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I am not sure if this is the right place to post this on the forum, but I am going to be completely honest and admit that I need advice on trying to get this fossil out in one piece. I have a small portable rock saw which I have tried using to no avail. I have also tried chiseling around it but I am an amateur and have only used this rock saw on easier-to-get targets. I do not want to break this and glue it back together unless it is absolutely necessary. My original plan was to cut in a sort of # pattern and chisel the sides till I got deep enough to chisel out a rectangular slab but then got cold feet. This fin spine is lodged in a half-sunken 5 to 7-inch thick chunk of limestone that is too large to carry or move. I want to try and extract this fossil before the rock pile gets taken to the dump, or this fossil erodes completely into nothing. I know it's not in the best shape but it means a lot to me as it was my first "big find" when I started field collecting a few years ago and any advice is appreciated. I am not sure if I should just keep chiseling the sawed portions till it begins to break loose or what my next steps should be. It is also so close to being covered in sediment and so close to another chunk of limestone I am unable to fit the portable saw blade completely in place to saw more for the bottom portion, beyond where it is already cut. (it is at an incline and the rocks form a sort of V shape). Image taken before sawing began (I am leaning on the other rock): Where I am at: Edit: I think I need to keep chiseling it, but I wanted to consult the experts before I continue further. I think i may have panicked when I heard that the landowner may be calling waste management in a few months. Once again sorry if this is the wrong place to post this, and move this post if need be.

Location: Missouri Period: Pennsylvanian Formation: Iola Limestone (Muncie Creek Shale Member?) Hello once again and I have come up with an interesting find. I recently came across my 7th Conulariid while fossil hunting and decided it was time to do a deep dive on Google. I came across some information that Conulariids can have pearls, which If I hadn't seen it I wouldn't have believed it. I decided to look at that specific specimen more closely and to my surprise I may have found one of these Conu-Pearls. Here is an image from the paper: Babcock, L.E. (1990). Conulariid Pearls. pp. 68-71 IN: Evolutionary Paleobiology of Behavior and Coevolution. Elsevier Scientific Publishing, 725 pp. My Specimen: I have long suspected that my Conularrids were a part of the Genus Paraconularia but never nailed down the species. If anyone can confirm please let me know. The paper mentions that these pearls are made out of Calcium Phosphate and my specimen's possible "pearl(s)" are consistent with the color, shine, and appearance of the Chitin-Calcium-Phosphate shells of brachiopods I have found around the area and other localities. I think the pearl's color is distinct enough from the Conulariids exoskeleton, but I may be wrong. As these pearls form in layers, I assume the fragment on the image's left side to be the pearl's outer ring that somehow detached from the actual main pearl (on the right side). Ultimately I would like to hear other people's opinions as I don't want to be a "Conu-Liar". Also here is the size of the Conulariid along with another, albeit Crushed specimen. I, unfortunately, do not have the rest of my Conulariids on me as I was back in the area for spring break and left my main collection at my apartment. I will be able to look at the rest of the Conulariids next week, and under a lower-power microscope instead of a hand lens. Edit: I forgot to add an image of the "Pearl" on its side.

I recently collected some Muncie creek concretions from the Kansas City area. I had previously only found a few concretions, but this time I was fortunate enough to end up with about 10. Several had Conulariid sections preserved, which I was excited about. Back home, I cracked open the remaining concretions. One of them had a tiny little brachiopod, and I didn't think much of it. Later, looking at it under magnification, I was astounded when I found the remains of the preserved pedicle! This is where I am sad to say, that in my excitement, I forgot to take pictures of the fossil prior to me prepping around the shell to aid in id. Anyways, after prepping around the shell with a hand scribe, I was excited to find that it was also my first lingulate brach. Orbiculoidea capuliformis Sorry for making you read all of that, here are the photos: Scale is in cm. Here are several interesting articles/papers for anyone interested. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:373816/FULLTEXT01.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/figure/a-b-The-brachiopod-L-chengjiangensis-represented-by-stout-pedicles-marked-by-numbers_fig1_24424671 Despite being small, there is a lot of potential with Muncie Creek shale concretions. I learned a lot about them, and their existence, here on TFF. @Missourian has found many astonishing finds, and I noticed that soft tissue preservation is prevalent in many of his best concretions. Hope y'all enjoyed this. Have a great day, and a great weekend -Jay

