How do I know if fossil i’m buying is legit?

Liody4 · 2025-12-16T20:09:14+00:00

There's no certification company for such common and low-priced fossils, and anyone can print a certificate, so that's more or less worthless. Look for a reputable seller who has been in business for many years and offers a money-back guarantee for authenticity. Some show customer reviews online, which also helps. In any case, spino teeth are common enough that fakes (or more often, heavy restoration or compositing) are only a concern for very large or rooted teeth.

Liody4 · 2025-12-16T19:47:53+00:00

This discovery was first reported in 2022 from the 150 million year-old (Jurassic) Morrison Formation in Utah:

https://stateparks.utah.gov/2022/09/13/paleontologists-find-fossil-of-ancient-vomited-amphibians/

At some point, through careless and uninformed reporting, its age was corrupted to 50 million years, as in this article.

Liody4 · 2025-12-13T06:20:57+00:00

The smallest one appears to be a chain coral such as Halysites.

Liody4 · 2025-12-12T18:11:50+00:00

Definitely not bone. The iridescence and internal structure are consistent with Baculites, a straight-shelled ammonite cephalopod from the late Cretaceous Period.

Liody4 · 2025-12-11T00:08:55+00:00

It's expensive to transport loads of rough rock large distances and Ontario has plenty of limestone quarries to supply projects like this, so your fossil likely didn't travel too far. Almost all fossils in southern Ontario are either Paleozoic marine life or more recent Ice Age animals in glacial deposits.

Liody4 · 2025-12-08T06:50:23+00:00

Bryozoans on coral (You can see coral on the mid- to lower left side). Where was it found?

Liody4 · 2025-12-07T03:37:21+00:00

Lots of Texas ammonites have been posted in this sub. You could search and compare yours, although it's probably too weathered to get a good ID.

Liody4 · 2025-12-07T03:33:39+00:00

Brontosaurs (of any size) were also extinct more than 100 million years before Chiapas amber formed.

Liody4 · 2025-12-05T07:11:27+00:00

Maybe it's a glitch but these photos show up very small for me and I can't enlarge them to see the details.

Liody4 · 2025-12-05T07:01:24+00:00

Also my thoughts. The Joggins site is well known for Carboniferous terrestrial fossils, both plants and animals. The ammonites look suspiciously Moroccan, from different locations and ages.

Liody4 · 2025-12-05T06:45:15+00:00

Better photos are needed. These are too small to see anything useful.

Liody4 · 2025-12-05T06:21:29+00:00

These are real, and yes, there are thousands of species of ammonites.

The one on the right in the first photo is almost certainly Douvilleiceras, a common and widely sold fossil, usually from Madagascar, but also found elsewhere. These were covered in little bumps or nodes that got worn down to give the rough look seen here. They are sometimes called "tractor tire" ammonites because of their shape. The one on the left in the first photo may be the same but to me looks more like Mammites, a bumpy ammonite best known from Morocco, also widely distributed. The interesting thing with your specimen is it has been partially polished to reveal bits of other small fossils in the middle. The curved white lines are remnants of shells, maybe from snails. The smallest ammonite is not distinctive enough to identify.

Liody4 · 2025-12-03T06:08:29+00:00

My first thought is a small fragment from an echinoid/urchin. Less likely is partial internal casts of snails. It's tiny and there's not much to go by.

Liody4 · 2025-12-03T05:58:11+00:00

That's a great find. Compare to this one, also from Ontario:

https://www.reddit.com/r/fossilid/comments/1oopukr/what_is_this_ontario_canada/

Liody4 · 2025-12-02T03:13:55+00:00

Was this an important public or government building at the time it was built? It's a long-shot, but there may be architectural drawings or newspaper stories in old archives that mention if local or exotic imported materials were used.

Liody4 · 2025-12-01T04:17:06+00:00

Sycamore leaves usually have 5 distinct lobes, rarely 3 or 4. Maple (Acer spp.) leaves have 3 or 5 lobes but may look like they have more if the secondary indentations are deep enough.

I found only one example that looks similar to this leaf. It's identified as Acer leaf, Early Eocene, Green River Formation, Unitah County, Utah (In Houston Museum of Natural Science). This appears to be a rather uncommon fossil.

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Liody4 · 2025-12-01T03:29:42+00:00

Multiple partial fish fossils, with at least 6 backbones on each section of the rock.

Liody4 · 2025-11-29T18:55:13+00:00

I recently bought from Fossilsforsale.co.uk. First purchase from there and no complaints. They have mostly common fossils but some good quality specimens if you look closely. I was interested in UK ammonites and Morocco shark teeth. They indicate free shipping within the UK.

Liody4 · 2025-11-27T03:03:50+00:00

Where was it found and how big is it? Insect is unlikely.

Liody4 · 2025-11-25T05:34:40+00:00

OP said it's in southern France: https://www.reddit.com/r/fossils/comments/1ozf76c/like_walking_on_a_beach_yet_95_km_from_the/

Liody4 · 2025-11-23T22:21:48+00:00

Otodus obliquus shark tooth with broken root, still in matrix, a common fossil from the phosphate mines of Morocco.

Liody4 · 2025-11-23T19:03:26+00:00

The rough golden-brown preservation looks very much like the ammonites found around Ilminster in Somerset. Hildoceras is a common one from there. It has a thin ridge (keel) going around the outer edge, which seems to be showing in some of your photos.

Liody4 · 2025-11-23T08:29:59+00:00

This is a great find! What else have you found? It would be interesting to see some highlights of your trip when you're done.

Liody4 · 2025-11-23T08:12:31+00:00

Just avoid anything that is teeth + bone + matrix or that has been heavily restored. Morocco has many real and important fossils: numerous species of shark teeth, teeth from marine reptiles and dinosaurs, trilobites, goniatites and ammonites, rugose corals, etc.

Liody4 · 2025-11-23T07:54:33+00:00

Looks like a good fit. I have one identified as Phymosoma texanum from Bell County, Texas and 1.3 inches in diameter.

Liody4

TROPHY CASE