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Showing results for tags 'Mississippian'.
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The colder days of late has allowed me to work on the Burlington matrix that I brought home this summer. It has revealed some real treasures, at least for me. But I am stymied on a few finds and look for some opinions of forum members. 1. A few questions on the first piece. My goal was to clean up a large piece of ??? Shark spine? While cleaning, two teeth were uncovered. Here is the "backside" tooth. Now the "front side" tooth Initially just the tip of the tooth was showing, but as I progressed with cleaning, this "moustache" was exposed with the tooth at the very tip. I am very curious to understand this as well as what the long linear specimen is above it. 2. Looks like a trilobite eye but I will venture some type of shark tooth?? 3. The matrix where these specimens were found is white. So any time a dark spot is seen, a fossil exists, at least most of the time. Here is a dark item I assumed when I started its exposure was a tooth of some kind. But I concluded, just a "rock". After seeing it sit on the workbench for a few days, I kept thinking about the LACK of any matrix that wasn't white. So my thoughts went to the possibility of a coprolite. I will tag @GeschWhat for her opinion too. 4. Open to suggestions on this SMALL tubular structure. 5. I couldn't find a confident ID on this tooth. 6. Again, I have no clue on this one. It looks like Mickey Mouse ears, but I can't believe it since this was no where near Disneyland!
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It reminds me of a soccer ball but very small. I was thinking some sort of coral that I haven't seen yet in my research. (I am new to this but I did try to research)
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Wondering if this is some sort of sea-star sponge? From what I researched?
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These fossils are fairly common in the Mississippian redwall limestones of central Arizona. I believe they are rugose corals. Is this correct?
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It was about a month ago that our Fossil Club was going to meet at a Devonian location in central Iowa. The first cold weather of the season hit just then and required heavy coveralls to stay warm, so my sights were not set too high for this trip. I decided to make it a 2 day hunt and sneak down to SE Iowa the first day. My goal was to attempt to find some shark teeth from the upper Burlington Formation. The teeth from this location are extremely fragile and will turn to powder if touched with anything but kid gloves. This is a lesson that I have learned from multiple times collecting with little to show for my effort. IF I found specimens, I planned to leave them in the matrix and stabilize before transporting them home. Now I needed to find some! While exploring the Mississippian age rock, I did come across a few specimens that I brought home that were not teeth. A few representative Brachiopods A brachiopod in matrix that I still am not comfortable on its ID As always, I must always bring a rugosa coral home. Burlington limestone is known for its crinoidal content. Here are some typical finds. Like the rugosa, I still can not pass up crinoid stems. The next picture shows the unique twisting stem of a Platycrinites. Now some crinoid cups. I love geodized fossils and this is the first crinoid cup that I have found in such condition! Though the picture is hard to see, 4 different crinoid cups are on this piece of matrix. Another first for me. The next cup is a new one for me. If someone recognizes it, let me know!! Finally, the last crinoid!!!!!!
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Took a recent collecting trip to a site that preserves stem-tetrapod, anthracosaur (reptile-like amphibian) footprints from the Mississippian subperiod. As seen in the photos, it's fairly common for these to show an overlap of front and back (manus and pes) prints. As part of the agreement for site access, I can't provide any info on geologic formation or location, but it's not the Union Chapel Mine or any other well-known Carboniferious ichnofossil site. Paleontologist Alfred Romer coined the term "Romer's gap" to describe the lack of tetrapod fossils in the earlies Carboniferous Period (roughly 360 to 345 mya). In recent years, new finds have been made that help fill in this gap, and an internet search on Romer's gap will provide a variety of papers describing interesting worldwide Late Devonian/early Mississippian tetrapod fossil finds.
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Its been a long time since I last posted any finds, so I thought I'd show you folks what Ive been finding so far. Ive been out a lot this year, and have done quite a bit of exploring. I haven't taken pics of everything yet but Ill add to this as I do. This past summer I took a trip to west Tennessee to an exposure of the Coffee Sands, a Late Cretaceous formation. I was able to find the site, but unfortunately, I found no fossils there. Luckily there was an exposure of the Lower Devonian Birdsong Shale nearby! This site exposes the 'brachiopod zone' which is the bottom of the formation. So as you can probably guess, brachiopods were every where! By far the most common was Atrypa “reticularis” , they were all over the place. Discomyorthis oblata was also common Heres a favorite of mine Kozlowskiellina tennesseenis, They are very decorative. cont...
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Hi everyone, its been a while since I posted here so wanted to share some of my favorite finds from the past few months. Ive mainly been hunting in the marine Blackhall Limestone at various sites across the Midland Valley of Scotland. Although there are several fossiliferous marine limestone and shale bands of similar age and depositional environment in the Midland Valley, the Blackhall seems to be by far the most productive and also tends to have the best preservation. Ive mainly been looking for chondrichthyan teeth, crinoid cups and jellyfish so I'll post these first, I have had a few nice finds of other invertebrate groups recently though so I'll get some pics of these shortly. First up, the jellyfish. This is the largest Ive found so far at 80mm across. Another larger specimen at 60mm across. An average sized one at 32mm. And one of the smallest so far at 21mm.
