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Showing results for tags 'carboniferous'.
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I had this concretion open today. I immediately noticed what I believe is a coelacanth scale, but on closer inspection there looks to be some other bits that might be related. Any thoughts? @jdp @RCFossils
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Part 2 Fossil hunting trip in Utica, Illinois October/29/2022
Joseph Fossil posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
This is the second part of my post describing my recent fossil hunting trip with @Tales From the Shale in Utica, of which it was awesome!!! So after visiting the abandoned clay pit, we decided to go to another location in Utica one might not expect to be productive - the former peabody coal company Pit 15 (or at least its outskirts), located not to far away from Lake Shannon, Kankakee County, Illinois (I'm am not going to tell the specific route or address so the area doesn't end up being picked clean). We went there as I had heard a report that a while ago, someone found a sizable Cladodus (or cladodont labeled as Cladodus) tooth at Pit 15 itself. At the top of the outskirts of the Pit was truly Beautiful!!! I expected to find simply nodules in the area. What I found instead were a staggering amount of different rocks with a descent portion containing fossils, most of brachipods though. As the area was once a mine, I've somewhat come up with a theory as to why this is - when the mines were closed, the pit was filled not just with nodule containing rocks but by all the types of rocks available in the Utica area ranging from shale to clay to limestone, likely either Ordovician or Carboniferous in age. It's still a pretty productive site and I've recently analyzed many of the specimens with a microscope and dissecting scope and I hope to get some IDs from them! Here's a possible shark spine I found there!
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Formation: Bangor Limestone Age: Mississippian Found this location in a remote area of Alabama recently. I Haven't hunted the Bangor in awhile, so I gave it a shot. A fragmentary calyx. Northern Alabama seems to be teeming with these, as I found 8 others in a nearby locality as well. A complete, but squashed roller of a Kaskia? Fenestrella are found commonly articulated with their fans here. This was the best individual I found. My guess is these are Spyroceras? All of my nautiloids come from the Ordovician, so these are unqiue for me. I'm not certain I know what these are. Could be a bryozoan? Bacterial structure? Steinkern? These are sponges I believe, species unknown. Composita brachiopods: Unknown productids: Next are some new brachiopods I have yet to identify. Oh, and here is a brachiopod with an exposed brachidium. Finally here are some blastoids with weird preservational attributes.
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Hi people, I have a query regarding the contents of some siderite nodules from a Duckmantian fossil forest site in N Wales for my PhD project. I had thin sections made of parts of several nodules and they all seem to have an abundance of 'faecal pellets'; rounded, often curved (banana-ish) shaped, mostly stratified pellets. These pellets have been replaced by siderite (FeCO3) and sometimes include pyrite and seem to have been the locus for early sulphate reduction by bacteria before conditions arose for the siderite precipitation. I've attached SEM images of the thin sections showing some of these pellets. We have only found a couple of fragments of crustaceans (Euproops I believe) and the host sediments were fine sands and silts. All the images show individual pellets with scale bars but "pellet5" is a zoomed out image showing the abundance of the pellets. They are all replaced by an Fe-rich siderite and are all quartz free. "pellet6" is different with a mottled texture and some potential apatite mixed in. Let me know if anyone has seen similar textures before and/or what could have made them! The palaeoenvironment was purely freshwater with meandering river systems, with a dynamic lycopod dominated fossil forest ecosystem. pellet3.pdf pellet2.pdf pellet1.pdf pellet5.pdf pellet4.pdf
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I found some time this past weekend while passing through to take a look at a small stream cut exposing cyclothem layers of marine limestone and swamp coal in east central Illinois. Here are some fossils I found from the marine rocks. Bond formation. Offshore sediments, deep water. Ditomopyge sp. UV Lophophyllidium Not sure what these are. These are magnified. Each one about the size of a grain of sand. Assuming they are crinoidal. Any help with ID appreciated. Very tiny tooth measures <.5mm. The acrodin cap is characteristic of an actinopterygian, but I don't know if it can be identified any further than that. Thanks for looking.
