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Hello wondering if anyone can help me with a correct Id. It was found at the Sulphur road cutout in southern Indiana. I’ve been told it’s a few different things but I’m still not sure. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure it out. Any help would be appreciated. I’ll answer any questions I can.

Spent the day at the famous old cut in Sulphur, Indiana yesterday, and while I didn’t come away with a Mississippian shark tooth, I’m wondering if other parts of these animals preserved? This piece is shiny black like coal, about an inch long, is definitely fossilized, and was found in the Big Clifty formation. Anyone here an expert on Carboniferous sharks or has found anything similar?

Tammy and I made our first post-pandemic roadtrip and we went to Chicago to see family. Decided to drive as I was not yet comfortable with airports and airplanes. I had hoped to visit a site in southern Illinois where blastoids used to be plentiful and easy to find. Sadly, that site was mistreated and is no longer available. Members here on the forum suggested several alternatives which should produce the blastoids that I longed to hunt for. We found that the large (and well known) roadcut just north of Sulphur, Indiana was along the route (kind of) on our return trip and so it was added to the itinerary. We drove down from a last lunch in Chicago's Chinatown and crossed Indiana to check into a hotel in a small town just west of Louisville, Kentucky. The plan was to drive west to visit this Chesterian (Late Mississippian) site and see what we could find. We got up early, refueled, and had a quick breakfast since we planned on returning to the hotel and cleaning-up before the 11am checkout time. The morning proved to be much more overcast than the preceding evening. Things weren't looking promising as we were getting out to the site. You can see in the photos that the sky did not show promise of cooperating with us and the pelting rain along the highway was less than encouraging. The rain had slowed to a light drizzle and we arrived at the roadcut which provided nice wide shoulders to pull off the road a safe distance. Tammy decided she'd let me do the scouting and see if it was worth leaving the dry warmth of the car and so she stayed behind with her tablet to entertain her while I made good use of my raincoat. It took a while to find a good access point to climb up the first and lowest wall of this stepped roadcut. I walked most of the way down the road only to see the wall get taller and less accessible. I crossed over the road and walked back the way I had come till I found an opening. The rock face would have been easier to scale had it not all become quite slick from the rain. Once up on the first terrace level I walked along till I spotted a means of climbing up another level. I was headed up to the loose talus slope between the second and third levels. Along the way I spotted what I believe might be the Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina)--the shell patterns seem to be quite variable on this species but I'm sure @Tidgy's Dad could confirm or refute. When I finally started seeing crinoid stem segments and a number of small rugose corals I knew I had found the level I was looking for. It didn't take too long to spot the first blastoid looking like a pentagonally symmetrical marble. Most of the little Pentremites sp. blastoids were in the pea to garbanzo size range. Many of them were loose but a few were still attached to a chunk of the matrix. I spotted a little piece of the matrix that looked to be peppered with a bunch of semi-articulated plates from what I'm guessing is a crinoid calyx. This needs further inspection with the aid of some magnification. I took some in situ shots of my finds as I figured I'd probably write a post on this site. I selected a number of the nicer finds and upon review of the images I noticed that had missed things that I could clearly see in the images. I was so focused on developing the blastoid search image (rounded items with the pentagonally V-notched edge on the top) that I forgot that the Archimedes screw shaped bryozoans were also here. You can clearly see an Archimedes screw bryozoan actually touching the blastoid I picked up--talk about tunnel vision. https://www.uky.edu/KGS/fossils/fossil-month-09-2018-Archimedes.php The clouds were starting to break up and a little increase in light levels was welcome to aid the search. I could just barely see the car where Tammy was through the dense trees that cover this roadcut. I had tried to call her to let her know I hadn't fallen on my noggin yet but our cell phone reception was pretty poor here. Made a mental note to bring along some inexpensive walkie-talkie radios if we ever find ourselves split up and trying to communicate where cell phone coverage is poor. The rain had made the clay on the talus slope very soft and slippery. I spent a lot of time with multiple points of contact to the ground--holding on with both hands usually to avoid possibly losing my footing. Having my head held close to the ground in order to see the small blastoids obviously works better if you scan the area slowly. I knew I had limited time here and was searching somewhat quickly but I'm surprised that I missed this second blastoid just a hand-width away from the one on top that I did collect. It's also quite obvious (now) that I missed this other Archimedes that is nearly touching the blastoid underneath. At least I was getting pretty good at spotting even the tiniest of the blastoid specimens. I found a larger blastoid that had been flattened a bit and I spotted the first brachiopod. It was odd to see the brachiopods being so relatively rare as they were always so common at the few Devonian sites I'd hunted. I finally remembered that there were Archimedes at this site but only after I spotted this one. There is no telling how many more I missed. My time was running out and I was looking for one last find of the day before quitting and then trying to find a path back down (you never remember the path up as it looks different from above). Going down is usually more dangerous than up and so I spent extra effort looking for descents that wouldn't land me in the ER. Happily, the last find of the day was one of the largest of the blastoids. That seemed to put a cap on this 45 minute excursion into the Mississippian (my first fossil hunt from this geologic age). From up on top you can see the interchange with route 64 heading back to Lexington which is the route we took to arrive later that day in Asheville, North Carolina to visit friends we haven't see in 2 years. It was a fun little excursion and signs that a longer hunt would be even more productive. The fossil-bearing layer is about 2/3 the way up to the top of the slope. I spotted some better access points on the way back down and if I ever get back to this locality I hope to explore with with many more hours of time to dedicate to the hunt. Cheers. -Ken