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Identification Help Requested ( Large Mississippian Bryozoa?)
Thomas.Dodson posted a topic in Fossil ID
Hi everyone, These unidentified specimens were collected in Union County, Illinois. It's from Mississippian strata, likely the Ste. Genevieve Limestone or St. Louis Limestone. I haven't been able to track down a proper map of this quadrangle yet. The smaller specimens resemble mound bryozoa like Prasopora and the cups of all of them display concentric layers like related bryozoans. There aren't any pores visible so I've been thinking about bisecting one of the smaller specimens to see if any radiating zooecia are visible. What does everyone else think? Does anyone have any idea on what they are?
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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!
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Hi all, I collected this lovely crinoid calyx stuck in a Favosites sp. from the Fern Glen Formation in Imperial, Missouri (Mississippian, Osagean Series). My guess is Platycrinus stellatus (based on Weller, Stuart, Kinderhook faunal studies; V, The fauna of the Fern Glen Formation. Geol. Soc. Am., Bull., vol. 20, 265-:332, (1909)) but I would prefer some more opinions since I'm new to paleozoic strata. On that note I would also welcome learning references on crinoids, especially regarding the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian. Thanks for any help or information. -Tom
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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.
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This silicified blastoid at 31 mm in width is close to maximum size for the species. Found with at least three species of crinoids in Mississippian Escabrosa Limestone which is roughly equivalent to the Redwall Limestone of central and northern Arizona. Macurda D. B., Jr. 1965. The functional morphology and stratigraphic distribution of the Mississippian blastoid genus Orophocrinus. Journal of Paleontology 39(6):1045-1096. McKee, Edwin D., Gutschick, R. C., 1969. History of the Redwall Limestone of northern Arizona. Geological Society of America Memoirs 114, 1-700. Mindat: Link Fossil Forum: Link
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I found this fossil back in 2014 at Cedar Creek Reservoir in Franklin County, Alabama. I was told the fossils we'd find there would be Mississippian, contained in Bangor Limestone. When I first found this I thought it might be a trilobite butt or a shark tooth and I recently decided to try to clean it, and now I don't know what it is there are two depressions under each prong, and the prongs bow back up (couldn't really get a side pic) The pictures show the uncovered fossil (the lighter material was what was initially uncovered). Thank you for any assistance! On a separate note: I also feel terrible that I ended up damaging it a little (chipped the left edge on the bottom most segment)
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Hi Everyone, I took a 2 week trip to the Ohio Valley, arriving back in New York about a week ago. It was primarily a family visit since many of my relatives now reside in the Elizabethtown, KY area. However, the Ohio Valley, as some of you know, is very rich in Paleozoic fossils and I just had to make a few stops on my way there and back as well as between family engagements. I will try to share enough to give you all a gist of it: It was a long day's drive from the northern suburbs of New York City to Richmond, Indiana where I spent the first night. The next day I was headed down State Road 101 to Garr Hill, to collect in the Upper Ordovician Liberty Formation. It was my first time at the site and everything I found was collected from loose rocks at or near the base of the outcrop. A couple of pictures:
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Very odd little fossil found today in the Mississippian Warsaw Formation of St Louis County, Missouri, USA. All insights appreciated.
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Reccomendations on Carboniferous Localities in E. PA, WV, and KY
JK Marquis posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
I'm going to be taking a drive this year from Pittsburgh to Charlottesville to SE Kentucky, to Knoxville, TN to catch some of the autumn foliage, and was wondering if anyone had any suggestion on fossilized foliage outcrops or spoils piles. I'm trying to focus on ferns and other plants, as I've collected a lot of marine fossils previously and want to get some new types of specimens. I've seen some stuff online about Ambridge, PA and Big Hill in KY, but haven't been able to find too many other public spots besides that. Just wondering if anyone had any suggestions or recommendations. Thanks. -
Geodized fossils from the Mississippian of southern Indiana
traveltip1 posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
I found these several geodized Mississippian marine fossils in southern Indiana. They may not all be hollow with quartz crystals inside, but many are. The fossils usually balloon in size in the geode-forming process. Here's 2 sides of a crinoid calyx...
