Search the Community

Corals such as this one I found around the Much Wenlock UK area are a species of Favosites (not sure which one though). In this instance the colony looks to have possibly grown around a crinoid stem. And could almost be described as ‘coral balls’ they are quite common ranging in size from 1cm to over 12 cm in diameter. I thought you might like to see it.

Supplementing the post in “Fossil Hunting Trips” about the Devonian Plabutsch-formation in Styria, Austria (with some background info): http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/90431-some-fossil-hunting-in-the-plabutsch-formation-of-the-palaeozoic-of-graz-styria-austria-devonian-–-eifelian/ I would like to post some more fossil specimens in this thread. More specimens will follow from time to time (hopefully). The first two specimens contain abundant branches of the tabulate coral Striatopora? suessi. Field pics of these specimens are already posted in the hunting trip, but here you can see also their side views, showing the alingment of the individual coral branches. (I don´t know why pics don´t look good here, but if you are zooming in, they are ok).

As there are some polished fossil-rock specimens from this formation in the Christmas auction, I would like to present some background info with (mostly) some field photographs, so I have put this in “Fossil Hunting Trips”. The Palaeozoic of Graz is a thrust sheet within the Eastern Alps, composed of Silurian to Pennsylvanian sediments. It consists of three separate nappes, the most fossiliferous formation is the Plabutsch-formation within the Rannach nappe. This Devonian formation is of Eifelian age (ca. 395 Ma), about 100 m thick and mostly made up of a very dark, gray-blueish to black, fine-grained, thickly bedded limestone. Superficially, it weathers to a medium to light grey color. Geological map of Styria with the Palaeozoic of Graz situated north of Graz. Stratigraphic column of the Rannach nappe of the Palaeozoic of Graz, Plabutsch-formation is Nr. 4. From Hubmann & Gross, 2015. Thicknesses of formations are not to scale! The Plabutsch-formation crops out at various places to the west and north of Graz and more than 100 fossil sites are known within this formation. The most abundant fossils are corals, brachiopods, stromatoporids and crinoid fragments. Other fossils like gastropods, bivalves or trilo-bits are very rare. In a paper from 1975, about 50 coral species are listed, but less than 10 are abundant: Tabulata: Favosites styriacus Penecke, 1894 Pachycanalicula barrandei (Penecke, 1887) Thamnopora boloniensis (Gosselet, 1877) Thamnopora reticulata (Blainville, 1830) Striatiopora? suessi Penecke, 1894 Rugosa: Thamnophyllum stachei Penecke, 1894 Zelophyllia cornuvaccinum (Penecke, 1894) Do you feel that there is something strange with this list? Yes, it is! Most species have their type locality within this formation and were first described by Penecke, except T. boloniensis (T. reticulata was also erected by Penecke as Pachypora orthostachys and later synonymized with an earlier described species). In my opinion, this does not reflect a high degree of endemism, but an urgent need for revision… The most abundant fossil is Favosites styriacus, which can form massive colonies up to 0.5 m in size. Here is an example from Hohe Rannach Mt. (1018 m) north of Graz, photo 05/26/2018, Col-Nr. 4093, length of pocket knife is 9 cm: As most fossils in this formation, it was found in scree and float in a wooded area. Nr. 4093 is waiting near the pocket knife toward the lower right corner… Another Favosites styriacus, north of Fürstenstand Mt. (754 m), northwest of Graz, photo 10/30/2015, not in collection. Tabulae are very well visible, weathering is usually your friend there!

I just got two big slabs of seabed from Kentucky from a friend of mine. As soon as I got home I took my hammer and chisels to them, and I found a lot of stuff in them. They are both 12 inches wide, and the smaller one is 12 inches long while the larger one is 18 inches long. I found a lot of interesting things, and I'm not done yet. It's going to be an ongoing project because the slabs are thick and one of them has a shell sticking out if it that I will have to work around, it is rooted to deep to get it out without breaking it. But it has been a lot of fun, and found a lot of cool stuff, including this weird stringy stuff that I have never seen before. It might be the burrows of marine worms, but I'm not sure. I also found what I think are fish vertebrae, but I haven't had a chance to photograph those yet, I will probably put those in a separate post later. If you have any idea what these three are please tell me, I am working on labels for all my specimens but without a plausible ID I can't do these yet. This is far from all I have found, I have found sponges, corals, shells, and what sort of looks like a crinoid stem, but I'm not sure because it is standing vertically in the slab, making it really hard to remove. I sent a small piece of the weird stringy stuff (fig. 2) to a friend of a friend who is a geologist, so hopefully that will provide some answers. I would rather have a paleontologist look at it but I will take what I can get, I'm lucky too have access to an expert at all so I shouldn't complain. Anyway, thanks for reading this, even if you can't identify any of these.

