Fossil finder 100 Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 I live in Amarillo Texas where there are no fossil shops or good places to hunt for fossils so when I want fossils I either have to travel or go on a website. And as a young fossil hunter that can’t drive yet I can’t go anywhere on my own. So my question is this, does anyone know any good fossil dig sites near my location, or if not any good fossil websites? Thanks ahead of time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 (edited) Welcome to the Forum. The best thing to do is to join a local paleontology society. They have trips and may help with the driving. Have you been to the nearby Panhandle-Plains Museum that has some paleontology exhibits? They may have programs or do research on fossils. Maybe you could help as a volunteer. https://www.panhandleplains.org/p/collections--exhibitions/permanent-exhibits/paleontology Search Google or on the Forum for local fossils: such as county plus fossils or county plus paleontology. Sample Forum post: Good luck, John Edited July 23, 2022 by DPS Ammonite 1 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 Welcome young hunter! I am going to assume that like most kids, you have a smart phone? Download an app called Rockd. It has a wealth of information, as well as GPS mapped overlays to show you the geologic strata in a locations. My quick check shows Amarillo sits in a Pleistocene deposit with a max age of around 2.5 million years. Just north of you, the rock age goes from 2.5 - 11.6 million, and to the northwest, you have the Bishop Hills which will be middle Triassic at 208-247 million. Being without your own transportation makes your quest a lot harder, but not impossible. Keep an open mind while scouting, and go scouting often! 2 million year old mega-fauna like bison, horses and mammoth are certainly fossils. And of course anything from the Triassic would be awesome as well. Hunting for fossils is almost exactly like prospecting for gold. You have to spend as much time learning about how and where to look as you can. Youve got a quantum leap over all of old guys. We didnt have the internet, and at best had a few dusty library books from the 1950s, to look at. Read, read, read! And when you can be outside, always keep an eye to the ground and to the terrain around you. Always be asking questions (even if only to yourself), What is this under my feet? Where did it come from, how old is it, what are the layers around me? What can they tell about the history of the spot I'm in? Now, back to the prospecting.... look for anything out of place. A change in color, shape, texture... pick it up and investigate. Look in dry creek beds, look in river gravel bars, look in the exposed cuts of the river banks (always be careful of collapse!) Look on any exposed rock hillsides (a lot easier to find out your way! LOL) Fossils, like gold, erode out, wash down until they become trapped or ground to powder. When you find something, search uphill and upstream to try to find the source. Now, here's one more thing to consider while you are exploring. When you find the bones of a modern dead animal, stop and look at them. Think of the animal in life, and how that relates to what you see. Is everything there? are parts missing? scattered? how far? bones chewed? weathering and collapsing? becoming buried or eroding before they can become buried? The same processes happened to every animal that might become a fossil. The process is called taphonomy. Understanding it will also help you understand that fossils that you will eventually begin finding. Well, I think I've rambled enough here and gone beyond the scope of your question. Good luck. Dont get discouraged. 2 Professional fossil preparation services at Red Dirt Fossils, LLC. https://reddirtfossils.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil finder 100 Posted July 23, 2022 Author Share Posted July 23, 2022 Thank y’all so much for taking y’all’s time to respond and teach me a little something, I can’t wait to be able to go hunting on my own and learn along the way, I will make sure to download the app and do some research. I have been to the museum here and it’s amazing! They have a full skeleton of a allosaurus! Thanks again for responding and sharing a piece of y’all’s knowledge! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 Welcome! 1 hour ago, Fossil finder 100 said: any good fossil websites? Members can send you recommendations via PM. 1 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted July 23, 2022 Share Posted July 23, 2022 33 minutes ago, Fossil finder 100 said: Thank y’all so much for taking y’all’s time to respond and teach me a little something, I can’t wait to be able to go hunting on my own and learn along the way, I will make sure to download the app and do some research. I have been to the museum here and it’s amazing! They have a full skeleton of a allosaurus! Thanks again for responding and sharing a piece of y’all’s knowledge! And any time you take a trip with family or friends take half an hour or so to check out the area you're visiting. That's how I got started before I had a car, and I didn't have a car until I was 20. 1 Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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