Mazon Creek Best Of The Best Illilepas Damrowi Schram, 1975

[RCFossils]

This is an interesting animal that many are not even aware exists in the Mazon Creek deposit.

It is a fossil gooseneck barnacle named Illilepas damrowi. 
Barnacles are known from as early as the Cambrian but are relatively rare in the fossil record.

A barnacle is actually a crustacean and are distantly related to lobsters. Modern gooseneck barnacles also have a similar taste to lobster.

Like all gooseneck barnacles, Illilepas has a stalk like body and a calcareous head region consisting of plates called a scotum and Tergum.

In life, the animals appendages would extend out and filter the water for nutrients.

Barnacles will permanently cement themselves to a solid surface.

Illilepas is quite rare and only found in the Essex (marine) portion of the Mazon Creek deposit.

This first specimen is a fantastic grouping of several individuals still attached to a bivalve (Myalinella meeki).

 

[RCFossils]

This second specimen is an individual animal.

There appear to be appendages extending out of the “head”area.

I am not aware of appendages having been preserved in any other examples.

[Tidgy's Dad]

Nope, I didn't know these occurred in the Mazon Creek fauna. 

Always nice to learn something new. 

In the UK, goose barnacles and barnacle geese were once thought to be the same animal, the first was the larval stage that metamorphosed into the bird. 

[RCFossils]

12 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Nope, I didn't know these occurred in the Mazon Creek fauna. 

Always nice to learn something new. 

In the UK, goose barnacles and barnacle geese were once thought to be the same animal, the first was the larval stage that metamorphosed into the bird. 

Yes, I believe they go through four different growth stages.

I also read that Darwin studied gooseneck barnacles when forming his evolutionary theory.

[Tidgy's Dad]

2 minutes ago, RCFossils said:

Yes, I believe they go through four different growth stages.

I also read that Darwin studied gooseneck barnacles when forming his evolutionary theory.

Indeed. He studied them for many years and wrote papers and a two volume book on them, the first part of which earned him the Royal Medal from the Royal Society of London.

http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Richmond_cirripedia.html

However, having spent nine years focussed on the creatures, even he got bored and is reported as saying," I hate barnacles as no man ever did before." 

It was such an obsession that his son George, while visiting a friend , was amazed to learn that the friend's father didn't have a laboratory. 

"But where does he do his barnacles?" asked Darwin's son in astonishment.  

[Nimravis]

Very nice examples Rob @RCFossils here is one in my collection that I received from my Fossil mentor that he had collected and was identified by Dr. Richardson. I believe that I have one other in my collection and a few years ago I sold another one to Dan Damrow, who these fossils are named after. This was only the second time that I have sold a Mazon Creek Fossil and I have known Dan for a long time and he really wanted it.

 

Here is my example-

 

[RCFossils]

1 hour ago, Nimravis said:

Very nice examples Rob @RCFossils here is one in my collection that I received from my Fossil mentor that he had collected and was identified by Dr. Richardson. I believe that I have one other in my collection and a few years ago I sold another one to Dan Damrow, who these fossils are named after. This was only the second time that I have sold a Mazon Creek Fossil and I have known Dan for a long time and he really wanted it.

 

Here is my example-

 

That’s a nice example.