News from the Friends of Reinstein

Fossil Hunt at Penn Dixie

Members of the Friends of Reinstein Woods (FORW) enjoyed an “introduction to fossil collecting” at Penn Dixie Fossil Park. Penn Dixie is located in Hamburg, NY and open to the general public. Shale and limestone deposits in the park are rich with Devonian fossils that are 380 million years old! The group searched for fossils in several areas of the site. Many fossils can be found lying on the surface while some specimens needed to be chiseled away from the rock. Friends’ members quickly got accustomed to finding these incredible fossils. They found many horn corals, brachiopods, and crinoid stems. Some of the areas on site are rich with trilobite fossils! One of the young fossil hunters in our group found a small ammonite fossil that Dr. Schrieber said was very rare. The weather was perfect and everyone went home with nice fossil specimens. We look forward to seeing members join us at our next event.