Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'Devonian'.
-
I've always loved living fossils, especially the fish. They are relics of an age long lost, offering us a glimpse of an incredible prehistoric world. Some are enigmas that survived countless extinction events since the Devonian. Others are majestic predators that swam alongside the dinosaurs. Let me present my collection of living fossil fishes from the Mesozoic and before. I will begin with one of the most famous of all - the coelacanth Coelacanth Species: Whiteia woodwardi Age: 252.3 - 251.3 mya | early Triassic Formation: Diego Basin; Middle Sakamena Formation Locality: Ambilobe, Madagascar First appearance: Eoachtinistia foreyi was found 360 million years ago in Australia Paddlefish Species: Protopsephurus liui Age: 125.5 - 112.5 mya | early Cretaceous Formation: Yixian Formation Locality: Lingyuan City, Liaoning First appearance: This is the oldest known species Sturgeon Species: Peipiaosteus fengningensis Age: 125.5 - 120 mya | early Cretaceous Formation: Jehol Biota Locality: Chifeng, Nei Mongol First appearance: Multiple species e.g. Yanosteus longidorsalis found since 125 million years ago in China Pipefish Species: Hipposygnathus sp. Age: 28.1 - 13.8 mya | Oliogocene - Miocene Formation: Monterey Formation Locality: Santa Ynez Valley, California, USA First appearance: Solenostomidae species were found 55.8 million years ago in Italy Note: Although most of this collection only includes fishes that existed since the Mesozoic or later, I made an exception for the pipefish as their order, syngnathiform, existed since the late Cretaceous
- 21 replies
-
- 11
-
-
Creek Bug Eldredgeops rana (Trilobite) Middle Devonian, Moscow formation New York I found this trilobite in Sept. 2019 and never shared it. Or did I Anyway, I was hiking in a stream going from one location to another and found this trilobite after my girlfriend stepped on it Not her fault really. She's busy looking out for spiders, webs to spiders, and giant web wrapping people up spiders. I saw the telltale black of the trilobites exo and knew what it was (note the algae staining on the matrix). This site isn't a place where we go to collect bugs. This is our fossil coral location with the occasional trilobite. The bugs at this site tend to be on the big side and this is no exception. Your average complete Eldredgeops from NY is around an inch. If this bug was outstretched, it would be 3.1" or 78.74mm. I cleaned it up a little but the matrix that is still on the trilobite is very hard. My main focus was, is there a pygidium or not, so that had to be dug out. I think the coolest thing about this specimen is that it survived millions of years and who knows how long as a waterworn cobble in a stream after some cute girl steps on it. Happy Collecting
.jpg.9b57038ba6ab668fb5a376ce658ea69b.jpg)
- 2 replies
-
- 4
-
-
- devonian
- eldredgeops
- (and 3 more)
-
This beautiful specimen came from the Clear Creek Formation (Devonian) of Illinois in Union County. Does anybody have any ideas for identification?
- 5 replies
-
- 2
-
-
- clear creek chert
- devonian
- (and 1 more)
-
Dear editorial staff, I’m not sure if this is permissible in this format. If it is can you edit the first page to stand upright? I am still an amateur! What I want to say is: This is so exciting to me because the fossils I find around here all indicate to me trauma, from tidal events! These events most certainly directed evolutionary change and development, including increasing the oxygen levels in the water much the same as filters do so in an aquarium. Where I live feels like an Paleozoic, evolutionary test tube. ARTICLE LINK
-
Two weeks ago, I traveled to Central (Devonian) and SE Iowa (Mississippian) for a little fossil hunt. It was very successful and I will complete a trip report soon. In the meantime, it would thrill me to understand a few unknowns from the trip. First of all, the Mississippian, Burlington Formation: 1. and 2. 2. is a brachiopod that I could not find in the lists of brachiopods from the Burlington Formation. 3. There were many of these present in a certain layer of rock. Very circular with longitudinal striations. All roughly an inch in length. 4. Probably my most confusing specimen. It looks just like the little sanddollars I find in Florida. Probably a crinoid piece, but worth the asking!!!! 5. These "trace fossils" were very evident in a certain layer of the Burlington. I am open for suggestions. Now a few Devonian specimens to get your thoughts on. 6. This was found in with many Platyrachella iowensis, a long winged spirifer. This spirifer has SHORT wings. A different species or broken wings?? 7. Finally, I can not find mention of this winged bivalve, Cedar Valley Formation. Thanks for any help you can provide me!!! Mike Sorry!! I forgot a few, all Mississippian. 8. What could the little green discs be that I often find inside the very white crinoidal limestone? 9. This reminds me a bit of a cephalopod but its hollowed out area is on a sharp slant, too much for cephalopod. It does not image well. My apologies. 10. Finally, research pinpoints the fenstrate bryozoan on the left as Hemitrypa. Is the one on the right Archimedes? I am so used to just finding the corkscrew. I promise I am done now!
