A Field Guide to Fossils

From dinosaur bones to petrified wood and primordial seashells to archaic oddballs, this handy field guide makes identification of fossils a cinch. Learn how to identify a fossil and discover the most up-to-date tips on where and when to hunt for them. Featuring gorgeous full-coloured photos and paired with short and informative descriptions, this field guide is suitable for fossil enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels. Lightweight and pocket-sized for convenience, A Field Guide to Fossils is easy to grab and toss into any fossil lover’s backpack on their next adventure. 

Dr. W. Scott Persons IV is a paleontologist and professor at the College of Charleston and the Mace Brown Museum of Natural History. He has taken part in fossil-hunting expeditions throughout the badlands of the American West, the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, the canyons of Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge, the pampas of Argentina, and the volcanic ash beds of Northern China. His work has been featured on the National Geographic and Discovery channels and in Smithsonian and Discover Magazine. He is the author of Dinosaurs of the Alberta Badlands (Harbour Publishing, 2018). He lives in Charleston, South Carolina.

Amanda Kelley is a wildlife biologist and professor at the College of Charleston. Growing up in British Columbia, she developed a love for wild places and the creatures who live there. She earned her Masters in Ecology at the University of Alberta, where she studied red squirrel personality development and met her husband, W. Scott Persons. She enjoys exploring novel ways to communicate science, from photo-documenting wildlife rescues to incorporating fossil impressions into her concrete art. Her photographs have been featured in the American Museum of Natural History, Discover Magazine and Canadian Geographic.