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  1. adiati

    Shark Tooth ID Mississippian?

    Hello, please help ID this shark tooth that I found years ago in a road cut on SR 37, close to Oolitic, Indiana, south of Bloomington, IN. from tip to tip about 7mm and size of the root from side to side also about 7 mm. The other fossils we found on that road cut were the crinoids, blastoid, brachiopods, etc., Missiissippian ear? You can see the crinoids, etc embedded next to the shark tooth. What kind of shark tooth is it? Thank you.
  2. JimB88

    Conularid

    Haven't posted anything in a while so I thought I'd show this conularid I found in the Ft. Payne. Its from a black shale member of the Lower Mississippian (Osagean) Ft Payne Chert This is positive and negative of a large flattened individual. If you look along the sides of the fossil, you can see some sections of it have been displaced. I also want to show this plant impression from the Lower Pennsylvanian Raccoon Mountain Formation. Im not sure if its an impression of a log or a bunch of Cordites leaves. let me know what you think it is.
  3. I'm confident that I found this fossil in a Mississippian age layer. I used the book, "Plant Fossils of West Virginia" by the WVGES to identify this fossil. The example that I found in the book is small and in grayscale, and visual representations of this plant are lacking online. Any help in confirming or identifying this fossil would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
  4. Hello! I found this crinoid in Hardin County, KY earlier this morning that I would love to be able to ID further beyond "crinoid" haha. I found it as is (no prepwork or cleaning) in a scree pile of misc Mississippian rocks and so not sure if specifically from Salem limestone, Harrodsburg limestone, Borden formation, St Louis limestone, etc. I've included pics of the front and back of the rock/crinoid. If it helps with ID'ing, the darker portions of the rock seem to be that tar-type limestone (and not surface dirt or soil, etc). In reading the published literature on KY crinoids there seems to be quite a few genera identified from this era and this part of KY and so I would also like to learn from you on how one might narrow down a crinoid's genus. Would also be iinterested in hearing your opinions on if it would help having it prepped out a bit by someone. Thanks in advance for any assistance you could provide!
  5. AstroRaptor56

    Coral ID from Michigan needed

    I found these pieces over past year and half and have just gotten around to IDing them. I can’t find anything on the internet or my book on what these are. They are from the Mississippian as I’m from west Michigan. It seems they attach to things as oneI found on a horn coral. One in the picture seems to have shell on the bottom as well. An ID would be awesome because these have been a headache for me! Thank you!
  6. TenneseeFisherman

    Coral Fossil?

    Found this in some creek gravel in Franklin, Tennessee. What species of coral is this (pretty sure it's a coral)?
  7. TenneseeFisherman

