Search the Community

Well... I seem to be turning into a Rhode Island native at this point. This past weekend I was able to head down to Cory's Lane for an afternoon of digging. Here's my latest find from the Carboniferous period. This fern still needs to be cleaned up a bit and I'm still trying to nail down an exact ID. At just over 3 feet long this is now my biggest and most complete find to date (1-upped myself again). More pics to come once I finish cleaning this guy up. P.S. This was definitely not fun to carry back to the car . I couldn't save the entire second half of this fern as it was partially destroyed when I ripped up the 8 foot slab of rock this fossil was on. I did manage to save the middle section at least!

I went down to a new spot i found to see if i could find more Carboniferous shark teeth. Sadly, no teeth. But i found this oddity. I've personally have never seen anything like it, and it kind of reminds me of shark skin, but i'm leaning more towards a strange trace fossil. In the upper right corner and top center you can see symmetry somewhat in the shape i can only describe as a sunflower shape. Other than that the spots seem random. Any opinoins are welcome. I've been searching and searching without any luck. Thanks, guys and gals This is Carboniferous black shale.

Hi, I'd appreciate some help with this one, it's got me completely foxed and I can't find anything similar online. The matrix is a mudstone, it was a loose rock in a stream, the rocks in the area are all Brigantian (Upper Visean) - Carboniferous Cyclothem deposits (Northumberland, UK). There were 3 of these, all about an inch long, oval shaped, but fairly irregular, with faint radial lines/corrugations from a central 'spine'. They are three dimensional about a quarter of an inch thick. Small spiriferid brachiopod shell fragments in the same rock are undeformed, so I think the irregular shape is original. They remind me of small jellyfish but I think that's highly unlikely to have fossilised so I'm guessing some sort of trace fossil. All three are similar in shape and size so I'm wondering if there's a specific name for these, and whether it's known sort of creature made them? Cheers Steve

In between all of the 4th of July weekend barbecues I was able to make it down to Cory's Lane, Rhode Island for a few hours of shale splitting. The day started out slow with only a few small plant imprints found, but I eventually managed to rip up a 5 foot slab of rock with a larger fern section on one end of it. After cutting the slab down to a little over a foot and a half in length this Pecopteris arborescens manages to go down as the largest fern I've found at this locality! It was a nice start to the long weekend, but the real win was the awesome weather .

Formerly often included in Palaeosmilia which is now restricted to solitary forms. A very distinctive colonial coral, astraeoid to aphroid (aphroid in this case, i.e. with septa that do not join between corallites). The calices can be up to 5cm across. In this specimen, many of the voids are lined with quartz crystals, others are filled completely. (Traces of blue are from a polishing paste).

Here's another fossil from Carbondale, shaped like a check, or an L or a 7. Two in fact, I split the rock and it's inside it as well, so its thick. Any ideas?

Here is an interesting one. This looked like a shrimp tail at first but once I cleaned it I saw all of these little bumps on and around what I thought was shell.

I found a new spot in Illinois that is loaded with carboniferous black shale. And this tooth fragment has gotten me pretty excited. Can anyone attempt an ID on this partial? The tooth measures about 1/2" × 1/2".

