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I'm a complete beginner in fossil collection but from my understanding I should mostly look at sedimentary rocks for fossils. However the problem is that rocks that I see in real life are not the same as I read in textbooks.

I'd like to accelerate my learning so I'm wondering if there is any app or games that show me photos of real life rocks and then ask me which kind of rock it is.

If it helps to any degree, I live in the "Saint-Lawrence lowland" area and most of the fossils I expect to collect are from Ordovician period. Most stones are being washed by the river so the surface is kind of smooth.

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You could look at this and similar apps but they're more from the other side, you have a rock here's what you need to ask yourself to ID it. I don't use anything like that myself because I memorised the A2 rock identification flow chart we used to use at uni which was similar to that below only more complex. It sounds like you wouldn't benefit from something that complex as you aren't interested in the chemical range of formation for the individual types of the amphibole series minerals present etc... but the below should help you differentiate. You best bet for recognisable fossils are sandstone, limestone, mudstone, shale, and chalk.

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks a lot! I have access to similar chart and app myself but probably the lack of experience makes me difficult to identify samples. For example sometimes I found it difficult to make it out when it's full of fossils: imgur.com/mwn6avv I also agree that I should focus on sandstone, limestone, mudstone, shale, and chalk as I only want to see fossils so anything else should be of non-concern. $\endgroup$
    – Nicholas Humphrey
    Commented Sep 6, 2021 at 12:32

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