My wife's camera is great I hope you all enjoy as much as I do .ordovician

My findings of another visit to Ladonia Fossil Park.

Hi all! I found this in the North Sulphur River this weekend in a large gravel bar. My first thought was that it was a Globidens Mosasaur tooth, but I’m just not sure. It’s approximately a half an inch diameter, has striations on the underside, and a hole in the center. The top side has been flattened, which if a tooth I am assuming is the chewing surface? Completely fossilized. No enamel. I would appreciate any input! Thank you so much!

I found this in the NSR yesterday, and it is very similar to a Tabulate coral I found in the NSR a while back. Here’s the discussion on the forum about that specimen: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/78070-mosaic-of-crystal-north-sulphur-river/ This one is worn a bit more, so I’m confused as to whether it is also a Tabulate coral or Rudist, but they have very similar characteristics. The sections don’t seem to be as square as Rudist. Any help is appreciated!

I found this very small mosasaur bone (part of the paddle I assume), and it has a very small hole towards the top. This was found in the Cretaceous North Sulphur River of Ladonia, Texas. There have been a few discussions on other forums whether this is a natural or man-mad occurance. Has anyone else here ever found a mosasaur vertebrae or bone that has a near perfect hole in it? I’m very interested in how this occurred. Thank you for your input!

I found this odd shaped fossil in a gravel bar of the Cretaceous North Sulphur River in Ladonia, Texas. I have recently found fossil turtle, and I was wondering if it might be that. Any input would be appreciated. Thank you!!

I think this is a skull fragment, but I cannot figure out from what. Found in the North Sulphur River near Ladonia, Texas. Found in a pile of gravel and rocks in the center of the river bed. No other associated bones were found. I labeled the photos Back, Front, Top, Bottom (Because thats what they look like to me). Any help identifying it is greatly appreciated. Back View. Front View Bottom View. Top View.

I was recently able to hit a tributary of the Sulphur River and came out with a crocodilian tooth. Otherwise it was a good trip, but not great like I had hoped. I do video better than photos and text. Here is the link. Can I ask a favor???? watch the first minute of the first video, and then the second video(1 min intro 2.0). Is the first intro so bad (shaky camera, uncomfortable camera angle) that I should try and replace it? How's the second video as a replacement?? i really appreciate it!! http://youtu.be/i_ZKC9QlAOE test intro: http://youtu.be/YJ69Xp5Zkmc

Pretty good variety this morning after a few big rains.

