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Showing results for tags 'trace fossils'.
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A Visit to the Fox Hills fm. - Eastern Colorado
Brett Breakin' Rocks posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Finally ... a short trek on the open prairie of Eastern Colorado and into a slice of the Cretaceous period. This was my first true jaunt since my move from the East coast and it was a welcome change to my normal routine. My journey really began several years ago when I purchased some shark teeth from a fossil forum member in Colorado. He regularly visits a site on private land in Eastern Colorado that contains (what we think) are exposures of the Fox Hills fm. , and are chock full of marine fossils from that time period. I contacted him several weeks after I arrived, desperate to get away from civilization, and honestly just looking for someone I can chat with about geeky fossil stuff. The rolling hills of harvested wheat and corn stretched as far as the eye could see.... The exposure with the most fossil concentrations sat in a rust colored band of loose sand/sandstone. The best pockets contained shells where the teeth and bone settled. I was there without most of my usual equipment. I wasn't sifting or digging for much more than an hour before we had to leave and came home with plenty of matrix and fossils to keep me busy for several weeks. Shrimp-like trace fossils. As well as Squatina sp. and Sand Tiger Shark, Carcharias sp. teeth .. as well as small fish teeth, small fish vertebra etc. can be found. Good thing he had some small screens or all of these wonderful finds would still be on the sandy slope. Average size for these shark teeth is about 10mm. Cheers, Brett PS. I'll wash the matrix and post any additional micro-fossils here.
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Cambrian Explosion and Ordovician Diversification Event Mirrored in Ichnofossil Data
Scylla posted a topic in Fossil News
Oxygen levels also important in biodiversity of trace fossils. https://phys.org/news/2020-08-ancient-life-story-early-diversity.html-
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I have found scattered limestone clasts with submillimeter holes in them. I pick them up wondering if they are stromatoporoids, bryozoans, sponges or the like. The holes do not extend into the interior of the rock. Some of the rocks have lichen and algae growing on them. I finally found a soft dark lichen or algae growing in the holes in the rocks. Let me know if anyone can tell whether the dark spots are lichen or algae. If they are the cause then the rock exhibits bioerosian. Bioerosian was first described by Conrad Neumann in 1966 as “the removal of consolidated mineral or lithic substrate by the direct action of organisms.” The organisms probably secrete acid that dissolves limestone. Algae and lichens were early colonizers of the land. Bioerosian created soil that allowed new forms of life including plants and trees to colonize the land. Check your limestone rocks for these traces of bioerosian. Theoretical these could become trace fossils if buried for more that 10k years. Photos show holes in Tertiary limestone with plant fossils that are from 0.2 to 0.4 mm in diameter. Again, if you know what the black organism is let me know. https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.4319/lo.1966.11.1.0092 OBSERVATIONS ON COASTAL EROSION IN BERMUDA AND MEASUREMENTS OF THE BORING RATE OF THE SPONGE, CLIONA LAMPA by Conrad Neumann.
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Cambrian Trace fossils from SE Arizona - Latest expedition!
