Finding a possible Petalodus tooth is one of the gateway fossils that lead to my love of fossil hunting. My first find was a bust, but finally I have found the real thing. This piece came from the huge shelf rocks that outcropped inches from the creek bed locally. WeRead More →
Shansiella was first described by Yin in 1932. It can be identified as such by viewing it’s bands and a distinctive selenizone on the aperture opening. There are large numbers of Gastropod samples to be found in Limestone and shale, but I rarely do I find ones that are asRead More →
Catalog Number: CG-0012 My first Wilkingia find was in soft eroded matrix. I found this specimen while exploring a new locale. A 6 foot by 2 1/2 foot by 7 inch thick slab of limestone that was only 6 inches from the stream bed. With help, I slowly removed soilRead More →
While I have many sources of limestone locally, this specimen of Fenestella was one of my first finds in a new location. A limestone ridge cropped above the stream across the valley floor to the other side. So, while I’ve likely encountered many bryozoans in limestone, this is the firstRead More →
Update:This specimen is Allopinna godleskya Yancey 2024. When I found it, I was not aware of members of the pinnidae and thought it was an odd cephalopod. The “tube” I described below is a steinkern of the empty space left by the hinge on this large upright bivalve. I wasRead More →
My daughter found this Lepidodendron specimen during a quick expedition to explore exposed shale along a steep roadside hill. It was lying alongside the road on a raised dirt pile on top of the soil. PennDot probably unearthed this while making road repairs. This piece is from the neighboring GilpinRead More →
Catalog Number: CG-0008 Update: This has been identified as Eomarginifera longispinus. This specimen came out with more detail than I’ve ever seen in a Brachiopod locally. I was knocking off eroded edges from a large piece of limestone when this showed up. Surprisingly, I was able to wiggle the specimenRead More →
Update: This may be Euphemites. Examples from the Pennsylvanian Atlas of Life. Euphemites is a genus of the Bellerophontidae family. It is firmly within the Mollusca phylum, but exact taxonomy is not universally agreed upon. I will likely have a lot of unidentified pieces. This includes many brachiopods, as theyRead More →
Macroneuropteris is a seed plant that has a temporal range only in the Carboniferous. I found this specimen in the talus near the lab. Most specimens I find are of small leaves, or large pieces of bark. This was more certainly a large leaf. I wanted to show the leafRead More →
Maybe Pseudorthoceras, but I’m going to give more weight to Mooreoceras because of the large size of this specimen. The shell is a longicone. Also, the position of the Septal neck is off-center, as shown on the following plate. I found the impression of the larger piece still in theRead More →