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  1. oilshale

    Tuzoia sinensis P'an 1957

    Taxonomy from Vannier et al. (2007, p. 458). Vannier et al. 2006 assume that Tuzoia and the also Cambrian genus Isoxys are possibly representatives of the class Thylacocephala. Revised diagnosis for the genus Tuzoia Walcott, 1912 in Vannier et al. (2007, pp. 458–459): “Large bivalved arthropod (valve length up to approx. 180 mm; Chlupác and Kordule, 2002). Carapace thin, nonmineralized, and relatively flexible, folded dorsally (no true articulated hinge) into two hemispherical valves. Valve outline amplete or slightly preplete/postplete (L:H ratio between 1.3 and 1.6). Straight or slightly convex dorsal margin with or without spines. Anterior and posterior cardinal processes (acp and pcp, respectively) pointed in most species. Acp usually more prominent than pcp and with underlying notch. Posterior margin typically with a mid-posterior spine (mps) and a posteroventral spine (pvs). Angle between dorsal margin and pvs between 20° and 40°, most frequently 30°. In some species, additional small marginal spines (sms) and crenulation, especially ventrally, their length decreasing towards the front. Well-marked to vestigial lateral ridge along the entire length of the valves, usually at mid-distance between dorsal and ventral margin on a direct line with mps. In some species, lateral ridge armed with a series of 7–10 thin and broad-based, probably flimsy, spines (spines projecting almost perpendicular to the sagittal plane of the carapace). Valve surface with well-marked reticulate pattern (size of polygonal fossae decreasing towards lateral ridge, cardinal areas, and along margins). A pair of large, stalked lateral eyes and short antennae protruding through anterior notch. Eye stalks at least three times longer than the eye itself. Gut with possible digestive glands.” General morphology of Tuzoia Walcott, 1912 from Vannier et al. (2007, p. 446): Identified by oilshale using Luo et al., 2006. References: P’an, K., (1957): On the discovery of Homopoda from South China. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 5, 523–526. LUO, H.L., FU, X.P., HU, S.X., LI, Y., CHEN, L.Z., YOU, T. & LIU, Q., (2006): New bivalved arthropods from the early Cambrian Guanshan fauna in the Kunming and Wuding area. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 45, 460–472. Vannier, J., Caron, J.-B., Yuan J.-L., Briggs, D. E. G., Collins, D., Zhao Y.-L., Zhu M.-Y. (2007): Tuzoia: Morphology and Lifestyle of a Large Bivalved Arthropod of the Cambrian Seas. Journal of Paleontology 81 (3), 445–471. Zhao, J., Li, Yujing, Selden, Paul A. and Cong, Peiyun (2020): New occurrence of the Guanshan Lagerstatte (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4) in the Kunming area, Yunnan, southwest China, with records of new taxa. ALCHERINGA: AN AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF PALAEONTOLOGY, VOL. 44, NO. 3, 343–355 DOI: 10.1080/03115518.2020.1781257. Izquierdo-López A, Caron J-B. (2022): The problematic Cambrian arthropod Tuzoia and the origin of mandibulates revisited. R. Soc. Open Sci. 9: 220933. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220933
  2. “Absolutely Mind-Boggling” Massive New Animal Species Discovered in 500 Million-Year-Old Burgess Shale. SciTechDaily, September 8, 2021 ‘Spaceship-Shaped’ Fossil Reveals Hungry Predator of Ancient Oceans Titanokorys gainesi, turned up in the Canadian Rockies, was among the largest known predators 500 million years ago. Trilobites, New York Times A Football-Shaped Animal Species Is Discovered In A 500-Million-Year- Old Shale, NPR, September 9, 2021 The open access paper is: Caron, J.-B., and Moysiuk, J., 2021. A giant nektobenthic radiodont from the Burgess Shale and the significance of hurdiid carapace diversity. Royal Society Open Science. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210664 Yours, Paul H.
  3. Rare Cambrian fossils from Utah reveal unexpected anatomical complexity in early comb jellies by Harvard University, PhysOrg Prehistoric Comb jelly fossil found in Utah at least 500M years old, researchers say By Carter Williams, KSL.com, Aug. 24, 2021 The open access paper is: Parry, L.A., Lerosey-Aubril, R., Weaver, J.C. and Ortega- Hernández, J., 2021. Cambrian comb jellies from Utah Iilluminate the early evolution of nervous and sensory systems in ctenophores. iScience, no. 102943. Yours Paul H.
