Anyone like Fossils?

[Alysser]

Thanks to my Geology class, I found something else to be interested in Fossils! Surprisingly, there's a lot of neat fossil beds around Monmouth County and New Jersey in general to check out. I am pretty mad I never knew about these hidden gems When asked my Dad said, "oh yeah I knew about them, but I didn't want you starting another nerdy hobby.." But anyway, I went to one last year called Poricy Park, but was disappointed in the lack of "cool" fossils. I found a few insanely ancient oyster shells, but that gets less cool as you find them. A professor of mine mentioned another place close by that is a "Gold Mine" for shark teeth, mososaur teeth (ancient reptilian - not a dino!), fish teeth, bones, etc. I visited over my spring break and THOUGHT I hit a gold mine, but I managed to find a lot of neat looking "rocks" - concentrations of Iron/Mudstone that look like teeth/bones.

Beginners mistake, I suppose! But at least they are still cool looking?


First two, rocks I mistook for Mososaur Teeth, which I aiming to find! 3rd, ACTUAL teeth - okay I kind of found these along a wooden ledge that someone kindly left there, but next time I will find them myself, they are very difficult to spot - at least in my opinion. The last one is what I though was an Arrowhead, it *probably* isn't but the weird indentation and perfect triangular look....mmhh. I asked a Forum that knows about fossils but I don't think anyone mentioned it in my post, so I may either ask my professor or even someone at the state museum! But if not, it's still a very neat rock shape!

I also found some Belemnites - which is common. It's the "guard" of an ancient squid, cephalopod. They're neat because they are shaped perfectly like an arrow or a bullet almost.

Anyway, I also bought a Spinosaurus tooth for around $15, from a *legitimate* fossil place online. They have an actual store in Massachusetts. I never knew such things could be bought that cheaply, but they are apparently common fossils. Ever since that horrible Jurassic Park 4 movie, I LOVED the Spinosaurus. Even though the movies completely inaccurate - I still liked the Dino.

So, is anyone else interested in these sort of things? Am I the only nerd?

I will post a pic of my tooth when it comes, it shipped today I believe! I am extremely excited about it, for what reason? I don't truthfully know, but hopefully it doesn't break in the mail!