    Mystery Cylindrical Fragment - Middle Tennessee

    This fossil was from a creek bed in Franklin, Tennessee. I have no paleontology or geology background so the little information I can give was that the rock it was in was about the size of a small toaster, and I chiseled it out (it actually popped out from the vibration). Imgur Photos: The rock was a dark grey (I have attached a photo of a different rock from the same area). I also included a photo shining a very bright flashlight through the bottom. The more crystallized part is where it was attached to the corner of the rock. https://imgur.com/gallery/PuchJQA EDIT: DSLR PICTURES HERE https://imgur.com/a/cqrjaBU
  8. I have several others, but this one is driving me nuts. It's from Virginia. This is not in a Pennsylvanian area, but instead either Silurian (I'm doubtful of this), or Devonian, or Mississippian. The area has what looks like coal and pyrite as well. There ammonites, brachiopods and orthocones in the area. Any ideas?
  9. Hello there! As it's getting nicer outside and things slowly turning back to normal, many of us are able to go out and enjoy the weather again. I journeyed to one of my favorite Burlington exposures just 10 minutes from my home. As it was so nice outside, I ran into a lot of friendly fishermen. Not unlike usual, its just me there for the fossils! My favorite spot I'm heading to has me walking a few miles before I start to hit the sweet spots. Along the few mile walk there, it looks like the beavers have been busy. You can tell as you approach the Burlington limestone alone by all the bits and pieces scattered along the nearby land. Today I decided to hunt the bank along the shore, and a layer about 10 feet above it. I have had good luck before finding some calyxs eroded out of the limestone by the waters edge, but the layer above requires splitting stone and further prep with air tools. All in all, I spent about 5 hours out fossil hunting. I've got about 75% of the finds cleaned up so far with the air scribe. Been cleaning as I go. A few of them still needs some scribe work, but I bagged a great variety! Species in the first picture. Crinoids: Azygocrinus rotundus, Uperocrinus pyriformis, Aorocrinus parvus, unknown species. Blastoids: Schizoblastus sayi Actinocrinites multiradiatus Very weathered Dorycrinus missouriensis (the famous 5 spined crinoid) Uperocrinus pyriformis Although the focus was on crinoids, I wanted to share my favorite piece of solitary and colonial corals found on the trip as well. I know some of you like pretty, sparkly corals. I like the crystalized caverns displayed in this one. And who doesn't like naturally exposed, colorful coral sections. That's all for this trip. I hope you all are able to get back out there, and enjoy yourselves and nature as soon as possible. Thanks for journeying along!
  10. Hello fossil experts! I have a background in geosciences but know very little about fossils. I found the below fossils along the Rouge River near Detroit (Michigan). Doing some quick research, I think these are from the Mucrospirifer order, probably of the Thedfordensis species. Do you agree? (longest is about 1.5 inch / 4 cm) The thing I'm most puzzled about is from what strata they are from. The interweb tells me these Mucrospirifer here are mostly from the Middle Devonian (Antrim shale, Traverse Group), while the location where I found these (as well as all of the upstream terrain) has younger bedrock, from the early Carboniferous/Mississippian (Coldwater Shale). This Coldwater Shale is a pretty thick deposit so a river/glacier can not puncture it easily. I used the Bedrock Geology map from www.esrs.wmich.edu/mgs/webmgs/migis.html Thank you very much for your insight! Jazz
  11. Herb

    trades

    I am looking to trade small flat rate box(es) of Ordovician or Mississippian matrix for unsorted Permian Wellington f. (Waurika) or K Firesteel Creek (Hell Creek) matrix. PM me if you are interested. (or any other interesting micro faunal matrix)
  12. pjullien

    Rock or fossilized bone

    I found either a rock or a fossilized bone in NW Arkansas along the War Eagle River earlier this year. The War Eagle Quadrangle https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/72842749.pdf has sections that are Ordovician, Devonian, and Mississippian. That being said...is this just a rock? I don't want to state why I think it might be one thing or another....needing a fresh perspective.
  13. IonRocks

    Cladodus bellifer

    Originally from Bigsville Quarry, Bigsville, IL. Small bone chunks also present.
  14. FossilNerd