Arizona Chris posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Hi all, Once again we are back from a weekend of fossil sleuthing in south eastern Arizona south of Tucson. The Upper middle cambrian Abrigo formation is mostly limestones, but the lowermost member is either a dark grey shale, or green glauconitic micaceous shale. Gorgeous stuff! Three main localities were visited - the 80/90 Roadcut (mostly trilobits and brachs), Ajax Hill near Tombstone (trilobits), and and area near Colossal Cave just south of Tucson. (tons of trace fossils). Trace fossils are very abundant in both the Abrigo Formation and the slightly older Bright Angel Shale in northern Arizona. Nearly all trace fossils found were in a micaceous glauconitic green shale, in isolated beds found throughout the Abrigo, especially in its lowest beds. The most commonly found types were from sediment ingesting worms, with a number of disks and rings from stemmed Echinoderms where they attached to the sediments. Also found were the attachment depressions of solitary and colonial cnidarians. Years of searching did not however reveal any trilobite tracks or traces. This was surprising since there are so many trilobite fossils in the Abrigo. Most fossils are in a single bed or plane and represent variations on Planolites, or Paleophycus. Another surprise was that no Skolithos was found either. This seems to indicate we are in a deeper water environment rather than near shore like the Tapeats or Bolsa sandstones. Collecting of the shales was pretty easy. Most were in big piles at the bottom of small cliffs, and often did not have to be split. Nearly all were on the bottom of the slabs (positive hyporelief) and you had to flip over the slab to see what was on the bottom. Here is a representative selection of fossils we have found at the three sites. Paleophycus Hold fast traces of a stemmed echinoderm, possibly Gogia. Bergauaria - A prize find. dozens of Cnidarian (sea anemome) suction cup marks can be seen clustered in a group on this former hardground. Thanks for looking. we put together a far more extensive write up if your interested on our paleo web site, please visit for more exciting specimens: http://www.schursastrophotography.com/paleo/Abrigo-6.html Chris
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Fossil footprints found in Sydney suburb are from the earliest swimming tetrapods in Australia by Phil Bell, University of New England https://phys.org/news/2020-05-fossil-footprints-sydney-suburb-earliest.html Roy M. Farman et al. Australia's earliest tetrapod swimming traces from the Hawkesbury Sandstone (Middle Triassic) of the Sydney Basin, Journal of Paleontology (2020). DOI: 10.1017/jpa.2020.22 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/australias-earliest-tetrapod-swimming-traces-from-the-hawkesbury-sandstone-middle-triassic-of-the-sydney-basin/2C787D68A8F2F300B2111A0E68E5981C Yours, Paul H.
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So- been starting to look for my first conodonts in black shale in the Kansas City area and I commonly see what appears to be mineral deposits left when water seeps through layers, then dries, but these are in winterset limestone (as best I can tell) and while they look similar, maybe these are trace fossils? thanks for taking a look! Bone
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ID help please! I recently found these strange features in a Devonian rock in Johnson County, Iowa. They are unusual looking enough that I suspect an animal may have been involved in their formation. My first guess was that they were burrows that had filled in with dense crinoid and shell debris, but I'm not sure how that would happen. My second guess was that it could be poop/coprolite from a fish or some other Devonian creature. I didn't have a scale with me, but these would be very large for fish poop. I will post another photo in a separate post below (files are too big). I would be very grateful for any assistance, thank you! Here is a link to a video that may also be helpful:
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Hi, longtime lurker first time poster here. I was wondering if you guys can help me ID this concretion my family found years ago near Calvert. I believe it might be a trace fossil of some kind, possibly a burrow or tunnel. I have found similar types at Westmoreland State Park. I can upload pictures from different angles if needed. Any suggestions of what it could be?
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Had a great day getting out this weekend and exploring some cretaceous clay outcroppings along the creek bed. Lots off impressions of shells but other interesting things that I don't recognize. Are they anything other than erosion patterns? I have more photos if needed. Thank you! ay ge I think the top is some type of shell but what about underneath?
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Here's some pictures of Trace fossils from early Jurassic of Western Himalaya. I'm curious if anyone knows what the proper name should be if not "Thalassinoides". Thanks in advance
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Several months ago a speaker at a Dallas Paleontological Society general meeting gave a talk that included information about research into the remains of urine spatters left by large herbivorous dinosaurs which had been recently identified. I don't remember who it was, when it was or even the general topic of the talk but I would like to know what the scientific name is for these trace fossils if anyone knows.
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Hello, I have found these during my recent trip to Wymysłów and Śniadka, two locations in Poland with middle Devonian fossils of the Świętomarz Beds. The ones from Wymysłów seem to be some kind of trace fossils:
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Hello friends! Today I'm seeking your help to identify a few fossils that I've found over the years. They are trace fossils and I collected them in northern Italy, along a creek. They were not in their original setting, but nearby outcrops dated to the Cretaceous or the beginning of the Caenozoic. These deposits were formed by the action of turbidity currents, in deep waters. If you have any idea for the ID, they are more than welcome! Thank you!
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Sun was in abad position unfortunately but I’m curious if you think these are just random marks or something else? The top picture marks are about 8” total. The bottom two with the sets of four are about six inches square per set, on a huge boulder. As always, value your input!
