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Showing results for tags 'Mississippian'.
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From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Crinoid - Phanocrinus formosus SITE LOCATION: Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama TIME PERIOD: Mississippian Period (ca 325,000,000 yrs old) Data: Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea of the echinoderms. The name comes from the Greek word krinon, "a lily", and eidos, "form". They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as 9,000 meters. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: Cridoidea Order: †Cladida Family: †Synerocrinidae Genus: †Phanocrinus Species: †formosus -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Crinoid - Phanocrinus formosus SITE LOCATION: Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama TIME PERIOD: Mississippian Period (ca 325,000,000 yrs old) Data: Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea of the echinoderms. The name comes from the Greek word krinon, "a lily", and eidos, "form". They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as 9,000 meters. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: Cridoidea Order: †Cladida Family: †Synerocrinidae Genus: †Phanocrinus Species: †formosus -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Eupachycrinus Crinoid Calyx Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama TIME PERIOD: Mississippian Period (ca 325,000,000 years old) Data: Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea of the echinoderms (phylum Echinodermata). The name comes from the Greek word krinon, "a lily", and eidos, "form". They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as 9,000 meters (30,000 ft). Those crinoids which in their adult form are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk are commonly called sea lilies. The unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids. Crinoids are characterised by a mouth on the top surface that is surrounded by feeding arms. They have a U-shaped gut, and their anus is located next to the mouth. Although the basic echinoderm pattern of fivefold symmetry can be recognised, most crinoids have many more than five arms. Crinoids usually have a stem used to attach themselves to a substrate, but many live attached only as juveniles and become free-swimming as adults. There are only about 600 extant crinoid species, but they were much more abundant and diverse in the past. Some thick limestone beds dating to the mid- to late-Paleozoic are almost entirely made up of disarticulated crinoid fragments. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: Crinoidea Order: †Cladida Family: †Eupachycrinidae Genus: †Eupachycrinus -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Thick Crinoid Stem in Matrix Fort Payne Chert Formation, Alabama TIME PERIOD: Mississippian Period ca 350,000,000 yrs old Data: A crinoid stem. Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea of the echinoderms (phylum Echinodermata). The name comes from the Greek word krinon, "a lily", and eidos, "form". They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as 9,000 meters (30,000 ft). Those crinoids which in their adult form are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk are commonly called sea lilies. The unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids. Crinoids are characterised by a mouth on the top surface that is surrounded by feeding arms. They have a U-shaped gut, and their anus is located next to the mouth. Although the basic echinoderm pattern of fivefold symmetry can be recognised, most crinoids have many more than five arms. Crinoids usually have a stem used to attach themselves to a substrate, but many live attached only as juveniles and become free-swimming as adults. There are only about 600 extant crinoid species, but they were much more abundant and diverse in the past. Some thick limestone beds dating to the mid- to late-Paleozoic are almost entirely made up of disarticulated crinoid fragments. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: Cridoidea -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Crinoids - Pentaramicrinus nitidus Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama Mississippian Period (ca 325,000,000 years old) Here is a matrix with a Pentaramacrinus nitidus, a Crinoid of the Mississippian Period. Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea of the echinoderms (phylum Echinodermata). The name comes from the Greek word krinon, "a lily", and eidos, "form". They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as 9,000 meters (30,000 ft). Those crinoids which in their adult form are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk are commonly called sea lilies. The unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids. Crinoids are characterised by a mouth on the top surface that is surrounded by feeding arms. They have a U-shaped gut, and their anus is located next to the mouth. Although the basic echinoderm pattern of fivefold symmetry can be recognised, most crinoids have many more than five arms. Crinoids usually have a stem used to attach themselves to a substrate, but many live attached only as juveniles and become free-swimming as adults. There are only about 600 extant crinoid species, but they were much more abundant and diverse in the past. Some thick limestone beds dating to the mid- to late-Paleozoic are almost entirely made up of disarticulated crinoid fragments. