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Is this a Scott’s valley fossil location and are there any other fossil hunting locations in Scott’s valley or nearby
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My son found this at a beach after a big storm in Santa Cruz, California. It was mixed in with a bunch of wood and hard to spot. I think this is a possible bone hoe artifact because of the even rounded edges at the end of the scapula??? Also..one side is "polished" (not the side shown in the pics). Seems too small for a bison but too big for an elk based on what I researched but I know nothing about animal bones. It's about 12 inches long and 6 inches across. Seems like this is a common fossil/artifact in the Midwest USA, but I did not see this as a common tool used by indigenous people on the US West Coast. Any assistance would be much appreciated. If this is something of a rarity for the Central West Coast, or it is a significant artifact due to how complete or undamaged it is, we plan on handing it over to the museum of natural history in Santa Cruz. THANK YOU!!!!
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Hello - This is my first post here. When I first saw this, I immediately thought it might be a tooth or some sort but dismissed it as a rock once it dried. I took a closer look the other day and noticed it did have spongy bone like texture at the ridges, and under magnification I noticed more bone like characteristics. I can't find anything like this shape anywhere. None of the teeth I've seen have roots like this, and there aren't any claws that have such a big bulbous end. Although it looks like a tooth, I don't see any straight lines/enamel like textures. This was found at a beach in Santa Cruz, Ca. This measures 4" long x 3" wide and 2" thick. It is very symmetrical. The pics represent this fossil both wet and dry to see various details. Any assistance is very much appreciated. THANK YOU!
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Hello from Santa Cruz, CA with a tub full of fossils!
timlah79 posted a topic in Member Introductions
Hi everyone! I stumbled across this site while searching for "online fossil identification." I recently obtained a tub (pictured below) full of supposedly dinosaur fossils from an owner in WA state who no longer wanted them. Some are labeled, most are not or the label has fallen off. Also many of the small fossils made their way out of their labeled case over time. So in summary I have no clue what many of them are! From what I'm told, they were all collected from different areas in WA state by the owner's grandfather over the years (who's since passed away). She didn't want to spend the time trying to re-identify them nor keep storing them, so here I am now the new owner of this "prehistoric mystery tub." I would love any help from the experts on this forum to find out what they are! I'll create some posts with photos in the FossilID forum. A little about me: I'm a dinosaur nerd but not a paleontologist or fossil hunter whatsoever. I simply became enthralled by dinos as a kid when the first Jurassic Park movie came out. I'd watch that VHS religiously. Ever since then, and still now in my adult years, I'm constantly on the hunt for any dinosaur, prehistoric, and/or ancient life documentaries I can find. So I guess you could say beyond my curiosity of unraveling what fossils I actually have in this tub, I'm here to learn from the experts, check out what others have in their collection, then perhaps someday be able to contribute to this community any knowledge gained through my experience here. Looking forward to virtually meeting you all! -Tim -
Hello All, This is my first time posting here, so I hope I'm doing this right. I did my best to crop the pictures I have and hope I've included what's needed. During our annual Thanksgiving trip, a friend of mine found what appears to be a large whale vertebrae on 11/26/22 in the Monterey Bay Area, between Seacliff Beach and New Brighton Beach in Aptos. Based on the known sea mammals that pass through these parts and a quick Google search, it looks to be a Humpback vertebrate, but there’s also the Blue Whale, Gray Whale, Fin Whale and Killer Whale. My guess is a Humpback, but that's just a hunch. It was found about 8-10” under the sand, just after high tide. At first, he thought it might be a tree stump or part of an anchor. It was pretty far up the beach, closer to the walkway than the beach water. The surrounding sand was damp and the bone still needs to dry since it’s been under water/wet sand for who knows how long(?). There is a gift shop nearby and they have fossilized bones, including one that’s a humpback vertebrae and it’s a lot smaller than the one found. It did say in the visitors center that these fossils have been found in the area that date back 2-5 million years. It seems improbable in my mind that this found one is anywhere near that old, but I’m a complete newbie to this. Thankfully, this forum looks like the ideal place to ask these questions. Is there a way to tell either how old or large the whale was, based off this information? Also, is there a particular method used to dry these out and get it back to its natural ivory color? I read that leaving it in the sun will bleach it, but I’m assuming that takes a while to do. Here are the measurements and pictures. If more specific pictures need to be added, let me know and I'll have them snap what's needed. Widest point: ~21” (side to side) Diameter of center: ~13.5-14” (one side is a little wider than the other) Depth: ~9.5-10” Thank you all in advance, Jason
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Are there any Santa Margarita fm fossil sites that are still open/able to be collected from in and around the SF Bay Area? I want to try and hunt from the formation but all the classic sites, like bean creek, are now closed for collecting.
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Tonight, I was trying to pull up directions for a friend to the wonderful astrodapsis collection site in scotts valley...seems that this site has been posted with no trespassing signs...as indicated by a few posts i've seen online..if this is indeed true...its a loss of a valuable site...its an area that was collector friendly for kids and beginners...it was a wonderful spot that started many collections..I will miss this spot.
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I found this on the beach in capitola ca right under the cliffs, any ideas what it could be? its approximately 7 inches and it is still covered in a pretty thin layer of stone but the shape is still mostly clear.
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Purisima Formation (3-7 Ma), Santa Cruz, CA: One piece doesn’t match the rest
Slow_BS posted a topic in Fossil ID
Hi there, I have a collection of Santa Cruz, CA shell hash, from the Purisima Formation. It’s pretty much all non-mineralized mollusks, I think. I received a new piece that seems to be from the same formation (it was a gift from the heir of the original collector who lived in Monterey - the other side of the bay from the formation). The fossiliferous pieces inside this one have a totally different structure - much more of a radial/flakey look. I circled it in red in the first picture, and it’s the only rock in pics 3-6. I’d love to here if anyone has any thoughts on whether the new piece is Purisima, and what the white portions may have been. Thanks for reading!- 14 replies
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My kids founds this fossil in Capitola, as part of the Purisima formation. Curious if it's something obvious enough for you pros out there?
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I recently went to Capitola beach for the first time. I found three of what I believe are cetacean fossils but I am very new to paleontology so I am not quite sure. These were found right on the beach under cliffs in the Purisima Formation. The images are quite large so I will post them in the comments Here is #1
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i found this fossil plant in the Santa cruz mountains i cant identify the plant here are both sides of it.
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Found these pieces while beach combing for sea shells last summer. Didnt realize until i got back home and washed the shells that i found these. I know that they are real rough from the sand but i think that theyre parts of shark teeth. I found these in Capitola CA. Am i correct or are they just shell fragments (sorry the pics might be low quality im new and still figuring this posting out)
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When I was a kid my father took us to a fossil hunting site in upstate NY where I found a very nice trilobite fossil. My science teacher liked it so much he made a gold ring version of it. Are there any trilobite hunting sites anywhere near SC, CA? I'd love to find another one.
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Here are a few different pieces I picked up near Santa Cruz, hoping to learn a bit more from everyone here and get some help with ID's. My guess was a smaller marine mammal, maybe a pinniped rib?
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- marine mammal
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