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https://www.newscientist.com/article/2215291-540-million-year-old-worm-was-first-segmented-animal-that-could-move/?utm_campaign=RSS|NSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=news https://www.courthousenews.com/scientists-uncover-550-million-year-old-fossils-of-bug-trails/
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Grimsby Formation at Albion Falls, Hamilton, ONT
JUAN EMMANUEL posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
I made a trip today to Albion Falls in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada by public transportation. Albion Falls is a classical waterfall that cascades over the Niagara Escarpment in Hamilton, Ontario and is 19 metres high. The waters flow north along the Redhill Valley as Redhill Creek to empty to Lake Ontario. Once a popular tourist destination, climbing up the waterfall is not allowed anymore due to paramedics having to rescue irresponsible tourists who have hurt and died from slipping and falling. I mostly ended up checking out the Grimsby Formation which is nicely exposed near the waterfall. There are walls of exposure as the water meanders down from the falls, revealing nice explorable spots. The Grimsby Formation is part of the Cataract Group and dates to the early Silurian period. The Grimsby Formation is not popular as it is not fossiliferous. I’ve had better luck finding fossil animals in the Manitoulin and Cabot Head Formations at the Devil’s Punchbowl in Hamilton, Ontario. The reddish maroon bottom part of the exposure is the Grimsby Formation. It is mostly red/purple shale mixed with the same coloured sandstones. Here is a pic showing how the Cabot Head Formation of the Cataract Group progresses into the Grimsby Formation.
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Rock-ingesting freshwater bivalve (Shipworm), Bohol, Philippines
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
Lithoredo abatanica, below article, should have left some interesting trace fossils in the rock record. This Weird Animal Eats Rocks for Breakfast By Laura Geggel, LiveSciecne, June 19, 2019 https://www.livescience.com/65739-newly-discovered-clam-eats-rocks.html It would be a nightmare as an invasive species. The open-access paper is: Shipway, J.R., Altamia, M.A., Rosenberg, G., Concepcion, G.P., Haygood, M.G. and Distel, D.L., 2019. A rock-boring and rock-ingesting freshwater bivalve (shipworm) from the Philippines. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 286(1905), p.20190434. – Open Access https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2019.0434 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31213180 Yours, Paul H. -
Burrows, not mangrove roots, Egyptian Archaeoceti taphonomy reinterpreted
Oxytropidoceras posted a topic in Fossil News
The below paper is an interesting reinterpretation of the depositional environment of the Birket Qarun Formation of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Wadi Al-Hitan, also known as either Valley of Whales or Zeuglodon Valley, in the Western Desert of Egypt. The paper is: Gee, C.T., Sander, P.M., Peters, S.E., El-Hennawy, M.T., Antar, M.S.M., Zalmout, I.S. and Gingerich, P.D., Fossil burrow assemblage, not mangrove roots: reinterpretation of the main whale-bearing layer in the late Eocene of Wadi Al-Hitan, Egypt. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, pp.1-16. The PDF file is at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326955395_Fossil_burrow_assemblage_not_mangrove_roots_reinterpretation_of_the_main_whale-bearing_layer_in_the_late_Eocene_of_Wadi_Al-Hitan_Egypt https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paul_Sander2 The abstract is at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12549-018-0337-0 Yours, Paul H. -
I found these fossils about a week ago next to Settlement Canyon Reservoir (Tooele County, Ut). I found them about 6600 feet up in elevation at about 1/5 mile away from the reservoir. The images are of the same rock but taken at different angles and sides, all except the last picture.
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Exploring the soils of the Four Corners, New Mexico, and points beyond!
