Have any of your favorite dinosaurs, etc, been found near you?

[Faelrin]

I was reading up on Diplocaulus (on wikipedia), when I saw that there was possibly fossils of it found within my state (Pennsylvania). I also ended up stumbling upon a list of genera that have been found here in trying to learn more of its possible discovery somewhere in the state. To my surprise many of my personal favorites have been possibly discovered here, other then the above one. Such as Anomalocaris, Bothriolepis, Edaphosaurus, Eryops, Isotelus, Olenoides, Orthoceras, Arctodus, Castoroides/Giant Beaver, the American Mastodon, the Dire Wolf, the Woolly Mammoth, etc. I really want to do more research on this now, because it's sad how long I've been without knowing any of these possibly having had once lived here.

Honestly before, I could have probably only named Phacops (which I knew about since the early 2000's when I was still in middle school), Hynerpeton, and Hyneria (because of WWM) off hand. Honestly I was also surprised to see a good number of eurypterids, and some genera like Orthacanthus, Sidneyia, Triarthrus, and Tricrepicephalus which I am familiar with due to them having figures (some of which I have in fact).

By the way here's the list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_prehistoric_life_of_Pennsylvania

In contrast my birthplace of NH on the other hand, only had an abysmal few sadly, and nothing I was familiar with unfortunately.

So anyways, enough of this aside, maybe it would be interesting to discuss what prehistoric fauna (and flora I guess too) once lived around the area you folks are located in now.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

Also from Pennsylvania, there's the Kinzers formation with several trilobites and other lower Cambrian creatures through Lancaster and York counties. In Lancaster County, where I'm from, we have the reptile Sphodrosaurus pennsylvanicus that was found in Bowmansville.

[Faelrin]

@Pachyrhinosaurus I'm not even all that far from either of those places. Can't believe I've never heard of that formation before. A quick google search into it, and I'm already seeing Anomalocaris was discovered from it (as well as this wonderful list that I'm going to need to dig into tomorrow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fossiliferous_stratigraphic_units_in_Pennsylvania ).

Fossilworks seems to confirm it too:

http://fossilworks.org/bridge.pl?a=collectionSearch&taxon_no=7370&max_interval=Cambrian&country=United%20States&state=Pennsylvania&is_real_user=1&basic=yes&type=view&match_subgenera=1

I'll certainly see if any of the other formations listed show anything there. Would be cool to see what else has been found around these parts.

[Loon]

No, not really. California wasn't up to much during the Mesozoic.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

@Pachyrhinosaurus I'm not even all that far from either of those places. Can't believe I've never heard of that formation before. A quick google search into it, and I'm already seeing Anomalocaris was discovered from it (as well as this wonderful list that I'm going to need to dig into tomorrow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fossiliferous_stratigraphic_units_in_Pennsylvania ).

I'll certainly see if any of the other formations listed show anything there. Would be cool to see what else has been found around these parts.

Yale has some Anomalocaris claws that were found here long ago:



If you want to get more into local paleontology, I'd suggest you check out the North Museum adjacent to F&M College as well as the Lancaster County Fossil and Mineral Club.

[Tyto_Theropod]

I live in Scotland, which sadly for me is pretty dinosaur-poor, despite there being Jurassic strata exposed in the north and west.  You can find really nice ammonites ad belemnites - I have what I think is a Cardioceras which was just sitting on a beach like it was waiting to be found.  There has been dinosaur material found on the Isle of Skye, and more recently on Eigg, but sadly none of the body fossils are identifiable to genus level, so all we can say is that there was a big old sauropod and a medium-sized theropod, possibly a Coelophysoid - although the rocks on Skye are mid-late Jurassic, so a bit late for them.  There are some impressive trackways on Skye (which I've never seen, because when I went over there it was raining and the paths down to the beach weren't safe).  But given that most of my absolute favourite dinosaurs are Cretaceous, I doubt anyone will be digging them up in my neck of the woods!

However, my area of Scotland is Carboniferous Central.  Highlights include Hibbertopterus, Arthropleura, Stethacanthus and Westlothiana, which is possibly one of the earliest known reptiles.  Recently amphibian fossils have been discovered really close to where I live, which is pretty exciting.  The most common fossils, though, are aggregations of indeterminate smashed up bivalves, and giant club mosses like Lepidodendron.  I actually  have some really cool fossils of the latter that I found myself.  They sit on the a windowsill and occasionally I stand my dinosaurs on them for pictures.  If you know where to look, you can find beaches full of these Lepidodendron-type fossils.  It's pretty amazing, and with some of them you can almost imagine walking through an ancient swamp forest.  There are also marine deposits, where if you look closely you can see Crinoid fragments.  Luckier people than me have found burrows, and if you're really, really lucky, you might just find some nice brachiopods and trilobites.  There are also some Devonian strata that have produced some really good fish fossils in the past.

So all in all, Scotland is an awesome place to find fossils, just not dinosaurs.

[Gwangi]

I'm originally from NY so I have a special fondness for the Devonian period which was represented well where I lived as well as nearby PA. Also the American mastodon. No dinosaurs in NY though, aside from a single footprint. Now I live in Maryland on the eastern shore but the fossils here are all young, like from the Miocene, in some parts of the state you can find C. megalodon teeth among other marine fossils of that time. Other parts of Maryland have dinosaur fossils though and Astrodon is the state dinosaur. Since I live near New Jersey I have a fondness for genera like Dryptosaurus, and Hadrosaurus.

[Sim]

Yes, Baryonyx was found relatively close to where I live.