  4. Ellipsocephalus hoffi is a common trilobite mainly from central Europe. The slab shows several Ellipsocephalus remnants. Taxonomy according to Fossilworks.org. The systematic position of the family Ellipsocephalidae remains a subject of discussion. Odontogenetic stages of Ellipsocephalus hoffi according to Laibl et al. 2015, p. 5: Identified by oilshale using Laibl et al., 2015. References: SCHLOTHEIM, E.F. (1823): Nachträge zur Petrefactenkunde. Zw. Abteilung, Becker, Gotha, 114 pp. FATKA, O. & SZABAD, M. (2014): Biostratigraphy of Cambrian in the Příbram-Jince Basin (Barrandian area, Czech Republic). Bulletin of Geosciences, 88, 413–429. http://dx.doi.org/10.3140/bull.geosci.1456 LAIBL, L., FATKA, O., BUDIL, P., AHLBERG, P., SZABAD, M., VOKÁČ, V. & KOZÁK, V. (2015): The ontogeny of Ellipsocephalus (Trilobita) and systematic position of Ellipsocephalidae. Alcheringa 39, p. 1-11. DOI: 10.1080/03115518.2015.1034968
  5. Taxonomy according to Fossilworks.org. Quote from Zhang et al. 2003, p. 447:” The Chengjiang Lagerstätte yields several well-preserved Early Cambrian fossil assemblages (Zhang et al. 2001) from the Yu’anshan Member of the Qiongzhusi Formation in Yunnan Province, South China, consisting of a diverse suite of arthropods (Shu et al. 1995, 1999a; Hou and Bergström 1997; Zhang 1999; Zhang et al. 2000). One of them, small and relatively rare, was only briefly described based on a few specimens (Hou et al. 1991), and repeatedly considered to be a giant protaspis of a naraoiid by many authors (Fortey and Theron 1994; Chen et al. 1996; Hou and Bergström 1997; Hou et al. 1999; Luo et al.1999). Recently this animal was also recovered from the Middle Cambrian Kaili fauna of Guizhou Province, South China (Zhao et al. 1999). Diagnosis for Primicaris larvaformis according to Zhang et al. 2003, p. 450: “Small, protaspis-like arthropod; undivided dorsal shield with a pair of posterior spines and ten pairs of lateral marginal spines; on the ventral side, one pair of uniramous antennae followed by ten pairs of biramous limbs.” Camera lucida drawing of holotype (ELI12001012), from Zhang et al. 2003: Identified by oilshale using Zhang et al. 2003. References: Zhang, Xing-Liang; Han, Jian; Zhang, Zhi-Fei; Liu, Hu-Qin; Shu, De-Gan (2003): Reconsideration of the supposed naraoiid larva from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstatte, South China. Palaeontology. 46 (3): 447–465. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00307 Shu, De-Gan; Zhang, Xing-Liang and Geyer, G. (1995): Anatomy and systematic affinities of the Lower Cambrian bivalved arthropod Isoxys auritus. Alcheringa, 19, 333-342. Zhang, Xing-Liang; Shu, Degan; Li, Yong and Han, Jian (2001): New sites of Chengjiang fossils: crucial windows on the Cambrian explosion. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 158, 211-218. Shu, De-Gan; Vannier, J.; Luo, Hui-Lin; Chen, Lin; Zhang, Xing-Liang and Hu, Shi-Xue (1999a): Anatomy and life style of Kunmingella (Arthropoda, Bradoriida) from the Chengjiang fossil Lagerstätte (Lower Cambrian; southwest China). Lethaia, 32, 279-298. Hou, Xian-Guang and Bergström, J. (1997): Arthropods of the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang fauna, southwest China. Fossils and Strata, 45, 1-115. Zhang, Xing-Liang (1999): Cambrian explosion and some arthropods from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte. Unpublished PhD thesis, Northwest University at Xian, China, 118 pp. [In Chinese, English summary]. Zhang, Xing-Liang; Han, Jian and Shu, Degan (2000): A new arthropod Pygmaclypeatus daziensis from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte, South China. Journal of Paleontology, 74, 979-982. Hou, Xian-Guang; Ramsköld, L. and Bergström, J. (1991): Composition and preservation of the Chengjiang fauna - a Lower Cambrian soft-bodied biota. Zoologica Scripta, 20, 395-411. Fortey, R. A. and Theron, J. N. (1994): A new Ordovician arthropod, Soomaspis, and the agnostid problem. Palaeontology, 37, 841-861. Chen, Jun-Yuan; Edgecombe, G. G.; Zhu, Mao-Yan and Yeh Kui-Yu (1996): The Chengjiang biota - a unique window of the Cambrian explosion. The National Museum of Natural Science, Taichung, Taiwan, 222 pp. [In Chinese]. Hou, Xian-Guang; Bergström, J.; Wang, Hai-Feng, Feng, Xiang-Hong and Chen, Ai-Lin (1999): The Chengjiang fauna. Exceptionally well-preserved animals from 530 million years ago. Yunnan Science and Technology Press, Kunming, 170 pp. [In Chinese, English summary].
  6. Crusty_Crab