i picked these up seperately the horse tooth in italy and the corals in barbados a few years ago, i was just wondering if they are fossils or modern as as far as i know the places where i was weren't known for fossils but the look kind of like fossils

Dear TFF members, I need help with confirming the age of fossils I have found during the trip to the chalk mine in Mielnik. These specimens were found in the slopes and on the road leading to the mine, so a few tens of metres above the chalk deposits. I have read about the Ordovician deposits streching from Białowieża to Mielnik, so maybe they indeed come from this time? The specimens comprise corals, crinoids and brachiopods. I will appreciate your comments/ suggestions.

This all started over a year ago. I was selected as Member of the Month and a couple of TFF members from Texas invited me down to the big state to collect. I primarily collect in my home region, the northeast, but I've taken fossil forays to New Mexico, Kentucky, and Germany and was willing to consider a trip to Texas and the opportunity to visit some classic fossil sites and collect fossils that are outside my usual focus. I began planning this about ten months ago, contacted potential fossil collecting partners and did my own research on fossil sites, geology, and the types of fossils I would likely encounter. I had never been to Texas let alone fossil collected there. From the Forum I knew there was a lot of great hunting. Then there was all of the logistics, what to stay, what to bring. Since I wanted to bring back a lot driving appeared to be my best option, but I hadn't driven that far solo in over thirty years. Timing of my trip; mid-late September, came right after my daughter went away to college and I was in the middle of moving to a new place. So things couldn't have been more hectic. Finally, early in the morning on September 8th I set out. Things went okay until I was in Kentucky. Just as it was turning nightfall, torrential rain hit, traffic was stopped on the interstate for two and a half hours, and the last two hours of the trip I struggled with wet conditions and poor visibility. I finally arrived at my parents' house just after one in the morning. The next day on my way over to my sister's I took a small detour and stopped at an outcrop I was well familiar with in Leitchfield, the Upper Mississippian Glen Dean Formation.

Has anyone visited Mazourka Canyon Road East of Independence? YouTube videos in the last year show a reasonable road and Donald Kenney [http://donaldkenney.x10.mx/SITES/CAMAZOURKA/CAMAZOURKA.HTM] lists a number of sites and the possible fossils. BFLADY

Yesterday I signed over my prized crinoid (my avatar) along with 20 other specimens to the University of Michigan, Museum of Paleontology. With this crinoid I donated 7 other prized crinoids, 2 blastoids, 4 Tully Monsters, 2 brachiopods, 1 Mazon insect wing, 2 corals and a Cooksonia. These will then be loaned to the Museum of Natural History to go on permanent display in the new museum to open in 2019. Hardest part was parting with my avatar crinoid. It is what I consider the finest example of an Arthroacantha from the Arkona Formation at Arkona, Ontario. Not that parting with 4 exquisite Tullys wasn't hard. Hey, I offered and they came and took. I just wanted the museum to open with very nice examples of fossils.

Hi everyone. Here are some specimens from an Upper Campanian - Lower Maastrichtian reef in the Catalan Pyrenees, which species’ diversity amazes me. In fact, they are collected in a 30 meter-radius point. I’ve only been able to approximate their genus (thanks to @Pachy, mostly) . So, I’ll strongly appreciate any help. Well, let’s start with the tiniest ones: Heliopora sp. (=Polytremacis), an Octocorallian: Columactinastrea sp.: Synastrea ? (Only my guess)

Again with the lips stuck to the mud. It is a good position to meditate while collecting small corals. I remembered @Kim Texan and @Coco, they liked these little Astrocoenia numisma. The gastropod I think it's Solarium. If not, someone will correct me, for sure. We always bring a little friend of the corals at home. Nobody is perfect. I also remembered @HansTheLoser. GAB2, Hans, you know. By the way, Hans, summer is coming. Do not forget something you owe me. Greetings to all.