-
Hi everyone! Today, a friend of mine from the Paleontology course at the University of Bristol and I went fossil hunting at the beach of Portishead, as we had heard it was an interesting and productive location. We were fairly confident that we would come home with at least some crinoid pieces, as these were meant to be rather abundant, but our real goal was to hopefully find some of the elusive eurypterid remains. It was about half an hour bus ride from the center of Bristol to Portishead, so it's relatively quick and easy for us to get there. It didn't take too long for us find our first few crinoid pieces in the rubble on the beach, and my friend managed to find a couple of decent spiriferid brachiopods by splitting some small rocks open. Unfortunately, it started to rain quite quickly, and after about an hour of searching the rain we decided to call it a day... so we didn't hunt for very long at all and hence didn't make any impressive finds. We didn't see any traces of fishes or eurypterids either which was a little disappointing, although also somewhat expected. Wishing to escape the rain, we found a little restaurant where we could sit inside and get a warm lunch, and afterwards we decided to just go back home as we were both tired, despite the very short hunt. So in terms of finds, we weren't very successful, but I did manage to snap some nice photos from the location. The geology of the place was really crazy and kind of all over the place, as you can see from the pictures here. Really interesting! We haven't yet covered this topic in my Geology course, but I suspect we will do that sometime soon, and then I will probably be more knowledgeable about what we're seeing actually means. But for now you'll still have to stick with my very amateur descriptions (stratigraphy can be a little complicated for a Pleistocene hunter as myself! ) This is the northern end of the location, Battery Point, where we are looking at several layers of the Portishead Formation. This is a Tournaisian-aged (Mississipian, early Carboniferous, approx 350 million years old) formation that is very rich in crinoids and corals. What's interesting to note is that the layers are not straight, but sit at approximately 30 degrees upwards. But that's pretty mild compared to the Devonian layers (as you will see a bit later). (Continued)
- 7 replies
-
- 4
-
-
- black nore sandstone
- carboniferous
- (and 5 more)
-
Hi is there any possible way this could be pieces of Placoderm armour or bones? There very different from what I usually find in the area and seem to be vertebrate in origin if it’s not geologic.
-
Help identifying mid Devonian trilobite species
ScottBlooded posted a topic in Partners in Paleontology - Member Contributions to Science
Found near Winchester Virginia in the needmore formation, having a hard time figuring out the species. Still have to clean up his right side, but there’s at least one genal spine preserved, can’t tell yet if there’s any spines along the ends of each thorax segment. Had a good tip on reddit that it might be a Reedops but the librigena area seems not as substantial on mine. Likewise the attached genal spine seems much finer and arcs further away from the thorax. Has a smooth glabella (with the exception of the furrows) which I also don’t see any examples of when I search Reedops either. Eyes are hard to see right now, seems to be the only feature severed off in the mold when separating. Still have it, just needs to be carefully pulled out and reattached. Either way they’re very small, seem smaller than Reedops as well but again, hard to say
- 48 replies
-
- 4
-
-
-
- devonian
- needmore formation
- (and 2 more)
-
Hi I just found this while fossil hunting Saturday and am wondering if it could be a piece of a Trilobite? And if it’s to hard to tell is there anyway I can prep it without breaking it to reveal what it is? Thank you!
