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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!
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Found this in a gravel bar when I was a kid in south St. Louis county. One of my favorites simply due to the complexity, the impression, and the "remnant piece". Not sure how to differentiate pentremite from blastoid other than the narrow suture lines/rays? Thoughts welcomed! Bone
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I have two of these in my 12-yr old "kids museum" (many of which I know need to relabel ). I still have the original typed (yes on a typewriter ) card explaining what I have. I still have yellowed cut 3x5" notecards I used, and a typewriter, so I can update my museum!! There are two-one of which is still attached to the original styrofoam tray! The museum is 47 years old but you will not find it on any historical landmarks Am I along the correct line for what these are?- thanks! Bone
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Can someone explain to me what a blastoid is? Britannica was absolutely useless and so I turned to here for a better explanation. Are they related to crinoids in any way?
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What is the difference between a crinoid and a blastoid
Manticocerasman posted a topic in Questions & Answers
I was wondering if there are ways to make out the difference between an isolatad crinoid and blastoid calix, what are the indicators? -
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.
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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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Hi again! Two more ID requests - this time they're from the Bangor Limestone in Alabama, USA (Lower Carboniferous, Mississippian). Specimen #1: An orthoconic nautiloid - could it be Brachycycloceras sp.? Specimen #2: A blastoid - Pentremites sp.? Thanks for your help! Monica
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I found this on partridge point in Alpena MI in Devonian limestone and have been finding crinoids and blastoids. I’m not sure what this is.
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Hey everyone, long time no see! Last week, my historical geology class went on a field trip and did a little fossil collecting, so naturally I've had the fever ever since. A couple of days later I decided to hit a nearby roadcut and do some nosing around. After a few hours I had collected some very nice echinoderm material (including a nice Taxocrinus crown), some of which I am not totally familiar with. What I thought to be my most unusual find was this weirdo little blastoid. The first thing that struck me is the rust color, I've only seen this in my Floraville blastoids, and those are just slightly rust-colored, not covered head to toe like this little guy. You may not be able to see this in the photos, but there appear to be some pseudofossil markings on one side. Another strange characteristic is what I'm going to call the arrangement of the plates, could it be that this thing didn't get to 'close itself up' all the way before it was buried? (I do not study biology or paleontology so please stop wincing) If not, I'm wondering if I found one of the less common species of what I assume to be Pentremites. Of all the blastoids I've found, this one is probably the most unique, if someone could help me ID this thing it would be greatly appreciated! If additional photos are needed, I will gladly provide them. Thanks, Matt P.S. I apologize for the poor lighting in the photos (and for the lack of scale!), it's very hard to get a good picture in my half-subterranean apartment that only gets direct sunlight early in the morning. P.S.S. Hats off if you picked up on the Twilight Zone references.
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I have searched since I found this, to figure out exactly what it is. Nobody that I have talked to has been able to for sure ID it. I found it while searching for crinoid fossils at a beach near Michigan City, Indiana, in Lake Michigan. I was swimming around, picking up anything I found, taking a look, and I tossed this one up on the beach. We were guessing that it may be the bulb part of a crinoid, but I haven't found anything online that looks exactly like this one. We used dental tools to pick out some of the sandy stuff, so we could see more detail. My hand is not in the picture for size reference, rather, I had to hold it upright to get more picture angles. My mom took this fossil to a rock show, and people were amazed by it, though they couldn't identify exactly what it is. Some said it is a once in a lifetime find. If it can't be ID'd here, I will likely take it to the university I attend, or a museum. My dinosaur class professor wasn't entirely sure about it either. I would really like to know exactly what it is. Thanks in advance for any help! I look forward to contributing to these forums!
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I just relocated an unusual fossil that had been lost in some shoebox deposits. It appears to be a slightly crushed blastoid, but otherwise well preserved. It is pink colored and may be replaced with dolomite. I found it several years ago in Sumner County, TN at a place called South Tunnel. The site is a railroad cut exposing the Laurel Limestone and a few feet of Waldron Shale at the top, both middle Silurian in age. The rock had fallen out of the cut, but the extremely hard limestone looks like typical Laurel, a dolomitic limestone with very few fossils other than a few crinoid stem segments and the occasional brachiopod. I have been trying to identify it, but I'm not finding much info on Silurian blastoids. From my searches, there seems to be only one known blastoid species from the upper Laurel at St. Paul, Indiana, which is a Troostocrinus sp. Over several years of fossil hunting the area, I have never found anything even slightly similar in any Silurian deposits. Hoping someone here may have some idea what it is.