Does anyone jnow if this is a coral fossil or just a coral skeleton?

Hi, Last weekend, in the limestone rudist-coral reef I'm working on I found this beautiful piece (not fully prepared yet). Upper-Cretaceous (Maastrichtean) strata. I'm aware that corals ID is very difficult, so I shall be well content if family or genus ID is possible. Thanks,

Hello, all! So I am cleaning out my workshop to make room for a lot of new material coming in and to prepare for the upcoming season. I have wayyyyyy too much Penn Dixie material. I have, at this point, committed all of my complete bugs away. But I still have quite literally, TONS, of other material. What I am offering is Edlredgeops rana partials, this includes entire prepped bugs that are missing cephalons, stand alone cephalons, pygidiums, large but broken cephalons, half bugs, etc. (Please note, I am not offering any of these as complete. There is the real chance that some of the unprepped material COULD be complete, but I am not offering them as such. I also have Greenops pygidiums and partials, beat up examples with broken cephalons, etc. I also have a few Bellacartwrightia pygidiums laying around, and perhaps a few broken and partials of them as well. I also have massive quantities of hash plates from the Bay View coral layer, brachipods (Mucrospirifer, Pseudoatrypa, Rhipidomella, Spinatrypa), Spyroceras cephalopod partials, rugose and tablulate corals, clams, and other random bits. I am interested in trading for similar material from other locales. I am not expecting anyone to offer up prime specimens for any of this material, but I would love anyone else's throw-aways that include vertebrate material, plants, small fish, and the like. I am also considering minerals and gems. (Again, throw-aways are all I'm looking for, quantity beats quality on this one.) I will cover shipping domestically in the US, but can't really afford to ship out a ton of international packages this month. (I will still do international, we just might have to work something out.) If anyone is interested, please message me! I want this stuff gone as quickly as possible, it's getting to the point where I can't walk in my workshop anymore! If you let me know what you're interested in I will take photos of some examples, but it would take me a full weekend at least to photograph everything that I have available. This is perfect for anyone wanting to practice prepping as the Windom shale that most of these bits are in is relatively easy to work and there are lots of attractive pieces that will look very nice prepped, just aren't worth the time and effort for me at this point. Cheers!

Most come from Illinois, and are as I figure corals and spines; question is what kind, and which? I apologize in advance, but instead of posting 20 threads for each one, I’m going to spam this one with all my sponge, coral, etc inquiries. So please be patient! (Thanks again guys for all your help! I only post the ones I cannot 100% identify via books and internet; unfortunately I gotta snarge ton more yet to come.) Here are items #1-3...