    A Longer and Muddier Stop

    I took a much needed break this morning and went fossil hunting for a couple of hours. I decided that I wanted to go back to the same water eroded hill that I made a quick stop at the other day. It rained last night, so the place was a muddy mess, but I had a good time and it took my mind off of things. It's supposed to rain here for the next 2-3 days. Can't wait to see what else is revealed afterwards. I'll stop in again. Preferably after it dries out for a couple of days. Here are pictures of the hillside that I have been working. The red clay is littered with rocks and fossils that have been weathered and washed out of the hill by runoff. Fragments of the rugose coral Acrocyathus floriformis litter the ground. Thanks to @Jeffrey P for help with the ID! Unless you look 5 feet one way or the other... The next picture was taken 5 feet away from the spot in the above pic. It seems that the fossils were very localized. I made multiple stops at different hills like this in the same area. I found 1 other that had a good amount of fossils in a small section. Most were fossil barren, or had very few. Still, there was plenty to keep me entertained. When I took a gander past the coral fragments, I was able to find a few more gastropods. The biggest thing I had to watch out for was my own pareidolia. The geology of the area can really trick you if you are not careful. There are also more modern evidence of creatures, and some areas where fill rock has been brought in; presumably to help with erosion. Below are a few things I had to look out for... Here are a bunch of eroded limestone fragments mixed in with coral fragments. They can definitely trick the eyes at first glance. Coral/Bryozoan fragments, or water eroded and shaped limestone? Unfortunately, limestone. At first glance I thought I was seeing the internal structure of a coral colony. Maybe a tabulate coral? Nope. Another look alike. A modern gastropod. Once I got home I cleaned the mud off with water and a soft brush. Not a bad haul for a few hours. I took quite a few pieces of coral. Some I will give to my son, some will go in my collection, and maybe, just maybe, some will end up in an auction lot to support the forum (once all this virus stuff blows over). I'm actually sorting through my collection and will hopefully have more to add to the auction pile, but that's a discussion for a different thread. Towards the end of the hunt I was on the lookout for anything branching, or that resembled a coral colony. I was hoping to find a relatively complete coral head, but alas luck was not with me. I was still able to find some nice pieces though. Here are some of the better ones with multiple coralites. A few gastropod steinkerns. This one I really liked. It's a little over a centimeter in height, and still stuck in the matrix. And last, but not least... I always pick up a few geological pieces that catch my eye. My twin is more of a rock hound so I always let him take a look. If he doesn't want them. The "cool rocks" go to my son. If all that fails, I have a "cool rock shelf" that gets the left overs. That's it for now. I had an enjoyable time today that gave me a much needed break from all the happenings in the world. It was nice to dig in the mud and forget my troubles for a few hours.
  15. FossilNerd

    A Quick Stop

    With all of the recent field trip reports being posted I have been that I haven't been able to get out there yet myself. The weather has been warmer than usual, but it’s also been rainy. Today I had very little time, but on my way home from giving my father-in-law a helping hand, I was able to make a quick stop at a local Mississippian site that is 5 minutes from my house. I believe it is St. Louis Limestone, but need to verify. I was only at the site for 20 minutes or so, but I picked up a handful of things. I didn’t get any pictures from the field as I was in a rush, but a few of the finds are below. I’ve known about this spot for a while, but it’s the first time I have stopped there. I think that’s because when I get a chance to go hunting I want to go to a place that it a little farther away since I have the extra time. I have been telling myself “It’s close. I can stop there any time...” I finally took the time, albeit a short amount, and I’m glad I did. The site is a low road cut. Well... it’s more of a water eroded slope on the side of the road than an actual cut. Little bed rock is exposed, except fragments mixed in with the soil from erosion. The dirt in the area is locally called red clay. With the recent rains, it was very muddy and the red clay tends to stain whatever it touches. You can see a reddish orange hue to the fossils. This was after a cleaning with water and a brush. I haven’t had a chance to try and ID these yet, so if anyone has any suggestions feel free to throw them out there! The area is littered with pieces of this rugose coral. This picture of a calice is a little more out of focus than I realized, but you get the idea... EDIT: Swapped the out of focus picture with one that is a little less fuzzy. This rock is full of these little gastropods. They are only about 1cm in height. I also found this gastropod and brachiopod. A close up of the gastropod. I like it. Hopefully this quick stop will hold me over until I can get out there for a long relaxing hunt.
  16. Help request! I am putting together a tool for judging rock age based on very crude, whole-rock, hand-sample observations of fossil faunas/floras -- the types of observations a child or beginner could successfully make. I view this as a complement to the very fine, species-level identifications commonly employed as index fossils for individual stages, biozones, etc. Attached is what I've got so far, but I can clearly use help with corals, mollusks, plants, vertebrates, ichnofossils, and the post-Paleozoic In the attached file, vibrant orange indicates times in earth history to commonly observe the item of interest; paler orange indicates times in earth history to less commonly observe the item of interest. White indicates very little to no practical probability of observing the item of interest. Please keep in mind that the listed indicators are things like “conspicuous horn corals,” purposefully declining to address rare encounters with groups of low preservation potential, low recognizability, etc. Got additions/amendments, especially for the groups mentioned above? Toss them in the comments below! Thank you..... https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tVm_u6v573V4NACrdebb_1OsBEAz60dS1m4pCTckgyA
  17. I’m hoping someone on here has some spare matrix from the Mississippian Golconda Fm in southern Illinois. The roadcuts near Anna and Vienna are pretty well known (I know a few members here have hunted there), but at over 6 hours away it’s a bit too long of a trek for me right now. A recent paper on microfossils from there piqued my interest and I’d like to try and process matrix to search for some. If you have any, PM me and we can work something out.
  18. Scientists have found a treasure trove of Mississippian shark fossils in Mammoth cave, Kentucky. ARTICLE HERE. Quote: "Based on what was exposed in the cave wall, Hodnett said the find includes a lower jaw, skull cartilage and several teeth. Hodnett determined the shark belonged to a species called "Saivodus striatus" from the Late Mississippian period, about 330 to 340 million years ago. @Archie "More than 100 individual specimens have been discovered during the project. Hodnett said teeth and dorsal fins of other shark species are also exposed in the cave ceiling and walls. "We've just scratched the surface," Hodnett said. "But already it's showing that Mammoth Cave has a rich fossil shark record." Pictures from article:
  19. DPS Ammonite

