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Showing results for tags 'Iowa'.
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In the summer of 2020 jpc and I had planned to get together in Eastern Wyoming to collect. That trip was unfortunately aborted by the coronavirus outbreak that year. This year, that conversation resumed and a new plan for a three day excursion in June emerged. I decided to make it a two week long car trip, driving all the way from New York, a longer car trip than any I've made in the past 25 years. That would afford me the opportunity to stop at some other sites on the way there and back, plus see some family. Another big reason for driving was an opportunity to visit and collect at the Big Cedar Ridge Cretaceous plant site. Having the car would afford me the opportunity to bring the necessary tools and be able to transport the fragile specimens safely. The rising price of gasoline certainly had an impact, and my plan was to cut costs as much as possible wherever I could. Part of that plan was camping 10 nights I departed the suburbs of New York City on Saturday, June 11th. That evening I arrived at Sturgis, MI, just off interstate 80. Spent the night in a motel and headed off the next day, driving through the heart of Chicago enshrouded in mist. It was my very first time driving through that city. I headed north and in the middle of the day arrived at my cousin's place in Madison, WI. He had moved there from Manhattan five years ago to teach music at the University of Wisconsin. This was my first time visiting him there, my first time in Wisconsin, actually. He took me on a lovely tour of the school and the town. I spent the night and was on my way again just before noon the next day. It rained off and on as I drove through Western Wisconsin and crossed the Mississippi into Dubuque, Iowa. From there it was a short drive to my first fossil stop- at Graf. This Upper Ordovician site in Maquoketa Formation is famous for its nautiloid death assemblage. I have found quite a few nautiloids over the course of my collecting career, but I've never encountered a site where they are thoroughly dominant. There was a layer of limestone, a few feet thick that was in many places just packed with their shells.
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Hi! Back when I was 10-12 I was hiking in Iowa when I found this "dinosaur tooth rock", which I have carried around for almost 25 years. I have always wondered if it was part of a mammoth tusk, a tooth, or maybe even a Native American whetstone. Or possibly just a weird rock? Any ideas? Thanks so much for any input!! Specs: Weighs = 2 lbs Length = 7 inches Circumference = 8.75 inches Height = 2 inches
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I’m looking for help identifying this find. It is a creek find from Van Buren county in Iowa. Every fossil I’ve ever found in Iowa is aquatic (corals, crinoid, brachiopods, etc), but this doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever found. It looks like fossils I’ve seen in collections of lycopodium bark. There’s even what appears to be a stem-like core in the “center”. Any help in identification would be much appreciated
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Burlington Limestone, Mississippian Crinoid/Blastoid Identification??
minnbuckeye posted a topic in Fossil ID
I just processed my finds from the Burlington Limestone of southern Iowa. A few finds are still not identified. My hope is that someone can recognize these specimens. First up is a find that I thought was a crinoid calyx when found. But after a good cleaning, I am wondering if it is a blastoid. The next identification needed involves these three specimens that I think are crinoid calyxes. They are markedly larger than the typical crinoid calyxes I find in this formation. If so, what species????
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It has become a yearly ritual to slip away to Southern Iowa to collect geodes. When in the area, I take an additional afternoon to play around in the Burlington limestone looking for crinoids but gladly accepting whatever comes my way. Here are some of my finds. Usually I label the pictures, but due to time constrains, I am posting unlabeled pictures this time. I threw in a piece of styolith since I have seen a few topics where there was questions about what it was. Eutrochocrinus christyi Azygocrinus rotundus Uperocrinus Exochops pygidiums Amplexus coral Caninia Rugosa Coral Platycrinus calyx plates Dorycrinus missouriensis calyx arms Uperocrinus Platycrinus calyx
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- burlington formation
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Over the weekend I took a quick two day scouting trip up into the Ordovician of Iowa and Minnesota. One of the around dozen sites I visited was a roadcut in Winneshiek County, Iowa in the Galena Group, probably Dunleith Formation. I was in a bit of a rush and only collected here for 20 minutes or so, but it seems like a very productive site that I will certainly visit again. A three-dimensional graptolite (Diplograptus?) Liospira sp. I picked this piece up for the nice cephalon (Calyptaulax I think), and was pleasantly surprised to find at least a partial trilobite on the back. Maybe Bumastoides? Not confident there is much more buried but a good find for me either way. My favorite was this small but very well preserved Fisherites reticulatus. They rarely split this well. This one is very inflated, and although broken in half, it's kind of neat to see the cross section.
