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Showing results for tags 'pennsylvanian'.
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I am afraid to wash or try to clean it. Doesn’t look like other stromatolites I have found in Western Pa.
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- pennsylvanian
- Shale
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One more from Bishop's Cap, if you don't mind. This looks like another marine plant that has filled with tuff. Looks like a bone, but certainly it is not. Outside is limestone, I think. Again, I cannot find any pictures that match up. Any feedback is appreciated.
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- Bishops Cap
- Marine fossil
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More from Bishop's Cap, Organ Mountains, New Mexico. Coral, other kind of plant stem, sponge root? Pennsylvanian era. Could not find any pictures like this for this area. Thanks again!
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- Bishops Cap
- New Mexico
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Plant, Marine , or Burrow Fossil? Bishop's Cap, Organ Mountains, New Mexico
Jakk T posted a topic in Fossil ID
Please forgive my newbie ignorance. I just can't figure out what these are! Location: About 2/3 up Bishop's Cap at the south end of the Organ Mountains, New Mexico, April 2024. Research says it's probably from the Pennsylvanian era and in limestone. I suspect it's parts of a plant, although it could be a marine animal or burrow hole. Length and width 1 5/8 inches x 1/8 inches. Thanks!- 4 replies
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- April 2024
- Bishops Cap
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Had a beautiful day hunting in southern Indiana. Found this large Cordaites and quite a few Calamites of all sizes.
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- Indiana
- Pennsylvanian
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Found this in a Pennsylvanian-era formation. This is my first fossil hunt ever, so I don't even know if a lot of what I found are fossils or not. But this one was the most interesting. Found in some shale in a road cut near Jellico, TN. To me it looks like some type of millipede, or maybe some type of root system. Not too sure!
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- Lee formation
- Pennsylvanian
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As the temperatures are heating up in the desert I'll be moving more into the high country collecting. This will bring me to formations bearing ammonoids. My understanding is I'll be finding versions of goniatitic ammonoids as opposed to true ammonites that didn't emerge until the Jurassic? I'll be primarily hunting in upper Pennsylvanian or lower Permian formations. These will be new formations to me and difficult to determine the age. There are no stratigraphic maps for the areas I'll be searching to guide me. Hopefully I'll find additional marker beds or fossils that will help date the formations and make them easier to find by association. It appears that obtaining complete specimens will be rare as the best preservations seem to be in dense limestone. Here are a few remnants. Is it possible to discern the species from these limited portions? Also, is there a good link to understanding and being able to recognize ammonoids from the Pennsylvanian to Permian? From what little I can read from research papers for our geology they have not been studied well and there is little reference to them. The specimens range from the smallest being 150mm to largest being 200 mm (6" - 8") in diameter. I feel the preservation is generally nice but finding complete specimens will be pure luck. Thank you for any beginners tips and guidance. Kato
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- New Mexico
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I feel like I should know what this, but am drawing a blank. Pennsylvanian limestone from the Pedernales park in Texas, USA. Roughly 2x4cm
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- limestone
- pedernales river
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I am attaching photos of Sigillaria fossils in my collection. Members of the Forum have been helpful before and as always, suggestions/comments/corrections are welcome. The first image is of a Pennsylvanian Sigillaria syringodendron specimen from Czechoslovakia. The second image is of a Sigillaria specimen from the Pennsylvanian in Eastern Kentucky. The third image is a Pennsylavanian Sigillaria specimen from the Westphalian in Czerwionka, Poland. The fourth image is of Pennsylvanian Sigillaria leaves from Podrovskoe, District of Donetsk Region, Ukraine. The contrast is poor but these leaves do have a remarkable similarity to grasses (although grasses did not evolve until hundreds of millions of year later). The last image is of a Pennsylvanian specimen from Kentucky that was identified by a helpful Forum member as a Sigillaria cortex specimen.
