Here he offers some tips for prospective fossil hunters. Please feel free to use this information in its current form or as a basis for an interview or related story. A fossil is any evidence of ancient life, which can be a tooth, bone, shell, leaf, or even a footprint. Some fossils will be easy to identify, like a piece of petrified wood, but others may surprise you. Showing the specimen to a paleontologist at a museum, college, or university is the best way to make certain you really have a fossil.
Most states have guidebooks to their common fossils, some of which are even posted on the Internet.
Most public libraries would have these publications along with other general books on fossils. To confirm your identification, it is again best to consult a paleontologist. Fossils are found almost entirely in sedimentary rocks such as shales, siltstones, sandstones and limestones. These rocks usually have obvious layers and can be broken apart with a hammer to reveal these little treasures. Fossils are direct evidence of the evolution of life on Earth, so they represent unique historical circumstances.