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I would greatly appreciate any advice on how to clean/prep this coral colony. It was found in a shale pit in northern Iowa-from the Lime Creek formation. As you can see, there’s quite a bit still clinging to it. Is it safe to clean with some water and a toothbrush? The underside seems to have crystallized(?). Very new to fossil collecting and subsequent preparation. Thank you in advance! If anyone has a guess at ID please let me know as well.
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This was discovered yesterday on an excursion into Iowa's Ordovician Decorah Shale. Initially I thought a star shaped crinoid columnal but on close examination, no lumen can be seen. The specimen is about 5 mm in diameter. @crinus
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Headed to Sioux Falls South Dakota next week. I know it is not the glamourous end of the state but was wondering if there were places to fossil hunt in the area or within a few hour drive? Nick
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I collected this piece of placoderm bone a while ago from the Cedar Valley Formation (Middle Devonian) in Iowa. Most bits I've found are just "indeterminate bone bits", but this piece has enough structure that I am hopeful it can be identified to a specific part of the anatomy. It superficially reminds me of a cranial element posted by @Peat Burns a while ago from the Silica Shale in Ohio. However I am too unfamiliar with placoderms to say exactly where this piece of bone might have come from, and I was hoping a forum member might have some input. Thanks for any thoughts. @jdp
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From the album: Devonian
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Found at fossil & prairie park in Rockford, IA. Any ideas about a species? Also am I correct that it looks like a coral or maybe an encrusting sponge was growing on top of it? Thanks in advance.
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Is This Crinoid Worth Further Professional Prepping?????
minnbuckeye posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
Six weeks ago, I found this crinoid stem with a broken calyx peeking out of the matrix. Today, I used a Dremel to expose more of the stem . As I look at the specimen after cleaning it a bit, I now am wondering if there might be a slight chance of anything substantial hiding in the rock that might be worth a professional prepper going at. Your thoughts will allow me to make a decision. Thanks for any advice. Mike
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- cedar valley formation
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Last week, when on an excursion to the Devonian, Cedar Valley Formation, of Iowa, I encountered this fossil. Thinking crinoid, I threw it in my bucket, so that I could examine it closer at home. Now, haven taken a closer look at it, I am unsure..... Crinoid? Cephalopod? Or something else. Your thoughts are very welcome!! Mike
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I had forgotten that a few pieces of Burlington matrix were left in some acetic acid. Found the dissolved specimens today and labeled the known ones accordingly. These SMALL specimens that are shown today are not anything I am familiar with. So it is for this reason I am seeking help!!
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I have a partial cephalon of a trilobite from the Galena Group (Late/Upper Ordovician) from NE Iowa that I obtained from Mike @minnbuckeye, and am having trouble ID'ing. Given the partial nature and somewhat poor preservation, an ID may not be possible, but the glabella seems distinctive enough that someone may recognize it even though I believe the eyes are missing. I've removed some matrix from it, but thought I was about to do more damage than good if I went any further. In reading through a variety of papers, the best match I can find is a Greenops species (maybe G. fitzpatracki or something similar) but these are Devonian in age so that's not it. What are the Ordovician genera that have that type of face found in this area? Big rounded glabella with distinctive furrows and pustules all over it. Here are some pictures and I'm hoping some of our trilobite experts may recognize this one. I saw some Ordovician genera such as Pterygomeetopus and Ceraurus that are close but still don't seem to match best I can tell. Any ideas will certainly be appreciated or hints to further papers I can search through. Here is an overall image of the cephalon from the top. The black bar is 1 cm. Here is a bit closer image to show the granulal nature of the glabella. The overall width is estimated at 1.5 cm and the length is right at 1 cm. A profile view of the subject. A full frontal again to demonstrate the overall shape. Thanks for any and all ideas!! Any ideas
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Mississippian Fish Teeth #5 Cladodus and Stethacanthus
minnbuckeye posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Cladodus and Stethacanthus are more typical of modern day shark teeth. As can be seen, the tips are not always present, some destroyed in prep, but many tips severed prior to fossilization. Cladodus possesses a straight shaft while Stethacantus is S shaped.
