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I had attempted to ID similar fossils awhile ago but feel they were lost in the trilobite photos. So today, I will only present these new unknown "blobs" from the Cambrian , Eau Claire Formation of western Wisconsin in hopes to definitively ID these. Maybe they are even geologic. Good Luck!!!!! Mike

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of hunting with @GeschWhat and her daughter. We examined the Eau Claire Formation of the Cambrian in western Wisconsin. Lori had little interest in the trilobites that frequent this formation. She kept busy examining the matrix for trace fossils and other goodies it may reveal. She left the trilobites for her daughter. A large slab had broken free from the cliff during the winter and Lori discovered an interesting pattern on the surface. We worked on extracting a substantial chunk for her and in the process found a deeper layer of trilo-bits. I am a hash plate fanatic. So after she was done with the slab, I extracted a large sample containing the trilobites. Here is a corner of the hash plate: So the contest is a mindless one!!!!!! My kind of event. The person that guesses the number of trilobite cephalons and pygidiums on the hash plate is the winner!! The count was made using identifiable bits. Three counts were made and then averaged. One guess a day until a winner is found. At that point, I will share the hash plate with you and mail a smaller version to the winner. (Unfortunately postage out of the US can be spendy, so I will pay $20.00 if those overseas would like to participate). Good Luck! Mike

When I hunt trilobites in the Eau Claire Formation, Cambrian, I encounter this type of rock frequently. Could it be trilobite trace fossils or just dried mud??? The squiggles are raised over the background rock. Mike

Last week I had the intentions of going fishing. Unfortunately just as I got to the boat landing, it began to rain so I decided to unhook the boat and run over to a road cut 20 miles away to see if winter had brought down any new rocks to bang on. I spent about 15 minutes at the site and learned quickly NOT to look at sandstone in the rain. Samples turn to sand in your hand!!! This site is Eau Claire formation / Cambrian strata. Trilobites are what I was looking for. Here are a couple of typical hash plates from the site that I was able to save: What I have questions about are these "cephalopod like" structures seen in this photo: Any info on these structures would be appreciated. I have never ran into these at this site before. They taper like a cephalopod, but no obvious septa, might be because sand does not preserve the chambers well??? Hope to hear from you. Mike P.S. The rain eventually quit and I was able to fish.