-
Does anyone have tips for visiting Lost River, WV? I looked at fossil guy's website for tips and decided I wanted more. Is it still accessible? I heard that there were some exposures along the way. Are there any worth my time?
-
The other day I went on a annual trip to a quarry in Iowa. Givetian age rocks. Finds were few this time around, for me at least. This was my best find, although not perfect or complete, still a nice example. It was tricky to prep as I didn't want to destroy the reddish- mauve brachiopod contrasting nicely with the caramel colored E. noorwoodensis. Thanks for looking!
- 10 replies
-
- 16
-
-
.thumb.JPG.d64a00de120fb553baacff5149461632.JPG)
A Day in the Lower Devonian with the New York Paleontological Society
Jeffrey P posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Yesterday, Tim (Fossildude19) and myself met at our usual meeting spot and with Tim driving and his downloads playing, we headed north to a planned rendezvous with the New York Paleontological Society's outing at Cobleskill Stone Products just outside Schoharie, N.Y. The weather was gorgeous- perfect really, sunny mid-50s. Fall colors were in full swing. We drove through the northern edge of the Catskills, arriving early at our rendezvous, the parking lot at the Cobleskill Stone Company. It was my first time there since 2013. I went on two previous NY Paleontological Society outings to this site, access tightly restricted. I had wanted to return, but every year there always seemed to be a conflict. One year I recall there was a planned Fossil Forum gathering at DSR on the same day. There were many reasons I wanted to return: The quarry had the best exposure of the Kalkberg Formation I've ever encountered. The Kalkberg is Lower Devonian, part of the Helderberg Group. Marine fossils are especially abundant and well preserved. The biodiversity is exceptional. There are many species of brachiopods, plus corals, nautiloids, bryozoans, the sponge, Hindia, and trilobites. Since the quarry is infrequently hunted, many specimens can be found exposed, even weathered clean right out of the limestone. Many of my best Kalkberg fossils are from there. I was excited to be there. It is always a pleasure to be out collecting with Tim. It was his first time at this quarry. Here are a couple pictures of the quarry. Notice the bright fall colors in the background.- 28 replies
-
- 14
-
-
- brachiopods
- crinoids
- (and 3 more)
-
Hello all! I found this pretty cool bryozoan back in July and I decided to give it a prep. Its really easy matrix to work with so its good practice for someone like me who’s only done a handful of preps. Like my past preparations, this will all be done manually using mainly safety pins. Fenestella sp. ? Middle Devonian Hamilton Group Moscow Formation Windom Shale DSR, Lebanon, NY Enjoy!
- 5 replies
-
- 1
-
-
- bryozoan
- central ny
- (and 6 more)
-
Here are some finds from a late August to early September long loop road trip, fossil hunting through Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Kentucky. I'll appreciate detailed specimen identification help. First photo shows brachiopods & a trilobite from the Devonian Silica Shale Formation near Sylvania, northwestern Ohio.
-
While hiking some park trails yesterday we came across a limestone embankment that was significantly eroded. Lots of Bracciopods, but we found one different one. Located in Saugerties, NY. Is this a part of a trilobite?
-
This is a small form of Pachyllum nevadense that has corallites with small corallas (the circular structures that have a high rim that stick above the surface). The coralla rim diameters range from 1.25 mm to 2.5 mm and average 1.5 mm to 1.75 mm. The corallites average 2.5 mm to 8 mm apart center to center with an average of 4 mm to 5 mm apart. They have an average of 20 septa. The measurements partly overlap with those described for the species by Stumm in 1948: coralla rim diameter of 2 mm to 4 mm; average of 3 mm; distance from corallites centers of 5 mm to 10 mm; 18 to 24 septa. Since there is a lot of variability of the species in the same colony, at the same site, from site to site in Arizona and the US, I consider that this a variety of Pachyphyllum nevadense. References: Stumm, Erwin C. “Upper Devonian Compound Tetracorals from the Martin Limestone.” Journal of Paleontology, vol. 22, no. 1, 1948, pp. 40–47. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1299252. Luke, Keith J., 1978. CORALS OF THE DEVONIAN GUILMETTE FORMATION FROM THE LEPPY RANGE NEAR WENDOVER, UTAH, NEVADA. BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIV. GEOL. STUD.; USA; DA. 1978; VOL. 25; NO 3; PP. 83-98. Link
-
Petoskey Stones, Hexagonaria coral, from Devonian in Michigan
traveltip1 posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
These are so-called Petoskey Stones, as I found them along Lake Michigan shoreline. These Devonian age Hexagonaria coral pieces should polish finely.