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I understand that scallops did not come about until Jurassic so can’t be what this is but I am not sure what it might be. Early Carboniferous, Burlington limestone ish maybe Fernglen? By my thumb in the first picture. Through a jeweler’s loop.
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Was the Early Miocene a second "golden age" for the Chondrichthyans
Joseph Fossil posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
I recall not too long ago there was a pretty interesting scientific article published in the Journal Science describing how scientists analyzed the amount and diversity of chondrichthyan denticles in ichthyoliths from the North and South Pacific dating from around 20-19 million years ago and discovered a sharp drop in the number and diversity of denticles around 19 million years ago, indicating a massive extinction took place which took sharks 2 to 5 million years to somewhat recover from (it's still unknown if this impacted chondrichthyans worldwide or just in the pacific). Here's the paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaz3549 E. C. Sibert, L. D. Rubin, An early Miocene extinction in pelagic sharks. Science 372, 1105–1107 (2021). But after reading it, I remembered how the Mississippian and somewhat Pennsylvanian periods of the Carboniferous era have been called the golden age of sharks due to the sheer diversity of chondrichthyan genera alive at that time. http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/evolution/golden_age.htm What I'm wondering is does this paper, in revealing this early miocene extinction event, inadvertently also reveal that the period immediately prior to the event was a second "golden age" for the chondrichthyans?- 19 replies
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Help identifying possible organisms from nodules of Pit 11, Mazon Creek
Joseph Fossil posted a topic in Fossil ID
Starting in 2021, I've been going fossil hunting around the Mazon Creek area in Grundy County, Illinois. The site I visit the most so far is the fairly large Mazonia-Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife Area and at first, I would barley find anything. Then after visiting Monster Lake and another secret location in the area, I started finding more fossils. However, most are around 2-7 cm. In length and I'm still having difficulty getting IDs for them? Would anyone be able to help ID them? I think this could be some sort of Chondrichthyan or a lobe finned fish? Maybe part of a dragonfly wing or a plant? Plant fossil - Genera unknown currently? I don't know what this could be? The specimen here looks almost like a plant fossil. Worm fossil - genera unknown currently.
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On Saturday I went fossil hunting with @Tales From the Shale in Utica, LaSalle County, Illinois! We drove for some time looking for roadcuts when we discovered an abandoned clay pit not too far away from the town itself. I learned later its rocks date to the Pennsylvanian period of the Carboniferous era. There were also a bunch of nodules there too, but mostly it was stark shale and Excello shale. We opened the shale rocks up and we found a massive amount of small fossil imprints. But we also found some likely Chondrichthyan spines which I was wondering if anyone could ID the genera? This first specimen I found after breaking open a large piece of Stark Shale. I asked @Tales From the Shale for an ID and he said it very likely a Listracanthus spine. Here is the specimen under a dissecting scope!!! The striations typically seen on chondrichthyans like Listracanthus or Cladodus are more visible here, but I'm a bit unsure if these could be matched to either of these genera?
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Hello, found what I think are nautiloids and brachiopods. I found the rock in a stream and I can't say what limestone (maybe brush creek or pine creek), but the area is Glenshaw Formation in northern Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It's quite difficult for me to get good pictures, let alone good pictures with scale, so I'll tell you that the first two pictures are 2 cm (same organism), the second is 5.5 cm and the largest Nautilus in the last pictures is about 6 cm. All information is appreciated, thanks!