    New Cambrian Lagerstatte

    A new lower Cambrian Lagerstatte from China! They surmised this was a nursery, but will doubtless add to our understanding of the Chengjiang and Burgess Shale fauna. Interesting there was no mention of the Cambrian explosion. https://www.livescience.com/cambrian-paleonursery-haiyan-lagerstatte.html
  7. So, I'm not sure where this rock is from or when, there is cretaceous to Precambrian rock in the area and it's all buried under glacial debris. I've been removing this thing from the rock, the other pictures may be clues as to what this is?
  8. This is(or are) awesome gigantic Cambropallas from Jbel Wawrmast Formation, Morocco. The largest trilobite measures 6.5 inches long. The smaller one may measure 4 inches if complete. I know that there are a lot of fakes and heavily restored specimens for this type of giant trilobite. I can say this is absolutely real, cause I was not able to find any evidence of restoration or carving, and there are a lot of incomplete trilobite pieces in the matrix. These are quite heavy and large pieces, so none of my stands can support these. I should get a pair of new stands to display them.. Spines are preserved really well. Comparison with Phacops.sp . The Phacops looks like a baby.
  9. Dimitar

    Pre-Cambrian colision

    My next question is a difficult one. There was a colision . In the beginning I was suspecting a fall. Then I suspected a meteor. And I was almost convinced about meteor. Then, today I visited the place for the 3-rd time and I found that some layers are folded. So if there was a meteor, the layers should not be folded. Therefore - it was a simple colision between South and North platforms. ( or it was between Canadian platform with oceanic shelf. ) In such small place I see a very solid bottom - bed rocks - made of sandstone / possible Potsdam/. First layers - almost no life. Then the life start all of a sudden. It's full of life. . Then there was a colision. Something like a small hill was formed. / can not be called a mountain/. But this hill was high enough to stay above the water so the accumulation of sand and mud stopped and I don't see much anything above the colision point. The collision was the final moment before all accumulation of sand and rocks stop. This seems to be a quite early colision - tectonic I guess - and it could be before Ordovician time. I don't really see any crinoid . There are some simple shells , but they don't even seems to be brachiopods. I was not able to find so far any trilobite. That't why I suspect this place is older - pre-Cambrian, may be Ediacaran. Somehow this collision between North and South is very visible on the site.. A lot of Iron. A lot of heat. The mud became hard as a brick. #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7
  10. May be a bit of an odd question, but I was wondering what horizons or layers are the most fossiliferous in the Conasauga Formation. I've heard about the Tibbs Bridge site (RIP), but that site exposed a calcareous, light-colored shale from the upper part of the Conasauga. From what I read online it seems that most of the trilobite beds are located in the upper shale layers of the formation, but I was wondering if anyone else knew if the other parts of the formation had anything?