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- carboniferous
- cortex
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In this thread I will be posting my best finds from Mazon Creek localities - so far I’ve only visited Mazonia-Braidwood fish & wildlife area and the Braceville coal mine spoil pile. “Mazon Creek beds” is a colloquial term for a Pennsylvanian Lagerstätte preserved in the Francis Creek shale member of Carbondale formation in several areas of Northern Illinois, including Mazon creek itself. Back 310 million years ago, that area was a river delta that preserved remains of both aquatic and terrestrial organisms in siderite concretions, that now (in the Holocene) you can find and open yourself to reveal the fossils. It is typically divided into two separate biotas - Braidwood, which is largely terrestrial, and Essex biota that is more marine. So far, I have only collected at Essex localities. So, I will start with by far the most common organism in the Essex biota - Essexella ascherae cnidarian, that was first thought to be a jellyfish and is now considered a sea anemone. They mostly preserve as “blobs” of quite diverse shapes. Here are some of my favorites - first, two large specimens from Braceville. This plate preserves 8 small individuals, also from Braceville. These two smaller ones are from Mazonia, Tipple hill area. Note that if Essexella was an anemone, they are positioned upside down in the pictures.
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- illinois
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I was able to open some concretions from my recent trip to the Tipple hill area of Pit 11 (Francis Creek member, Carbondale formation; Pennsylvanian). Among them was this strange fossil - it looks to me like a cycloid, but I’m afraid it may be wishful thinking and it’s just a weirdly shaped coprolite. Would appreciate any suggestions! @RCFossils @Nimravis @deutscheben @Mark Kmiecik @stats
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Just got back today from my first trip to Mazonia-Braidwood (pit 11) this year! I unfortunately couldn't make it on the opening weekend, and was afraid we won’t find anything this late - but I ended up being pleasantly surprised. By this point I ran out of concretions to freeze-thaw from last year, so I’m very excited for the next few months We decided to go back to the Tipple hill area. Here is what it looks like now - open, barren fields of rocks 99.9999% of which are not what we are looking for. What I found especially challenging about this area, is that there are numerous concretions that have perfect shapes, but are not actually the right type of rock - yellow/light orange. I haven’t seen them at other places within Mazonia. I tried cracking a few last year, but they just have quartz (?) crystals on the inside. I guess they are not actually from Francis Creek shale? I forgot to take pictures, but would be curious to hear from people familiar with this. And of course, here are a few dinosaur eggs (the right type of rock) in situ Here is the total haul. Probably not a lot for this site, but this is definitely the most productive pit 11 trip I’ve had so far. Even better, unlike my previous visits, this time I found quite a few fossils in already open concretions. Here is a shrimp molt Both halves of a Calamites I think this is a Cyperites leaf These two halves of Annularia whorls cracked on the drive home And, of course, a neat anemone - Essexella ascherae. Surprisingly, this is the only one we found (so far). Will keep this thread updated with new fossils as I freeze-thaw the remaining concretions. I will also be back to Mazonia this weekend, but will probably go to a different site. I’m hoping this will become a mega-thread of all of my future Mazon creek trips. Out of all of the fossil sites I ever collected at, this is genuinely one of my favorites, if not the favorite - amazing fossils you can’t find anywhere else, plus instant gratification from finding concretions is always followed by delayed gratification over months of opening them. Here are my past trips to Mazonia and Braceville in 2023:
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- concretions
- illinois
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From the album: Missouri Conulariids
Another broken specimen weathered from the rock. I always find these jellyfish fascinating whenever they present themselves.-
- conulariid
- iola formation
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From the album: Missouri Conulariids
A lot of my conulariid finds tend to be broken at or near the tip of the apex, even before the attachment which is typical of other conulariid specimens. I am not sure if it is a plane of weakness, a common feature when the animal dies, or simple predation, but when I collected this specimen from the Paola limestone the lower half was missing from the rest of the slab, despite being an almost clean fracture.-
- conulariid
- iola formation
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L.S., Pecopterid fossils from the Piesberg (Lower Saxony, DEU) are notoriously difficult to ID because the preservation does usually not show the venation (e.g., Josten 1991; PDFs of text and atlas volume). As a group, the pecopterids have also undergone quite substantial taxonomical revisions in the last few years based on material from other localities; not in the least from Mazon Creek (Illinois, USA). This makes identification of my Piesberg-pecopteris a rather daunting endeavour. Perhaps someone on TFF who has experience with the Mazon Creek pecopterids and most current nomenclatural changes would be willing to take a stab at them for me? Images can be enlarged by clicking on them. If photos of specific details are required, let me know and I'll do my best to provide them (but note that venation is often simply not preserved very well). Thanks in advance for any ID suggestions or tips you can provide. Kind regards, Tim Specimens TKTW0048 (left; "Spiropteris sp.") and TKTW0049 (right) Specimen TKTW0542 Specimen TKTW0651 - I'm not even sure this is a pecopterid... Specimen TKTW0826 (left) and TKTW0827 (right) Specimen TKTW1004 Specimen TKTW1078 (left), TKTW1079 (middle) and TKTW1082 (right) - all from same slab of rock (related?) Specimen TKTW1099 - "Spiropteris sp." but what kind of pecopterid is in the foreground? Specimen TKTW1099 - note fertile pinna on the right
