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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.

As promised, my second trip report covering my day trip last October to the two most famous Pennsylvanian-aged fossil locales in Texas is here! That same Saturday after visiting Mineral Wells and finally finding my first trilobites I made the hour drive north to Lake Jacksboro. For those who don't know, the Lost Creek Dam on the southeastern side of Lake Jacksboro was constructed from earth dug out of a borrow pit a short walk away. As the lake and its dam happen to sit on top of the Finis Shale Member of the Graham Formation (although there is debate that , which dates back to the Late Pennsylvanian (or the Late Carboniferous for any international fossil hunters), the digging of the pit exposed a multitude of fossils that are still regularly being eroded out after every rain today. It's one of my favorite sites I've ever visited for the incredible diversity of the fossil species on display and the extreme ease with which someone willing to sit down on the shale can find them. Having just visited Mineral Wells, the variety of brachiopods, bryozoans, gastropods, bivalves, nautiloids, and corals was a welcome respite from the endless landscape of crinoid columnals I had just walked all over in my search for trilobites. Making my way across the dam and walking up to the expose shale slopes of the borrow pit, I was instantly greeted with the equivalent of an all-you-can-eat buffet for fossils. Everywhere I looked I saw something new. Right away I found a tripmaker: a huge shiny blue conulariid. It was complete too which was nice considering every one I had found on my first trip had been a broken fragment barely two centimeters across that I could only identify because of their ridged texture. Similar in appearance to modern day sea anemones when they were alive, there's nothing really like conulariids around today so I really enjoy finding such strange animals. Immediately following the conulariid was a second tripmaker: my first complete goniatite! Although small and lacking the ornate sutures that some species possess, I was just happy to finally find one that was complete. Broken fragments of other coiled nautiloids litter the shale slopes and I can only guess that there must be an incredibly short window to find one whole after it erodes out before it is destroyed. My guess is this one is Schistoceras. On the heels of one nautiloid find came another. I saw another mistakable coiled shell on the top of one of the slopes. Although it was flattened, I wasn't too upset. This specific specimen is most likely Domatoceras sculptile. Next up was a change of pace, with the largest brachiopod I've ever personally come across. The pedicle valve was speckled with stout but tiny spines and the shell material was partially stained a pinkish-orange in places which made a nice find even nicer. Identifying it wasn't hard as only one brachiopod at the site gets this large, Linoproductus. It was after finding the Linoproductus that I returned to the tops of the shale slopes. I had heard that the strata exposed here were the likeliest to produce the one type of fossil I was holding my breath hoping I might find. As everybody knows, my fossil interests lie with vertebrates first and foremost. I had never found one of the teeth that are colloquially said to have come from Pennsylvanian sharks but that actually come from a strange family of extinct cartilaginous fish called the Petalodontiformes. They would have cut an unusual figure during the Pennsylvanian with their buck-toothed grins featuring teeth that weren't sharp or even particularly hard like almost all fish and shark teeth that have evolved since. Fortunately I was in luck that day and the extra attention I had been paying to anything with a white enamel-ish look to it worked out. The tooth was missing the fragile root, which was expected, and about half of the blade, but I didn't care - I had found the oldest vertebrate fossil of my fossil hunting career! (Unfortunately I don't have any in-situ picture as I was too excited when I first saw the tooth to remember to take one. ) A couple paces in a different direction along the top of the outcrop and I had found a second tooth - this one possessing most of the blade but still no root. There was some matrix encasing the very tip that I later cleaned off when I returned home. Here are the two teeth side by side: Plus a picture of the smaller tooth once it was prepped: I tentatively identified these as either Petalodus ohioensis or Petalodus seratodus, but the in-and-out curving edges of the teeth don't perfectly match pictures I've seen online. I can only guess that this is just variation depending on the tooth's position in the mouth, or there might be a species of Petalodus at Jacksboro that just hasn't been noted yet. The sun was starting to go down by this point and I decided it was time to make my way back across the dam and to my waiting car. But as luck would have it there was one final surprise in store for me. Piled at the bottom of the slope were several huge chunks of nautiloid shell, arranged almost as if someone had visited the site before me and picked them up, before eventually deciding they weren't worth the trouble on their way out and dumping them on the ground. That there were two different species present seemed to support this. The two large chunks towards the top of the photo are from the grypoceratid nautiloid Domatoceras sculptile, absolutely the largest variety of coiled nautiloid you can find at Jacksboro. The smaller chunk with the bumps along the rim is a different nautiloid, Metacoceras. Here are some additional pictures of the Domatoceras chunks: And that was it for my Pennsylvanian day trip! Just a couple of weeks before I had put together a bucket list of all the different types of fossils I most want to find, and I was very happy that after this trip I was able to cross my first trilobite, a complete goniatite, and a Petalodus tooth off the list. A return trip is definitely in order! The day's best finds: Top: Petalodus ohioensis/seratodus Top Row: Parajuresania sp. (2 individuals), Unknown, Linoproductus sp., Domatoceras sculptile Bottom Row: Astartella concentrica, Condrathyris perplexa, Composita ovata (2 individuals), Schistoceras sp., Conularia crustula - Graham