  11. The diameter of the dark colored depression is about 1.5 cm. Around this depression there are only very faintly indicated ring-shaped structures with a diameter of about 4 cm. On the slab there is another smaller impression of a second medusa. The Krukowski Quarry near Mosinee, Wisconsin is well known for abundant ichnofossil impressions of Climactichnites and Protichnites together with hundreds of beached jellyfish. Jellyfish impressions up to 70 cm in diameter were found on several bedding layers, so far the largest jellyfish in the fossil record. The largest recent form, the lion's mane jellyfish, can have a bell with a diameter of 210 centimetres (7 feet) and tentacles around 36.6 m (120 ft) long. This site was apparently beach and shoreline at least some of the time during the late Cambrian. Fossils and tracks are from either the Mount Simon Sandstone or from the Wonewoc Formation and are preserved in medium to coarse grained sandstone. Identified by oilshale. Reference: Hagadorn, James W., Dott, Robert H. Jr., Damrow, Dan (2002) Stranded on a Late Cambrian shoreline: Medusae from central Wisconsin. Geology 30(2) pp. 147-150.
  12. I would like to use photographs of fossils as part of my digital artwork. I do not want to violate any copyright laws if I later sell the artwork. Does anyone know where I can find free-use images of fossils or does anyone mind sharing their personal fossil photographs with me? I will give credit to you for your photography if I decide to use the images in my work. Fossils of any type and from any time period are appreciated. Thank you!
  13. Morning all, my second post here after the presentation, and hope i'm doing everything right! Here the tricky question: I have received this piece from Chengjiang, more likely from the surrounding areas of the site. I'm pretty familiar with this fauna (have a lot of specimen, sometimes prepared by me) but when I saw this I was thrilled. The overall structure is no longer than 3cm along the curve, and I haven't touch it for any sort of preparation. Before I'll post it on my Instagram, I would to know better what it is. The shape and the "button"- like dots, circled in green on second pic, remind me some sort of lobopod, BUT it appears to not be a segmented body like the classic lobopodians, nor having legs. After each button, there are 3-4 small dots, in red on the second pic, and this group appear to repeat itself on every "bulge" (can count 7, in blue in the second pic). Thought about everything: Lobopodian, Vetulicolian, some sort of arthropod, and still can't find a similar one. The best candidate is a tuberculated mouth plate of the radiodontan Amplectobelua symbranchiata, but the size is too big, and the reference material visible from the article "The functional head of the Cambrian radiodontan (stem-group Euarthropoda) Amplectobelua symbrachiata" is not that similar. So... Who are you?? Am I missing something here? Any help would be really apreciated! Thank you in advance! (Pics are made by me with the maximum magnification I have without quality loss.) PS: if I'm against any forum rule please notify me!
  14. 500 million-year-old fossil is the granddaddy of all cephalopods By Laura Geggel, Live Science, March 29, 2021 Cephalopods: Older Than was thought? Press Release No. 24/2021, Heidelberg University, March 23, 2021 The open access paper is: Hildenbrand, A., Austermann, G., Fuchs, D., Bengtson, P. and Stinnesbeck, W., 2021. A potential cephalopod from the early Cambrian of eastern Newfoundland, Canada. Communications Biology, 4(1), pp.1-11. open access Yours, Paul H.
  15. Hello, everyone, these fossils were collected from the basal Cambrian in South China, all of which are organic. But I do not know what are they? Does anyone can identify them. Please see the attachments! Many thanks.
  16. historianmichael

    Georgia Cambrian Mystery Trilobite

    When splitting some extra matrix from the Tibbs Bridge Road exposure of the Middle Cambrian Conasauga Formation I came across this trilobite cephalon imprint. It does not seem to match any of the common trilobites found at the site and I could not find a similar example in the various trip reports other members have posted about past visits to the site. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
  17. paleo.nath

    Cambrian mystery fossil?

