Group)?

Found this that I believe is a cephalopod today at a devonian spot with imported material, I haven't seen a cephalopod with a bulbed tip before so I am not sure if it's some sort of pathology of a species or it's own species.

I found this specimen near Millens Bay on the St. Lawrence River.I was wondering if it could be of the order Asaphida?

Hello Forum, I was vacationing in Kingston NY last weekend and went collecting along the Middle Devonian road cuts along route 209 and 9w. Hope the experts here can help me identify what I saw and collected! The first image is a fossil, too fragile to remove, in the 9w road cut that stood out from the masses of shells surrounding it. The rest are bulb like forms (corals?) collected from the loose shale of the Route 209 roadcut. Any ideas? Many thanks to the NY enthusiasts posting here that inspired my search. - Ben

Hey guys! Excited to find your forum! I love fossils but the rest of my family isn’t too into them. We’re headed to the southern Finger Lakes in a few weeks and I’m hoping to take the gang on an excursion that will change their minds. Can I please get some suggestions? Thanks so much! michelle

Hello everyone, I found this large trilobite pygidium today which is the largest piece of trilobite I have ever found in the area, the pygidium measuring nearly 2 inches long. Judging by the trilobits I usually find I think the area is Devonian as I have trilobits I've previously found I believe are from eldregops and greenops. The problem with this site is it's imported material from somewhere in upstate new york so I'm not 100% percent sure. Though I believe it's devonian I don't know of any species with a pygidium this size personally so would anymore with more expertise help me find an ID of what species this can belong to, I'd love to know since I can't see myself coming across another one of these in the tiny area I get to look in.

I found these two when I was a child in Orange County, NY. Does anyone have an ID? From what I can tell, they're Goniatites. I can post more pictures if these aren't clear enough. Thanks! Here are the pictures. For some reason, it's not letting me upload them here. https://imgur.com/a/tRRAfi1#BtnFMPp

I found this behind my house in Hartwick NY in Otsego county. I can tell it is starfish, but looking for any information about it. We are on shale bed so we find fossils all the time. Mostly small shells and ferns. This is a first for our family. It measures 2.5 inches from tip to tip of star fish.

Hello, my brother found this vertebra on Plumb Beach in New York. Can you please identify if it is a fossil or not, and if possible, the spieces. Thank you.

I had been looking forward to a multi-day, multi-site trip since even before the semester ended. There's nothing like breaking rock to relieve the stress of grading papers. Deb and I made the drive down to Penn Dixie to meet up with Jay (DevonianDigger), Malcolm, Greg, and James. As we arrived at the Peace Bridge at around 11 am, we were delayed by construction on the bridge, a long lineup at the border, and a less than courteous border guard. And then construction in Buffalo with all its confusing signage meant taking detours upon detours. But eventually we made it by a little after 12:20. As Malcom alluded to in another thread, hardly any of us thought to take any pictures on the Friday as we were just too busy breaking rock. Jay had the excavator on site to test out some new areas on the site where we could dig into some fresh material, leaving the material for the Dig with the Experts alone. The site is vastly changed since last season, and it looks like it will be a productive one for those who go. I am still in the process of going through field finds, but I can at least for now share some pictures of the process and method when we crazy canucks come down to PD. Deb has snapped a picture of us at work in the newly excavated area. From left to right: James, Greg, Jay, and me. Malcolm is represented on the far left by his dolly that carries his trademark rock saw.

Side view of stromatolite piece (~10") and view of partial encrustation for ID please. Thanks, Gordon

I looked at the weather and my schedule and realized that today was really the only good day in a while to get out. It was very foggy until I drove into the valley area and then the sun came out at about 10:45 am when I pulled in. The water was really low and I think they are working on the dam again. Anyway, I walked for a bit splitting rocks and did not find much but plant hash and seafloor hash. I switched sides of the river by jumping on rocks ( the water was really low) and then found this really cool Eospermatopteris branch. I've never seen anything that large before and, no joke, I heard something in the air behind me and saw a Bald Eagle fly over me head right after I found it. Luckily, I was able to chip it out complete and take it home. It was a really nice day and I wandered around splitting rock but not finding anything else of note. I was also being pretty picky and only looking for identifiable new fossils. So there you have it. The first pic is in situ, next one at home in crappy light and lastly the area I was in