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Fossil hunting trip in Utica, Illinois October/29/2022
Joseph Fossil posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
On Saturday, I went on a fossil hunting trip with @Tales From the Shale in the area of Utica, LaSalle County, Illinois. After some time driving and looking for roadcuts, we discovered an abandoned clay bed/outcrop not too far away from the town itself. There, we discovered an absolutely massive amount of shark spines and teeth! I would like to know if anyone could properly ID some of the specimens we found!! \ This is one of the best shark spines I found at the site!!! It does look somewhat like the spine of Listracanthus, but I'm not 100% sure!! Possible Crusher plate tooth or maybe the bottom part of a large cladodont? Likely fish teeth or denticles, but I'm don't yet know what species/genus this could belong to? I really don't know what this could be? Maybe some sort of mineral or a fish head? Truly beautiful chondricthyian tooth in a clay matrix!!! However, I still don't know what specific group it could belong to? Maybe it could be a large crusher plate?
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Howdy! Found this little critter today in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania. It is Pennsylvanian, Glenshaw Formation, probably Brush Creek Limestone. It's a bit different from the ones I'm used to finding and I don't see anything similar in my guides. It is approximately 1.75 cm x 1.25 cm. Even if it can't be ID'd I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me if it's brachiopod or bi-valve. Thanks in advance.
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Went to one of my local spots in the northern part of Davidson County last weekend and found a few unknown things within the shale. I know the strata is Chattanooga Shale and the era is from the Mississipian period, but these things are very different from what I have found in other areas of the same strata. Anybody familiar with these? Thank you.
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The Fossils of the Essex Quad in Kankakee/Grundy County Illinois
Joseph Fossil posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
I've been recently trying to find some good places to go fossil hunting in the Mazon Creek area and there is one area some say is good but I've never heard or or been to before. It's called the Essex Quadrangle or Essex Quad in Kankakee County Illinois. It's supposed to be extremely close to the old Peabody coal company pit 15 and have fossils from the Essex Biota dating to around the Pennsylvanian period. https://isgs.illinois.edu/maps-data-pub/quads/e/essex.shtml https://ilmineswiki.web.illinois.edu/index.php/0359 I'm wondering if anyone's heard of or been to the place before, what kind of fossils you can find there, and where is it? -
I had this Mazon Creek concretion open today. It was collected from the Braidwood biota (freshwater/terrestrial). My best guess is a partial millipede (Amynilyspes?) but I'm not sure and wanted to get other opinions. Thanks for any help. @Nimravis @deutscheben @bigred97 @RCFossils @stats @flipper559 @Mark Kmiecik
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I was rooting around in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, Beaver County yesterday and found some interesting plant fossils. They are Pennsylvanian and out of the Glenshaw Formation. Not sure if they're identifiable or if I would need a microscope to ID. Any help is appreciated.
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Hello all. I am posting a link to a calendar I created for 2023. It showcases twelve different late Paleozoic gastropods I have recovered over the past three years in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. Eleven of them are from the Pine Creek limestone, and one other comes from the Brush Creek limestone. Each month features a different gastropod, photographed after coating it using ammonium chloride vapor, using an iPhone to capture photos through a microscope lens. The cover photo showcases all twelve, and the images for each month typically showcase an additional view at a much larger size. While this is a color print calendar, all the content throughout is black & white. If you enjoy natural color photos of fossils, you might skip this. I am selling this calendar without profit to me. I am still waiting to receive my copy, and I can follow up on print quality when I get mine. Lulu says this is 100 lb paper, but I'm still determining what to expect. Please PM me for purchase information.
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Odontopteris minor Stéphanien Graissessac, Hérault, France.
nala posted a gallery image in Member Collections
From the album: Plants
Odontopteris minor Stéphanien Graissessac, Hérault, France. -
Very early Carboniferous / late Devonian. Burlington limestone? They are crystalized with much crinoid debris. Do you agree that the might be part of crinoid heads? As a side note I would not mind opinions on whether I should try to uncover them more or not? And if so any recommendations.
