My Best Carboniferous Finds

[Carboniferouspat]

Awesome finds thanks for sharing. I am amazed by all the shark material.

[cngodles]

On 1/15/2020 at 6:25 PM, Petalodus12 said:

Another gastropod, again from the Ames. It’s of an unknown genus and species.

Perhaps Soleniscus or Strobeus, less likely Meekospira.

[Petalodus12]

28 minutes ago, cngodles said:

Perhaps Soleniscus or Strobeus, less likely Meekospira.

Thank you for the ID!

[Jackson g]

On 1/15/2020 at 6:29 PM, Petalodus12 said:

Now for the vertebrates. Most people don’t know that you can find shark teeth in Pittsburgh, but that is most definitely the case. Here is the tooth of Petalodus, a strange shark that is related to Chimaeras and went extinct during the Permian 

Do you plan to prep this out? If so you should take a high quality picture and share this here with both sides. Best regards, Jackson

[Petalodus12]

Just now, Jackson g said:

Do you plan to prep this out? If so you should take a high quality picture and share this here with both sides. Best regards, Jackson

I doubt I’ll prep it out. The matrix is very clingy and I don’t have the tools to prep it out properly. I can post higher quality pictures with better lighting tomorrow 

[deutscheben]

Thanks for sharing, this is an excellent post-  one can really gather a sense of this ancient environment from your finds! With that nearly complete fish and possible tetrapod fossil, it seems like you have some great potential for significant future discoveries too. 

[cngodles]

14 hours ago, Petalodus12 said:

I doubt I’ll prep it out. The matrix is very clingy and I don’t have the tools to prep it out properly. I can post higher quality pictures with better lighting tomorrow 

I've found a few of these and I agree. The teeth are fragile as well and would likely end up in many pieces. They look nice embedded in the rock anyway.

[cngodles]

On 1/15/2020 at 6:52 PM, Petalodus12 said:

On to some coprolites. These are incredibly common and are often very small, but are only found in layers where other microvertebrate material is common. The spiral shaped one is most likely from a fish or shark. The larger, white one is a cross section and shows fish scales. It could be from a larger fish, shark or amphibian. It is white in color due to its phosphate content.

I've found several of these in the past. I was told they were concretions, however I was trying to identify them as fern seeds. Now that you've said coprolites, perhaps I now know what these are. I have a few pieces of stream shale that have a half a dozen or more on them. These look exactly like what I found.

[Petalodus12]

1 hour ago, cngodles said:

I've found a few of these and I agree. The teeth are fragile as well and would likely end up in many pieces. They look nice embedded in the rock anyway.

Yup, the matrix here in Pittsburgh is really tough to work with

[Petalodus12]

1 hour ago, cngodles said:

I've found several of these in the past. I was told they were concretions, however I was trying to identify them as fern seeds. Now that you've said coprolites, perhaps I now know what these are. I have a few pieces of stream shale that have a half a dozen or more on them. These look exactly like what I found.

Nice, if you would like you could PM me those pictures and I can take a look. 

[Petalodus12]

2 hours ago, deutscheben said:

Thanks for sharing, this is an excellent post-  one can really gather a sense of this ancient environment from your finds! With that nearly complete fish and possible tetrapod fossil, it seems like you have some great potential for significant future discoveries too. 

Hopefully I am able to find more significant finds. It makes me really happy to know that something that I have found could potentially be used to better our understanding of the prehistoric world

[Petalodus12]

Another Orthacanthus tooth for you all.  It was found in a coal seam, only a few inches thick, around 30 feet below the Brush Creek Limestone. In certain layers, most often associated with coal seams or freshwater limestone, these teeth can be found in the dozens. Most are very small and thus most of these sharks must have filled the niche of a small freshwater predator. The teeth are very complex, their three cusps plus an odd root makes them very prone to breaking. This, coupled with the finely laminated rocks they come from makes it near impossible for them to come out in one piece. Therefore this one is a really nice one in its completeness and size . I’ll post more pictures of it when it’s completely prepped.

[PaleoNoel]

3 hours ago, Petalodus12 said:

Another Orthacanthus tooth for you all.  It was found in a coal seam, only a few inches thick, around 30 feet below the Brush Creek Limestone. In certain layers, most often associated with coal seams or freshwater limestone, these teeth can be found in the dozens. Most are very small and thus most of these sharks must have filled the niche of a small freshwater predator. The teeth are very complex, their three cusps plus an odd root makes them very prone to breaking. This, coupled with the finely laminated rocks they come from makes it near impossible for them to come out in one piece. Therefore this one is a really nice one in its completeness and size . I’ll post more pictures of it when it’s completely prepped.

 

That's an awesome tooth, congrats on finding it so well preserved!

[Petalodus12]

Here is a better picture with both of the cusps more uncovered 

[Petalodus12]

Here’s an interesting find. After asking @jdp for help with ID it seems that it can only be narrowed down to a pile of bones. The ray-like articulation makes it all the more interesting though. This is how most vertebrate remains are found in this layer.

[Petalodus12]

Hi all,

Here’s a nice find that I seemed to have forgotten to post. It’s my largest Asterophyllites, and although it does not have the best preservation it still shows the morphology that is characteristic of this genus.

 

Stratigraphy:

Mahoning Shale, Glenshaw fm. of the Conemaugh Group

Age:

Late Pennsylvanian, ~305 MYA

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

15 minutes ago, Petalodus12 said:

 It’s my largest Asterophyllites, and although it does not have the best preservation it still shows the morphology that is characteristic of this genus.

It looks pretty large and quite big. Nice. 

How large is it ? 

[Petalodus12]

33 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

It looks pretty large and quite big. Nice. 

How large is it ? 

About 7.5 CM

[deutscheben]

That's a really nice one!

[Fossildude19]

Beautiful Asterophyllites! 

Thanks for posting it.  

[Petalodus12]

2 hours ago, deutscheben said:

That's a really nice one!

Thank you!

[Petalodus12]

2 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

Beautiful Asterophyllites! 

Thanks for posting it.  

Thank you, it is quite the specimen 

[Petalodus12]

Hi all,

Some more Carboniferous plants for you today. The first is, I think, a species of Mariopteris? I’m not that great at IDing a Carboniferous plants so if I’m wrong please correct me. The second I’m almost sure is Mariopteris, possibly M. nervosa. The third is a nice example of Annularia, but unfortunately it’s only half. The last one is Neuropteris. Neuropteris is, by far, the most common seed fern at this locality. These were all collected from the same sandstone lens. It seems that at this locality the plants are often concentrated in certain lenses, which probably reflects localized variation between swamp deposits and riverine deposits. All in all a very good day to be out in nature and collecting. No vertebrate fossils today (they are very rare at this locality, and are limited to lungfish bones), but I did have a little American toad come and visit me while I was collecting.

[Petalodus12]

[Petalodus12]