As requested, here are some fossils found in concretions from the Pennsylvanian Muncie Creek Shale.... Two conularids and some chitin, possibly from a crustacean: Crustaceans are occasionally found: The phyllocarid shrimp Concavicaris is the most common. The two nodules on the left contain its spiky telson. At top and lower right, its carapace can be seen. The nodule in the middle with the fly-like form may be a shrimp tail. The nodule in the upper right appears to contain chitin. There appears to be a curled-up shrimp in there, but I'm not sure. Ammonoids are found too. The square-edged Proudenites seems to be the most common: A suture pattern is visible in the one at the bottom. Fish material is quite common: Most are bones and spines that are hard to id. Occasionally, one is recognizable. The mandible on the left, for instance. I call these 'chicken bones': This distinctive form has bilateral symmetry. I'm not sure where it would fit into a fish. A piece of another 'chicken bone', and a scale: And finally, the coprolites: Bones and scales pass straight through a fish. That big bone on the right must have been painful....

Location: Missouri Period: Pennsylvanian Formation: Iola Formation (Muncie Creek Shale Member) Hello! once again. Today I have what is either a cluster of scales, or a possible chunk of listracanthus that was entombed in one of these many phosphate nodules I have come to possess over the years. I only say Listracanthus due to the "scales" looking feathery and wavy much like the 3 other Listracanthus denticles I have found so far from these nodules. The main difference is that it appears to be attached to something this time. Let me know what you think! Rotated: Ever since I heard of the tragic tale of Listracanthus I have always been fascinated by it. Which is why I am afraid I might be a little too biased in this assumption. Other Half of the nodule: Size: In the surrounding Limestone matrix, there is also a very small brachiopod that my professor couldn't nail down the exact species of. Thought he deserved his little section too! Lastly here are a few pictures of other denticles I have found from the Muncie Creek Thanks for reading through all of this and let me know what you guys think, I'm not even sure what part of the body this would belong on the animal itself, so I would love any information.

Phosphatic concretion, Muncie Creek Shale, Kasimovian/Missourian Stage, Pennsylvanian Kansas City metro, KS/MO, USA I'm pretty sure this is a mollusk. The fine striations remind me of those on some Poterioceras: Any ideas?

Location: Missouri Period: Pennsylvanian Formation: Iola Limestone (Muncie Creek Shale Member) Hello once again! Today I have a fossil tooth that I happened to have seen while going through my old phosphatic nodules from Muncie Creek and was wondering if anyone could identify it further than a Cladodont tooth. I have googled images of Cladodont teeth and believe it to possible be a tooth belonging to Falcatidae, but what do you think? It resembles a few of these teeth on the chart below in size and form, hence why i'm making the guess of it being a Falcatid even though my tooth has very slight differences in lengths of each cusplet. I will note that my specimen seems to have 6 cusps total, while the specimens below that it most resembles has 5. Here is the size in mm. The last thing I wanted to note is that it might be next to possible coprolitic material, although it's hard to tell as coprolites in these nodules looks very similar to just a phosphate center, although if you find inclusions its almost guaranteed. Example of an obvious coprolite and a not so obvious coprolite from these nodules.

Location: Missouri Time period: Pennsylvanian Formation: Muncie Creek Shale Hello! I have opened this structure a long time ago and I always wondered what it could be since it seemed like bone. I have other small sized bony structures, most that I assume are coprolites of some sort and I would love to know what this is! Other half of concretion Images in natural file sizes: https://imgur.com/a/DsgxFCA

Location: Missouri Time period: Pennsylvanian Formation: Muncie Creek Shale From a collection of Muncie Creek Shale nodules Specimen #1: Starting with the best preserved specimen ( I think this is for sure a fish mandible) backside of the nodule Complete nodule More Images: https://imgur.com/a/3rhBqsR Specimen #2: had flash on in order to make it easier to see More images: https://imgur.com/a/7S3iJIA Specimen #3: This one I was not too sure about as it was only half a nodule when I found it, which unfortunately means most of it is eroded and were unable to find its other half It seems to have the general shape of the first specimen I had even though it's missing most of its pieces If I need to retake some images please let me know! I wish to identify what these belonged to.