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Here are images of the 6 honeycomb pattern patches found in my Wheeler Formation collection. First image: 1 mm long Second image: 1mm long Third image: 1.5 mm long One image missing - couldn't get to focus. Fourth and Fifth images: 2.5 mm long. These are facing images of each other - original fossilized and impression - same specimen. I tried my very best, but images are still a little fuzzy, despite higher magnification.
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I have gone through 200 pounds of Wheeler Formation and found only 5 of these (2 are the original, and the impression of one specimen). I must have missed the impressions or originals of the others. They are difficult to spot. They are honeycomb structures, almost microscopic patches, just sitting on top of, but firmly attached to, matrix. These patches are not any bigger than 3mm at their longest dimension. Only one of them is that big, and they are all roughly circular or oval in shape, no boundaries, no distinct edges. The others range in size from 1mm, to 1.5mm, to 2.5mm in length. The first photo: 10x eyepiece, 4/0.10 body. Second photo: 10x eyepiece, 10/0.25 body. Both images are to the right of the pointer. At first, I thought these might be trilobite eye molts, or detachments due to decomposition, as their inner structures appear to be hexagonal, like the lenses in holochroal eyes. But maybe the density of these structures is too great for trilobite eyes. The only response I have had is from a member who thought these might be algal in nature. I have searched online for the past two days, narrowing it down to every type of dasycladean or protist I could find, but no image I have seen, from the pre-Cambrian through the entire Cambrian, has revealed anything that looks like these. They resemble encrusting bryozoans, but bryozoans didn't appear until the Ordovician. And, of course, that includes the Receptaculites or Fisherites, which have a passing resemblance to my specimens. Could any other creature from the Mid-Cambrian have possessed such a membraneous structure? Are any of you able to help me identify these?
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Ok, several more photos. Now, these strips of oxidized material also have those very tiny filamentous fibers running along their length in the same direction as the strip, somewhat like the grain you see in wood. These may be degraded specimens, with only a few single fibers left. Some have many more fibers per square cm. Remember the oxidized hash (yellow/orange) I showed you previously which is just filled with these fibers? Maybe this particular stuff is actually a clump of algae, and not necessarily just tracks. Maybe the strips without fibers, but instead with other 3-dimensional patterns such as chevrons, braiding, or helical, could be one or the other. What if the helical pattern in a strand of algae could be the result of a worm boring through it and feeding on it, not just a worm boring through mud? I just obtained a fascinating book entitled "The Trace Fossil Record of Major Evolutionary Events", Topics in Geobiology 39, Volume 1, Precambrian and Paleozoic, edited by M. Gabriela Manzano and Luis A. Buatois. This book is filled with lots of fantastic photos of ichnofossils, especially cruziana, and suggestions to back up these findings. Some of these traces look so intricate and real as being the fossils themselves, one can be easily fooled! There are many problematica out there! Anyway, I recommend this, and other books and articles on Ichnology, as great reads, and very eye-opening. And not everything that has been published as being this or that, is absolutely set in stone (pardon my pun). Just like the scientific names of the life forms we find in our searches, they change constantly, the more we discover about them.
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I have a shell fossil that was found at millcreek on at pipeline trail in Utah. The ridges on the shelves are clearly defined and looks quite different than all the other shell fossils I have. I'm not one hundred percent at the Shell fosil of a bivalve shell. Any further information on this fossil would be great thanks.
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I just managed to find most of a frond of Margaretia dorus. Usually, it is represented by ribbon-like strands with tiny fibers running along its length, and frequently iron-oxidized. See photos of posts Ichnofossils, Algae, or Something Else, parts 1 and 2, under Fossil ID. This particular specimen (original fossilized and impression) is fairly three dimensional, and carbonized like the trilobites from this formation. Note the oval holes (pores?) running along its length! Margaretia dorus was originally thought to be an alcyonarian coral, then a green algae similar to Caulerpa. Today, some think it may be a hemichordate (with a worm-like creature residing within).
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I found these (almost microscopic) honeycomb patches just laying on top of matrix. They are not attached to any trilobite, but what else could they be? Molted off? Sorry, I tried to take photos of them, but the detail is just not coming up. They are perfectly crystal clear when viewing under the stereoscope. I probably need a better camera. Will try later if/when I invest in something better. Has anyone else found tiny honeycomb patches in wheeler material, not directly associated with trilobites? I am finding both original fossilized and their impressions. I am looking to see if any other creature, such as a sponge from that time could have left such an attachment point.
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Other trilobites I have found in the wheeler. Asaphiscus wheeleri Only one complete with impression. Lots of fragments. Note the huge, broad pygidium.
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Trade for any unprepped flora or fauna fossils
Paleome posted a topic in Member-to-Member Fossil Trades
I have Elrathia kingii, Itagnostus interstrictus, and Acrothele subsidua. Also, rare rock and mineral from California, eclogite and benitoite..- 4 replies
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These are very tiny, delicate, fibrous/filamentous structures which are most commonly found within an iron-oxidized (? yellow/orange tinted) hash. They are probably part of something bigger, like maybe the fibrous structure of highly degraded algae. These are really hard to photograph with what I have. Again, 3ach circular shot 9mm+wide.