MEverson posted a topic in Member Introductions
I've been an outdoor educator in Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Recently left public school teaching of 9 years, to teach part-time at our local community college. Science education, life-success classes, Google Earth, sustainability, and random acts of kindness have been my teaching subjects recently- my vocation. Paleontology is my advocation... and perhaps a bit more than a hobby. I was bitten by the fossil bug about 15 years ago... when I realized the potential to inspire my elementary and middle school students by placing a dinosaur bone or trilobite in their hands. I've always been hands-on and have continued to collect (through purchase and personal outings) fossils that tell a story and that can inspire. I recently have been excited to dig into some matrix and concentrate specimens I have had for a while- but have not had a decent scope or resources to do anything meaningful with. Now I do- so I'm getting excited all over again. Now if the snow would only melt, and the clay badlands dry out enough so that one can walk easily, maybe I can try my hand at collecting some local micros and seeing what is out my backdoor! I've browsed the site numerous times in the past, but never joined or thought I had much to contribute. I've got so much to learn. Thanks for being here and sharing your expertise and stories- and thanks for reading my introduction.- 14 replies
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I'm not no expert in the field of paleontology but I do enjoy collecting Fossils and occasionally minerals. I am 18 years old and from Pennsylvania. If you dont know PA well let me tell you there is not much geological formations that contain fossils. There are a few that contain trace fossils of the triassic era but overall nothing to good. In my experience I found a few good specimens of fossiliferous limestone at the PA grand canyon. Although the ones I found in PA were good I found some really amazing Devonian Fossils from New York in Ithaca. I go to Ithaca every summer and spend hours in gorges looking for fossils. if you have a good eye and know where to search you can find stunning fossils of obscure invertebrates. I also found a rare trackway fossil from either a Brittle Star fishes arm or trilobite. The rock was examined by paleontologists at a museum but could not identify the trackway. Which makes it pretty interesting. If you would like I can show pictures of my collection. I also obtained some awesome track fossils from my old bus driver who was a geologist. He was older and most likely had no one to pass them onto so gave me a few for my birthday when I was about 15. He gave me one amazing track fossil from a triassic lizard. He gave me about 4 trace fossils from track lizards. I forget the names but they are at my house with information cards. Anyway, the track resembles the lizards foot perfectly. The fossils in Ithaca are actually considered rare as well because the sediments were deposited into a deep basin. If anyone is interested in seeing my collection and fossil display let me know. Ill be glad to show you all. Maybe you can help me identify that trace fossil.
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Sacramento Mountains - escarpment approach for a walkabout
Kato posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Due to lost climbing experience I had made a failed approach into an escarpment canyon climb last year. A few months later with skills rebuilt I decided to tackle one of the canyons on the east side of Alamogordo, NM again. The escarpment rise fairly abruptly from the trailhead. Approximately 1,100 feet in 1.3 miles to the highest point of the walkabout. This summary will include some pics from my earlier failed attempt. My goals...to visit a unique looking mud mound, find fossils and get away from it all. One the way up the canyon bottom I spotted this ghostly apparation in an exposed slab. Halycite? The main geologic feature of interest was this formation called 'Teepee Mound'. Look to left side of formation for teepee The geologists summary of what is going on My approach was to continue far up canyon to a higher altitude then cut back west to approach the teepee shape. About midway up the teepee shape from the east looking back to the basin. These formations were thick with crinoids. The teepee actually seemed to be suspended by columns of material. Likely supporting material leached away over the years by water.
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Hey fossil friends! I purchased these fossils a couple years ago from a local gem shop. Unfortunately, all I know about them is that they were labeled "Himalayan fossils" and are quite heavy. One appears to be an impression of an ammonite but I'm not sure what the other is, or if they are genuine. Any help appreciated, thanks!
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The scenic east coast of Ireland has circa 320 mya outcrops. We found coral fossils around a lake near Sligo. The Liscannor Flagstone trace fossils and what looks like coral, top center, in the steps at Cliffs of Moher:
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600 Million Years Ago, the First Scavengers Lurked in Dark Ocean Gardens, By Asher Elbein, New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/science/ediacaran-period-predators.html The bizarre organisms of the Ediacaran Period have long puzzled researchers. Fossil discoveries suggest these ecosystems may have been more complicated than once thought. The paper is: James G. Gehling, Mary L. Droser, 2018, Ediacaran scavenging as a prelude to predation. Emerging Topics in Life Sciences. 2 (2) 213-222; DOI: 10.1042/ETLS20170166 http://www.emergtoplifesci.org/content/2/2/213 Yours, Paul H.