    I ordered this plate of trilobites a while back and just recently noticed something peculiar on the side of the rock, i’m pretty sure this is not a trilobite but it still looks somewhat organic, but i’ve got nothing. Any ideas!
  18. TNCollector

    Cambrian Stromatolite

    Got the itch to collect and study some stromatolites, so I did some searching and feel that I successfully scratched the itch. I found a section of the Cambrian Copper Ridge dolomite that exposes a plethora of stromatolites of various morphologies. Many of them look as if they are straight out of Shark Bay in Australia, with the characteristic domal structure attached to a thinner holdfast on a hard substrate. Stromatolites are formed over a long period of time in tidal zones by colonies of photosynthetic bacteria and/or algae that form sticky layers that trap sediments and concrete them into layers. The colony then grows over the older, cemented colony and the cycle repeats itself. The process is obviously a lot more complicated than that, but I digress. Stromatolites are the oldest confirmed fossils to have been discovered, with the current oldest ones to be confirmed coming from the Strelley Pool Chert formation in Western Australia, dating back to the early Archaen at approximately 3.4 billion years ago. At that point in time, the Earth's atmosphere was largely devoid of oxygen, primarily being composed of CO2. Over the next several billion years, these stromatolites were largely responsible for oxygenating the atmosphere. They may not look like much, but these bacterial colonies were extremely important to creating Earth's biosphere. After the Cambrian explosion, stromatolites began to become quite rare in the fossil record, with multicelluar organisms feeding on them and disrupting the cementation process. After that point and to this day, stromatolites primarily thrive in extreme environments were the animals that feed on them cannot survive. The stromatolites in the Shark Bay, Australia area live in a hypersaline environment created by a seagrass barrier just off the coast. Unfortunately climate-change induced increases in precipitation are causing floods that reduce the salinity of this location and threaten the survival of the stromatolite colonies. With that information, enjoy these photos of stromatolites. Cube scale is 2cm on each side Large domal type in the position it would have grown in: Another domal type, almost spherical in shape, composed of multiple separate colonies that appear to have fused together: Another domal type: Cross section of broken laminar piece showing growth layers over an oolitic limestone substrate: A different one, I hope to polish this face: Layers under microscope:
  19. Hello All. I am curious as to the groups assessment as to the authenticity of this Acadoparadoxides specimen from Morocco. It measures roughly 13 inches in length (the fossil itself). I see restoration of the right eye (as in right side of the photo) and right portions of the glabella, but beyond that am fairly hopeful/comfortable that the specimen is authentic. It is interesting that an upper thoracic segment is missing, but I am thinking this could be taphonomic or that segment was lost when the rock split. Anyway, I value any thoughts and input. I'm happy to share more photos as well. Thank you.
  20. Gangtoucunia, a member of the Guanshan fauna, is a genus of worm-like creatures originally assigned to the Archaeopriapulids for uncertain reasons. However, according to studies by Zhang et al, 2022, these are creatures with cnidarian affinity within the subphyllum Medusozoa. Emended diagnosis from Zhang et al., 2022 p. 2: "Elongated, tubular polypoid cnidarian that secreted an organophosphatic dwelling tube. The external surface of the tube is transversely annulated with dense and irregular growth lines and has a basal, discshaped holdfast. The tube is elongate with a slight, gradual proximal tapering. The polyp has a single whorl of circumoral tentacles of unknown total length. The polyp body is externally smooth. Internally, the gut is divided by numerous longitudinal septa that partition an elongate gut extending along the preserved length of the body." References: Luo H L, Hu S X, Chen L Z, et al. Early Cambrian Chengjiang Fauna from Kunming Region, China (in Chinese with English summary). Kunming: Yunnan Science and Technology Press, 1999. 129 S. X. HU, M. Y. Zhu, M. Steiner, H. L. Luo, F. C. Zhao and Q. Liu. 2010. Biodiversity and taphonomy of the Early Cambrian Guanshan biota, eastern Yunnan. Science China Earth Sciences 53(12):1765-1773 H.-L. Luo, L. Yong, S.-X. Hu, X.-P. Fu, S.-Q. Hou, X.-Y. Liu, L.-Z. Chen, F.-J. Li, J.-Y. Pang and Q. Liu. 2008. Early Cambrian Malong Fauna and Guanshan Fauna from Eastern Yunnan, China 1-134. Zhang G, Parry LA, Vinther J, Ma X. 2022 Exceptional soft tissue preservation reveals a cnidarian affinity for a Cambrian phosphatic tubicolous enigma. Proc. R. Soc. B 289: 20221623. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.1623
  21. Fossilizable

