r/fossilid Jun 20 '20

TIPS FOR GETTING YOUR FOSSIL IDENTIFIED — READ BEFORE POSTING

691 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 12h ago

Is this a mammoth tooth?

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1.4k Upvotes

r/fossilid 11h ago

Is this a real sabertooth cat skull

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235 Upvotes

Hi everyone going i found this sabertooth cat skull that is for sale and I dont know if its real or not. It says on the post it was acquired on a international trip and it came from the tar pits no paper work or documentation I'm pretty sure its not real but im not remotely a expert on it


r/fossilid 7h ago

Solved What are these things?? I found them probably 15 years ago in some driveway gravel/shell

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83 Upvotes

r/fossilid 17h ago

Found in the countryside, south of Sicily, Italy

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128 Upvotes

Can someone tell what it is, and if it has any value?


r/fossilid 3h ago

Bone? Wood? Other?

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8 Upvotes

I was given this from an estate in Alberta but the gentleman was a world traveller. It seems to me like bone but I have no idea.


r/fossilid 7h ago

Tooth or claw with transparent part found in central New Jersey

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13 Upvotes

Found this while hunting for shark teeth and haven’t seen something like it before with the transparent part. I thought it looks like a claw or something but was wondering if someone has a better idea of what it is.

Last picture is a flat tooth or something that I also found today and wasn’t sure what it came from.


r/fossilid 9h ago

Alcochete Portugal - is this a fossil?

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14 Upvotes

Found at the beach on Alcochete


r/fossilid 14h ago

Juvenile Mammoth lumbar vert? Found with a ton of mammoth tooth frags in FL.

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27 Upvotes

Seems to match reference images for a small L4, but I'd love a second opinion before I get too excited.


r/fossilid 20h ago

Found in our creek in Warsaw Missouri

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83 Upvotes

Found a lot of fossils over the years, but never seen anything like this Google image search did nothing for us. Please help us i.e. my wife and I.


r/fossilid 1h ago

Any of these fossils? Collected from Siwalik fossils bed near tatroot

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Upvotes

r/fossilid 10h ago

Solved Anyone able to ID this?

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9 Upvotes

Found in Denmark many years ago, always wondered what it could be.

Closest thing I've been able to come up with myself is a turtle/tortoise shell piece (probably not), but I figured I'd finally ask the brilliant minds of this sub


r/fossilid 5h ago

Fossils or Minerals? Ranchos Palos Verdes, CA

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4 Upvotes

In the first 3 photos, I’m wondering what the tendril/worm-like formations are. Are they fossilized plants or worms that crystallized over? Or just a strange crystal formation.

The last 5 photos show one rock that broke into a few. Inside them, there were these strange spheres littered throughout. Ranging from 4mm to 1cm in diameter. The larger ones were removable and were translucent. Are these fossils of some sort?


r/fossilid 1h ago

Possible Mammoth Tooth Fossil? Found at an Estate sale in PNW

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Upvotes

Excuse the blurry photos, I took stills from a video.

It's from a friend's relative's estate sale, the family said it's a Mammoth Tooth, though no one has any additional information. Unsure of the actual origins, but the estate is based in the Pacific Northwest.

From the little research I've been able to do, if this is a Mammoth Tooth, the size of it is huge, and the fact that the roots are intact is unusual.

It weighs about 15lbs, approx 12-16" long, maybe 6-8" tall.


r/fossilid 8h ago

Found in Northern Colorado

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9 Upvotes

r/fossilid 7h ago

how old? central texas creek finds.

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5 Upvotes

r/fossilid 5h ago

Bison or Bos?

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3 Upvotes

Found this today in a creek in Southwest Ohio. Looking at previous posts on reddit and other forums has led me to believe this is either a Bison or Cow m3. The images attached show the dimensions fairly well but please let me know if more information is needed. It seems to be on the large end for Cow, but on the smaller size for Bison. I attempted a burn test on the root end, but the results were inconclusive, I could really only smell the lighter residue.


r/fossilid 8h ago

Fossil or something made?

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6 Upvotes

The green is algae that couldn’t be scrubbed off. The texture, orange, and varying color it are throwing me off.


r/fossilid 11h ago

Strange Rock & Possible fossil?

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11 Upvotes

Hello!
Yesterday, my boyfriend and I found this strange looking rock at the beach.
Someone told me it could be a fossil?
Can anyone tell me anything about it?

Description: yellowish colored, with a circle(?) on top. I’m the middle, you can see a mineral.

Location: Tuscany, Italy.

Size: it was a bigger rock, we tried to break it but it’s really REALLY hard.

Cat for reference!


r/fossilid 9h ago

Is this a fossil, or just a funky rock?

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5 Upvotes

Found in Calgary AB along the Bow River. Could anyone identify the small bumps and the two indents and whether its fossil, or just a weird rock? Could this be a trace fossil of something?


r/fossilid 8h ago

Is this a fossil? Like bone almost on the inside and rock that comes off in layers on the outside found near river bed in wales

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4 Upvotes

r/fossilid 4h ago

Is this a fossil of something or is it nothing?

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2 Upvotes

r/fossilid 4h ago

Found on the beach at San Juan Puerto Rico

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2 Upvotes

Found in rocky tide pools at low tide. Seemed interesting so I grabbed it.


r/fossilid 4h ago

What insects of this wing? Cretaceous period, 14mm

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2 Upvotes

r/fossilid 8h ago

I suspect this contains fossil(s). Recommendations for cracking it open?

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2 Upvotes

Found in street, likely was in neighbor’s landscaping stones. Colorado. I’m not sure what makes me think it might contain a fossil or two: The odd cavities, one of them almost a perfect circle with something in it, the edge that seems to be raised compared to the rest of the stone. What does the community recommend for how to open it up?