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Okay, I know these two pics will look pretty indeterminate, but would anyone be able to get me past cephalopod and gastropod and into an area where I can research and expand my knowledge. Both these were found in the Mississippian, Lake Valley Formation, Andrecito Member (early Osagean). Clear association to Zoophycos with which these were found.

Hey! I was looking for native artifacts in a neighbourhood creek when I came across what I thought was a somewhat large cephalopod fossil. The creek is in Louisville Kentucky, leading to Floyd’s Fork. From the USGS Mapview, it looks like it’s Ordovician of the Drake’s formation. Either Bardstown member or Saluda Dolomite member. Upon further examination, I saw that the ridges on the sides were angled very steeply. It was very covered by matrix, so I decided to get to work on it with a dremel tool. After getting a significant amount of material off the fossil, I found that the ridges along the side were not in fact bilaterally symmetrical, and rather that these ridges went down the length of it, spiraling like they would on a screw. It is hollow, partially filled in with some softer, red stone and crystallized on the inside. From what I can tell, it has a curve to it reminding me of cyrtoconic(?) cephalopods. I read somewhere that cephalopods are bilaterally symmetrical, so I decided to post this here since I now don’t have any better guesses on what it is. My only other thoughts are that shark coprolites can be spiral shaped, and that it seems too smooth and hollowed to be a horn coral. My heads buzzing about this. Mum said it could be a unicorn horn . Due to upload limits, I will be adding a couple more photos below. I could not find any other fragments of the fossil besides this one section.

This is from the Keefer Formation of the Clinton Group - Silurian. This site is a small iron strip pit in Duncansville, Blair County, Pennsylvania. When I first collected this I thought it might be a coprolite. Later a very experienced local fossil collector Id'ed it as a hematitic replacement of an orthoceras cephalapod. After looking at recent posts could it be something else or is it too lacking in detail to tell. I think its actually a cast not a replacement.

This morning I got an amazing birthday gift from my girlfriend A lifelike replica of a .... Manticoceras and an orthocone from Kamyk.pl Thx honney for the wonderful gift Manticoceras with his fossil counterpart: Orthocone replica with his fossil counterpart: a group picture: I will give those two replica's a paintjob in the future

My exploration/presentation of possible (I believe probable) siphuncle preservation in Michelinoceras that I found at smokes creek in Buffalo, New York. Enjoy! In the Hamilton group found in western New York (Wanakah shale, Windom Shale) you can find 2 straight shell nautilods known as Spyroceras and Michelinoceras. Both can be found throughout the Hamilton group but there is one particular bed at the base of the Wanakah shale on top of the Ledyard shale that has a high representation of Michelinoceras. The “Mt Vernon Bed” (seen in photo) is a very hard and concretionary calcareous shale with abundant cephalopods, Gastropods and some extra fauna mixed in. You can find this bed at smokes creek and rush creek behind Penn-Dixie in Buffalo, New York The scientist in me likes to collect type (exemplary) specimens...something represantive of the species I can refer to. Once I have a great specimen I’ll only collect other “type” (exemplary) quality specimens or rare “oddities”. I recently found some rare oddities stored away that I collected of Michelinoceras a few years ago. I decided to put some study time into them cause I never really looked at them hard. After some research and observation I think I know what I’m seeing and I’m going to share my thoughts but I would love to hear from some cephalopod experts! Pic 1 : stratigraphic setting Pic 2: type (exemplary) specimen typical of Mt Vernon bed. Pic 3: 2 large supplementary type (exemplary) specimens I have. The complete specimen actually shows very faint sipluncle evidence at the bottom of the picture. Pic 4: Bombshell specimen that allowed me to link and ID the specimen in picture 5 as a Michelinoceras. Pic 5: Partial Michelinoceras showing this same oddity seen in picture 3 and 4. I am going to follow up with more up close pictures and a few words/ evidence on what I think it is.

Hi guys! This is a continuation of a previous post focusing just on the sponges. These fossils are from the Capitan Formation, which is Permian Period, Guadalupian Epoch, Capitanian Stage. Because these fossils are in the park, no collecting was allowed, and I can't provide additional images. Any confirmations about the identification or suggestions about a more specific identification are welcome. This trilobite is the only fossil out of these images that was actually found in Carlsbad Caverns, right behind the elevator. Can I get more specific on an ID? Cross section of rugose coral? Sponge? Bryozoan. Acanthocladia? Bryozoan? Crinoid.

Can anyone give me for information about this Cephalopod? Found in Pike County PA near the Delaware Water Gap National Rec. Area. Devonian shale. The wide end is 3/4", the visible part is 1 1/4" long.

Hi, I am wondering what the white globular mineral growths are on this dolomitized Dawsonoceras mold. Calcite? Thanks for any help.

