Do you love dinosaurs? I mean really love them?
So you're like me! and I guess you would love to find and own some amazing dinosaur fossils yourself as i do in Morocco, right?
You know, you might even make some serious money 💲 if you find some good ones and keep them, maybe you can build your own store like i did 😋 but if you just don't have time to visit such remote areas in order to spend weeks trampling the hinterlands and cracking the rocks looking for fossils, you can buy real dinosaur fossils or shark fossils such as the very popular Megalodon.
So if you are not a paleontologist, you just have to go to the well known places like the 5 places that we are going to talk about in this present article and try to find fossils. Having said that fossils are mainly found deserts, dead riverbanks and exposed sloping cliffs mainly, because in these desolate areas the layer of soil and vegetation covering the fossil deposits is just not there!
Here are five best places in the world where we can find and collect fossils.
â„–1 : Westmoreland State Park in the United States
If you want Megalodon Teeth, this is the right place! Westmoreland State Park is located in Westmoreland County, Virginia. The park stretches for about a mile and a half along the Potomac River.
Besides shark teeth, some of the fossils that you can find in the park such as
- whale teeth
- vertebrae
- rib bones and ear bones
- dolphin teeth
- vertebrae
- rib bones and ear bones
- fish vertebrae
- shark vertebrae
- coprolites (fossil poo)
- alligator teeth
- and teeth of mammals.
in fact Several new species of whales have been discovered in Virginia, including Eobalaeonoptera harrisoni, which is distributed in the nearby Caroline County Visitor Center.
Millions of years ago, This Park was underwater and a breeding ground for sharks (including mako, cow, sable, tiger, Megalodon ...) and If you scoop up some sand at the water’s edge at Westmoreland State Park "Fossil Beach" you’ll quickly see a pointy, triangular-shaped shark tooth that is most likely millions of years old.
The park is located exactly at 145 Cliff Rd, Montross, Virginia 22520. so is Just a two hour drive from the DMV, At the entrance ask for directions for Big Meadow Trail, which will take you to Fossil Beach.
â„–2 : Fossil park in Northwest Ohio
375 million years ago this park was also underwater, now it's not just a fossil park in Sylvania, is also a rock quarry where you can dig up the remains of the area's watery past, including brachiopods and coral.
There are five acres of Devonian era booty to dig up and the best part is that it's all free there's also a nice walking path and interpretive signs to help you figure out what fossils you found
Fossil Park's accessible 5-acre rock quarry allows you to search for quality fossils in a controlled and safe environment. The fossils come from the large working quarries of Hanson Aggregate Midwest, located just one mile south of Fossil Park. The specimens are already in shale soft enough to shatter with bare hands, making it an activity almost anyone can enjoy.
The Quarry Ridge bike path, parking lot and washrooms are open year round.
â„–3 : The Jurassic Coast in UK
Is 95 miles of coastline stretching from East Devon to Dorset, fossils are a big deal here, is 95 miles of coastline that stretches from East Devon to Dorset and fossils are kind of a big deal here such a big deal in fact that it was made England's first world heritage site in 2001, these limestone cliffs are made up of layers of sedimentary rock and they're brimming with fossils, amateur paleontologists are free to collect the loose fossils that would otherwise be destroyed by the sea although it is prohibited to chisel them out of the rocks.
Fossils can come from almost anywhere along the Jurassic Coast, but most of them are quite hard to find and in some places collecting fossils is not allowed without permission.
For beginners, the beaches between Charmouth and Lyme Regis are the best and safest place to try fossil hunting.
The most common Jurassic Coast fossils in this area are Ammonites and Belemnites. They are both extinct types of Mollusc, a diverse group of animals to which current day mussels, clams, snails, slugs, cuttlefish and octopus belong.
â„–4 : Rock Glen Conservation Area in Ontario Canada - ArKona
The rock Glen conservation area in ArKona Canada is is owned and maintained by the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority, in this place, fossil hunters are encoraged to collect specimens, it also has a large display of local fossils in its Museum. there are horn shaped corals, trilobite shells and even pieces of body armor from primitive fish.
you can pick fossils from the ground and rinse them off with water the area is safe with no overhanging rocks, just be careful and close to the river
his area features some of the best Devonian Period fossils in North America. It is home to a 350 million year old fossil deposit.
Many of the different fossils contained there. The most commonly found fossils are
- Brachiopods,
- Horn corals (Heliophyllum halli),
- Crinoid stem sections; which are remains of the marine life of the Devonian period.
- and Trilobites
â„–5 : Isle of Wight, United Kingdom
the tiny island measuring 26 miles by 14 miles is a popular tourist destination due to its proximity to major cities like Portsmouth Southampton and London.
Iit is particularly popular because it is miles and miles of beautiful sandy beaches many of which are rich in fossils. so get yourself a guided map and get to the best beaches for fossil hunting., you may find dinosaur bones fossilized or fish fossilized if you're very lucky .
have you come across a great fossil hunting location that we have missed in this article ? please tell us about it in the comments section below.