-
Brachiopods from the Devonian Silica Shale Formation, Sylvania Ohio
traveltip1 posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
I found a variety of brachiopods in the Devonian Silica Shale Formation near Sylvania, Ohio, in mid-August. A few are a bit pyritized.
- 7 replies
-
- 8
-
-
- brachiopods
- devonian
- (and 3 more)
-
This Late Devonian silicified coral was first found in the Superstition Mountains by Gladys Turner Nisbet who was a botanist from Cave Creek, Arizona. I found mine nearby. Wikipedia: Link Measurements given for whole colony. Coralites vary from 10 mm to 40 mm across. Average is 15 mm to 20 mm. Oliver, W.A., Jr., 1978, Iowaphyllum (rugose coral) from the Upper Devonian of Arizona: U.S. Geological Survey Journal of Research, v. 6, no. 6, p. 797-805. Link Mindat Link
-
Silurian-Devonian Jawless Fish were Ecologically Diversified
LabRatKing posted a topic in Fossil News
Via Sci-News: Osteostraci, the jawless sister group to all jawed vertebrates, had adaptations for passive control of water flow around the body, according to new research led by the University of Bristol. http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/ecologically-diversified-osteostraci-08916.html Full original paper-no paywall: Computational Fluid Dynamics Suggests Ecological Diversification among Stem-Gnathostomes https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)31362-2 Generalized translation: Armored fish developed streamlining and passivecontrol surfaces adapted for efficiency while swimming, as in form over function. Also the big armored heads likely did not have much impact on the later development of jaws and related structures. Or, even simpler, these guys were really efficient at moving through the water even with big, heavy heads and the more modern mouth that evolved later did not necessarily result in greater numbers of different shapes among species. -
Taxonomy according to Carlsson et Blom, 2008. Voichyshyn, 2011 p. 157:” Diagnosis (based on data of Carlsson and Blom 2008). — Medium sized scolenaspidians (L is about 65 mm). The width of the shield considerably exceeds its length (L/S about 0.5). The prepineal part of the shield is somewhat shorter than the postpineal one (B/C 0.8). Anterior margin of the shield somewhat narrows and has poorly expressed obtuse rostral corner. The cornual processes are very long, narrow, and bent caudally. The abdominal division of the shield is narrow and probably narrows backwards. The hypophyseal division of the nasohypophyseal opening is larger than the nasal one. Orbits are small (S/Os about 32) and oval. The pineal plate is well developed. The dorsal field is moderately narrow and, probably, relatively short (Ld/Sd is about 2.25). Lateral fields are rather narrow, reaching back not farther than to the proximal part of the cornual processes. The ornamentation of the dermal skeleton consists of tesserae covered by minute tubercles.” Line drawing from Carlsson & Blom 2008, p. 320: Identified by oilshale using Carlsson et Blom, 2008. References: Carlsson, A., Blom, H. (2008) A new scolenaspidid (Osteostraci, Vertebrata) from the Lower Devonian of Podolia, Ukraine. Paläont. Z. 82, 314–323. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02988898 VOICHYSHYN, Victor (2011) THE EARLY DEVONIAN ARMOURED AGNATHANS OF PODOLIA, UKRAINE. PALAEONTOLOGIA POLONICA. No. 66, p. 1-211. https://doi.org/10.4202/pp.2011.66_001 Voichyshyn V.K. (2015) Devonian Fish Fauna. – Lviv, 310 p. (Scientific collections of the State Natural History Museum; Issue 5)
- 1 comment
-
- 1
-
-
- devonian
- dniester formation
- (and 4 more)
-
Good evening! My name is Max, i'm writing from Italy and i'm new (just did my presentation) This is my first topic... I want kindly ask you if it is possible to make an identification of the following trilobite. I tried to make the best photos i can with my cellphone (unfortunately i don't have any other cameras ). I give you also the information that i have on this trilobite...but i doubt about the taxonomy... Phacops rana africana Jbel Zguilma (Foum Zguid), near Alnif, Morocco Emsian, Devonian Lenght: 6.0 cm Wide: from 2.5 cm to 3.4 cm I want to say already thanks to all of you! Enjoy your weekend!
