Complete Fossilized Turtle Found!!

1869er

Full Member
Jan 5, 2009
142
29
Florida
Detector(s) used
White's MXT, Garrett Freedom 2 C.C., 1st detector was a 1970's Compass, Finished a MD Surf PI from a kit - my most recent MD.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hey this is a copy of the post, slightly amended, that I started in the "Today's Finds" section earlier this week. I didn't realized that there was a fossil section here on the forum. The original post is here.....

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,209408.0.html

There are further updates by me on the original post and also lots of comments! By the way I found this a bit North of Port Charlotte, Florida.
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Well it's funny how things work out. I went to search a new area I've never been to before this afternoon. There are a few historic landmarks peppering this semi remote area. One spot I checked out had many huge limestone boulders piled up along a corner of a field. This field is in the process of being developed and all the big rocks were piled up together in one spot. Naturally I wanted to see if any remnants of old buildings, bricks, broken cobalt glass, or anything else was scattered amongst the rubble that could indicate the area was old and worth searching. Well as I looked around I spotted this whole and complete fossilized turtle embedded within the limestone. It was nearly impossible to get it out of the Lime stone but eventually, and after a trip to the local Home Depot, I retrieved the 50 million year old turtle.

I am in the process of contacting a local fossil expert to find out the value of this complete turtle fossil. Not sure if it's worth much, but still a cool and unique find!!

By the way, these pictures really don't do it justice! Looks better in person.

Update: I have since got a reply from the fossil expert. Says it's a rare find.... Worth some good money. He says I should wrap it up in a towel, and box it. Apparently he's seen too many good fossils like this accidentally dropped and has advised me to not let this happen. I'm stoked with this unlikely find!! He wants to take it up to North Carolina to a fossil prep. expert. He can clean it, and pin point the exact value of it. I will post a follow up when I get it back, to show how it looks.

He says its a box turtle most likely from the Pleistocene period, but I won't know for sure tell he sees it in a few days. This turtle measures about 5.5 inches, front to back.

By the way, I dunno if it's really 50 million years old.... Just joking with ya there.
 

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fossis

Gold Member
Jan 5, 2007
7,837
96
eastern Oklahoma
Detector(s) used
Whites Prizm 11 & White's XLT
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Very nice find, we have found the 'fossilized shells' in rivers in OK.

Fossis.............
 

K

KirkTN

Guest
That is something. Good job cutting it loose from the stone.
 

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