These are a few of the pdf files (and a few Microsoft Word documents) that I've accumulated in my web browsing. MOST of these are hyperlinked to their source. If you want one that is not hyperlinked or if the link isn't working, e-mail me at joegallo1954@gmail.com and I'll be happy to send it to you. Please note that this list will be updated continuously as I find more available resources. All of these files are freely available on the Internet so there should be no copyright issues. Articles with author names in RED are new additions since July 11, 2017. Phylum Brachiopoda - The Lamp Shells Carboniferous Carboniferous Brachiopods - Africa/Middle East Brice, D., M. Legrand-Blain and J.-P. Nicollin (2007). Brachiopod faunal changes across the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary in NW Sahara (Morocco, Algeria). In: Devonian Events and Correlations. Becker, R.T. and W.T. Kirchgasser (eds.), Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 278. Carboniferous Brachiopods - Asia/Malaysia/Pacific Islands Angiolini, L., H. Brunton and A. Zanchi (1999). Late Carboniferous Brachiopods from Karakorum, Pakistan. Revista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, Vol.105, Number 1. Balinski, A. and Y. Sun (2008). Micromorphic brachiopods from the Lower Carboniferous of South China, and their life habits. Fossils and Strata, Number 54. Balinski, A. and Y. Sun (2005). A New Early Carboniferous Micro-Productid Brachiopod from South China. Palaeontology, Vol.48, Part 3. Chen, Z.-Q. and J. Tazawa (2007). Redescription of the brachiopod genus Globispirifer Tachibana, 1964 from the lowest Carboniferous of the South Kitakami Belt, NE Japan. Sci. Rep., Niigata Univ. (Geology), Number 22. Chen, Z.-Q. and G.R. Shi (2002). Late Carboniferous to Early Permian brachiopod faunas from the Bachu and Kalpin areas, Tarim Basin, NW China. Alcheringa, 25. Chen, Z.-Q., G.R. Shi and L.-P. Zhan (2003). Early Carboniferous Athyridid Brachiopods from the Qaidam Basin, Northwest China. J.Paleont., 77(5). Sun, Y. and A. Balinsky (2011). Silicified Mississippian brachiopods from Muhua, southern China: Rhynchonellides, athyridides, spiriferides, spirifierinides, and terebratulides. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 56(4). Sun, Y., et al. (2004). A New Meristid Brachiopod Genus from the Lower Carboniferous of Guizhou, China. J.Paleont., 78(1). Sun, Z., et al. (2004). New bizarre micro-spiriferid brachiopod from the Early Carboniferous of China. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 49(2). Tazawa, J.-I. (1984). 775. Early Carboniferous (Visean) Brachiopods from the Hikoroichi Formation of the Kitakami Mountains, Northeast Japan. Trans.Proc.Palaeont.Soc. Japan, N.S., Number 133. Tazawa, J.-I. and T. Katayama (1979). Lower Carboniferous Brachiopods from the Odaira Formation in the Southern Kitakami Mountains. Tohoku Univ., Sci.Rep., 2nd Ser. (Geol.), Vol.49, Number 2. Waterhouse, J.B. (1982). New Carboniferous brachiopod genera from Huai Bun Nak, North-east Thailand. Palaont.Z., 56, 1/2. Waterhouse, J.B. (1966). Lower Carboniferous and Upper Permian Brachiopods from Nepal. JB.Geol.B.A., 12,S. (126 pages) Carboniferous Brachiopods - Australia/New Zealand Maxwell, W.G.H. (1951). Upper Devonian and Middle Carboniferous Brachiopods of Queensland. University of Queensland Papers, Department of Geology, Vol.III, Number 14. Roberts, J. (1968). Mantle Canal Patterns in Schizophoria (Brachiopoda) from the Lower Carboniferous of New South Wales. Palaeontology, Vol.11, Part 3. Carboniferous Brachiopods - Europe (including Greenland and Siberia) Alvarez, F. and C.H.C. Brunton (2000). A Review of Two De Koninck Retzioid Brachiopod Species, and Description of a New Genus from the Carboniferous of Europe. Palaeontology, Vol.43, Part 5. Brunton, C.H.C. (1971). An Endopunctate Rhynchonellid Brachiopod from the Visean of Belgium and Britain. Palaeontology, Vol.14, Part 1. Brunton, C.H.C. and C. Champion (1974). A Lower Carboniferous Brachiopod Fauna from the Manifold Valley, Staffordshire. Paleontology, Vol.17, Part 4. Gischler, E., M.R. Sandy and J. Peckmann (2003). Ibergirhynchia contraria (F.A. Roemer, 1850), An Early Carboniferous Seep-Related Rhynchonellide Brachiopod from the Harz Mountains, Germany - A Possible Successor to Dzieduszyckia? J.Paleont., 77(2). Gobbett, D.J. (1963). Carboniferous and Permian Brachiopods of Svalbard. Norsk Polarinstitutt Skrifter, Number 27. (256 pages) Japundžić, M. and J. Sremac (2016). Palaeobiogeography of the Late Carboniferous brachiopoda from Velebit Mt. (Croatia). Geologia Croatica, 69/2. Legrand-Blaine, M. (1985). A New Genus of Carboniferous Spiriferid Brachiopod from Scotland. Palaeontology, Vol.28, Part 3. Legrand-Blain, M. and M.-L. M. Chacon (1988). Brachiopods at the Devonian-Carboniferous Boundary, La Serre (Montagne Noire; Herault, France): Preliminary report. Cour.Forsch.-Inst. Senckenberg, 100. Martinez-Chacon, M.L. (1977). New Carboniferous Stenoscismatacean Brachiopods from Oviedo and Leon, Spain. Palaeontology, Vol.20, Part 1. Pocock, Y.P. (1968). Carboniferous Schizophoriid Brachiopods from Western Europe. Palaeontology, Vol.11, Part 1. Zakowa, H. (1989). Orthid Brachiopods from the Upper Visean (Carboniferous) of the Swietokrzyskie Mts., Poland. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 34(2). Carboniferous Brachiopods - North America Brusatte, S.L. (2004). A Preliminary Paleoecological Investigation of Late Pennsylvanian Brachiopods from the LaSalle Limestone, LaSalle County, Illinois. The Mosasaur, 7. Christensen, A.M. (1999). Brachiopod Paleontology and Paleoecology of the Lower Mississippian Lodgepole Limestone in Southeastern Idaho. in: Guidebook to the Geology of Eastern Idaho, Hughes, S.S. and G.D. Thackray (eds.) Deline, B., et al. (2003). Edge-drilling on the brachiopod Perditocardinia cf. P. dubia from the Mississippian of Missouri (USA). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 201. Ehlers, G.M. and M.S. Chang (1926). New Brachiopods from the Warsaw Formation of Wayne County, Kentucky. Contributions from the Museum of Geology - The University of Michigan, Vol.II, Number 7. Gehrig, J.L. (1958). Middle Pennsylvanian Brachiopods from the Mud Springs Mountain and Derry Hills, New Mexico. State Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources - New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Memoir 3. Grossman, E.L., et al. (1991). Stable-isotope stratigraphy of brachiopods from Pennsylvanian shales in Texas. Geological Society of America Bulletin, Vol. 103. Haglund, W.M. (1967). Brachiopod Genus Enteletes in Pennsylvanian Deposits of Kansas. The University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions, Paper 23. Henry, T.W. (1998). The Brachiopod Antiquatonia coloradoensis (Girty) from the Upper Morrowan and Atokan (Lower Middle Pennsylvanian) of the United States. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 1588. Perez-Huerta, A. (2004). New Carboniferous Brachiopods from the Eastern Great Basin, Nevada, USA: Implications for Loop Ontogeny and Evolution in Late Palaeozoic Terebratuloids. Palaeontology, Vol.47, Part 6. Spencer, R.S. (1967). Pennsylvanian Spiriferacea and Spiriferinacea of Kansas. The University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions, Paper 14. Sturgeon, M.T. and R.D. Hoare (1968). Pennsylvanian Brachiopods of Ohio. State of Ohio, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey, Bulletin 63. (21.4MB download) Weller, S. (1914). The Mississippian Brachiopoda of the Mississippi Valley Basin. Illinois State Geological Survey, Monograph 1. (516 pages, 48.3MB download) Carboniferous Brachiopods - South America/Central America/Caribbean Badyrka, K., M.E. Clapham and S. Lopez (2013). Paleoecology of brachiopod communities during the late Paleozoic ice age in Bolivia (Copacabana Formation, Pennsylvanian-Early Permian). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 387. Isaacson, P.E. and J.T. Dutro (1999). Lower Carboniferous Brachiopods from Sierra De Almeida, Northern Chile. J.Paleont., 73(4). Navarro-Santillan, D., et al. (2002). Lower Mississippian (Osagean) brachiopods from the Santiago Formation, Oaxaca, Mexico: stratigraphic and tectonic implications.Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 15. Taboada, A.C. (2010). Mississippian-Early Permian brachiopods from western Argentina: Tools for middle- to high-latitude correlation, paleobiogeographic and paleoclimatic reconstruction. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 298. Torres-Martinez, M.A., F. Sour-Tovar and A. Perez-Huerta (2008). Neospiriferinid brachiopods (Spiriferida, Trigonotretidae) from Ixtaltepec Formation, Pennsylvanian of Oaxaca State, Southern Mexico. Fossils and Strata, Number 54. General Carboniferous Brachiopods Brunton, H. (1966). Predation and Shell Damage in a Visean Brachiopod Fauna. Palaeontology, Vol.9, Part 3. Cisterna, G.A. and A.F. Sterren (2016). Late Carboniferous postglacial brachiopod faunas in the Southwestern Gondwana margin. Palaeoworld, xxx. (Article in Press) Grossman, E.L., et al. (1996). Chemical Variation in Pennsylvanian Brachiopod Shells - Diagenetic, Taxonomic, Microstructural and Seasonal Effects. Journal of Sedimentary Research, Vol.66, Number 5. Heim, N.A. (2009). Stability of regional brachiopod diversity structure across the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary. Paleobiology, 35(3). Hoffmeister, A.P., et al. (2003). Intense drilling in the Carboniferous brachiopod Cardiarina cordata Cooper, 1956. Lethaia, Vol.36. Leighton, L.R. (2005). The latitudinal diversity gradient through deep time: testing the "Age of the Tropics" hypothesis using Carboniferous productine brachiopods. Evolutionary Ecology, 19. Perez-Huerta, A. (2013). Functional morphology and modifications on spine growth in the productid brachiopod Heteralosia slocomi. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 58(2). Qiao, L. and S.-Z. Shen (2014). Global paleobiogeography of brachiopods during the Mississippian - Response to the global tectonic reconfiguration, ocean circulation, and climate changes. Gondwana Research, 26. Richards, R.P. (1974). Mississippian Discinid Brachiopods Attached to a Soft-Bodied Organism. The Ohio Journal of Science, 74(3).

