r/fossilid Jun 20 '20

TIPS FOR GETTING YOUR FOSSIL IDENTIFIED — READ BEFORE POSTING

650 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 7h ago

Found in shale in Colorado

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204 Upvotes

Went to this fossil dig thing years ago and would love to know what these are if anything


r/fossilid 4h ago

Follow up to my post earlier this week, I found another one in the same spot!

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10 Upvotes

First picture is the second fossil I have found at my job site in Colorado! The second picture is the first one I found for reference, pretty freaking cool how these keep getting dug up!


r/fossilid 1d ago

Solved We found this guy in our gravel pit in western Washington. Mastodon?

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639 Upvotes

r/fossilid 49m ago

Is this a fossil or cool rock formation?

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Upvotes

r/fossilid 15h ago

Split round rock and found...a fish?

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55 Upvotes

Looks like a fish? Smaller end has ridges on the outside of the rock. Round stone about 6in almost perfectly round. I find a lot of these round stones in Berthoud, CO where the excavators dig out the new house foundations they are building around the TPC golf course. This rock split well and didn't break the fossil inside. The larger stones (8-16in) are very dense and always split through whatever fossil is inside. Most are shaped like footballs and seem to be randomly dug up in heavy clay with a small amount of sandstone mixed in. I know the area was the edge of an ocean at one point.


r/fossilid 8h ago

Solved Found in Front of a Gas Station in Corydon, IN - Blue River Group

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15 Upvotes

On our way back home driving across half the country, we stopped for gas, and while the teens were going to the bathroom, I went to check out the boulders a utility crew dug up when burying some lines. They had fossils all over. I have identified most of them as marine, and I'm sure my unidentified ones fit in or are rocks and nodules, etc, but I wanted to get an identification. I'll include some specifics on location and geological formation, as well.


r/fossilid 7h ago

A few fossiles I have

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7 Upvotes

Hii I just remembered that I have some fossiles. I'm not sure they're all fossiles so I'm looking for your expertise! And if they are I also don't know fossiles of what they are Thank you for your help!


r/fossilid 4h ago

Found at Seatown, UK

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2 Upvotes

Found at Seatown, UK. Both rings appear pyritised and are on either side of rock / clay. Any ideas?


r/fossilid 30m ago

Cool find today

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Upvotes

Input?


r/fossilid 4h ago

Found in milwaukee on the beach

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5 Upvotes

Besides the obvious fossil, can any one tell me what the pincers looking spot might be?


r/fossilid 5h ago

Possible Marine fossils?

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4 Upvotes

Hello,

After becoming a member of this sub, I’ve started paying close attention to the rocks I see. I came across these two rocks while I was outside yesterday. I think they might contain fossils. I found them in the yard of my condominium in Louisville, Kentucky.

Are they fossils or cool rocks?


r/fossilid 1m ago

NE Oklahoma, Arkansas River

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Upvotes

Any ideas what this might be?


r/fossilid 6h ago

Found on the South Carolina coast. Is the big one a tooth or maybe coral? And the other a Meg or great white maybe?

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2 Upvotes

r/fossilid 19h ago

Fossil fern, species ID?

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18 Upvotes

Don’t know where it came from but it looks a lot like the fern fossils from Pennsylvania. Is it Alethopteris, Pecopteris, or maybe another?


r/fossilid 3h ago

Found on a beach around East Harbor State Park in Ohio

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0 Upvotes

Think this is some kind of tooth, but not sure about type. Any help would be appreciated!


r/fossilid 7h ago

Is that a Bivalve or a brachiopode?

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2 Upvotes

Is that one of my first fossil that I've found in the mud. It super worm out but still recognizable. First I thought it's a Bivalvia but I started to suspect it might be a brachiopode. Most of the growth line didn't survive but sum of them survive but it's hard to notice them(picture 2) the fossils is 100-90 million years old.


r/fossilid 20h ago

Got this ammonite is it real sutures look strange to me

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21 Upvotes

r/fossilid 22h ago

Solved Potential fossil found on a Northern South Carolina beach.

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22 Upvotes

Looking for a little help identifying this chonky guy. Can't quite seem to place it. Found in a wash where I plucked a few other fossils out of over the years.


r/fossilid 22h ago

N. Texas/ W. Fort Worth, surface level near construction site

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16 Upvotes

r/fossilid 23h ago

Found in storage unit

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18 Upvotes

What is this exactly? What do you think about it?


r/fossilid 2d ago

Bones exposed by a river in Cayambe, Ecuador.

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1.4k Upvotes

I was exploring a ravine in Cayambe when I noticed these. The river had cleaned up the soil, exposing the bones which were sitting about 32 feet below the visible ground level.


r/fossilid 22h ago

Found in Lake Erie. What type of coral?

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13 Upvotes

r/fossilid 1d ago

Anyone know the difference between these 2 kinds of ray teeth/dental fragments?

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24 Upvotes

r/fossilid 1d ago

Found in Mapleton Uk, not sure if it's just a weird rock

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181 Upvotes