-
I read a lot of fossil hunting reports on here, but I don’t post many. I think it’s primarily because it is usually many, many months after I have gone when I finally get everything cleaned up, ID’d and take photos, etc. It just seems too after the fact to me at that point, haha. But this time, due to a wonderful “tour guide” we had, I wanted to get something posted in a relatively timely fashion. Because of that, I haven’t had time to do a lot of research I need to do on specific ID’s but luckily I’m somewhat familiar with most of what we found to make at least an educated guess. I have seen numerous folks on here show some of their finds from the Ordovician and Devonian of Iowa and nearby states and it always looked intriguing to me as I have collected the Ordovician in the (relatively) nearby Cincinnati area and the Devonian in the Great Lakes area and Oklahoma. I wanted to see how the Iowa stuff compares. So my wife and I opted to take the long way home from Indiana to Texas and swing through Iowa (and on to South Dakota, but that was more for sight-seeing). I had done some research on sites to check out and contacted Mike @minnbuckeye to see if he could help me high grade my list. Being the absolute gentleman that he is, he did one better and offered to act as our tour guide for a day of collecting through the Ordovician! What a guy!! I can’t thank him enough for taking the time to do this. We had a great day and hit a bunch of nice spots, most of which I had not found on my own and certainly didn’t know some of the very important details of the sites. Many folks have said it in other trip reports and I can only add to the chorus of how valuable it is to go with someone that knows the area and how nice it is of TFF members such as @minnbuckeye to offer their time and energy to do it. Based on Mike’s recommendation, we spent our first day doing some collecting in the Devonian rocks of the Coralville, Iowa area. The first spot we could not access due to some current road construction but we made our way to the next one and spent several hours along the Iowa River/Coralville Lake collecting from the Coralville Formation of the Cedar Valley Group. You quickly learn how Coralville got its name as the rocks are a coral/bryozoan limestone. There are brachiopods and other fauna, but corals make up the bulk of the fossils at this site. And there were some very nice ones as you can see in the pictures below. Beautiful Hexagonaria, huge horn corals and others. We also went to the Devonian Fossil Gorge and a nearby state park, both of which have nice exposures of Devonian rocks with fossils, but no collecting. Here is a shot of the area, fossils litter the ground. This represents our total haul from this site The horn coral in here were abundant and quite large. Corals What I believe are Hexagoanaria corals. I think with a little cleaning, these will look really nice and I like the juxtaposition with the horn coral. Brachiopods and bryozoans A nice piece that was a little too big to take.
- 16 replies
-
- 12
-
-
- brachiopods
- devonian
- (and 5 more)
-
Hello everyone! A bit ago traded some fossils with @Max-fossils and received some really cool stuff. I have only now gotten around to photographing them and would like to ask for your help with getting accurate IDs. These are all from the Givetian/ Eifelian of Eifel, Germany. I would appreciate any help with these IDs First some corals: 1. This piece was labelled as Favosites sp.
- 21 replies
-
- 4
-
-
- brachiopod
- coral
- (and 3 more)
-
Here's a sweet Brachiopod I found yesterday, it's quite interesting and I've only found one other like it, I am unfamiliar with the specific species but I am very interested if anyone could tell me more about it!
.jpg.9b57038ba6ab668fb5a376ce658ea69b.jpg)
.JPG.00fafcc286408fd68b9941e667409c6f.thumb.JPG.a77099762a230de6213ef883167386af.JPG)
.thumb.JPG.d64a00de120fb553baacff5149461632.JPG)