Characteristic of the Upper Visean and Lower Namurian of Europe and Africa. Easily identified by its compact, cuspidate axial column made of small tabellae. One of the less common solitary corals in the Great Limestone, this one is in a dark matrix locally known as "Frosterley Marble".

1 2 3

Jurassic, flint, Kraków region, Poland, coin size=15,50mm crinoid skeletal elements?

Now I know these are something 1 2 2

Yes,L.& E. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/65304-archaeocidaris-teeth-and-other-bits-uk/#comment-683845 http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/41735-another-quiz/#comment-455460

here it is

Harvard team fossil hunting at Blue Beach, Nova Scotia Heather Desveaux, Chronicle Herald, June 22, 2017 http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1480307-video-harvard-team-fossil-hunting-at-blue-beach The Blue Beach Fossil Museum http://www.novascotia.com/see-do/attractions/blue-beach-fossil-museum/1611 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Beach Mansky, C.F. and Lucas, S.G., 2013. Romer’s Gap revisited: continental assemblages and ichno-assemblages from the basal Carboniferous of Blue Beach, Nova Scotia, Canada. The Carboniferous-Permian Transition. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 60, pp. 244-273. http://www.academia.edu/12658498/Romers_Gap_revisited_continental_assemblages_and_ichnoassemblages_from_the_basal_Carboniferous.. Yours, Paul H.

Earlier this week I got the chance to get out for a hunt at a great site on the east coast of Scotland for the Lower Carboniferous shrimp Tealliocaris woodwardi. The specimens here are beautifully preserved but decent sized blocks of the right bed can be hard to find so I was really happy to get this large multi-block with three well preserved shrimp, and in both dorsal and lateral views! The largest shrimp is 34mm. Thanks for looking Sam

Is there anyone places to hunt for carboniferous fossils in the eastern US? I live in georgia and heard that there are some but they're in private property.

Is there any coalmines in georgia? I heard there are some but where are they?

Here are a few bits that I have found local to me, there is loads of fossil bearing rock and it produces some nice pieces. I will put a photo up at a later date of a large plant fossil that was found here. The strata is Carboniferous in age and is accessible via a stream cutting. I have also found a nice piece of brach with the leaf scars. thanks Alex

Can anyone say what the carboniferous plant in the lower left corner is? The vein preservation is poor, but is this maybe Mariopteris? Found at Cory's Lane, Rhode Island