    Amazing Arizona Adventure II

    I went back to my very productive Devonian Martin Formation and Mississippian Escabrosa Formation near Superior, Arizona to retrieve my large single crinoid head fossil. Amazing Arizona Adventure original post link After some acid prep four crinoids and one blastoid were clustered together. Currents probably sorted them by size and shape. Several more hours of acid prep made the remaining four best ones stand out. I had to carefully break away pieces of shell that adhered and covered the crinoids and blastoid. Careful monitoring of their progress prevented any of them falling off the matrix. The resulting piece is probably the finest crinoid and blastoid assemblage ever found in Arizona. Finding one crinoid or blastoid cast in Arizona is very hard let alone four or five together. The two largest crinoids in the center and left are likely Physetocrinus lobatus. The upper right is an Orophocrinus saltensis blastoid. The lower right is an unknown crinoid. (Any idea what it is?) The field of view is about 7.5 cm wide. Keep looking for updates as I prep and post more fossils. I found several loose crinoid heads.
  20. Does anyone recognise this? I noticed it when scanning photos of a recently cut and polished piece of Frosterley "Marble" from Weardale, Co. Durham, UK. (upper Mississippian, Pendleian). It shows in section as a rod about 5mm long, with perforations, central ridge and a fine reticulate pattern. My first thought was a Fenestella fragment but it doesn't look regular enough and I can find no mention of the reticulate structure. Also, I've never seen bryozoans in this part of the limestone though they occur at other levels. Now I'm wondering about a dasycladacean alga - some look vaguely similar but all the Carboniferous ones I can find references to look simpler and fuzzier. Scale bar is 1cm, divisions are 1mm Contrast enhanced In context, showing ghostly appearance amongst the corals
  21. tomdonohue1

    Tree Fossil?