    Cambrian puzzler

    While out on a trilobite hunt several years ago in the Marble Mountains, San Bernardino Cty, CA, I found these two pieces on the surface in the region of a Latham shale exposure, so I think they would have belonged to the Chambless shale, which is in fact exposed as a bluff above the surface. Here's one: Here's the other: I'm not sure about these. They might not even be organic or in the same genus if organic. The source field might be a zone with Chambless and Zabriskie quartzite mixed. So there's a chance they're inorganic, I guess. However, on the same surface/field we found a lot of fossiliferous rock that included oncolites, which are definitely known to be in the Chambless. What do you think?
  22. Wonderful_Life

    Are these fossils?

    I recently took a trip up to a few localities of the Murray Shale of Blount County, Tennessee, which contains fossils of the early Cambrian period. I looked around in some of the loose shale on the ground to see if I could find a small brachiopod or hyolith (both of which are common to this locality). This was my first time going out and looking to see if I could find a fossil on my own. I took a few pictures of what I thought could possibly be fossiliferous material of some sort, but ultimately could not determine if what I found was indeed fossiliferous. Most of what I saw appeared to be fossil trackways, but I could not definitively determine that. Any thoughts on thoughts on whether or not these are fossils of any sort would be greatly appreciated! If any extra information is needed about the localities themselves I would be willing to supply that. 20210113_133651-converted-compressed.pdf 20210113_135629-converted-compressed.pdf 20210113_135629-converted-compressed.pdf
  23. Cynic

    I want to define fossil

    The fossil was found near the Mukhavets River, Belarus, Brest. Length ~ 6-7cm (~ 2.5 inch) whole piece. If I registered here, I will be impudent: you can recommend a book (100 -200 pages), an introductory course in fossils.
  24. While visiting family in Arizona and California I was able to figure out where the Marble Mountains trilobite quarry was located. It's not that far off the road system so I figured I'd give it a look see on my drive from central Arizona to Northern California. The location is only about 25 miles out of my way so why not. On my drive north I only had a few hours so this stop was mostly a fact finding trip. The view from the car windshield. The Marble Mountains are the lower hills to the left of center. The quarry area is just to the left of the gap between hills Ok, word of notice...... I DO NOT recommend driving a mustang here. I know my car and have driven many places I shouldn't hehehe. I had to stop about 1/4 mile from the site. Don't need a 4x4 but a little ground clearance is a big help. The road is a bit rocky but that is to be expected. It's about 1.5 miles from pavement to parking area. The site is just below the gray outcrop just to the left of the mountain gap. I arrived just before sunset and found some locals already at the site (you can just make out their truck in middle photo). They gave me some pointers on what to look for as they were leaving and I set to work. For the first hour I was mostly just wondering around seeing what I could see. There were no obvious recent diggings so I was gonna have to do some digging myself. Went back to the car, grabbed a headlight and went to search in the dark. After about 3 hours I packed up and left to continue my drive north. 5 days later I was on my way south back to Arizona. I stopped for a full day of digging this time. Kinda got the basics of the site during this stop. Then back on my way. A week later I was able to slip away for a full 3 day trip just to dig. I was able to spend some quality time on site. It is not a site that you can really hit well in a short time. to be continued......
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