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Continuing on with Burlington fish teeth, the next set of photos will feature Orodus.
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The next Burlington teeth found this summer to have been termed Deltodus. My ability to differentiate Deltodus from Sandalodus, Helodus (small), and Psammodus is nonexistent. So even though labels say Deltodus, the true identity of some may be the other three genuses. I am open to any suggestions that veer away from a Deltodus ID. Like Chomatodus, Deltodus is a Chondrichthyan. There seems to be 2 general physical types. Blacker teeth seem to be larger and have smaller pores. Lighter colored teeth seem to be smaller and have larger pores. Is this a way to differentiate types?? The next Deltodus is my Favorite!!! Not only is it tucked underneath a large brachiopod (not really evident on these views, but the color is "rainbow" and the coloration changes as the light does. Very unique.
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Every year, I take some time out to collect the Burlington Formation (Mississippian) of SE Iowa. It is about 70 ft thick in the area I hunt and the limestone is a coarse-grained rock made up mostly of crinoidal debris. Usually, my goal when visiting is to find nice examples of crinoids and brachiopods. But lately, I have taken interest in the primitive shark teeth that exist in the upper few feet of the Cedar Fork Member of the Burlington. So late summer, I threw five 25 lb rocks containing evidence of Chondrichthyan teeth into the back of my pickup to process this winter. Here is an example of a rocks I have yet to process. Notice the black specks on the surface. This is what shark material looks like. Most surface teeth are worn and not worth collecting. The pristine teeth are inside. So, the next step is to break the large rock into smaller pieces in hopes to find a keeper. I use a vice to break off pieces. If a hammer is used instead, the vibrations destroy many of the fragile specimens. Every small black specks must be explored to see if they are the tip of a nice tooth. 90% of the specks are nothing but fragments. But every tenth one makes investigation worthwhile! Junk: Junk: Success!!! So as not to overwhelm everyone, I am going to show my finds in a few different posts. Images of Burlington fish on line is marginal at best. Consequently I will provide more examples than I normally would. Here are a few teasers for today.
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While uncovering chondrichthyan teeth from the Burlington fish layer, I have come upon many things I can not identify. In general, the only items having a dark color in this light colored matrix are fish parts. So my assumption is that they are fish oriented...... Here are some examples of items found that are likely not fish teeth. coprolites? Dermal denticles? Just taking stabs in the dark! @Coco, don't pick on me since my measuring stick is not seen well. I will add specimen size to each for you! 1. 2.0 by 1.2 cm 2. 1.5 by 2 cm 3. .8cm by 3.0cm 4. 1.5 by 1.2 cm 5. 1.0 by .5cm
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I was working through some Burlington Limestone, Mississippian looking for the Chondrichthyan fossils found within. Most primitive shark teeth in this matrix are fairly small, which is why this unknown surprised me when discovered. My suspicion is Deltodus except for the massive size. I welcome all thoughts on this ID. Unfortunately the missing pieces were not found. @Elasmohunter, this one's for you!!!!!!!!!!
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I purchased this from a shop in Iowa that said it was a glacial erratic. Does anyone have any idea on what type of coral it is?
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A friend gave me this ... horn coral? collected somewhere in the vicinity of Springville, Iowa, just northeast of Cedar Rapids. Macrostrat has that entire area underlain by Silurian to Devonian marine carbonate rock. Would be nice to confirm it's a horn coral, and perhaps get a more specific identification. Ruler marks are cm. It will be difficult for me to get a deeper macro with the camera I have, unfortunately. (And, if seeing these didn't have you mentally hearing "budda budDa BUDDa budda" played by a heavy brass section, you obviously come from a different generation of geeks than mine.)
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