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Showing results for tags 'Illinois'.
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How Fossiliferous are Cambrian Period Rock Formations in Illinois
Joseph Fossil posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
I've recently been looking over the geologic formations in Illinois and I found one that's a bit interesting - it's a Cambrian period outcrop but it seems to be a bit small, only found in parts of Ogle and Lee County, Illinois. http://ebeltz.net/firstfam/1stfam.html https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1202269 https://ilstratwiki.web.illinois.edu/index.php/Cambrian_System I haven't heard of a lot of fossils coming from this area so I'm wondering if anyone's been fossil hunting in that region of Illinois before and how common are Cambrian Fossils from Illinois's Ogle and Lee Counties? -
I spotted this on the outside of a concretion this week while sorting some buckets. It looks to me like it is possibly a wing, but it's pretty water worn so it could also just be a suggestively worn fern pinnule. I was hoping for a second opinion. @Nimravis @stats @deutscheben @RCFossils @Mark Kmiecik @flipper559 Thanks. A couple shots under a microscope.
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Today I woke up at 6:30 am and drove 105 miles (one way) to Freeport, Illinois to visit the Northwest Illinois Rock Club Show. This is a very small / local show that is held at the Eagles Club. The show opened at 9:00 am and I was out of the show before 9:30 am. Unlike last year, there was not much in regards to fossils. This show runs through Sunday and is 95% rocks and minerals. Heading out there this morning, I ran into a snow flurries, as it was 33 degrees and I also saw a rainbow. Here are a couple pics of the show. Since it was cold and early, there were not a lot of customers, but I know it gets busier as the day goes. I like to support these local shows, but only picked up this Oreodont jaw section for $15. I did not need another White River piece, but I do like things in matrix. After I left to start the 105 mile drive home, I stopped at a road cut at the corners of routes 20 and 26 and did a little collecting. I believe that the rock is dolomite, but did not search on the age or formation. Here are the couple pieces that I came across and pics of the roadcut.
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This concretion opened up tonight. I'm not entirely sure what it is. I thought it might be a cross section of a small bone, but I could also seeing it being some weird pyrite formation - the site that this was collected at produces a lot of those. Any thoughts? A couple shots under a microscope.
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I collected this fern from the Middle Pennsylvanian of eastern Illinois. It is not a form I recognize. Do any of the plant enthusiasts here have any thoughts?
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I had this concretion open today. I immediately noticed what I believe is a coelacanth scale, but on closer inspection there looks to be some other bits that might be related. Any thoughts? @jdp @RCFossils
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Lone Star Quarry in Oglesby, Illinois, now part of Starved Rock and Matthiessen Park
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
The Lone Star Quarry in Oglesby, Illinois is now part of the adjacent Starved Rock and Matthiessen Park. A Fossil Park for Illinois by Roy Plotnick https://medium.com/@plotnick/a-fossil-park-for-illinois-4c2cb44af2e9 Matthiessen — and Starved Rock — just got a lot bigger (VIDEO) DNR increases parks by 55 percent after $11 million deal with cement company By Tom Collins http://www.newstrib.com/free/matthiessen-and-starved-rock-just-got-a-lot-bigger-video/article_203e37f8-d89a-11e8-9a7e-e72ef52ec0d6.html A web page about other fossil parks: Fossil Parks, myFossil https://www.myfossil.org/fossil-parks/ Yours, Paul H.- 5 replies
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I had this Mazon Creek concretion open today. It was collected from the Braidwood biota (freshwater/terrestrial). My best guess is a partial millipede (Amynilyspes?) but I'm not sure and wanted to get other opinions. Thanks for any help. @Nimravis @deutscheben @bigred97 @RCFossils @stats @flipper559 @Mark Kmiecik
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Yesterday I went on a combined field trip with ESCONI and LOESS to the Starved Rock Clay Products pit in Utica, Illinois. ( @connorp was there too!) This open pit exposes the Pennsylvanian Mecca Quarry black shale, Francis Creek shale, Colchester Coal, and an underclay below the coal- an assembly of strata that have produced world-renowned fossils elsewhere, including Mazon Creek fossils further east and complete sharks from the Mecca Quarry Shale in Indiana. At this location, unfortunately, the concretions are almost all blanks but the black shale does produce isolated fauna including bivalves, brachiopods, cephalopods, and shark teeth and scales. The underclay also contains petrified and pyritized wood and root traces. About 30 of us gathered at a nearby McDonalds before heading to the pit- dark clouds on the horizon brought intermittent hard rain that kindly let up by the time we reached the pit floor. My interest for this trip was in the black shale, with hopes of finding shark material in particular. With the recent rains everything was muddy, and the black shale could be found in chunks strewn along the slumping highwall. Some folks were splitting the shale, but I did not have any luck with that-all of my finds were already exposed. The mud really made it hard to see whether or not there were fossils in the exposed black shale, but I was happy to be able to find a few pieces worth taking home- as often seems to be the case for me when fossil hunting, I found my best stuff in the first hour and virtually nothing the rest of the time I was there.