I have a bunch of petrified/coalified wood from Mazon Creek and have started a process to decrease the reactivity of the pyrite and sulphur in them. Thought I'd describe the process and results in case it is helpful to anyone else. Some of them are fairly quick to form decay and even create lovely hairy crystal gardens of possibly Pickeringite or Halotrichite. Here is an earlier post about that. Here's some images of the cool crystal hairs that formed awhile back. Anyway here's my process that I've started on a few items. Not at all sure if this is the best process but thought I'd try it as an experiment and see what happens. It is an adaptation of recommendations by Reiner Mielke. Any suggestions or critiques would be great. I'm currently at Step 4 with the first batch and debating about Step 5. Step 1: Neutralize in water with some baking soda. (I notice my pieces really fiz a lot and some of the material breaks a part in this reaction so one may need to be careful with fragile items.) Step 2: Dry in the oven at low temperature for several hours. Step 3: Immerse in WD-40 to displace all the water. Step 4: Let dry Step 5: Two options and I haven't decided between the two: One option is to immerse in motor oil. (This is the Mielke approach) The other option is to spray with Fluid Film (a lanolin product in a spray bottle to prevent rust) Then let dry.

Sunday I picked up my old bud trentonmon and we headed east. We dropped into the North Sulphur River at several locations and found a few goodies in the Taylor group Ozan formation of North Texas. We saw the ruins of the old railroad trestle near Camp Shed or Enloe. I found a number of reptile and mammal verts and bone frags. One spot provided most of the fish and shark teeth pictured. I found a nice globbidens Mosasaur tooth, assorted enamel flakes along with a couple of mastodon fragments. One arrowhead, a blank and what must have been a scraper or blade. Worm tubes were everywhere. I picked up 80 of them. I have a small clamp lid jar I want to fill with them...and I am getting there with that project. My buddy trentonmon had a pretty good hunt too. I hope he will post his. He found a huge cervical mosasaur vert and more of the same goodies I found. All in all a pretty good outing. The weather was just great. Trentonmons bday was Saturday so I got to rib him all day about getting so old. We had fun, got in some serious exercise, and put yet another adventure in the bank and you know what if I had a dollar for all of the adventures he and I have had over the last 43 years I could really go to the bank. over and out wfrr aka Randy Rogers

I keep finding these at the NSR (found 3 more yesterday) and haven't been able to get an ID on them. I've posted pics in the past without any response so I thought maybe they were just anomalies but then I kept finding more and more of them and they all seem to have the same shape and markings so they're 'something'...but what? I shake my head and laugh every time I find another one because I can't figure out what they are...tooth, bone, tooth & bone...??? Definitely not a rock so I keep collecting them regardless. Any thoughts or ideas?

Here's 'Part #2' which is teeth I can't ID. I know some of these are Enchodus, but several of them seem different so I'm not sure if they're just variations of Enchodus or possibly something else. Also, there may be some Mosasaur teeth or pieces of teeth in here as well...but I don't know. Thanks again everyone, Mark

I've only been doing this since March and I still have trouble ID'ing a lot of things so please have some patience with me. I've gotten to where the teeth (shark & other) seem to find me...which is great cuz that's my favorite thing to find. I also can spot bone pretty good now, but can't tell ya what it's from. I've got a lot of teeth and bone that I've found since March, but outside the shark teeth and obvious vert pieces I'm still trying to figure out what bone/tooth belongs to what. Anyway, I'm A LOT more knowledgeable now than I was in March and now know 'what' to look for...the problem is, outside of shark teeth, ID'ing this stuff is pretty snarge hard. Not deterring me one bit though...eventually I plan on being one of the people on this forum that can help ID stuff for the new addicts like me :-) ***I'm posting bone pieces here I can't identify...I'll post a "Part # 2" that has some teeth I can't ID after this.*** Thanks to all of you for all the help...now and since March, Mark