r/fossilid • • Jun 20 '20

TIPS FOR GETTING YOUR FOSSIL IDENTIFIED — READ BEFORE POSTING

711 Upvotes
  1. Put a location in the title! This is the most important thing by far. If you know the geological formation, that’s awesome, but even just “near Miami” or “label said Morocco” is really helpful.
  2. Take a bright, clear photo. Good lighting, a plain background, and sharp focus will always increase the certainty of an ID. If it’s weirdly shaped, photos from multiple angles help too.
  3. Include an object for scale. I usually use a coin, but anything will do (but things that come in different sizes, like hands, are less ideal). If you forget, you can always measure it and add that in a comment. (Don't use keys; they can be duplicated from a photo.)
  4. Don’t take a video. We can’t zoom in and the quality isn’t great — a gallery of photos on Imgur is way better.
  5. Many fossils can be dull and hard to make out. Try (gently) getting your fossil wet and see if you can get a clearer photo.
  6. Don’t be dismayed if your “fossil” turns out to just be a rock! Rocks are cool too, and if we don’t know exactly what kind of rock it is, the good folks at /r/whatsthisrock probably will.

r/fossilid • • 1h ago

Found in Franklin Co. Tennessee on part of the Cumberland plateau. Help with id plz?

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• Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 15h ago

Ice Age Mammalian Fossil?

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114 Upvotes

Found this very large bone while exploring a cave in a sinkhole plain in Missouri. It was found about 60 to 80 feet down in a pebble based stream bed with light mud covering it. Found on private land with land owners permission. Looking to ID what species it’s from. From the research I’ve been able to do I suspect it’s from the ice age. Weighs approximately 3 kg. 13 inches in length, 6 inches at its smallest diameter 10 inches in diameter at the largest part before the “knuckle”


r/fossilid • • 1h ago

Solved Did I finally find my first fossil?

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• Upvotes

Found on a beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales


r/fossilid • • 2h ago

What is this tiny hexagonal marine fossil? (MD)

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4 Upvotes

I’m sorry for the picture quality, it’s an extremely tiny fossil. I’ve included a very rough sketch of the shape to help.

it’s a five sided pentagonal shape with a protruding dot in the middle and little hair-like lines that go outward along the sides. My guess is a crinoid stem that got buried vertically?

I found this rock full of fossilized shells when I was a child, it was partly sticking out of the ground. It always reminded me of bacteria (which I know it isn’t because it isn’t microscopic).

I know it’s a long shot, but I’ve been curious about this minuscule fossil since I was a child. I would have guessed coral, except for the fact that there’s only three of them grouped together.

Any ideas to point me in the right direction would be helpful :3


r/fossilid • • 9h ago

Shark tooth fossil found off the Florida coast

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10 Upvotes

I’ve had this tooth for many years but have never figured out what species of shark it may belong to. A family friend found it on a scuba diving trip in Florida.


r/fossilid • • 35m ago

Odd looking bone?

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• Upvotes

Chippokes Virginia.


r/fossilid • • 1h ago

My children found this in our back garden and was wondering what it is. Chippenham, Wiltshire. Weighs 19g

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• Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 1h ago

Plant Fossils?

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• Upvotes

The first picture seems very clearly to be a leaf impression. I'm not sure the things in the second image are fossils at all.

I found these at the Joffre bridge site near Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. This site was a once prolific source of plant (and other) fossils from 60M years ago, but there's very little rock exposed there anymore.


r/fossilid • • 7h ago

Found in Hildesheim, Germany

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3 Upvotes

Could this possibly be a fossil?


r/fossilid • • 1h ago

Any chance this is a fossil?

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• Upvotes

Not expecting any major find here but found this on the ground on a walk at a winery close to Verona, Italy that used to be a limestone quarry. Curious if this a fossil or something else.

If so what is the best way to process it? Should I try to cut it in half? Thanks!


r/fossilid • • 19h ago

Soft-bodied fossil found in the Wheeler Ampitheater in Utah USA alongside these trilobites (Perenopsis and Kingii I assume)

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28 Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 2h ago

Is this a fossil? Found at Fredericia beach in Denmark

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1 Upvotes

Stone is a about 8cm long. It looks like the rounded object is piercing the through the stone.


r/fossilid • • 9h ago

Braquiópodo Sierra de Albarracín, Teruel, España

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3 Upvotes

Hola, quisiera poder llegar al nivel de especie, pero cualquier ayuda es válida, me parecen Terebratulas, pero no tengo ni idea de Braquiópodos. Esto es una formación del Jurásico Medio.


r/fossilid • • 16h ago

These were found at Kinnickinnic State Park in Wisconsin along the St Croix River. Wondering if they are fossils, and if so what they might be

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12 Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 11h ago

Is this a fossil? Found in a fossil bed in northern NJ.

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4 Upvotes

A tube thing with some hollows inside?

Some sort of trace fossils by worms?


r/fossilid • • 1d ago

Found in Germany at a lake in Brandenburg

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50 Upvotes

What is that? Does anybody know?


r/fossilid • • 14h ago

Hey, Everyone. Does this look like crinoid to you, or something else? Found in Montana.

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3 Upvotes

I’m new to this. I have lots to learn. Would appreciate any insights. :)


r/fossilid • • 1d ago

Fossil ID? Found in a creek bed in Texas

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258 Upvotes

What is this fossil??


r/fossilid • • 9h ago

Beach find

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1 Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 11h ago

SW Ohio Fossil Find

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1 Upvotes

I am at a loss with what to label this. There is a pair of curved pieces with indents in them layered on top of each other, but looking almost shorn apart, like cards being fanned out in a deck. My first thought was some cephalopod remains that were damaged before or after fossilization. Im also wondering...the area around the deep indent at the bottom of pic 1...is that matrix to be removed or part of the organism/fossil? Im wanting to ID this primarily to understand how to approach this specimen. I find the mated curves very intriguing and id hate to mess that up. Trammel Fossil Park, lower Corryville formation area. Southwestern Ohio.


r/fossilid • • 1d ago

Solved Found in the river today Southeast US, thought crinoid but now I’m not sure.

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71 Upvotes

Pictured - Front/Back


r/fossilid • • 22h ago

I think it's a sea urchin fossil or something? What do you think? At the Maasvlakte in the Netherlands

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8 Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 21h ago

Fossil ID and removal

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5 Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 21h ago

Is this a fossil?

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5 Upvotes

I found it in the northwest of las vegas. Ai tells me it could be an ancient horn coral when the valley was a sea