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I went shopping for a nice Cystoid (We don't have in my area as far as I know) - Bought a Holocystites scutellatus - When researching the taxonomy, Wikipemedia Commons gives the following: Regnum: Animalia • Phylum: Echinodermata • Subphylum: Blastozoa • Classis: Cystoidea • Ordo: Aristocystitida • Familia: Aristocystitidae • Genus: Holocystites Hall, 1864 Fossilworks gives: Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Subphylum: †Blastozoa - Sprinkle 1973 Class: †Diploporita Superfamily: †Sphaeronitida Family: †Holocystitidae Genus: †Holocystites So - Is it a CYSTOID or a BLASTOID? Or is science not sure???? I bought another one that Fossilworks DOES classify as a cystoid. Did some reading... seems the fossils from this location are listed as Holocystites and Cystoids. Any insight here? I am trying to build a nice representative collection, so I can start identifying on my own... and try to study when I have the time!!! Dave Ruckser
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From the album: Northern's inverts
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From the album: Northern's inverts
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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
Pentremites Blastoid echinoderm fossil Kentucky, USA Early to Middle Carboniferous, from 360.7 to 314.6 years ago Blastoids (class Blastoidea) are an extinct type of stemmed echinoderm. 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. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: Blastoidea Order: Spiraculata Family: Pentremitidae Genus: Pentremites -
From the album: MY FOSSIL Collection - Dpaul7
Pentremites Blastoid echinoderm fossil Kentucky, USA Early to Middle Carboniferous, from 360.7 to 314.6 years ago Blastoids (class Blastoidea) are an extinct type of stemmed echinoderm. 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. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Echinodermata Class: Blastoidea Order: Spiraculata Family: Pentremitidae Genus: Pentremites -
Found as surface float at the bottom of the Windom exposure. Reference: Wilson, K. A. “Field Guide to the Devonian Fossils of New York” (2014). Paleontological Research Institution Special Publication No. 44.
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Those of you with keener memories may remember that I posted about a trip to Sulphur, IN earlier this year. After that trip, I've been wanting to get back pretty badly, dreaming of finding another shark tooth. Columbus day and the cool weather got me back down there on Monday. Like a trained dog, I headed right back to where I found the tooth before, knowing that it was improbable that I would find another. Within 30 minutes, I came up with this: This appears to be a mostly present disarticulated trilobite. Any ideas as to species? My previous trilo tail was thought to be Paladins Chesterensis. This matches pretty closely to photos I can find of Paladins online. I proceeded to find a couple more trilo tail fragments. One was clearly just a small piece, so I left it. Another might have more of the trilo embedded in the rock, so I brought it home. It's tiny. My next significant find was the biggest blastoid I've ever seen. It outclasses my previous biggest by 1/4" in width. As you can see, the part showing out of the rock is an inch wide point-to-point. The rock it is embedded in is a bit thin, so it's possible that it's crushed/squashed out flat and wide, but the exposed portion doesn't show any breakage. It may also just have the back side broken off. I didn't find anything else real exciting. I picked up some more of the dime sized blastoids, I just can't help myself. (I'm also thinking of sending them in to my son's kindergarten class.) I also picked up a few 3d brachiopods, which you don't see a lot of at Sulphur. I did see where someone else had slid down the slope from the shale layer...quite a ways. The Sulphur site is not for the faint of heart.
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Gore, OK - Dallas Paleo Society quarry field trip - 5-7-16
DinoMike posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Here's my haul from the last Dallas Paleo Society field trip to an abandoned quarry in Gore, OK. The age of the site is Pennsylvanian, Morrowan stage. The hunting was a bit difficult, due to all the recent rains encouraging TONS of plant growth throughout the site. No telling what wonderful fossils were concealed by all of the weeds. Still & all, we all found some good stuff & no one ran afoul of any snakes. First up, the big draw of the site, a blastoid. I found this one lying on the path into the quarry. I think this might be a weathered horn coral. It wouldn't be a Pennsylvanian site without some crinoid stem pieces! A 'stick' of bryozoan! Brachiopod with a little bryozoan crust! Another brachiopod with a heavier coat of bryozoan (Continued... )
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Yesterday (Wednesday--it's now after 1AM), my husband and I went out hunting with Mikeymig (hi, Mike! Thanks for the trip!). We were looking around a steep slope of Windom shale pieces (Upper Devonian). I was mostly looking for loose brachiopods and horn corals, both of which were fairly plentiful at this site. In one area, I noticed a cluster of small corals on the path at my feet, and stopped to pick them up. One of the smaller pieces was suspiciously round.... Blastoid! It's about 1 cm wide. Mike identified it for us as Nucleocrinus. Apparently, they're rare at that site. This is a first for me. I've never found a blastoid (or a crinoid calyx) before. And if I hadn't been looking closely at my footing, I probably would have stepped on it!
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The snow is finally gone but the water is still freezing. It was 70 degrees out and rain was on the way. I got out to one of my favorite places and found a couple neat things that I think some of you might enjoy. Thanks! We found this brachiopod (Spinatrypa) during a collecting trip on 4/2 and when we got home and washed the mud off, we found a blastoid. We would have never found this rare fossil if we didn't pick up the brachiopod. A couple nice brachs I found last Thursday in NY. The Megastrophia is 2.5" x 2.5" and the Spinocyrtia is 2.8" long.
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