    Found this piece of sandstone in Sullivan Co., PA. It comes from either the Huntley Mtn. Fm. (Mississippian/Devonian) or the Burgoon Ss. (Mississippian). What could have made these concentric rings? They go through the rock perpendicular to bedding. It's odd that the center is mostly round but further out is more square. Could it be a tree fossil? That is the only thing I can think of.
  22. A couple of summers ago I found what is maybe my favorite Mississippian/Lower Carboniferous Visean shark fossil in Fife, Scotland and with some time off over the holiday season and pretty grim weather I've finally got round to prepping it When I found it there were three damaged but very near complete large Saivodus striatus teeth, the root minus the central cusp of either a smaller S. saivodus or possibly a Cladodus mirabilis and a partial unidentified spine. I've exposed and restored the three big teeth to make them look complete again as best I can for now and exposed the rest of the root of the smaller one but will leave it as is along with the spine. Unfortunately I cant find the original pic of it as found but originally the tooth on the far left was missing the tips of the lateral cusps and the central cusp from about half way, the middle tooth was missing about half its root and one lateral cusp, and the tooth on the far right was missing a chunk out of one side including the lateral cusp and the opposite lateral cusp. I used resin for the restoration which I carved and then painted with water color and acrylic paints and finished the cusps with a coat of gloss varnish and the roots with matt varnish. I'm fairly happy with the restoration, it does seem to look quite a bit better in real life as photos seem to show up the restoration a lot more. The teeth are on a nice big block I've cut a base on in a thin layer around what seems to be a ball of clay with calcite infilled septarian cracks again, there's a few different types of invertebrate such as bryozoans, crinoids, brachiopods and a nice coral which I love finding teeth with as it gives them context. The block is 14cm tall and the teeth are all 2cm x 2cm.
  23. Hi guys, This is my first posting on the forum, constructive criticism is appreciated. Each year, when the water level in the lake is lowered in late fall, I go there in search of crinoids The first set of photos shows one of my better finds of 2017. This small slab (approximately 9 x 12 inches) had partially eroded from the shore. I was more than pleased to see all crinoids exposed along the weathered edge. Hopefully, there are some nice ones hidden in the center. Last year, while walking up a watershed near the lake, I found a slab of bedded limestone with the calyx pictured below. I decided to downsize the slab. The rock split along the bedding plane to reveal this: There were a couple of similar but smaller slabs nearby. I carried them back to the truck to split at home. I found one more nice calyx embedded in the rock. Pictured below are two more of last year's finds: While walking next to the waterline, I found the fragmented cephalopod pictured below. I was not sure if I wanted to keep it, so I set it aside to examine more closely on my way back. It was only after I looked at it again on my return that I noticed the tooth at the top. This year has not proven to be as fruitful as last year. The first photo pictures a calyx in somewhat rotten matrix. What should I use to stabilize it? One more Does anyone know the bryozoan to which the funnel shaped appendage pictured below belong? Thanks for looking
  24. 0lderthandirt

    What makes square holes

    Hello, I pulled a large rock out of the ground a few weeks ago and I'm now cleaning up some of the small rocks that broke off as it came up. This one caught my eye cause it's got a trilobite but after cleaning I noticed all of these rectangular holes on the side. The lines on the rule are 16th inch. Any suggestions on what would've created rectangular holes like this? Thanks for looking!
  25. DPS Ammonite

    Amazing Arizona Adventure

    I found one of my most interesting and productive fossil sites ever east of Phoenix near Superior, Arizona in late November. The hill contained outcrops of the Devonian Martin Formation and the Mississippian Escabrosa Formation which is roughly the same age as the Redwall Limestone found further north. My first interesting find was several Pachyphyllum corals with very small corallites. The “craters” within the corallites averages just under 2 mm which suggested that these were the P. nevadense species which is not common in the Payson area further to the north. The coral is about mm across. I found a relatively rare Iowaphyllum nisbeti coral that was found by Gladys Nisbet, a botanist from the Phoenix area. The colonial coral is noted for its large corallites with prominent ridges in between. Coral colony is about 9 cm x 8 cm. Here is partially silicified Alveolites coral with very distinctive compressed fish-scale like corallite tops. This piece is about 65 mm across. Here is a nice massive Thamnopora coral 17 cm across. Along with the Alveolites were two types of stromatoporoid sponges. The first is an approximately 15 cm across Amphipora sp. with mound like mamelons. The second stromatoporoid has nice laminations with some vertical pillars. View is about 4 cm across. The most amazing find was several silicified calyxes of a blastoid and at least three species of crinoids found in the Mississippian Escabrosa Limestone. Interior and exterior molds of crinoids and blastoids are occasionally found further to the north in the Paleozoic rocks. Originals or casts are rare in Arizona especially when they are found in a few square meter area. This is the best spot that I have ever found for blastoids and crinoids. The largest and best blastoid was a 31 mm wide Orophocrinus saltensis that I have entered in the current Fossil of the Month contest. It was near maximum size for the species. I have seen no finer blastoid on the internet from Arizona. Cast your vote for the battle of the blastoids. I found at least three species of silicified crinoids. If you know what they are, please let me know. Species 1 is 11 mm across by 14 mm high. Species 2 is a cup that is 17 mm across by 18 mm high. Species 3 has interesting triangular patterns and is about 2 cm across by about 2 cm high. It is in a large rock that I need to break down so that I can carry it away. I planning on going back to the site to look for more goodies.
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