[Libraraptor]

I have to drive one hour to Nehden where Iguanodons had been found in the eighties.

Balve is a 45 minutes drive away,  Iguanodon  and some raptors had been found there.

I am in Korbach in 75 minutes,  thete is a Procynosuchus site.

Protochirotherium footprints have been found a two Hour drive from here.

[Sarapaurolophus]

Yes and no. Most of my faves come from childhood exposure, so of course there are some Germans present (most of all Liliensternus and Archaeopteryx). But none of them have been found in close proximity to where I grew up. There were findings but they didn't make it to my top ten (sorry to all Plateosaurus fans)

[elfwink]

Not within the same state no. But at least Muttaburrasaurus is in the same country as me. (And it just has a fun name to pronounce.)

[Halichoeres]

Yes! I'm from Arizona, which has some spectacular Triassic deposits, like the Petrified Forest and the Moenkopi Formation. Granted, both of those are in northern Arizona, and I'm from southern Arizona, but really not too far. Now I live in Chicago, where people are much nicer, and where the fossils are older. The Carboniferous Mazon Creek fauna is out at the edge of the suburbs. I also lived in upstate New York for a while, and the Devonian stuff there, as Gwangi was pointing out, is amazing.

[Faelrin]

I'm kind of late responding to folks, but here goes...

@Pachyrhinosaurus That is really cool to see. I'll have to check that out. I really had no idea there was all this cool stuff so close to me.

@Tyto_Theropod In my case I would be satisfied living nearby where those were found, because those are some of my favorite Carboniferous genera. Feel you on the lack of dinosaurs though.

@Gwangi Some of my relatives (dad's cousins) live in the mountainous region of NY. Got to go see the Gilboa museum last year when I got to visit with them. Was really cool to see some of those early tree fossils and other things. One of these days I want to visit the museum in Ithaca as well (whose fine folks also help with the Paleozoic Pals).

@Sim Lucky you, considering that's one of my favorite dinosaurs. @Libraraptor Same thing here. Iguanodon is another one of my favorites.

@Halichoeres Gotta be great to live so close to where the Tullimonstrum once did. You were certainly lucky to be so near some really cool Triassic fauna previously as well (and I suppose Dilophosaurus as well since that was discovered in that state as well).

[Justin_]

Maybe we need to have a limit for "near". The island of Britain with its three countries is smaller than the US state of Wyoming, where residents can claim all the Hell Creek finds. I'm in London so near enough to Oxford where the first Megalosaurus and Iguanodon fossils where found, and near enough to the Jurassic Coast. I'm interested on British-found dinosaurs so in my case they're some of my favorites just because they were discovered relatively near me. As for genuinely local discoveries, there's an anecdote about hippopotamus and lions in the area About 125,000 years ago but I'm not sure of actual fossil evidence.

[Tyto_Theropod]

@Faelrin Thanks!  I should really learn more about my neighbourhood palaeofauna and -flora - they're all really interesting species and deserve more love.  I can post some new pictures of my Lepidodendron material on my Flickr and the fossil collection thread if you'd be interested.  Honestly, this discussion has made me want to go out fossil hunting again, but I need to sort out my very limited hobby/collection space first.  Also, there is still a pandemic going on and now lockdown has eased up a bit everyone's pouring onto the beaches - so they aren't exactly the safest place to be at the moment!

@Justin_ I can definitely see your point, but then again it might make the thread less fun.  I thought of mentioning the British dinosaur finds myself, but I'm basically at the other end of the UK, so they aren't exactly on my doorstep!  This isn't to say I don't have an especial fondness for Baryonyx and friends as fellow Brits, because I definitely do.  I need to track down some good model representations of my local gang to further clutter up my collection shelves.

[Gwangi]

@Gwangi Some of my relatives (dad's cousins) live in the mountainous region of NY. Got to go see the Gilboa museum last year when I got to visit with them. Was really cool to see some of those early tree fossils and other things. One of these days I want to visit the museum in Ithaca as well (whose fine folks also help with the Paleozoic Pals).

@Faelrin, I never got to visit the Giloa museum, but I had always wanted to. I've been to the Museum of the Earth in Ithaca countless times though, ever since it first opened. I even volunteered there for a few years. I hope you get to visit it someday, I adore that place.

[Halichoeres]

Maybe we need to have a limit for "near". The island of Britain with its three countries is smaller than the US state of Wyoming, where residents can claim all the Hell Creek finds. I'm in London so near enough to Oxford where the first Megalosaurus and Iguanodon fossils where found, and near enough to the Jurassic Coast. I'm interested on British-found dinosaurs so in my case they're some of my favorites just because they were discovered relatively near me. As for genuinely local discoveries, there's an anecdote about hippopotamus and lions in the area About 125,000 years ago but I'm not sure of actual fossil evidence.

Yeah, people definitely reckon distance differently in the western US than elsewhere. People are just used to driving for hours to get anywhere.

[stegosauria]

My favorite dinosaurs will be never found here- the Jurassic here was just ocean with plenty of ammonite fossils and such as. Poor stegosaurs would never make it (even their corpses floating in the ocean). It's even a miracle there is any dinosaur fossil in Hungary.

But I can find any time Nummulites in the park under our apartment (in one case even in the staircase around the second floor- it probably got there attached to somebody's shoe).

[Reuben03]

nah but i found a chunk of temnodontosaurus jawbone in lyme regis lol
still got it.

[Lanthanotus]

Near may be relative, but living in the middle of Germany, nothing national is too far out. Not many dinosaurs here, but some
of the historically important, Plateosaurus being my favorite amongst those.