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- asturian
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A Pirasocrinid Crinoid from the Pennsylvanian Holdenville Formation
Mochaccino posted a topic in Member Collections
I would like to share a beautiful and possibly important crinoid in my collection from the Pennsylvanian Holdenville Formation of Oklahoma, USA. This specimen is best identified as Plaxocrinus sp. aff. P. dornickensis as originally described by Harrell Strimple in his 1961 paper "Late Desmoinesian crinoid faunule from Oklahoma", and confirmed by Pennsylvanian crinoid expert Peter Holterhoff. It was prepared masterfully by Mike Meacher. It is a member of the family "Pirasocrinidae", which is a prevalent group of crinoids especially in the Pennsylvanian. They are characterized by a low, saucer-shaped cup with three anal plates, axillary first primibrachials and various spinosity on the arms, and most notably a prominent highly-specialized "umbrella-like" anal sac that terminates as a platform of plates surrounded by a circlet of laterally-projecting spines. Aside from simply wanting to show off one of my favorite fossils, there are a couple of reasons I think sharing this publicly could be useful. First off, articulated pirasocrinids are generally very rare in the fossil record, especially of this genus. It is thought that these crinoids had weak sutures between plates which made them highly-vulnerable to disarticulation. The vast majority of remains are found as loose anal/brachial spines and occasional calyxes, as shown below. https://snr.unl.edu/data/geologysoils/fossils/nebrinverthughes.aspx Likely because of this, formal descriptions and pictures of pirasocrinid crowns are scarce in the literature and it is difficult to find public references on what articulated specimens look like, especially of how the spines of the arms and anal sac are configured. Though on my specimen the arms are not 100% complete all-around, enough is preserved to describe the full structure of the arms and the nature of the spinose primibrachials. Moreover, the exceptionally-preserved and prepared anal sac shows nearly the full extent of its articulation. Note the couple of near-complete brachial and anal sac spines, whose extraordinary lengths exceed the width of the calyx. The second reason this specimen could be important is more specific. In Strimple 1961, Plaxocrinus sp. aff. P. dornickensis was described on just a single specimen; the calyx shown below: Atypically for the genus, this calyx has a very smooth outline owing to flat, non-bulbous basals and nonimpressed, almost imperceptible sutures. Strimple concluded this species to be closely-related to but not conspecific with true Plaxocrinus dornickensis (which is a slightly older species than the Holdenville fauna, according to Dr. Holterhoff); hence the "aff." in the identification. Essentially, as far as formal description in the literature is concerned, the full crown of this crinoid is unknown. I have also not personally seen any other confirmed crowns of this species from the Holdenville Formation. All-in-all, this specimen could be quite significant for showing the previously-unknown arms and anal sac of Plaxocrinus sp. aff. P. dornickensis on an articulated crown, which might help further its description.- 11 replies
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I have a fossil fern (seed fern?) from Kentucky for which I have finally been able to acquire readable close ups of the leaf structure. Members of the Forum have previously been very generous with their advice; however the image was not sufficiently detailed in order to make more definitive suggestions. Various suggestions are that it is possibly a cyclopteris, a neuropteris ovata, or a macroneuropteris scheuchzeri specimen. However, the leaf structure appears to be more robust than images of these types of fossils. With the closeups hopefully a more definitive answer can be found. Suggestions are welcome. The 1st image is of the entire specimen including a neuropteris leaf (disregard the cyclopteris label). The fossil of interest is in the upper right. The remaining images are closeups. Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
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- carboniferous
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I have 4 Pennsylvanian stigmaria specimens of which only one was specifically identified as a lepidodendron by the collector. I am hopeful that others might have useful suggestions in terms of better identifying the others. The 1st image is of a Pennsylvanian lepidodendron stigmaria specimen from Kentucky. This is my nicest one because not only is it better identified, it also illustrates rootlets and buttons. Image 2 is of another Pennsylvanian stigmaria from Clintonville, Pennsylvania. This appears to be the most common type of stigmaria that I have seen. Would anyone have suggestion/possibilities that would better characterize this specimen? Images 3 and 4 are a Pennsylvanian stigmaria with a heavily degraded label. Image 4 is a closeup of the specimen in image 3. I was able to decipher parts of the label and it was apparently collected near Middlesboro, Kentucky. The rootlet scars on this specimen are much less three dimensional that the rootlet scars on the specimen in image 2. There may be a comment on the label about the rootlet scars having a spiral character. Would anyone be better able to characterize this specimen? Image 5 is of another Pennsylvanian stigmaria from Kentucky. It has many similarities with the specimen depicted in image 2. I also have one very heavily weathered stigmaria from Oklahoma that is very similar to the ones depicted in images 2 and 5; I didn't think it was worth uploading an image. Comments and suggestions about the others would be appreciated.
