Fossiling in Florida: A Guide for Diggers and Divers

Title: FOSSILING IN FLORIDA: A Guide for Diggers and Divers

Author: Mark Renz
Illustrator: Marisa Renz
Publisher: University Press of Florida
Signed copies available.

"The adventure and discovery of Florida field paleontology are well exemplified in these charming chapters. Mark Renz has an appealing, light-hearted style and tells most of his experiences in the first person. On the other other hand, he conveys a substantial body of information from the scholarly literature in a condensed, but accurate manner. The underwater searching and excavating techniques are really quite original".
S. David Webb
Distinguished Research Curator
Florida Museum of Natural History.



With boundless enthusiasm, Mark Renz stumbles onto the skeletal remains of fierce sabercats, gentle sea cows, massive mammoths and mastodons, Volkswagen-size armadillos, and an ancient five-ton giant ground sloth, and then shares his experiences in this humorous, illustrated book for beginning fossil collectors.

Want to look for fossils yourself but not sure how to get started? Renz tells how and where to hunt and how to preserve your finds for another million years, and he provides more than 250 photographs that help identify these bones and teeth and distinguish a prehistoric bison from a farmer's lost cow. He also ponders such philosophical thoughts as "Which came first, the fossilized chicken or its egg?" and "How do you swim across a river loaded down with fossils when there's an alligator at your back?"

Guided by an appreciation for the professional paleontologist and also for the laws that regulate his hobby, Renz explains, for example, why it is okay to dig for fossils in a state-owned creek bed (providing one possesses a state permit and does not dig in a state park), and why it is illegal to engage in the same activity in search of artifacts. With writing that's free of technical jargon but full of love for fossiling, this book will inspire you to explore the huge number of rich fossil deposits in Florida that can be found with just a shovel and a keen eye"


"Few disciplines encompassed by the study of nature and human culture have such wide appeal as those of paleontology and archaeology. It has always been a balancing act to understand and control the excitement of initial discovery and to develop the skills needed to recognize significant finds. If the promotion of knowledge is key to the salvation of the paleontological resource, then the work of Mark Renz promises to provide a timely and much needed step forward."
James S. Dunbar,
Archaeological Field Supervisor
Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research.


Mark Renz, writer and amateur paleontologist, has taught continuing education classes geared for beginner fossil collectors for Edison Community College in Fort Myers and leads Fossil-Finding Expeditions in Southwest Florida. He was the first president of the Paleontological Society of Lee County, Florida.

Renz lives in Lehigh Acres, Florida.

Order book through PaleoPress by:

1. Providing VISA or Mastercard information by phone (239-368-3252), or e-mail (fossilx@earthlink.net),or

2. Enclosing a check or money order payable to PaleoPress for $19.95, plus 3.75 postage & handling (plus 6% sales tax for Florida residents). Foreign orders welcomed, but will have to be computed on an individual basis, depending on rates for each country. (fossilx@earthlink.net) must be accompanied by credit card information, an international Money Order, or a check drawn on a U.S. bank.

In the USA, call 239-368-3252. Business address for checks: PaleoPress, 213 Lincoln Avenue, Lehigh Acres, FL 33972


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