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After cracking open this packstone, I happened upon this odd little fossil. I did a bit more excavating to uncover the extra lobe. So far, the speculation is leaning heavily toward some sort of Actinocrinites plate. There are a few people pondering echinoderms. What are the general thoughts here on this piece? From South Haven, Michigan. Mississippian Coldwater Shale.

When I break open brachiopod packstones from South Haven (MI), I usually find three types of tiny to small fragile brachiopod shells more often than any others. These are from the Mississippian Coldwater Shale formation. I’ve been having a private discussion with a fellow forum member, and we’ve come to the conclusion that these are likely all from the same brachiopod. The largest shell in the first photo always bows inward. The shell in the second photo always bows outward. We suspect those are opposite sides of the same half because of the V on the one side and the indent on the other. The shell in last photo is more flat than the other two. And, after reviewing my rather extensive collection of these specimens today, I can verify that the shell from the first photo can be found with similar growth rings akin to the ones in the last photo. The problem is, the farthest we seek to be able to take the ID is a chonetide. It looks similar to a European species called Tornquistia. Does anyone here have any other ideas?

So many different ideas have been tossed out for this piece now. I thought perhaps some folks who aren’t in the Facebook group I regularly post in might have some clue to be able to narrow this down. The tan-colored half seems to be two layers of diagonal lines stacked on top of one another in a crisscross pattern, creating the holes in between. This is another Mississippian Coldwater Shale packstone from South Haven, MI.

Now, I have never seen one of these before. But… it feels like a crinoid piece of some sort. Only two of the rounded edges are visible, but I believe there are six sides to this. It reminds me of a connecting joint piece for a puzzle kit. Found it after cracking open this Coldwater Shale packstone from South Haven, Michigan.

Hello everyone. I’ve been chiseling apart some of my less than fabulous Mississippian Coldwater Shale packstones that I find in South Haven (MI) on Lake Michigan. Typically, I’ll discover various brachiopods, a few gastropods, various bryozoan, some ostracods, and little bits of flora that look like tiny seaweed. However, recently I opened up a packstone with a very different fossil inside. I have nothing else like it in my collection. A few folks I know have speculated the things I mentioned in the title of this post. The second picture is... I guess I would call it a cast? The third picture is the interior of the shell of whatever this creature was.

Hi, I am brand new to forum. Signed up because of my sudden interest in fossils. I unearthed one in Michigan this past week 3/22, while digging a trench. I need to find someone that can verify and advise me how to protect it. I believe it contains bone fragment. One large portion of bone is removable. From what I am learning on the fly, it is a true form fossil, cast in place. I believe it is a complete animal skull. I will add any necessary details soon and pictures when I compress file size.