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- carboniferous
- lepidodendron
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Hello, I found what looks like a worm on a block of limestone too large for me to split. So I took a picture of it. It is about 4 cm. The limestone is Carboniferous, Pennsylvanian and from the Glenshaw Formation. Thanks for the help!
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- carboniferous
- glenshaw formation
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I am attaching images of calamite and annularius specimens in my collection. Because their appears to be some debate among the experts on the relationships between calamites and sphenophyllum and asterophylloides, I am also including images of these specimens. I would welcome comments, suggestions or corrections from viewers. Further species identification would also be appreciated. Image 1 is of a Mesocalamite specimen that was among other Pennsylvanian fossils from Kentucky. Image 2 is of another Pennsylvanian Calamites from Kentucky. Image 3 is of a Pennsylvanian Calamites specimen from Alabama. Images 4 and 5 are Pennsylvanian Annularia leaf specimens from Mazon Creek IL. Image 6 is a Pennsylvanian Annularia radiata specimen from the Westwalian A & B, Lower Silesian in Poland. The contrast between the fossil and the underlying rock is so poor that I did alter the exposure settings in order to better view the fossil. Image 7 is of a Pennsylvanian Sphenophyllum specimen from Mazon Creek IL. Image 8 is of a Pennsylvanian Sphenophyllum cuneifolium specimen from the Westwalian A & B, Baszkirian, Lower Silesian in Poland. Again, because the contrast was so poor, I altered the exposure in an effort to obtain a better picture. Image 9 is of a Pennsylvanian Asterophylloides specimen from eastern Kentucky.
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- annularius
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Carboniferous Pennsylvanian seed fern specimens (pteridosperms)
ntloux posted a topic in Member Collections
I am attaching images of Pennsylvanian seed ferns that were identified by the collectors. The fossils from Kentucky were generally found in the shale around closed down coal mines on family farms. Hopefully these images may assist others in identifying their specimens. Comments/suggestions/corrections are welcome and I also would appreciate specimen identification beyond the genus level for many of the specimens. The first image is of a Pennsylvanian alethopteris specimen from eastern Kentucky: Pennsylvanian alethopteris from eastern Kentucky. Pennsylvanian cyclopteris (upper right) and macroneuropteris specimens from eastern Kentucky. Pennsylvanian eusphenopteris specimen from eastern Kentucky. Pennsylvanian mariopteris specimen from eastern Kentucky. Pennsylvanian Pecopteris plumosa specimen from Upper Silesia in Poland. Pennsylvanian pecopteris specimen from eastern Kentucky. Pennsylvanian sphenopteris specimen from eastern Kentucky. Pennsylvanian crenulopteris specimen from Mazon Creek, Illinois. A helpful Forum member suggested this could be crenulopteris acadica. This last Pennsylvanian specimen is from Mazon Creek, Illinois identified by one individual as Lobatopteris lamuriana and in addition a helpful Forum member suggested that it is possibly a diplazites unita.- 12 replies
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- alethopteris
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I have 2 Pennsylvanian fossils from Mazon Creek. They have previously been identified as crenulopteris and lobatopteris lamuriana. Presumably the crenulopteris specimen is a seed fern; however, I am unsure about the lobatopteris lamuriana specimen. Presumably the lobatopteris was once labeled as a pecopteris so is it still considered to be a seed fern? Any information or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The first image is of the lobatopteris specimen, The next image is of the crenulopteris specimen.
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- carboniferous
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From the album: Texas Pennsylvanian: Gastropods and Corals
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- gastropod
- pennsylvanian
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From the album: Texas Pennsylvanian: Gastropods and Corals
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- gastropod
- pennsylvanian
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From the album: Texas Pennsylvanian: Gastropods and Corals
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- gastropod
- pennsylvanian
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