Who collects fossils?

M

Mmm390

Joined
Jan 26, 2019
Messages
97
What guy doesn't like fossils.
At one point in my life i even collected and hunted for them.
My best hunting finds were a trilobite, a large very detailed piece of tree bark, and some smaller Unidentified bones.
My most curious buy was a piece of amber with a couple bugs in it....but upon very close inspection I could see a small bubble in the amber with a water like liquid in it!
Is this even possible? My understanding of the fossilization process says it's not.
But I swear that's what i saw.
Unfortunately i lost this speciemen over the years :/

Does anyone else collect fossils?
What are your best speciemens?
Can we see them!?
 
I collected fossils as a kid and won a ribbon at our little science fair. Trilobites were king. As an adult, my collecting interest faded. I would love to find a young person who is interested and give them some of my accumulation. Have a very large oyster shell (Tertiary aged, probably Eocene) that I found in South Texas a long time ago. It is huge > maybe 10-12" across.

Have your typical fossil fish (Green River) shadow boxed mounted on the wall. Been there a long time.
 
My interest in fossils has been renewed because of all the recent amazing fossil news coming out of China.
Huge amounts of newly discovered fossils in conditions so well preserved...nothing like it has ever been seen before.

I also read that good quality fossils Are becoming so highly sought after by collectors....
That museums can't compete and can no longer afford to house quality finds.

These last few years alone have seen some of the most amazing finds in history. You don't see that on the news tho...just more endless Trump face time...good or bad. :/
 
I'm really not a collector, we do go rock hounding and are always looking for fossils, too. No great finds, so far. I've become acquainted with a fellow that's a very good dinosaur bone collector. He recently told me there is a dinosaur every 100 yards from Arizona to Montana! Most are not collectible due to regulations and will just erode away.

There is an area with a fossilized Oyster Bed, when we visited it I was amazed to see that road we'd driven a few times was fossils. It's in a National Monument, no collecting.

medium800.jpg


medium800.jpg
 
I had a old coworker a few years ago and we got onto the subject of fossils. he went on to tell me that he recently uncovered huge fossilized bones on his land!
I immediately asked if we could make a trip to go see them and he agreed but he also informed me that he had contacted the local college and that they were extremely interested in coming out and studying them.

Unfortunatly he passed away very shortly after our talk and we never got the chance to visit the site.(RIP)
I need to investigate if the college ever got a chance to see it and what they uncovered.
 
Last edited:
Mmm390 said:
My interest in fossils has been renewed because of all the recent amazing fossil news coming out of China.
Huge amounts of newly discovered fossils in conditions so well preserved...nothing like it has ever been seen before.

I also read that good quality fossils Are becoming so highly sought after by collectors....
That museums can't compete and can no longer afford to house quality finds.

These last few years alone have seen some of the most amazing finds in history. You don't see that on the news tho...just more endless Trump face time...good or bad. :/
Click to expand...
Maybe you could provide some links as I know nothing about any fossil finds in China. Good fossils have been in demand. Good mineral specimens, especially crystals, are also highly sought by collectors. Big show every year in NC. I used to attend the mineral shows. Dallas and Denver shows are super. Feel sure there is a big west coast show as well. I would never travel much for a rock & mineral show. Same goes with knife shows although the Blade Show (Atlanta) is a very doable distance for a one-day attendance there.
 
LEGION 12 said:
I found this awhile ago not sure what it is though .
Click to expand...
Horn coral maybe?

I have what seems like boxes and boxes of fossils collected I as a kid; one day when I get to them under the pile o junk I hope to take pictures and catalog at least the collection location.
 
Mmm390 said:
View attachment 1101302
Can anyone identify what type of tree bark this is?
It's about 1 foot long
Click to expand...
That does not appear to be bark versus the middle portion of a tree that has been replaced and preserved. I have a palm that was replaced by silica (ie petrified wood). It is essentially grayish in color now. The thing has been sitting on my deck for the last 20 years and in various rooms for 20 years before that..... It weighs about 20 lbs. Used it as a door stop for a long time.
 
One of my hobbies is rock collecting and polishing. I like acquiring different rocks and seeing what happens. In this case, I purchased a few pounds of fossil Turritella Shells in Agate, not sure of the country of origin. They polish up nicely, I save a few and gift the rest young kids.

medium800.jpg


Photographed on a piece of locally collected Petrified Wood:
medium800.jpg
 
22-rimfire said:
The only dinosaur tracks I have ever seen were in Central Texas.
Click to expand...

We have quite a few around Utah, these are the closest to me and easiest to access.

By the way, I like your screen name. Big fan of 22s, have 5 rifles and one lonely revolver.
 
Win Heger said:
We have quite a few around Utah, these are the closest to me and easiest to access.

By the way, I like your screen name. Big fan of 22s, have 5 rifles and one lonely revolver.
Click to expand...
Been my screen name for a long time. It was my first and if available has been used in other forums. I am also a big fan of 22's. What goes around comes around.... start out with 22's and end with 22's. I shoot other stuff, but 22's dominate. I have ten 22 rifles (added: keep forgetting the ones I haven't shot). Revolvers have always been a favorite and have been since I was old enough to buy them (Colt, S&W, Ruger). But I mostly shoot rifles now.
 
Last edited:
I just spent a week out in Utah doing some photography, exploring and rock collecting. One of my quests was what is called Grape Agate, found in an ancient sea bed.
These are actually formed from Stromatolite, one the world's oldest forms of life, they can be 3.5 billion years old. They still survive in some places, like the West coast of Australia.

medium800.jpg


medium800.jpg


medium800.jpg


medium800.jpg


Location, amazing what you find in the middle of no where:
medium800.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top