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: Cridoidea Order: †Cladida Family: †Pentaramicrinidae Genus: †Pentaramacrinus Species: †nitidus -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Crinoids - Pentaramicrinus nitidus Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama Mississippian Period (ca 325,000,000 years old) Here is a matrix with a Pentaramacrinus nitidus, a Crinoid of the Mississippian Period. Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea of the echinoderms (phylum Echinodermata). The name comes from the Greek word krinon, "a lily", and eidos, "form". They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as 9,000 meters (30,000 ft). Those crinoids which in their adult form are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk are commonly called sea lilies. The unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids. Crinoids are characterised by a mouth on the top surface that is surrounded by feeding arms. They have a U-shaped gut, and their anus is located next to the mouth. Although the basic echinoderm pattern of fivefold symmetry can be recognised, most crinoids have many more than five arms. Crinoids usually have a stem used to attach themselves to a substrate, but many live attached only as juveniles and become free-swimming as adults. There are only about 600 extant crinoid species, but they were much more abundant and diverse in the past. Some thick limestone beds dating to the mid- to late-Paleozoic are almost entirely made up of disarticulated crinoid fragments. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: Cridoidea Order: †Cladida Family: †Pentaramicrinidae Genus: †Pentaramacrinus Species: †nitidus -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Blastoids - Two Pentremites in Matrix Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama Mississippian Period (ca 325,000,000 years old) Blastoids (class Blastoidea) are an extinct type of stemmed echinoderm.[1] Often called sea buds, blastoid fossils look like small hickory nuts. They first appear, along with many other echinoderm classes, in the Ordovician period, and reached their greatest diversity in the Mississippian subperiod of the Carboniferous period. However, blastoids may have originated in the Cambrian. Blastoids persisted until their extinction at the end of Permian, about 250 million years ago. Although never as diverse as their contemporary relatives, the crinoids, blastoids are common fossils, especially in many Mississippian-age rocks. Pentremites is an extinct genus of blastoid echinoderm belonging to the family Pentremitidae. These echinoderms averaged a height of about 11 centimetres (4.3 in)but occasionally ranged up to about 3 times that size. They, like other blastoids, superficially resemble their distant relatives, the crinoids or sea lilies, having a near-idential lifestyle living on the sea floor attached by a stalk. They trapped food floating in the currents by means of tentacle-like appendages. Pentremites species lived in the early to middle Carboniferous, from 360.7 to 314.6 Ma. Its fossils are known from North America. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: †Blastoidea Order: †Spiraculata Family: †Pentremitidae Genus: †Pentremites -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Blastoids - Two Pentremites in Matrix Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama Mississippian Period (ca 325,000,000 years old) Blastoids (class Blastoidea) are an extinct type of stemmed echinoderm.[1] Often called sea buds, blastoid fossils look like small hickory nuts. They first appear, along with many other echinoderm classes, in the Ordovician period, and reached their greatest diversity in the Mississippian subperiod of the Carboniferous period. However, blastoids may have originated in the Cambrian. Blastoids persisted until their extinction at the end of Permian, about 250 million years ago. Although never as diverse as their contemporary relatives, the crinoids, blastoids are common fossils, especially in many Mississippian-age rocks. Pentremites is an extinct genus of blastoid echinoderm belonging to the family Pentremitidae. These echinoderms averaged a height of about 11 centimetres (4.3 in)but occasionally ranged up to about 3 times that size. They, like other blastoids, superficially resemble their distant relatives, the crinoids or sea lilies, having a near-idential lifestyle living on the sea floor attached by a stalk. They trapped food floating in the currents by means of tentacle-like appendages. Pentremites species lived in the early to middle Carboniferous, from 360.7 to 314.6 Ma. Its fossils are known from North America. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: †Blastoidea Order: †Spiraculata Family: †Pentremitidae Genus: †Pentremites -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Gastropod - Euomphalus planidorsatus Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama Mississippian Period (ca 325,000,000 years old) Euomphalus is a genus of fossil marine gastropods known to have lived from the Silurian to the Middle Permian. Euomphalus is characterized by a closely coiled shell with a depressed to slightly elevated spire and a channel-bearing angulation (a selenizone) on the upper surface of the whorls. The lower surface of the whorls is rounded to angular. Amphiscapha, Philoxene, and Straparollus are among similar related genera. Serpulospira, also related, differs in having a broadly open spiral in the adult form. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda Order: Euomphaloidea Family: Euomphalidae Genus: †Euomphalus Species: †planidorsatus -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Gastropod - Euomphalus planidorsatus Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama Mississippian Period (ca 325,000,000 years old) Euomphalus is a genus of fossil marine gastropods known to have lived from the Silurian to the Middle Permian. Euomphalus is characterized by a closely coiled shell with a depressed to slightly elevated spire and a channel-bearing angulation (a selenizone) on the upper surface of the whorls. The lower surface of the whorls is rounded to angular. Amphiscapha, Philoxene, and Straparollus are among similar related genera. Serpulospira, also related, differs in having a broadly open spiral in the adult form. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda Order: Euomphaloidea Family: Euomphalidae Genus: †Euomphalus Species: †planidorsatus -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Thick Crinoid Stem Fort Payne Chert Formation, Alabama Mississippian Period ca 325,000,000 yrs old A crinoid stem. Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea of the echinoderms (phylum Echinodermata). The name comes from the Greek word krinon, "a lily", and eidos, "form". They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as 9,000 meters (30,000 ft). Those crinoids which in their adult form are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk are commonly called sea lilies. The unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids. Crinoids are characterised by a mouth on the top surface that is surrounded by feeding arms. They have a U-shaped gut, and their anus is located next to the mouth. Although the basic echinoderm pattern of fivefold symmetry can be recognised, most crinoids have many more than five arms. Crinoids usually have a stem used to attach themselves to a substrate, but many live attached only as juveniles and become free-swimming as adults. There are only about 600 extant crinoid species, but they were much more abundant and diverse in the past. Some thick limestone beds dating to the mid- to late-Paleozoic are almost entirely made up of disarticulated crinoid fragments. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: Cridoidea -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Thick Crinoid Stem Fort Payne Chert Formation, Alabama Mississippian Period ca 325,000,000 yrs old A crinoid stem. Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea of the echinoderms (phylum Echinodermata). The name comes from the Greek word krinon, "a lily", and eidos, "form". They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as 9,000 meters (30,000 ft). Those crinoids which in their adult form are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk are commonly called sea lilies. The unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids. Crinoids are characterised by a mouth on the top surface that is surrounded by feeding arms. They have a U-shaped gut, and their anus is located next to the mouth. Although the basic echinoderm pattern of fivefold symmetry can be recognised, most crinoids have many more than five arms. Crinoids usually have a stem used to attach themselves to a substrate, but many live attached only as juveniles and become free-swimming as adults. There are only about 600 extant crinoid species, but they were much more abundant and diverse in the past. Some thick limestone beds dating to the mid- to late-Paleozoic are almost entirely made up of disarticulated crinoid fragments. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: Cridoidea -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Polypora spinulifera Bryzoan fossil Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama Mississippian Period c 325,000,000 years ago Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals), are a phylum of aquatic invertebrate animals. Typically about 0.5 millimetres (0.020 in) long, they are filter feeders that sieve food particles out of the water using a retractable lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles lined with cilia. Most marine species live in tropical waters, but a few occur in oceanic trenches, and others are found in polar waters. One class lives only in a variety of freshwater environments, and a few members of a mostly marine class prefer brackish water. Over 4,000 living species are known. One genus is solitary and the rest are colonial. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryzoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Polyporidae Genus: Polypora Species: spinulifera-
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From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Polypora spinulifera Bryzoan fossil Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama Mississippian Period c 325,000,000 years ago Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals), are a phylum of aquatic invertebrate animals. Typically about 0.5 millimetres (0.020 in) long, they are filter feeders that sieve food particles out of the water using a retractable lophophore, a "crown" of tentacles lined with cilia. Most marine species live in tropical waters, but a few occur in oceanic trenches, and others are found in polar waters. One class lives only in a variety of freshwater environments, and a few members of a mostly marine class prefer brackish water. Over 4,000 living species are known. One genus is solitary and the rest are colonial. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryzoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Polyporidae Genus: Polypora Species: spinulifera -
Bryzoan - Archimedes screw wrapped in Fronds.jpg