Found in a creek East Fork Lake in Cincinnati. 14 centimeters in length. It looked to me like a nautiloid because of its shape but it doesn't have any of the distinctive markings like a nautiloid does. Someone suggested that it could be a cast. You can see the imprint of the rest of the fossil. What it looks like now after I broke the rest of the rock apart Opening of the cone shape, looks like a brachiopod? Nautiloid Cephalopod markings I'm talking about:

I found this ammonite on Saturday. It is the best Trachyscaphites springer I have ever found. I think it is a T. springer. I assume the other ones I have are males and maybe this one is a female. I don't know much about sexual dimorphism in this genus, but it does exist. When they say there is dimorphism is the female is bigger? It is so very different from any of the others I have. I know there is another species of Trachyscaphites in the NSR, but I don't know what it looks like. I really like this one though. It is free standing too! Bonus. It has some damage on the dorsal venter and the aperture. It also had some pyrite on the umbilicus area (I can’t really see an overt umbilicus since it is so involuted). My prep work is still very crude. There is so much I need to learn. I just keep at it and learn by trial and error though. I don’t have pneumatic tools. Here it is. See the white film on the right half? The white on the left half is nacre, but some of it has the film on it too. This is from the red zone of the Ozan formation, Cretaceous. I doubt it matters, but I am wondering if the film layer is pyrite in nature or gypsum or something else. I have specimens from the Britton formation of the Eagle Ford group, which have a gypsum film on them and this looks a bit little that. But that isn't my main question. It is just a curiosity. This is the other side. You can see some pyrite at the bottom left along the umbilicus grove. I have a number of these, but this is the first where I can actually see suture lines mostly at 11 to 12 o'clock down the midline and on the right. I am going to tag @Ptychodus04 and @RJB on this. I don't know if Ron is familiar with fossils of this matrial and matrix, but I imagine he is. I am pretty sure Kris is. Questions The film issue 1. Do you think I should attempt to remove the film? I think I should. See the tubercle by my thumb in pic 2? There was a tiny fleck of white showing so I chipped away at the red clay and revealed more nacre under it. So I believe there is still nacre under some of it on the left 2. What is the best way to go about removing it? I was thinking of using sandpaper, but I don't have much experience using sandpaper on fossils. I have a range of grit up to 3000 (or is it down to since the grit is smaller and finer?) The nose issue I am calling it the nose since it looks like a little nose. It seems to be the first part of the first visible whorl. 3. Any advice as to what to do with this part. I am not sure what to do with it. At times I prep haphazardly and then I think I have damaged it and I get paralysis of analysis and that is where I am on the nose. I have removed some matrix from the top, left and right. I think I might have gone down into the nose on the right side some. It is hard to tell where the matrix ends and fossil begins. These are other views of the nose. The lines on the nose are from me scraping away, thinking I was on top of ribs. I am not sure if there are ribs there yet. Like I said my prep skills are pretty crude still. The other side of it. I still have some matrix to removed on the side there. I think part of it is chipped away, but I am not totally sure how it is supposed to look. Maybe it got crushed. It just looks odd to me. I have several other of this species, but I think they may all be males or something. They are more open, the whorl does not cover the umbilicus and they are much flatter and smaller. The pyrite issue. I know I have asked these types of questions before about prep so sorry for the repeat. 4. What is the best way to address the pyrite to keep it from coming back? I have scraped most of it off already. I have heard people say to soak it in Iron Out and I have that. But I am concerned it may hurt the fossil. I guess I could experiment on other concretions I have that look like the same, but are rock and not fossil. 5. What should I do as far as long term preservation to slow the progress of pyrite disease? I think someone recommended Butvar. I looked into buying it, but I got sidetracked by trying to figure out which was best. Then couldn't find what was best and kind of forgot about buying again. 6. What is the best Butvar or product to use for sealing it? I looked at buying some on different sites. Paying so much for shipping irks me. I am spoiled with Amazon Prime and just don't think about shipping costs. I have a buddy who works at Eastman. I asked him if they had a store where individuals could purchase products like Butvar 76. He said no, but he would see if he could go ask for a sample The museum supply site. It has Butvar-80 for $34 for 1 kg and $15.53 for shipping. I don’t need 1 kg. Talas has Butvar-76 500 g for $17.50, but then is charging $14.64 for shipping! I have seen people reference McGean-15 or Vinac and they seemed to prefer it over Butvar. 7. Can anyone tell me the molecular weight of the Vinac or what grade of polyvinyl acetate Vinac is? I think my buddy could come up with that for me more easily since I think he manages production of a form of it. I found something called Vinapas. I have not looked at the shipping on this site. Here: http://www.conservationresources.com/Main/section_37/section37_08.htm PVA Resin Solid Vinapas This consolidant is a polyvinyl acetate solid suspended in granular form, with a molecular weight averaging 51,000 and a melting point of 50 C. It is used as a consolidantfor porous, dry, non-metal objects-particularly those found in digs. This is typically applied in concentrations of 20-25% I.M.S. with a soft brush. It may also be used as an isolating varnish and thermoplastic adhesive. Item # Description Price SY01 Vinapas, 1 kg. $22.00

I am at the Santa Rosa Gem and Mineral show and one of the vendors had this on display, labeled as an oyster. I’m not sure that’s correct and the lady said it could also be a cephalopod. Looks to me like a loosely coiled ammonite, what does everyone think?

