October 2023 - Finds of the Month Entries

[digit]

REMINDER: PLEASE carefully read ALL of the rules below.

Make sure you include all the required information, IN THE REQUESTED FORMAT (below) when you submit your fossil! 

If you have a question about a possible entry, please send me (or any staff) a PM.

Please pay special attention to Rule #5: 

Before and After Preparation Photos must be submitted for prepped specimens NOT  found during the Month of the Contest.

In addition to keeping the contest fair, this new qualification will encourage better documentation of our spectacular past finds.

Entries will be taken until 11:59:00 PM EDT on OCTOBER 31, 2023

Any fossil submitted after that time, even if the topic is still open, will be deemed ineligible! 

 

Only entries posted with CLEAR photos and that meet the other guidelines will be placed into the Poll. 

Photos of the winning specimens may be posted to TFF's Facebook page.

 

Please let us know if you have any questions, and thanks for sharing more of your fossils and research this month.

 

Shortly after the end of the Month, separate Polls will be created for the Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month.

 

In addition to the fun of a contest, we also want to learn more about the fossils. 

Tell us more about your fossil, and why you think it is worthy of the honor. 

To view the Winning Fossils from past contests visit the Find Of The Month Winner's Gallery.

 

Now, go find your fossil, do your research, and make an entry!
Best of success to all, and good hunting!

 

***********************************

Rules for The Fossil Forum's Vertebrate and Invertebrate/Plant Find of the Month Contests

1. Find a great Vertebrate Fossil or Invertebrate/Plant Fossil! Only fossils found personally by you are allowed. NO PURCHASED FOSSILS.
2. Post your entry in the Find of the Month topic. Use a separate post for each entry. (Only two entries per member per contest category.)
3. Your fossil must have been found during the Month of the Contest, or Significant Preparation * of your fossil must have been completed during the Month of the Contest.
4. You must include the Date of Discovery (when found in the contest month); or the Date of Preparation Completion and Date of Discovery (if not found in the contest month).
5. Before and After Preparation photos must be submitted for prepped specimens not found during the Month of the Contest. Please make sure you arrange for photos if someone else is preparing your fossil find and completes the prep requirements in the contest month.
6. You must include the Common and/or Scientific Name.
7. You must include the Geologic Age or Geologic Formation where the fossil was found.
8. You must include the State, Province, or region where the fossil was found.
9. You must include CLEAR, cropped, well-lit images (maximum 4 images). If you are proud enough of your fossil to submit it for FOTM, spend some time to take good photos to show off your fossil.
10. Play fair and honest. No bought fossils. No false claims.

 

* Significant Preparation = Substantial work to reveal and/or repair important diagnostic features, resulting in a dramatic change in the look of the fossil. The qualification of Significant Preparation is decided at the discretion of staff. Any doubts as to the eligibility of the entry will be discussed directly with the entrant.

 

******* Please use the following format for the required information: *******

• Date of Discovery  (month, day, year) 

• Scientific and/or Common Name

• Geologic Age or Geologic Formation

• State, Province, or Region Found

• Photos of Find

 

 

(Please limit to 4 clear, cropped, and well-lit images.)

(If prepped, before and after photos are required, please.)

[Fossildude19]

PLEASE READ AND UNDERSTAND THE RULES BEFORE YOU POST!!!

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT A MOD OR ADMIN.
ENTRIES NOT FOLLOWING THE REQUESTED FORMAT WILL BE ELIMINATED FROM THE CONTEST!!

 

 

REQUESTED FORMAT:

 

Date of discovery:

Scientific and/or common name: 

Geologic age or geologic formation:

State, province or region found:

[Danielb]

 

Date Found - (10/6/23)

Scientific or common name - Eldredgeops rana trilobite

Geologic age or formation - Moscow Formation, Middle Devonian

State, Province, or Region found - New York

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mart1980]

Oral tooth of Ganopristis leptodon (Arambourg, 1935)

 

Date of discovery: October 7, 2023

Preparation: Started and ended October 8, 2023.

Scientific and/or common name: Ganopristis leptodon (Arambourg, 1935).

Geologic age or geologic formation: Nekum Limestone. The Nekum Limestone is part of the Formation of Maastricht and dates from the last part of the Cretaceous, the Maastrichtian.

State, province or region found: Sibbe Limestone Quarry, Netherlands.

 

[digit]

Wonderful entry--rostral "teeth" are so much more commonly found than the actual oral teeth of the sawfishes. I believe the Ganoptistis genus is now a junior synonym of Scherorhynchus.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sclerorhynchus

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[musicnfossils]

Ya know what we might as well put this in here while I still have it. 
 

 

 

 

 

Date of discovery: October 8, 2023

Scientific and/or common name: Pachycephalosaur Skull Dome 

Geologic age or geologic formation: Dinosaur Park fm, 74.4mya

State, province or region found: Newell County, Ab, CA 

 

[trilobites_are_awesome]

Nice bug!

[marguy]

Coming back from an ophthalmological visit to Bordeaux, I made a detour on the way back to look for Cyclolites (corals), but I only found damaged fossils of this kind, however luck finally smiled on me because  I found this Heliastrea of good quality. This is the first one I've found on this site in several years.