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I've been looking at the records of the Carboniferous Eugenodontid Chondrichthyan Edestus in Illinois (famously referred to as the coal shark) in Illinois and I've found that there are a large amounts of reports from Underground mines at Sparta and Coulterville, Randolph County Illinois. I also found a record from fossilworks.org simply listed as "Coal mines of western illinois" at the coordinates 38.7° N, 90.0° W. http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=collectionSearch&taxon_no=34453&max_interval=Carboniferous&country=United States&state=Illinois&is_real_user=1&basic=yes&type=view&match_subgenera=1 O. P. Hay. 1909. On the nature of Edestus and related genera, with descriptions of one new genus and three new species. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 37:43-61 I'm wondering what are the actual best pits and mines by Sparta and Coulterville Illinois to find Edestus fossils, which ones and either still open or (if closed) still accessible, what safety precautions should one take if fossil hunting in one of these mines or pits, and is Mecca Quarry on the Indiana-Illinois border a good place to find Edestus specimens?
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This Saturday I went over to Oglesby again joined this time by fellow user @Joseph Fossil. We hunted for about six hours straight, the trip being the most productive I've had here. I showed him and his friend what to look for when searching for Chondricthyan teeth. Joe collected 2 Cladodont teeth, and we both walked out with two partial Petalodus specimens. Here's a very complete Echinaria. Neospirifir dunbari, they'll look nice when prepped and put back together. An Antiquatonia portlockianus Linoproductus cora A pair of Parajuresania nebrascensis Composita argentia: A few of these I found had their brachidiums intact. Chonetina flemingi: Found this by mistake while washing material at home. Petalodus ohioensis: Long have I searched for this fish, and here it is. Wilkingia terminalis: easily my favorite find from this location. It's like an ancient razor clam analogue. Always a pleasure to hunt with fellow forum members. Having the company can make the long drives not feel as so. He and I have made arrangements to hunt more of his homestate in the future. Edit: Images added for clarity on the *tooth* pictured below. Found in some rubble, within the shale layer of the locality. Some form of texture is visible from the top of the piece. Top down: From the side: Upside down + a brachiopod for comparison: It appears to be flat, with some depth in its shape taking the form of ridges on the face. There are what appear to be some form of serrations on the *top* end of the structure as pointed out above.
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2022-09-17 ESCONI Field Trip to a Spoil Pile Near Danville, IL
stats posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
On September 17th, 2022, ESCONI held a field trip to a coal mine spoil pile near Danville, IL. It was a fairly hot day with temperatures in the upper 80's. However, it was a productive field trip. There had been quite a bit of work on the hill this summer and it was looking quite different from the spring. The road to the top went around from the left instead of the right. There weren't as many exposed fossils in "Red Dog" found this time, but concretions were readily available for collecting. There were a few Forum members present. @deutscheben @connorp I'm sure I'm forgetting a few, please announce yourself! Here are some photos of the trip. Some of the photos were taken with a drone. I need to take some more photos of fossils, so stay tuned... I'll post concretions if/when they open. There was a bunch of poison ivy all around outside of the hill. Mushrooms were plentiful. And, of course fossils!
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I found this on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022, open, in the Mazon River. I am wondering if it is a fiddlehead, or "birth-of-a-fern" It came from an area of the creek where the concretions seem to be heavy, and iron laden, so I am concerned that it may eventually disintegrate from "pyrite " disease, so I wanted to share it while it still exists! Any help will be appreciated. Thank you!
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Hello. I recently acquired a fairly high-quality Edestus specimen (9 inches long; with two 'complete' teeth and two partial teeth). Location: Lively Grove, Illinois. However, when it arrived I immediately noticed an artificially added dark-purple colored type of "stain" material that is covering significant parts of several teeth. (Please see attached photos). I know that it's common to glue the entirety of Edestus fossils owing to the materials' fragility, but I've never encountered an additional 'stain' like this. Notably, the enamel looks a bit 'restored' in the areas where the stain is most evident (as the surface clearly changes both color and texture in those areas, particularly near the serrations), but it appears to have dripped down onto otherwise well-preserved sections of the base of several teeth, and/or been added to serration edges that are, I think, authentic.. Can anybody help me to better understand what I'm dealing with here? Any insights are deeply appreciated, Ryan
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Last summer I posted a trip report about finding some Pennsylvanian black shale in a river bed in East Central Illinois http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/106753-628-illinois-black-shale-trip-w-listracanthus/. I was able to visit the site again once more in the fall last year when the river was running much lower and collect more and larger pieces of the finely bedded and fissile shale. Since then I have been slowly splitting and going through the rocks I brought home, and finding many interesting fish parts- that is definitely the dominant fauna present, disarticulated and scattered fish remains. I have also found frequent inarticulate brachiopods, one piece of woody material and a few small poorly-preserved spiral shaped invertebrates- they could be gastropods or Spirorbis. In this thread I’ll be sharing my finds from the above-mentioned site, as well as any other ones I may find in my explorations in Illinois and Indiana.