Although the most pieces of my collection are goniatites, I am more than happy to add other Devonian cephalopods to my collection from time to time. On my last field trip for devonian cephalopods I splitted a few nodules and some of them had a few uncommon fossils in them: Bactrites I rarely find decent fragments of them, but those few were looking promising. Bactrites, although they look like an orthocone are in fact straight Ammonoids and not a Nautiloid. the septas start to be slightly ondulated, but most important they have a ventral siphuncle, a typical trait of an Ammonoid. the first nodule had a fragment sticking out, and when I split the nodule another one was found inside. I kept both parts of the nodule and prepped the one inside and on top After prepping them I found out that neither of those were complete, but the were decent in size and well preserved. The second nodule on the other hand hand was much better, a piece of the Bactrites was sticking out from both ends of the nodule, so I new I had a complete specimen. The prepping was relatively hard as different parts of the cone had different forms of preservation, but in the end I got the whole specimen out of the matrix and is my best Bactrites until now. enjoythe pictures: 1st nodule with the specimen inside: after prepp: After prep with the top of the nodule containing an other fragment. prepp on the 2nd nodule: after prepp, with the different kinds of preservation visible: and the whole lot:

I found this rock in a creek in middle Tennessee. (Mississippian, St. Louis Limestone & Warsaw Limestone) It has several fossil imprints and I’m wondering if the circled one is a cephalopod. If not, can anyone tell me what is it?

Been having some heavy wind and storms. Found this on the shore of Lake Ontario in Henderson Harbor, NY. From what I have researched online and previous posts, thinking this is Spyroceras? Decent size too. Very happy with this and found it in a couple pieces so had to glue back together. Can anyone confirm or help to to ID? Rock is mostly Shale and Limestone. Area Ordovician in age from what I have been told.

Locally, I find quite a few large cephalopods. Here is an example: Unfortunately this specimen was deteriorated. and I collected only it's exposed siphuncle. After gluing it back together, I noticed definite narrowings that I do not understand. Other siphuncles I have found have raised areas on them, not narrowings. Any ideas on this anatomical aspect??? Here is another cephalopod I found that day. Love the crystals inside.

I went hunting in the rain yesterday. It wasn’t one of my most successful hunts, but I still managed to find some cool stuff. I found this in The Grayson Formation, Cretaceous in the Denton, TX area. I had never hunted that area of the Grayson before and it was different as every area of the Grayson seems to be. I found this section of a heteromorph. I don’t believe it is a Mariella. I am wondering if it could be a section of Turrilites. I believe it only has 2 rows of tubercles. Any thoughts? Side view Top down view Edge view

I can't seem to find an ID for this find. I believe this may be a siphuncle. What do you guys think? The "V" shaped sutures are really throwing me off. Has anyone seen a straight shelled cephalopod with this "V" pattern? Kinda neat how you can see how this was buried, preserving one side as it weathered the other. Then along came a dozen crinoids or so a used it as a nice base.

Found this that I believe is a cephalopod today at a devonian spot with imported material, I haven't seen a cephalopod with a bulbed tip before so I am not sure if it's some sort of pathology of a species or it's own species.

Hi Everyone, I suddenly have a work trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota coming up next week and I'd like to get out and collect some fossils along the way. I'm driving from Denver to Lead, SD and will be driving north on HW 85 and 18 through Newcastle. I'd be really happy to get a few stops in along the way and any potential information would really be great. Unfortunately, I won't have a ton of time to be able to stop and really dig, so some road cuts or target formations would be super helpful for surface collecting. I'm open to every type of fossil. I know there's a lot of fossils in that section of the state so I'm looking forward to hopefully finding some decent stuff! Thanks! Caleb

Hello all, I found this in a steam in East Tennessee about 20 years ago. I'm new to fossils so I was wondering if anyone could help identify. I spoke with a marine archaeologist who thought it might be a cephalopod or part of a trilobite. Thank you, Michael

I have not gotten out much locally this summer due to a few issues. Forced myself to step away from my current stresses and hunt some fossils along the Minnesota Iowa border. Found some nice brachs, cephalopods, rugosa coral, gastropods, and fisherites. Nothing special, but it was nice being out again. When I returned home, I was going to hammer a little matrix away from a few of my collections. A large slab had a worn cephalopod in it and I was going to break it out and put it in with the fossils I take to the children's sand pit at a local park. With one swing of the hammer, I decided this one was NOT going to the park! It is amazing how often this happens to me. I wonder how many nice fossils have been left behind only because I quit breaking the rock. Two beautiful Maclurites and a Hormatoma laid hidden underneath the matrix surrounding the cephalopod.