Hi all, Last weekend was an awesome trip back to a site we had not been to in over 10 years. This location offers three geologic formations from Devonian to Pennsylvanian. I put a write up together for all of you on what we found, and the sites, and finally the fossils after we plunged them into the acid bath to extract them! Thanks for looking! Devonian and Pennsylvanian Fossils in the Martin and Naco Limestones Coral Locality at Tonto Creek At the convergence of the Tonto and Horton creeks east of Payson, we find three primary formations, all with some type of fossils. The lowest in the stratagraphic column is the Devonian Martin formation, a pink hued platy limestone with trace fossils and a low diversity of silicified tabulate and rugose corals. Lying directly over is the gray and melted looking Redwall Limestone. Dominated by crinoidal material in the limestones, it contains beds of brown cherts with molds of a huge variety of invertebrates. Also localized beds of oolitic limestone found in the same area contain huge Straparollus gastropods. And finally, overlying the Redwall is the Pennsylvanian Naco formation. Again many crinoids in the limestones which are more angular and reddish stained. Beds of brown/red cherts can be either totally non fossiliferous or contain both molds and casts of corals, sponges and crinoids. This locality within a half mile area contains all three formations and is a great place to spend a few hours hiking in a stunning backdrop of pine trees and flowing rivers! The Martin Limestone Locality: Here I am seen at the Disphyllum coral locality in the pink platy limestones. Dawn finds hordes of Disphyllum tubes lying right on the ground here! Fossils from the Naco near the Power Line road: Here we walked along this road to find large amounts of red cherts, some highly fossiliferous. Up ahead is the Mogollon Rim, the south end of the Colorado Plateau. Bone fragment found in Naco. This type of fossil is very rare - Most of the time we find sharks teeth that are very tiny. But here, a big piece of what is most likely a fish bone in a huge boulder. (Yes, its still there). Now some of you may question how we know this is a bone and not just a piece of petrified wood or something. First, of all, this is a deep water marine environment, with a depth around 200 meters. Bone also does not have the exterior detail of wood. Finally, it easily passed the famous "Lick and stick" test. This is where you lick your finger, and touch the fossil. The porous nature of fossil bone causes your finger to stick like touching a piece of scotch tape, and the surrounding rock will just get wet and not stick. Sharks teeth from this formation do the same thing. Aulopora - such a beautiful coral, this is a colonial tabulate with no septa visible. Side view of Disphyllum colonial rugose shows the branching pipes from a common attachment base. Disphyllum - End view of calice interiors showing septa. Unknown and poorly preserved colonial rugose from the same area. Composita c.f. Composita Subtilita brachiopods in red cherts. These were found loose on the ground. Spirifer brachs too! Disphyllum on the left and Aulopora on the right. The Aulopora was very fragmented, and if we left the limestone in the acid too long, all we would get is a pile of pieces. So as in this specimen, we only dissolved the rocks about half way down to provide a stable base to hold the corals. Even so, you have to be pretty careful on handling them! Thanks for looking. Many more shots including close ups with the microscope can be found here on our web site: http://www.schursastrophotography.com/paleo/Disphyllum022218.html

Lack of snow cover and warmer than average temps allowed me to explore and collect sponges and corals from the Pennsylvanian Naco Formation in central Arizona, north of Payson. Widespread chert of the Beta Member suggests that silicious sponges may have been common. Several have been identified but many more exist. I have seen and collected several undescribed species. Dilliard and Rigby have described several sponges including Chaunactis olsoni which I found in the area: The New Demosponges, Chaunactis olsoni and. Haplistion nacoense, and Associated Sponges from the. Pennsylvanian Naco Formation, Central Arizona. by DILLIARD and RIGBY http://geology.byu.edu/Home/sites/default/files/geo_stud_vol_46_dilliard_rigby.pdf EDIT: geo_stud_vol_46_dilliard_rigby.pdf Photo 1a. Detail of undesribed sponge. Marks are 1/16th inch. Any ideas? Photo 2. 3/4 quater view of sponge in photo 1a. Note red 1/3 to 2/3 inch thick pancake-like form of sponge. Photo 4. Top of another similiar sponge. Marks are 1/16th inch. Help me ID 2 corals and one sponge. Photo 3. Coral, Multithecopora?, which has been reported from the Naco many miles to the south. Photo 5. Probably Chaetetes, a side view. Photo 5a. Top of Chaetetes. Photo 6. Horn Coral, Zaphrentis? 1a.docx 2.docx 4.docx 3.docx 5.docx 5a.docx 6.docx

Hello. 2 years ago i got box with fossils described as Fossiles U.S.W Marvejols. I didn't get any more info about them. For me fauna looks Devonian Frasnian. Most of fossil sites in the area are Mesosoic. First specimen contains 3 different corals.( Alveolites ,Aulopora and Thamnopora ??)

Hello all Does anyone have access to the following PDF? Klaus, James S.; Meeder, John F.; McNeill, Donald F.; Woodhead, Jon F.; Swart, Peter K. 2017. Expanded Florida reef development during the mid-Pliocene warm period. Global and Planetary Change, Volume 152, May 2017, Pages 27-37 Mike

Hello, I want to put together some pics of some of the reef material that I have found in Streetsville, Mississauga, Ontario on the banks of the Credit River. It is now winter and I am missing the warm days in which I can go and wade in the warm waters of the river for fun. I just want to compile and share some specimens that whose photos I have not shared with. All the fossils belong to the Georgian Bay formation, Upper Member, which is late Ordovician in age. First is the common coral that displays an enormity of growth forms, Favistella alveolata (Goldfuss, 1826).