It's an Ordovician decalcified mould of a....? Scale bar 5mm. One person told me that it might be arthropodian (for example the backside of an unidentified librigena), but all the others don't have any idea about it. I found on the "Treatise on invertebrate paleontology" (Part F - 1963) at p. F65 a resemblance with Conularia gracilis (first of all because it seems to lack transversal rows), also supported from a few very old pics from Google images. But I didn't find any modern confirmation of the "Conularia gracilis" existence. It could be a Conulariid (only 1 has ever been found in this formation)?

From USA, Pennsylvania, Blair County...... Silurian Clinton Group. In profile, this looks conical, with the point down in the sediment rather like a conularid. But viewed from above, it is ROUND.

How do you go about selling a fossil? Do I need to get it appraised?

Went on a little "Easter Egg Hunt" with my folks, found some excellent fossils. day was hot but I enjoyed it. I have provided my best ID, but please feel free to correct if you can identify it further! it helps with my labeling system for sure. this lizard was good luck right next to where my mom was standing i noticed this beauty sticking out of the rock further excavation revealed this possible horn coral? eldredgeops rana heads trilobite glabellar fold ( possibly Odontocephalus?) Dipleura rib impression (Very exciting to have found 3 species in one trip!) amonoid Cephalopod Agoniatites vaxunemi (note the preservation of the sutre lines). and here is a conularid i found as well Possible pelecypod? brachiopods and lastly a couple of crinoid buttons dug out of the rock

I found the following Teeny-weeny fossil, among this colony of brachiopods. We can see many similar fragments all having the same size. I posted pictures of some of the best fragments. Found it in Nicolet River Formation near Montreal, Quebec. For me it looks like, maybe, a fragment of conularid, but I wasn't able to find anything exactly like it on the internet. Does somebody know what this is?

So, in a previous post, I asked for the identification of a piece of an orthocone nautiloid. The general consensus was that it was a Spyroceras sp, or related genera. Now, I have found two specimens, which show some of the characteristics that that piece had. I first thought that they were nautiloids, but since they both had the same general structure and orientation, I began to wonder if they are Conularids. The morphology does not seem right, namely the separation between parts of the internal mold and its large segments; but I am at a loss to think of something better. The two specimens are shown below. In the first picture, the first specimen is shown. I did not recover the other side of it, as I had to prep this specimen out. The bottom of the specimen is of the internal mold, while the top of it is of the external. The second picture is of a closeup of the top of the first specimen. The third and fourth pictures are of the second specimen. The third picture shows the external mold on the left, and the internal mold on the right. The fourth picture is orientated in the same way. The scale is in millimeters. Both specimens are from the Leighton Formation, Maine; which is Silurian, Pridoli. Thanks in advance!

Hello guys, please assist to identify this fossil. N. 1 N.2 N.3 N.4 N.5

Found in a gravel pit on the west side of Moosehead lake, Maine. Likely Devonian (some lower) marine. Conularid congregation ? Concretion ?

Haven't posted anything in a while so I thought I'd show this conularid I found in the Ft. Payne. Its from a black shale member of the Lower Mississippian (Osagean) Ft Payne Chert This is positive and negative of a large flattened individual. If you look along the sides of the fossil, you can see some sections of it have been displaced. I also want to show this plant impression from the Lower Pennsylvanian Raccoon Mountain Formation. Im not sure if its an impression of a log or a bunch of Cordites leaves. let me know what you think it is.

This one is a mystery. My local rock shop owner got this in a collection he recently purchased. Any ideas?

Hello All, I came across this fossil story ( http://www.scientifi...-nutrients-skin ) and it reminded me of an odd ball I found a few years back. I was fishing in Rock County, WI along the Turtle Creek (one of my favorite spots). It appears to me (a novice by any measure) to be a larger one followed by one or two smaller ones, at the same time it could be tracks for all I know?!?! But that is why I am here asking the experts, thank you to all who have a look. Here a a few pics...