r/fossilid • • Jun 20 '20

TIPS FOR GETTING YOUR FOSSIL IDENTIFIED — READ BEFORE POSTING

717 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 • • 6h ago

Plant fossil in MDO, California

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114 Upvotes

Found this in montaña de oro, California. Curious if anyone can ID the plant. I told my aunt who is a marine biologist in the area and she told me plant fossils are rare on this part of the coast.


r/fossilid • • 16h ago

Should I have brought it back?

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184 Upvotes

I found this impression of a sea urchin on a rock at Étretat, Normandy. I reasoned that that was where it belonged and did not carry it home.

Gemini said that it likely belongs to an extinct species of sea urchin.

"Fossil imprint of a cidarid sea urchin embedded within a weathered flint pebble.

A cidarid echinoid (pencil sea urchin), with features highly consistent with Stereocidaris sceptrifera (or a closely related genus like Tylocidaris) from the Late Cretaceous period (around 80–90 million years old)."


r/fossilid • • 5h ago

Is this a real ammonite fossil?

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17 Upvotes

Found at local thrift store. Ammonite measures ~4 cm.


r/fossilid • • 1d ago

Anyone have an idea on what these vertebrae could be from?

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1.2k Upvotes

I had a bottle of knob creek and a football for scale. I found them eroding out of a bedrock ledge in a creek that runs through my buddy’s property. (SE Oklahoma)


r/fossilid • • 4h ago

Found in Coquina Beach Florida. Its heavier than it looks

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6 Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 2h ago

Solved Possible tooth found in Bitterwater, California

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3 Upvotes

I found this in a seasonal creek where I regularly find sand dollar, snail, and clam fossils. I have never before found anything like this, my best guess is it’s a tooth but whose tooth could it be?


r/fossilid • • 8h ago

ID request - Demtre Park, SC

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8 Upvotes

Found on the beach outside of Charleston, C. What is it?


r/fossilid • • 1h ago

Mammal / marine bone?

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• Upvotes

Found on Myrtle Beach, SC


r/fossilid • • 8h ago

Broken speleothems or fossil? Northern Thailand

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5 Upvotes

Found this strange object in the mud in a cave in northern Thailand. Unsure if this is just a concretion of fallen stalactites or if it is some kind of fossil. Left it with a local caving guide after cleaning it up.


r/fossilid • • 17h ago

Solved Dino tooth? Location unknown.

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28 Upvotes

I was given this alleged T. Rex tooth by a friend, but I have my doubts. Is there any way to be sure?

I did lick it, and it has a similar texture to my own teeth, if that helps.

Thanks in advance 🦖


r/fossilid • • 10h ago

Found in West Runton beach, Norfolk, UK

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8 Upvotes

Any idea if this is a fossil or just a rock with strange patterns?


r/fossilid • • 3h ago

Maybe fossil? Found in Ontario

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2 Upvotes

Hey fossil identifying people! While looking at some rocks by the cabin I was staying at this past weekend I kept finding rocks with this weird bowl-like shape to them. I cracked one open and inside it looks like it has some kind of radiating structure to the inside that seemed fossil-like to me? Or maybe it’s a kind of rock I just don’t recognize lol. Would appreciate any help I can get!


r/fossilid • • 26m ago

Pterosaur Jaw?

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• Upvotes

Hello all,

Interested in this specimen, which the seller says is Apatorhamphus jaw material, and I just wanted to make sure that it isn't a composite or something.

They made mention of some glued repairs which made me worried of the possibility of it being fake.

What do y'all think? Looks authentic to me, but my judgement is worth as much as dehydrated water.

Kem Kem Beds of Morocco.


r/fossilid • • 54m ago

Found those from the exact rock

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• Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 16h ago

i found clam, take a look

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15 Upvotes

Korea, Pohang


r/fossilid • • 2h ago

Fossil or comically tooth shaped rock?

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1 Upvotes

Portland vic. Hoping its a fossil. Left SA at 4am and been searching all day and this is the first interesting thing ive found


r/fossilid • • 16h ago

From Charles Knife Canyon, northern Western Australia

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8 Upvotes

The fossil itself looked to be about 2-3cm


r/fossilid • • 9h ago

what kind of fossil is this? Medina, TX

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2 Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 7h ago

Split this concretion open that I collected at Mazon Creek (Carboniferous) last year. Thoughts?

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1 Upvotes

r/fossilid • • 15h ago

Any idea what this is?

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4 Upvotes

I found it in the Netherlands. Veluwezoom to be specific, in between the heath.


r/fossilid • • 1d ago

WHICH KIND OF SAND DOLLAR?

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26 Upvotes

diameter 120mm

height 50mm

need your help!


r/fossilid • • 16h ago

From Charles Knife Canyon, northern Western Australia

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4 Upvotes

The fossil itself looked about 2-3cm


r/fossilid • • 1d ago

Illinois coal mine Fossil

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351 Upvotes

My fiance found this underground at his coal mine job and we aren’t having much luck identifying it! It was found as part of the Herrin coal seam in southern Illinois, Randolph county to be exact


r/fossilid • • 14h ago

Trammel Fossil Park, Ohio

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2 Upvotes

I am having trouble figuring out what this is, and rapidly realizing ChatGPT is pretty hit or miss on this stuff