Help identifying a rock/fossil + Post your finds

Paul G · **#121** by **Paul G** » Nov 25, 2011 2:22 pm

That's the highest quality I have, it was a day out and I didn't want to have the DSLR with me so took my small point and shoot.

There's no skepticism allowed here, what sort of place do you think this is !?

theropod · **#122** by **theropod** » Nov 25, 2011 2:57 pm

Paul, well, you could have seen some really nice fossils with extant, but maybe dead, examples of the Chitons attached to the same rock.

After looking again with photoshop zoom the color of the frill doesn't look right. That could be algae in minute cracks and folds, but it looks wrong. Don't ask me what, exactly, it's just after looking for fossils for half a lifetime something about those doesn't look "right". This is the dangerous game of identifying stuff from memory and picts. Hell, those could have been the kinds of finds professionals work a career to find.

Paul G · **#123** by **Paul G** » Nov 25, 2011 2:59 pm

Well, I'm not even at the status of amateur, so I have absolutely no idea!

Ironclad · **#124** by **Ironclad** » Nov 25, 2011 3:52 pm

Hi, Paul. If you are thirsty after hunting dinosaurs head over to The Square & Compass near Worth Matravers, it's barely 10 miles away (head back to Corfe Castle, hang a right, turn off for Kingston) & is a gem of a boozer. You won't regret it.

Loving your creatures, the detail is unbelievable.

proudfootz · **#125** by **proudfootz** » Dec 14, 2011 1:49 am

Having no luck posting photo...

Ironclad · **#126** by **Ironclad** » Dec 14, 2011 2:13 am

No luck using the "attachments" buttons underneath the "reply to topic" box?
There's two little tabs, one opens it, but you need to follow up with, Browse-Attach.

proudfootz · **#127** by **proudfootz** » Dec 14, 2011 2:19 am

Here's something I found on a school field trip:

proudfootz · **#128** by **proudfootz** » Dec 14, 2011 2:20 am

Ironclad wrote:No luck using the "attachments" buttons underneath the "reply to topic" box?
There's two little tabs, one opens it, but you need to follow up with, Browse-Attach.

Thanks to you: that looks much more like it!

Ironclad · **#129** by **Ironclad** » Dec 14, 2011 2:31 am

I have my moments...

The_Piper · **#130** by **The_Piper** » Dec 14, 2011 7:15 am

proudfootz wrote:Here's something I found on a school field trip:

Found in that condition? It looks like the head end of a trilobite.

proudfootz · **#131** by **proudfootz** » Dec 14, 2011 2:24 pm

The_Piper wrote:
proudfootz wrote:Here's something I found on a school field trip:

Found in that condition? It looks like the head end of a trilobite.

That's what I thought - you can't tell from this photo but it is relatively complete: it's curled up on itself.

theropod · **#132** by **theropod** » Dec 14, 2011 2:29 pm

Nice trilobite. From what I understand this curled death position is fairly common, as is the recovery of fragmented specimens.

Can you detail the location and formation from which this little jewel was recovered?

RS

proudfootz · **#133** by **proudfootz** » Dec 14, 2011 2:37 pm

Can't really be super-specific. This was many years ago.

But it was in the southeastern part of Michigan in the USA and found almost as you see it.

The_Piper · **#134** by **The_Piper** » Dec 14, 2011 3:01 pm

Curled up like a dead bug.

It's etched so clean, with the detail of the fossil remaining intact. Maybe it just popped out of it's matrix when the bedrock was quarried.

proudfootz · **#135** by **proudfootz** » Dec 14, 2011 3:07 pm

The_Piper wrote:Curled up like a dead bug.
It's etched so clean, with the detail of the fossil remaining intact. Maybe it just popped out of it's matrix when the bedrock was quarried.

It seems the fossil itself is a little harder than the matrix - it did seem like it simply 'popped out' and was lying on the surface. I did a little cleaning up but not much.

The best thing I got out of my science field trip!

The_Piper · **#136** by **The_Piper** » Apr 20, 2012 1:01 am

I'm still picking up rocks, but haven't been keeping too many. Many of these fossils are difficult or impossible to ID even for experts, and I've still not progressed past sub-novice. It's not a good formation to learn from. :shifty:

Nonetheless, I think I've found my first trilobite, less than a mile upstream from my house. Out of hundreds and hundreds of fossils from this locale, not a single trilobite. (Though I do have one other contender to scrutinize further :smile:

)
I wasn't even hunting, just saw the rock and picked it up on a whim. I think it's in sandstone, and is light in weight.

I need skeptical eyes on this. Feel free to dash my hopes with bad news if you suspect that it's not a trilobite.
What is fossil #1? I have no guesses for that one yet. It looks like a ghost from Pac-Man. I think we're looking at a cross-section on that one. eta - Could #1 be the top of a crinoid?
ETA # 2 - the bedrock is Silurian, and this was found in brook float.
My thumb is in the photo for scale.

proudfootz · **#137** by **proudfootz** » Apr 20, 2012 2:03 am

The_Piper wrote:I'm still picking up rocks, but haven't been keeping too many. Many of these fossils are difficult or impossible to ID even for experts, and I've still not progressed past sub-novice. It's not a good formation to learn from.

Nonetheless, I think I've found my first trilobite, less than a mile upstream from my house. Out of hundreds and hundreds of fossils from this locale, not a single trilobite. (Though I do have one other contender to scrutinize further )
I wasn't even hunting, just saw the rock and picked it up on a whim. I think it's in sandstone, and is light in weight.

I need skeptical eyes on this. Feel free to dash my hopes with bad news if you suspect that it's not a trilobite.
What is fossil #1? I have no guesses for that one yet. It looks like a ghost from Pac-Man. I think we're looking at a cross-section on that one. eta - Could #1 be the top of a crinoid?
ETA # 2 - the bedrock is Silurian, and this was found in brook float.
My thumb is in the photo for scale.

Not that I'm any kind of expert - but I'm inclined to think #2 is trilobite.

#1 has me stumped - but I wonder if it might be a cross section of a trilobite...

The_Piper · **#138** by **The_Piper** » Apr 20, 2012 2:43 am

I thought #1 could be a trilobite as well, because of that hump in the middle.

theropod · **#139** by **theropod** » Apr 23, 2012 12:18 am

Both are trilobites! Nice find.

RS

The_Piper · **#140** by **The_Piper** » Apr 23, 2012 7:56 am

Thanks Theropod! :dance:

Maybe there's enough there for an expert to ID it to some level.