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This evening I had a little bit of time to do some collecting. It was not my best day, but it was still enjoyable. Here is a large Annularia, I was tapping the “crust / outer shell” off of the concretion, and it split open. Also found a nice Lepidostrobophyllum majus. And I am thinking that this is Sigilaria. Here are some concretions as they were found. Sometimes you find concretions near other collectors footprints, as below. I have found concretions next to my footprints, not knowing I missed a piece unti I circled back. Time of day, lighting, etc. are the main causes. Here are my concretions for the day, about 45 of them. I love fossil trackways and found these possible future fossils. The sunset on the drive home.
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It's been a busy summer out here in Wisconsin, but fortunately I was able to make multiple trips out to Oglesby in Illinois. Here were some of the top finds. Perepristis semicircularis, found on my second trip. The chip on the top was from my unlucky Dremel stroke. The white dots on the left are not damage, but tooth coloration. My first and only connularid, of unknown affinity. I'm pleased to have this despite it being fragmentary. What I believe to be an ameura trilobite pygidium, nicely preserved. Composita argentia found a ton of these, but this rock contained a nice presentation of them. This nice complete large brachiopod. I'd give a name, but I've seen it called like three different names in other posts, so I'm not sure myself. A nice whole neospirifer, mostly whole anyways. Lastly something I wanted to show, it almost looks like a younger smaller version of those giant brachiopods like from image five. I have about 50 pounds of rock from Oglesby now, and most of that has yet to prepped, which my family is really happy about seeing in the garage I assure you.
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Here are two new Mazon Creek finds I'm not positive on. This first one looks very familiar but I can't place it. The second is a nice 3D piece of wood. My best guess is a Psaronius stem (tree fern), but I haven't found anything like this before so I was hoping for a second opinion. @Nimravis @stats @Mark Kmiecik @deutscheben @RCFossils I appreciate any help.
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Found this in the Oglesby roadcut yesterday. Age: Pennsylvanian Formation: Bond I only partially revealed the object, it was much smaller initially.
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Went to Oglesby Illinois to explore a well known site last weekend. Took me awhile to partially scrub and organize these individual specimens. Some Composita brachiopods? Can't remember for sure. My favorite find (looks better in person) someone must have tried to bash it out of the rock, as it has damage from a hammer, when I had found it in the matrix. I think its a Neospirifer, and quite large at that. Shame it has that shell damage but still great regardless. And then finally these very common brachiopods named Echinoconchus. By far the largest brachiopods I've ever found, that last one was so large I was having difficulty framing it on the grid paper. The site is very overgrown there are a monstrous amount of insects, but I did just fine with bugspray and a dream. I also went after a rainstorm, the wet ground made it much easier to spot brachiopods around the area. A few more Neospirifers.
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I am new to the forum but have been collecting fossils for many years and need help identifying ones that I am having trouble finding on internet please and thank you! The last one looks like a fish but maybe it’s just a rock that looks like one
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I had this Mazon Creek arthropod open recently. It was collected from the Braidwood fauna (freshwater/terrestrial), so initially I thought this was just a tiny syncarid shrimp as they are the most common arthropod to find here. However looking at it closer, I'm not so sure and was hoping for a second opinion. In particular, the legs are short and spiny and do not look like shrimp legs to me, although I may be wrong. Here are images of the positive and negative sides of the "head", middle, and rear, respectively. I put "head" in quotes because I can't tell if this is the head of the animal, or if it continues more into the concretion. @RCFossils @Nimravis @Mark Kmiecik @deutscheben @stats @bigred97 @flipper559 Any thoughts are appreciated.
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I've had these fossils for years now, but I never could figure out what they exactly were. The first image is of what looks like a fern and the second I'm not sure of (both found on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Illinois). The 4 following pictures are of 2 fossils found on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky on the Indiana side of the river. One looks very clam like, while the other looks more like what I am assuming is a crinoid? I can make out a small stem and small circular patterns on the opposing end. The last 2 pictures I am the most unsure of. It looks similar to the jellyfish nodule fossils of Mazon creek. I found it in Northern Illinois in Cook County.
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Found this guy today in northern Illinois, right near Wisconsin border. Any clue on what species it is?
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Any ideas on these?
