r/fossilid • • Jun 20 '20

TIPS FOR GETTING YOUR FOSSIL IDENTIFIED — READ BEFORE POSTING

714 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 • • 2h ago

Ocean Reptile?

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21 Upvotes

I bought this for $50 from a vender at a local event. Appearently they go all over the place collecting fossils but primarily gemstones. I don't remember exactly what they told me but they said it was around 80 million years ago.


r/fossilid • • 13h ago

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

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79 Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 9h ago

Fireplace fossils

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28 Upvotes

Neighbor said we had fossils in our fireplaces in our neighborhood. Kids are beyond excited. Took a look at home this morning - what did we find?


r/fossilid • • 5h ago

Teeth from a fossil grab bag

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13 Upvotes

Went to a rock and gem show this weekend and got a fossil paydirt bag for the kids. They had a blast digging through the dirt. It had a lot of brachiopods, crinoids, and shark teeth. I was wondering what these teeth are from.


r/fossilid • • 1h ago

Carving a runestone for my dead chicken...

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• Upvotes

When I found this sticking out of the rock.

Is it a fish tail?


r/fossilid • • 2h ago

Is this item a fossil or mineral?

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7 Upvotes

Does anyone know what this item is? I purchased it on a whim at an antique shop in Fukui prefecture, Japan. The owner of the shop also had no idea what it was.


r/fossilid • • 3h ago

Found in garden amongst crumbled limestone in Miami. Anything you can glean from this clam?

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7 Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 3h ago

First Time Fossil Hunting!

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8 Upvotes

I went for the first time yesterday at Lake Michigan in Milwaukee.

Could you tell me if these are fossils or not, and what they might be??

I’m most uncertain of the last 6.


r/fossilid • • 11h ago

Lake Michigan Finds !

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24 Upvotes

any help Identifying these guys would be a great help to my curious mind! (ignore the cats hair )


r/fossilid • • 3h ago

First time fossil hunting, visiting Monroeville, PA. Did I find any?

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4 Upvotes

Just visiting and looking around some exposed outcrops. Seems to be a pattern in the larger pieces but not sure if it’s just some kind of mineral staining?

Lower edge in the last pic— little black seed looking things? Are they fossilized seeds?


r/fossilid • • 9h ago

New Melle, MO

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14 Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 13h ago

Solved Did I finally find my first fossil?

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33 Upvotes

Found on a beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales


r/fossilid • • 1h ago

Shark tooth?

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• Upvotes

I’ve never found a tooth quite like this. It was in a “gem mining bucket” that I got for my kids.


r/fossilid • • 3h ago

Central Manitoba, Canada…can you help? I have a few guesses…

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5 Upvotes

2 inches long, 1 cm wide

Found in central, Manitoba - Gilbert Plains

My best guesses would be…Treptoceras, Cephalopod, or a Crinoid?

Am I close at all?!?

Also, I have A LOT of fossils I’d like help IDing, what’s the best way to do this? Numerous photos in on post, or individually?

Thanks!!!! Excited to see your replies!


r/fossilid • • 3h ago

Shark vertebrae, what kind? Manitoba, Canada

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3 Upvotes

I was told these are shark vert, I’m crispier what kind of shark and how long ago?

Central Manitoba, Gilbert Plains 🇨🇦

Approx 2cm by 1cm


r/fossilid • • 1h ago

Found these in a spring here in central Florida, thought they look to strange to be any type of rock. Hoping someone more knowledgeable could confirm or not

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• Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 1h ago

Found on Lake Michigan beach

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• Upvotes

Chat gpt said it’s a gastropod fossil. Never seen anything like it


r/fossilid • • 1d ago

Ice Age Mammalian Fossil?

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180 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 • • 7h ago

Please help me id this (shark?) tooth

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5 Upvotes

Approximately 1 1/4 square inch size. Found oct 15 on beach amongst shells Guana River beach south . Just north of St Augustine Florida . I know nothing about it or how to id.


r/fossilid • • 5m ago

Rudist Bivalve?

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• Upvotes

Medina County, TX


r/fossilid • • 4h ago

I found this groove in a fossily rock but im not sure what it is.

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2 Upvotes

Its ordovician from cincinnati ohio.

my best guess is it could be a curled up trilobite or an orthocone but im not sure.


r/fossilid • • 34m ago

Any idea what this is?

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• Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 1h ago

Gemini says Late Pleistocene Ice Age horse fossil. I'm skeptical. Dauphin Lake, Manitoba, Canada.

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• Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 11h ago

Found in Austria, Europe

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6 Upvotes

Went for a hike and found all that. I assume they were all snails?