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An idea for a Museum solely dedicated to the Carboniferous life of Mazon Creek, Illinois
Joseph Fossil posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
I've been to a least a few museums where they would have a part of an exhibit dedicated to the Carboniferous era (of which the Field Museum's section for that in the Evolving Planet is pretty good). But I do wonder what would it be like if a whole A grade small to medium sized museum opened dedicated solely to the fossils found in the Mazon Creek area, including the Essex Fauna. It could be located close to the Mazonia-Braidwood State Fish and Wildlife area and include life sized reconstructions of both the terrestrial and aquatic environments. It could also be a place where fossil hunters could donate there finds to have them displayed so scientists will have an opportunity to study any fossils found (where most of the fossils from the area now I fear end up in private hands). Any thoughts? -
Not too long ago, I went fossil hunting with @Tales From the Shale and another friend at a Pennsylvanian roadcut in Oglesby, Illinois. We found a truly epic amount of fossils and I'm only now categorizing and trying to properly ID them. Here are a few I'm wondering if anyone would be able to ID? Some of the brachiopods I found there. This next one I am completely baffled as to what it could be? Maybe some part of a straight shelled nautiloid? I'm pretty sure this next one is a Chondrichthyan, but unsure on genus ID. Unknown Brachiopod about the size of a penny. Possible crusher plate about 2 mm. In length! Species ID unknown. Larger unknown brachipods. Possible penny sized worm imprints.
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Hello to all. I ask for your help in ID of the next sample. I have a large collection of Carboniferous flora, but this sample surprised me. First, I will publish standard finds from one mine in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. These Calamites were brought to the surface from a depth of 930 meters. Not flattened and of small diameter - an interesting find. 1476001232_1(5.1).mp4 1697913187_1(8).mp4
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A few days ago, I went with @Tales From the Shale and another friend on a fossil hunting trip to a Bond Formation Roadcut in Oglesby, Illinois with rocks dating around 307-303 Million years ago, to the Pennsylvanian section of the Carboniferous era. We worked for at least 5 to 6 hours, but it was worth it! This was one of the best fossil hauls I've had in a long time at that location! The true gem of that trip was this Cladodont tooth I discovered by sheer accident!!! The specimen may come from the Shark Gilkmanius, but I'm not too sure? The top part of the tooth might still be inside the rock. I found some of the largest crinoid stems I've ever recovered from this locality. Again, I'm not sure their genus identity?
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What caused the decline of the Eugeneodontids - (Buzz saw sharks)
Joseph Fossil posted a topic in Questions & Answers
I've been fascinated with the Eugeneodontids (the buzz-saw chondrichthyans) and how they managed to practically become the apex predators of most oceanic environments from the Carboniferous to the Permian with famous members like Edestus and Helicoprion. Two genus of this extraordinary group even survived the Permian-Triassic Extinction 252 Million Years ago - Fadenia and Caseodus! http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=34456 http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=34451 But by the Olenekian stage of the Triassic, the group disappeared. I can understand why the more specialized members of the group like Helicoprion went extinct (ecological specialists and top predators don't do well in events like the Permian-Traissic Extinction event), but what caused the extinction of Fadenia and Caseodus? What occurred in the Triassic that ended the reign of the Eugeneodontids? -
I've been looking at the records of the Carboniferous Eugenodontid Chondrichthyan Edestus in Illinois (famously referred to as the coal shark) in Illinois and I've found that there are a large amounts of reports from Underground mines at Sparta and Coulterville, Randolph County Illinois. I also found a record from fossilworks.org simply listed as "Coal mines of western illinois" at the coordinates 38.7° N, 90.0° W. http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=collectionSearch&taxon_no=34453&max_interval=Carboniferous&country=United States&state=Illinois&is_real_user=1&basic=yes&type=view&match_subgenera=1 O. P. Hay. 1909. On the nature of Edestus and related genera, with descriptions of one new genus and three new species. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 37:43-61 I'm wondering what are the actual best pits and mines by Sparta and Coulterville Illinois to find Edestus fossils, which ones and either still open or (if closed) still accessible, what safety precautions should one take if fossil hunting in one of these mines or pits, and is Mecca Quarry on the Indiana-Illinois border a good place to find Edestus specimens?
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