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I just received this "phyllocarid" valve from the Marjum Formation (Middle Cambrian) of Utah. It was sold as Canadaspis perfecta. It measures about 1" long and 3/4" tall. Although I don't have a compass, the angles between the hinge line and both the anterior and posterior margins of the valve look to be less than 100 degrees. Several papers I've read state that these angles are usually closer 120 in Canadaspis. Any thoughts on what this might be?
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First of all, apologies for the image quality. I know flash can be pretty horrid but it's all I can do at the moment. Side-views will be found in the following posts! I collected this (probably molted) trilo at Marjum pass in Utah a few weeks ago. The depth of the axial lobe and how the pleurae seem to flare up led me to believe that this specimen is on its back. I only have a pin vise at my disposal and I don't want to ruin a good specimen with the incorrect equipment, but I wondered if anyone has heard of pin-vising Marjum shale. Would you use air abrasion? In that case I will save it for a few years when I can afford it (: Thanks for reading, hope everyone's staying safe!
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I'm a pretty amateur fossil hunter. I mostly have found shell fossils. I usually find these when I visit certain waterfalls in utah. I'm hoping to find more complex fossils I'm the future.
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My 7 year old rockhound son found this rock after I tilled up my garden bed and he’s convinced it has a fossil or two in it. After looking at it with him, I agree but honestly I’m not very knowledgeable in this area. I’m hoping some of you experts might be able to help him ID them if they are fossils. We live in The Uintah Basin, UT where lots of dinosaur bones have been found. Thank you for looking!
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Morrison Formation yields remains of predatory insect. Utah State Parks Blog, Vernal, Utah https://stateparks.utah.gov/2020/05/20/famous-dinosaur-producing-rocks-in-utah-yield-fossil-of-large-predatory-insect/ Jurassic bug: Researchers find 151-million-year-old Morrisonnepa Jurassica insect fossil in Utah by Jordan Culver, USA TODAY, May 22, 2020 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/05/21/morrisonnepa-jurassica-151-million-year-old-bug-fossil-utah/5234187002/ the paper is: Lara, M.B., Foster, J.R., Kirkland, J.I. and Howells, T.F., 2020. First fossil true water bugs (Heteroptera, Nepomorpha) from Upper Jurassic strata of North America (Morrison Formation, southeastern Utah). Historical Biology, pp.1-9. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08912963.2020.1755283 Yours, Paul H.
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Ammonites: Finding and Destroying Fossils for Science
DeepTimeIsotopes posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Some of you may have seen my ammonite donation. If not and you are curious it is linked here: It is an important player in this trip. Anyway I thought I might describe my first trip to this locality and why you might realize it is a little more rare than the normal finds there. Some of this is part of a poster for the now cancelled Rocky Mountain Section of the Geological Society of America so if I ever do get to put my poster online I will post a link here so you guys can look at it too. For now here is a trip report. -
I was doing some research on the ordovician cruziana plates I found in Millard Co, Utah a few years ago and noticed something funny. It seems that similar looking specimens from around the world are frequently the same pink color. In my experience pink fossils are rare. But, it seems pink cruziana is not. Google the cruziana found at Penha Garcia park in Portugal for example. Any thoughts as to why? Here are some pictures of mine.
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Hi Everyone I found this Trilo in the scree on the shoulders of Fossil Mountain in Utah about 7 years ago. I have looked for its source higher up on the mountain the last few times I went there and could never find another. Can anyone ID it? It is the biggest and most intact specimen I have ever found at that site and would be curious to know what it is. Thanks for your help.
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Here is a short trip to keep those of us still in quarantine entertained. I collected this before our quarantine started. Something I have wanted for a while ever since seeing one but was not able to collect was in my trip through Utah's Paleozoic (link here: ) is a trace fossil called Skolithos. For those without much experience with trace fossils, Skolithos is a vertical tubelike burrow in sand on a sandy high-energy beach. The little critters would have to dig relatively deep vertical burrows so that they weren't washed away the next time a storm rolled through. A common name for this particular trace fossil is “piperock” because the number burrows could get dense enough in one area that the rock looks a bundle of straws. Just like a lot of trace fossils, it is not certain what made these burrows but it is known that it probably went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous as there are not any specimens after the dinosaurs’ doomsday. My particular specimen is made of calcareous sandstone that has been slightly metamorphosed into a quartzite. It is most likely from the Lower Permian of the Oquirrh Group based on the location and the nearby rock formation it appeared to have fallen out of but I found it in a gravel pile from the shoreline of Lake Bonneville so the exact stratigraphy is unknown.
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Mustoe, G.E., 2020. Uranium Mineralization of Fossil Wood. Geosciences (Switzerland) 10(4):1-25 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340609903_Uranium_Mineralization_of_Fossil_Wood https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/10/4/133 Yours, Paul H.
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