Dpaul7 posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Bryzoan - Archimedes screw wrapped in Fronds Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama Mississippian Period c 325,000,000 years ago Archimedes is a genus of bryozoans belonging to the family Fenestellidae. The first use of the term "Archimedes" in relation to this genus was in 1838. This genus of bryozoans is named Archimedes because of its corkscrew shape, in analogy to the Archimedes' screw, a type of water pump which inspired modern ship propellers. These forms are pretty common as fossils but they have been extinct since the Permian. Archimedes is a genus of fenestrate bryozoans with a calcified skeleton of a delicate spiral-shaped mesh that was thickened near the axis into a massive corkscrew-shaped central structure. The most common remains are fragments of the mesh that are detached from the central structure, and these may not be identified other than by association with the "corkscrews", that are fairly common. Specimens in which the mesh remains attached to the central structure are rare. Like other bryozoans, Archimedes forms colonies, and like other fenestrates, the individuals (or zooids) lived on one side of the mesh, and can be recognized for the two rows of equally distanced rimmed pores. Inside the branches, neighbouring individuals were in contact through small canals. Bryozoans are stationary epifaunal suspension feeders. The majority of fossils of this genus are distributed throughout Europe and North America, but they have also been found in sediments of Afghanistan, Canada, Russia, and Australia. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: †Fenestrida Family: †Fenestellidae Genus: †Archimedes -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Crinoid Stems (Two views) Fort Payne Formation, Alabama Mississippian Period ca 325,000,000 yrs old A group of crinoid stems. Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea of the echinoderms (phylum Echinodermata). The name comes from the Greek word krinon, "a lily", and eidos, "form". They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as 9,000 meters (30,000 ft). Those crinoids which in their adult form are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk are commonly called sea lilies. The unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids. Crinoids are characterised by a mouth on the top surface that is surrounded by feeding arms. They have a U-shaped gut, and their anus is located next to the mouth. Although the basic echinoderm pattern of fivefold symmetry can be recognised, most crinoids have many more than five arms. Crinoids usually have a stem used to attach themselves to a substrate, but many live attached only as juveniles and become free-swimming as adults. There are only about 600 extant crinoid species, but they were much more abundant and diverse in the past. Some thick limestone beds dating to the mid- to late-Paleozoic are almost entirely made up of disarticulated crinoid fragments. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: Cridoidea -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Crinoid Stems (Two views) Fort Payne Formation, Alabama Mississippian Period ca 325,000,000 yrs old A group of crinoid stems. Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea of the echinoderms (phylum Echinodermata). The name comes from the Greek word krinon, "a lily", and eidos, "form". They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as 9,000 meters (30,000 ft). Those crinoids which in their adult form are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk are commonly called sea lilies. The unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids. Crinoids are characterised by a mouth on the top surface that is surrounded by feeding arms. They have a U-shaped gut, and their anus is located next to the mouth. Although the basic echinoderm pattern of fivefold symmetry can be recognised, most crinoids have many more than five arms. Crinoids usually have a stem used to attach themselves to a substrate, but many live attached only as juveniles and become free-swimming as adults. There are only about 600 extant crinoid species, but they were much more abundant and diverse in the past. Some thick limestone beds dating to the mid- to late-Paleozoic are almost entirely made up of disarticulated crinoid fragments. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: Cridoidea -
Coral - Mississippian Period - Zaphrentis spinulosum.JPG
Dpaul7 posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Fossil Coral - Zaphrentis spinulosum Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama Mississippian Period (ca 325,000,000 years old) Zaphrentis is a genus (sometimes made the type of the family Zaphrentidae) of solitary cup-shaped tetracorals that are common in Paleozoic formations and have numerous septa radiating from a deep pit in one side of the cup. Zaphrentis is one of the most widely used names in Paleozoic coral paleontology. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Cnidaria Class: Anthozoa Genus: Zaphrentis Species: spinulosa -
Cephalopods-Mississippian-Period-Spyroceras-in-Matrix.JPG