 

Date of discovery: october, 19, 2023

Scientific and/or common name:  Heliastrea sp (coral)

Geologic age : Turonian , Cretaceous

Region found: near Le Bugue, Dordogne department, France

[Notidanodon]

Really pleased with this one! The small lobsters from the lower lobster beds in the area are well known and abundant but very few large lobsters from the upper beds are found so imagine my surprise when I saw this perched on the edge of the cliff! size 15 cm long

 

 

Date of discovery: 7/28/2023  Prepped on 10/11/2023

Scientific and/or common name:  Mecochirus magna

Geologic age : Aptian, Cretaceous, bed 17 Atherfield Formation.

Region found: near Atherfield Point, Isle of Wight

 

 

 

 

 

[FossilDAWG]

The story of how this tooth was found is given here.  In short, I was cleaning a slab collected in 2019 in order to trim up an edrioasteroid on the top, and I discovered a chondrichthyian tooth on the back that had been covered by mud and shale.  In such cases the discovery date is the date the fossil was first found, in this case by removing the mud and shale that had completely covered the fossil..

 

Date of Discovery  (month, day, year):     October 22, 2023

• Scientific and/or Common Name:          Chomatodus sp.  crushing tooth (chondrichthyan)

• Geologic Age or Geologic Formation:   Bangor Formation, Mississippian

• State, Province, or Region Found:          Vulcan Quarry, Lacon, Alabama

 

[sharko69]

Rare crab find from the Beaumont formation of Texas. This is the most complete and largest spider crab find I have seen from this location. Found in March of 2023 with prep being completed October 16th. 
 

• Date of Discovery : 3/2023 (Prep complete 10/16)

• Scientific and/or Common Name: Libinia sp.

• Geologic Age or Geologic Formation: Beaumont formation/ late Pleistocene 

• State, Province, or Region Found: Galveston, TX

[paleoflor]

Date of discovery: 22 October 2023

Scientific name: near-complete frond of Karinopteris sp. (still working on specific ID; suggestions welcome!)

Geological age: Moscovian, Pennsylvanian, Carboniferous (Westphalian D in Western European regional stratigraphic scheme)

Geological formation: Osnabrück Fm.

Locality: Piesberg quarry near Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany (collected at stratigraphic level near Flöz Mittel)

 

 

[TRout]

Date of discovery: October 7, 2023

Scientific and/or common name: pipefish, Syngnathus avus 

Geologic age or geologic formation: Monterey Formation, Miocene

State, province or region found: California, USA

[digit]

Don't see a lot of pipefish in the FOTM contests.

 

I'm not familiar with the Monterey Formation. The matrix looks similar to the oil shale where the Green River Formation fish can be found. Would love to see some in situ images of where these types of fossils are found. Assuming you are side-lighting the surface and looking for clues as to where fishes like this are hidden?

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[TRout]

13 hours ago, digit said:

I'm not familiar with the Monterey Formation. The matrix looks similar to the oil shale where the Green River Formation fish can be found. Would love to see some in situ images of where these types of fossils are found. Assuming you are side-lighting the surface and looking for clues as to where fishes like this are hidden?

 

The shale at spot where I found the pipefish is fairly similar to the fish quarries of the Green River Formation. Like the Green River Formation, the Monterey Formation outcrops over a pretty large area (much of coastal California) and has different composition, preservation, and fossil assemblages in different areas. I believe the Monterey Formation has oil-bearing shales rather than oil shales like the Green River Formation (oil-bearing shales are underground rock formations that contain trapped petroleum, while oil shales are sedimentary rocks that are rich in kerogen which breaks down and releases hydrocarbons when heated). Unfortunately, I don't have any in situ pics at the site or any pre-prep pics of this pipefish. When splitting shale or looking through loose shale at this spot, usually parts of the fish are exposed (and sometimes the entire fish) so I am generally looking for exposed fish bits and hoping that the rest of the fish is there. I think it would be comparable to the split-fish layer of the GRF, though I'd say the matrix here is a little bit harder and more flakey. With the above pipefish, just a bit of the middle of the fish was exposed though I could tell from side-lighting that the rest of it was there but hidden under matrix.

 

Here's an example of a partial pipefish that was similarly found with only a bit of the middle exposed pre(ish) and post prep:

Edited October 30, 2023 by TRout

[fifbrindacier]

I see gorgeous finds there.

[Norki]

Figured I'd post this ammonite I found on a field trip with the Vancouver Paleontological Society this month. It's not the prettiest ammonite, but it's unique in that it's apparently the first known Lytoceratid ammonite discovered in this particular formation, and from this time interval in Canada (Bajocian). It's also quite large, at about 53cm in diameter. I may need to find someone to describe it...

 

• Date of Discovery October 21, 2023

• Scientific and/or Common Name Lytoceras sp.

• Geologic Age or Geologic Formation Ashcroft Formation (Bajocian)

• State, Province, or Region Found Near Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada

• Photos of Find

 

 

Locality:

 

 

In situ (partially extracted):

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Norki

[Rock-Guy-17]

I'll throw my find in here since I'm pretty proud of it. I was lucky enough to spot this very small complete crinoid replaced by pyrite earlier this month, which is apparently very rare for the locality. I still can't believe I was able to spot it. I don't have the best equipment to photograph a fossil this size. 

 

• Date of Discovery: October 14, 2023

• Scientific and/or Common Name: Crinoid Calyx (pyrite replaced)

• Geologic Age or Geologic Formation Moscow Formation - Middle Devonian

• State, Province, or Region Found Deep Springs Road Quarry, Earlville, NY

• Photos of Find

 

 

With scale in inches

 

Photographed wet

 

Photographed with hand lense