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Hi everyone, Is FossilSpot (fossilspot.com) down? I am unable to access it ... I suppose it comes and goes and may be back eventually. I guess there is still https://donaldkenney.x10.mx/FOSSINDX.HTM which is mostly similar if not exact to Fossil Spot.

I need some help with my website. If there's anyone out in the TFFverse that is knowledgeable, shoot me a PM. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello, I am looking to get some legit fossils for my girlfriend and I am eager not to be scammed, what reputable UK websites are there that sell good fossils?

What is the best place to buy fossils that is cheap, but still quality? I have little money and cant buy expensive things as my mom doesn't understand the passion I have for fossils (I'm 13). It's not easy growing your collection when the only place near you only has really worn up sharks teeth and you only go thrice a year. Thanks

Im not sure if this is the right topic to post this. I was at some locations yesterday and a guy had some kind of app/website that showed species from that location. I forgot to ask him the name of it. The location was ignaberga sweden. It had all the kinds of species listed there. Maybe someone knows the website or some website like that?

Hello everyone. Im wondering if anybody here has used a site on the internet to build their own web page? and if so, what is the easiest and best one to use? If it isn't easy, I wont be able to do it. Thanks RB

I have a bit of money to spare at the moment and was just wondering other than independent sellers what are some good/trusted websites where I can buy fossils from?

So I seem to have developed an interest in Stromatolites recently. Can someone suggest good / reliable books, websites or pdf papers where I can do further research Thanks

Hey have others been having trouble with the British Museum's online Echinoid Directory? It has been off and on for the last week or two and currently I can not get the Keys, Index to Taxa or Glossry to open. Hoping some of our friends across the water might have a little insight. https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/echinoid-directory/

Hey Do any of you know of websites/apps in which one can build a simple cladogram from scratch? Thanks in advance. -Christian

Hi all, I have been having trouble finding a good guide to use in order to ID fossil seashells (mainly gastropods and bivalves) of the Neogene-Quaternary of Western Europe (mainly Belgium/Netherlands). So, I'm turning to you guys: does anyone of you have a nice up-to-date website/online paper that I could use in order to help me ID all of my different seashells? Preferable with clear photos/drawings of the different species. Thanks in advance! Max

As I'm sure you all know, from my experiences interacting with the people on this forum, they tend to be very nice and reputable people, including when conducting trades and sales. I'm wondering and techniques/procedures forum members use when they are making a trade with someone that is not a part of the forum. How do you make sure someone isn't ripping you off? Are there other reliable websites where people trade fossils in relative safety of having their fossils taken? Any recommendations? Any insight at all here would help. I am pretty new to fossil trades. Thanks for taking the time to look at this! Best, Matt

The apparent demise of the best California, Utah and Nevada area paleontology website is premature. Inyo.coffeecup.com (created by a former TFF member) is up and running. Check out his great write ups with pictures about trips to many sites many now under protection by state and Federal governments. http://inyo.coffeecup.com/site/cf/carfieldtrip.html#fossilspages Download his fieldtrip guide: http://inyo.coffeecup.com/site/fieldtripbook.pdf Here are two of my favorites sites: Red Rock Canyon State Park in the California Mohave desert http://inyo.coffeecup.com/site/redrock/redrockfossils.html and see the magnificent silicified insects from the Miocene lake deposits near Barstow, CA http://inyo.coffeecup.com/site/barstowfossils/barstowfossils.html Thanks to TFF member @John for alerting us that his wonderful website was down. In a related matter, I would hate to see Inyo.coffeecup.com dissapear if the creator is incapacitated or runs out of money to support the site. Besides The Internet Archive AKA The Wayback Machine, I wonder if any institutions would be willing to archive a version for posterity. Books are archived in libraries; where should websites be saved? I wonder if The Fossil Forum would be willing to archeive copies of significant paleontology websites. Have we made plans to carry on and archive The Fossil Forum in case disaster strikes? Maybe geology libraries and paleontology departments at colleges/universities should store and archeive quality paleontological websites. Sometimes quality websites such as Mindat.org (minerals and occasion fossils) find institutions to preserve and support their continued operations. Mindat has Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Has The Fossil Forum ever considered forming a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization to support our activities or finding an institution to partner with? As an added bonus donations to TFF would be tax deductable. Cheers, John

Has anyone been to any of the places on this website? http://dnr.mo.gov/pubs/pub665.pdf Or do you know how to get to any specific places that this website? It takes me awhile to get to the other side of the river so I don't have much time to scour every road cut.

Hello all, as few of you know, my background is in programming, and I wish to use those skills to benefit paleontology and TFF as best I can. Paleontology as a scientific field was begun by amateur collectors, who were merely interested in the world and curious about its past. Those days still continue, but I believe that in this age of information and knowledge, it is important to unleash our potential, and have a place for all amateurs to publish their findings, scientific thoughts and hypotheses, and share with the world the knowledge they have gained, so that everyone can have a part of it. My idea is to create a website and database where amateurs can write formal papers or simply document their discoveries on things they have found. The site would be accessible for free, and by anybody. Of course, there would be a few guidelines, such as: the paper must be in the correct format, the work should not be obvious, and any hypotheses/conclusions should be based upon observable evidence. Papers documenting your finds, or a description of a new collecting site, or things you hypothesize about creature A based off of feature X seen on specimen D collected at site C, etc. This information is widely available here on The Fossil Forum, that is why I and many others love this place so much, but the site I am speaking of will be for everyone to contribute to, for free. It would basically be a large knowledge database, which I believe has potential for the scientific community. As this site would not require papers to be peer-reviewed, information published there would not necessarily be accurate or purely scientific, however that is a risk taken with all sites like this (Wikipedia for example), but these sites can still be very valuable to the scientific community. It is citizen science. My first question is this: Who anyone be interested? Second: Because I am making this free, and because databases and websites both cost money, I would love to have some donations to pay for the setup/continued upkeep of the site. I am thinking that initial setup would cost somewhere between $50 and $100, and upkeep cost would depend on site traffic, so I cannot guess that cost right now. Also of course, TFF would be sponsored on the site if it wishes. Edit: Added a poll