Dpaul7 posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Spyroceras Cephalopod in Matrix Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama Mississippian Period (ca 325,000,000 years old) Spyroceras is a genus of pseudorthocerids from the Devonian of North America and Europe, defined by Hyatt in 1884. Pseudorthocerids are a kind of orthocertaoid, a taxonomic group within the Nautiloidea. Spyroceras had annulated orthocones with straight transverse sutures, transverse or slightly oblique surface annulations, and faintly cyrtoconic apeces Surface ornamentation varies but longitudinal lirae are conspicuous from earliest stage. The siphuncle was central or slightly offset ventrally, and composed of expanded segments typical of the Pseudorthocerida. Cameral and siphonal deposits developed later than in most pseudorthocerids and are thus confined to the apical portion of the phragmocone. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Cephalopoda Order: Pseudorthocerida Family: Spyroceratidae Genus: Spyroceras -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Archimedes Bryzoan central structures Alabama, USA Mississippian Period c 325,000,000 years ago Archimedes is a genus of bryozoans belonging to the family Fenestellidae. The first use of the term "Archimedes" in relation to this genus was in 1838. This genus of bryozoans is named Archimedes because of its corkscrew shape, in analogy to the Archimedes' screw, a type of water pump which inspired modern ship propellers. These forms are pretty common as fossils but they have been extinct since the Permian. Fossilized skeleton of Archimedes Bryozoan. Archimedes is a genus of fenestrate bryozoans with a calcified skeleton of a delicate spiral-shaped mesh that was thickened near th Archimedes is a genus of fenestrate bryozoans with a calcified skeleton of a delicate spiral-shaped mesh that was thickened near the axis into a massive corkscrew-shaped central structure. The most common remains are fragments of the mesh that are detached from the central structure, and these may not be identified other than by association with the "corkscrews", that are fairly common. Specimens in which the mesh remains attached to the central structure are rare. Like other bryozoans, Archimedes forms colonies, and like other fenestrates, the individuals (or zooids) lived on one side of the mesh, and can be recognized for the two rows of equally distanced rimmed pores. Inside the branches, neighbouring individuals were in contact through small canals. Bryozoans are stationary epifaunal suspension feeders. The majority of fossils of this genus are distributed throughout Europe and North America, but they have also been found in sediments of Afghanistan, Canada, Russia, and Australia. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: †Fenestrida Family: †Fenestellidae Genus: †Archimedes -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Large Archimedes Bryzoan in matrix Bangor Limestone Formation, North Alabama, USA Mississippian Period c 325,000,000 years ago Archimedes is a genus of bryozoans belonging to the family Fenestellidae. The first use of the term "Archimedes" in relation to this genus was in 1838. This genus of bryozoans is named Archimedes because of its corkscrew shape, in analogy to the Archimedes' screw, a type of water pump which inspired modern ship propellers. These forms are pretty common as fossils but they have been extinct since the Permian. Archimedes is a genus of fenestrate bryozoans with a calcified skeleton of a delicate spiral-shaped mesh that was thickened near the axis into a massive corkscrew-shaped central structure. The most common remains are fragments of the mesh that are detached from the central structure, and these may not be identified other than by association with the "corkscrews", that are fairly common. Specimens in which the mesh remains attached to the central structure are rare. Like other bryozoans, Archimedes forms colonies, and like other fenestrates, the individuals (or zooids) lived on one side of the mesh, and can be recognized for the two rows of equally distanced rimmed pores. Inside the branches, neighbouring individuals were in contact through small canals. Bryozoans are stationary epifaunal suspension feeders. The majority of fossils of this genus are distributed throughout Europe and North America, but they have also been found in sediments of Afghanistan, Canada, Russia, and Australia. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: †Fenestrida Family: †Fenestellidae Genus: †Archimedes -
Arizona, Redwall limestone, Mooney member. I've found several examples of what look like plants but because they are around crinoids I'm thinking possibly crinoid arms. Anyone know what these are? Thanks
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Two weeks ago my wife and I experienced a wonderful a trip to Iowa for fossils and football. We started the weekend off great by attending the Iowa /Ohio State football game. We are buckeye through and through and being a visitor at sporting event such as this just adds to the ambiance. In preparation for our game, I created 10 necklaces out of buckeyes interspersed with scarlet and grey beads. They were heavy on my neck as I enter the stadium. But each was created for the purpose of finding 10 special individuals to place them on. So by games end, my neck feels the lightened load. My favorite recipient was a rabid Iowa fan whose wife insisted on getting a picture of him with the buckeye beads draped around his neck. This gentleman and I decided to make this necklace a traveling trophy. He keeps it if Iowa wins the next time. If OSU wins, he must find a buckeye fan to carry on our new started tradition of passing the necklace to the victor. Hopefully future recipients can enjoy the camaraderie that the two of us did. I do want to congratulate all Iowa fans for a game well played! The better team (Iowa) won that day. Here is a view of the buckeye trees on my farm in Minnesota that donated their nuts for the necklaces. Spruce trees outline the buckeyes spelling "Go OSU". The primary purpose for putting