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Firstly, a big THANK YOU to @Jeffrey P for hanging out with me for the day! What a knowledgeable, generous, and all around swell guy! If you ever get the opportunity to hunt with Jeff, I highly encourage you to. Jeff and I met at around 8:30 am, and after a quick transfer of his gear to my truck, we were off. We first drove about 45 minutes south to the small town of Wax, to hunt the Upper Mississippian. Specifically to look for blastoids and crinoid calyxes that were known to be found in the area. As it happens, luck was with us! Unfortunately, I didn't take the field pictures that I typically do. Due to the fact that I went swimming with my phone a month or so ago . I am down to using my wife's old phone that I found in the junk drawer (Yes Jeff, it's pink... ). I didn't take it out much to avoid the inevitable drop down the hill side. Especially since it doesn't even have a protective case... Jeff snapped a few pictures. Maybe he will chime in and add them when he is able. For the first few minutes we didn't find much besides crinoid stems, bryozoans, and the deflated or crushed brachiopods common to the site. The main species of brach found in the area doesn't seem to have fared well during the fossilization process. Finding a nice inflated one is a rarity. After a few minutes of adjusting our eyes to spot the small finds located here, we started to pick out the blastoids. Jeff was the first to find one, and gifted it to me as he had already collected a few on his previous trips here. Thanks Jeff for gifting me my first blastoid! Most of the blastoids, while small, were whole and nicely preserved. Here are a few examples. I did happen to find the largest blastoid from the site, and one of the larger ones Jeff had seen from here. Super pumped about this one! Crinoid calyx were also to be found here. We only found a few, but being that these were also a first for me, I was extremely excited to find them! The brachiopods I previously mentioned were abundant, and besides crinoid stems, were the most abundant fossil to be found here. Again, they are almost always deflated. Finding a nice inflated one would be a real treat. These other little Spirifer(?) brachiopods could also be found. Although they were more uncommon that the previous ones. They are very small and delicate. Often crumbling when trying to pick them up. Bivalves could be found here also, but were extremely rare. Jeff was excited to find a couple, but I struck out. Other things that could be found were crinoid stems, the odd solitary rugose coral, and of course the ever present bryozoans. We then headed to a site a few miles down the road in Leitchfield. Stay tuned!
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On a recent trip to collect Carboniferous marine life I came across these brachiopods at an exposure of the Late Mississippian Wymps Gap Limestone/Mauch Chunk Formation. I have read several articles now about the fauna of the Wymps Gap Limestone but have not been able to find an identification that matches. They look a little bit like Leptaena but of course Leptaena had already gone extinct by the Late Mississippian. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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This is a scarce crinoid in the Mississippian of my area, usually found here as isolated columnals (and never articulated). So I was pleased to find this group yesterday on my first 2020 trip to a favourite locality in the Durham Dales. Needs a bit of TLC and probably light air abrading (it's fragile) but not bad for a quick brush and rinse. Mississippian, Brigantian, Three Yard Limestone (shale parting), Co. Durham, NE England.
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Usually I go with a paleontology class to a quarry in Alabama, where the Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous) Bangor Formation limestone is quarried for cement. The upper layers are too shale and silica rich for cement, so they are stripped and piled to the side. This material is what we are allowed to search. The last time we went (March 2019, no 2020 trip due to Covid-19) I brought back a small crinoid calyx that was showing on the side of a piece of rock. The rock seemed pretty solid and my experience has been that if there is more to the crinoid, forcing a split tends to break through the fossil. So, I put the rock on my back deck and forgot about it. A couple of days ago I was cleaning up and noticed the rock, and also noticed that a year and a bit of exposure to the Georgia weather had caused the rock to split. I lifted the top off and found this very nice surprise! The only prep it has received is cleaning with a tooth brush. Nice to find something, as I have not been out collecting since November. Before: After: Phanocrinus bellulus crown 4.6 cm. Don
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I found while going over some hash plates from the Late Mississippian (Chesterian) of Indiana. Looks like some kind of scale/denticle perhaps. I feel like I've seen one before but can't put my finger on it. Any thoughts?
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Attached are photos of a fossil rock my son found in the eastern TN mountains in May 2017. We had stopped near the top of amountain in the Clinch Mountain range and this was sitting in small wash pile on the side of the road (it had recently rained; I had been told by a UTK Paleobiology professor that the mountains around Bean Station and road cuts along highway 25E in that area might yield Ordovician fossils, as many would weather out and could be found lying on the ground). I believe that these are mostly trace fossils - fossil burrows or thalassinoides, along with some corals and brachiopods, but I can’t seem to find much information about marine trace fossils in that area, other than this is the Benholt Formation, and the spot has a lot of echinoderms and brachiopods. I believe that this would date from late Devonian or early Mississippian periods, but this is merely a guess, based on the few small fossil shell impressions in the rock. Any thoughts or insights are appreciated, thanks! Betsy
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Daughter found this in a stream bed today. First, is it actually a fossil, as we hope? The scoring on the rock looks incredibly symmetrical. The rock is quite hard, and I’m not sure what else could cause that kind of scoring, other than a fossilized impression of something. Across the top of the entire rock: just under 5cm. (E.g., top photo) Each ‘hash’ or ‘score’ is 5mm by 2mm. Second, any ideas of what it is? We’ve fossil hunted in the area and there’s a lot of Mississippian chert around there. Location circled in blue, if that helps. thank you ahead of time; you all are so helpful!
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