my football report in with my fossil excursion is to publicize what Iowa does during the time out between first and second quarter. A children's hospital was recently built next to the stadium and a Hawkeye student, through social media, has gotten the fans to take the time during this "intermission" to turn and wave to all of the children pressed against the glass on the 15th story of the hospital. It brought tears to my eyes seeing 78,000 fans providing such pleasure to the many who peared down upon us. Even the Buckeye football players, who are supposed to be discussing football strategy, got caught up in it!!! I am proud of them. My plan initially was to stay in town and participate in our fossil club's trip to a local quarry the next day. But motel rooms that my wife would accept staying at were all booked. As a replacement for some good old Devonian hunting, we elected instead to head to Burlington in search of Mississippian crinoids the next morning. Lodging was not a problem there. Up early, I headed to a quarry site mentioned in some of the research I had done the previous night. It sounded promising on paper. But upon arrival at the quarry , it became apparent visitors were NOT welcomed, unlike what my research said. A sign saying "No Trespassing, Violators will be Prosecuted" greeted me. A sign a little further up the access was visible so I strolled up to see what it said. "You are now on video surveillance" gave me some butterflies in my stomach. I looked further down the lane and a third sign was present just before the gate into the quarry. Of coarse I had to see what it said. To my surprise, the final sign said Take Another Step, The Bead of My Shotgun is on You. Wow!!! I pity anyone that took that next step. My steps were backwards, and I retreated to the truck. As I sat there deciding where to go instead, a smaller sign was peaking out of the weeds next to me and it had the owner's name (Puc) and phone number on it. Do I dare call this owner very early on a Sunday morning? Of coarse!! I think I made the call just to talk to the creator of these unique no trespassing signs. After 4 or 5 rings, long enough for me to second guess my decision to call, someone in a deep baritone voice picked up. I explained who I was and why I was interrupting his weekend. After a long pause he replied that "the government" would stick me with a $20,000 fine if I allowed you into the quarry. Then for the next 10 minutes, he entertained me with what he meant by "the government" and it wasn't good. Quite suddenly, he quit his rampage and exclaimed, give me 5 minutes and I will be down there. I was going to target practice with my pistol anyways. That was a long 10 minutes as I sat in my truck wondering am I going to get to fossil hunt or is he coming to put the bead of his pistol on me. You must know the outcome since I am here to tell the story. A beat up pickup arrived slightly later than expected and a tall strong shouldered weathered man stepped out without pointing a gun though he carried it in his hand. That was a good sign. He reminded me of Jed Clampett on the Beverly Hillbillies Show pictured here for you young bucks who may not recognize him. I was invited into the scale house as he told me about the quarry's history and his gun collection and a little more about politics. No exaggeration, an hour later, Puc finally said I will show you the quarry's rocks. And away we went. My own private hunting grounds with a guide!! Here are some of my finds: After 2 hours, I was enjoying myself tremendously but needed to take a break. Leaning against a 6x6x10 ft rock, I took a swig of cold coffee and as I sat the cup down, I noticed something on the underside of this large boulder. It was a nice crinoid!!! I just had to extract it from its matrix. I thought this will be easy, as I tried to fire up my ancient cement saw. No go! I anxiously waited 10 minutes and tried to fire it up again. No such luck. So out came my chisels and hammer. After 30 minutes of banging away, Puc came over (he was target practicing) to see what the commotion was. I showed him the specimen I was attempting to release from this boulder. My suspicions were that he had no idea what it was, but he sensed how important it must have been to me. I was instructed to quit pounding and he will be back in a bit. A few minutes later, I hear the roar of an engine and then a LARGE yellow piece of equipment came towards me. It was a jackhammer on wheels, dwarfing my pickup as it approached!! Puc asked me to point out the location on the boulder again and then had me step back. With precision, he whittled that rock down, eventually breaking the fossil free without a bit of damage. What a day!! What a find for me. And most importantly, what a new friendship was made. One lonely man and one fossil freak! I promised him that I would be back.
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NW Arizona, Redwall limestone, Mooney Falls member. Hello, I found an area with lots of crinoid parts. There were also a few of these dimpled rocks and some with holes all the way through, some tapered. Any ideas what these are? Thanks
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Last week I drove out to Kentucky to spend a week with my family. Of course I also hit the fossil beds. The first day I visited the two Mississippian sites- Wax and Leitchfield that I visited last year. Here are some of the highlight finds of that day. First- Wax: Blastoids and bryozoans:
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- brachiopods
- bryozoans
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