Emthegem Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 Wowowow I was very surprised to find all this amazing stuff today at my favourite river bank fossils spot of the Etobicoke creek. I managed to snag a whole lot of stuff today, some Orthoconic Nautiloids, Brachipods and what I believe to be the nicest tentaculite I've ever seen!!! The fossils are from the Georgian Bay Formation and they were found in the broken up "rock fields" next to the creek. This is going to be one of my longer posts, so I will have to split them up into section. The full haul, with the typical estwing 22 ounce rock pick (33 cm from bottom of the handle to the top of the hammer end for anyone who doesn't own one). First lets start with the usual: Them cone boys, aka Orthoconic Nautiloids. I believe all of the following to be Treptoceras crebriseptum. 6 - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emthegem Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 Next we have the Brachiopods, Mussels and other shells (if anyone wants to specify the scientific names be my guest!): This I am actually not too sure of, I was thinking possibly a coral? And now finally, the star of the show (in my opinion): I believe it is a tentaculite, but I could be wrong. Up until about a week ago I always used to think these were pieces of Crinoids hahah (maybe they are?) 4 - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emthegem Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 Next we take a little intermission break with some nice scenery picture: I thought this was so interesting, a beautiful strata cliff-side right in the dead of a bustling city (to be honest I only managed to find the Tentaculite in this exact location, but I still think it is very pretty!) 4 - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 Nice haul! And, yes, i think that's a nice section of crinoid stem. The second bivalve appears to be Ambonychia radiata. Others will know more than I about the specimens in the first photo, I've got a few names in my head but I can't remember which is which. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 Nice haul. I've also been there several times myself and almost always came away with a couple of nice nautis. Your "Tentaculite" is actually a crinoid columnal....oops, Adam just beat me to the punch, so I don't need to say much else. 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 22 minutes ago, Emthegem said: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emthegem Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 Sorry one final post: Here was a big rock fiiiilllllleeedddd with Nautiloids!!! Unfortunately, I was only able to unearth two of them, and i figured i would just ruin the rest if I tried to take em out. Maybe next time I visit I'll give em another try. I forgot to post this one, I thought it was a shell for sure, but upon closer examination, the lines seem to be somewhat unusual for a shell (at least that I've seen so far). If any one has any advice I'd be glad to hear! This I also wasn't sure of, I was thinking maybe a coral cross-section? Let me know what you guys think! I forgot to post these with the shell, bunch of Brachiopods. This was kind of cool, I initially thought it was maybe a rabbit or squirrel skull, but its teeth seem to indicate that it isn't a vegetarian creature..... (not a fossil, still thought it was cool). 2 - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emthegem Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 14 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said: Nice haul! And, yes, i think that's a nice section of crinoid stem. The second bivalve appears to be Ambonychia radiata. Others will know more than I about the specimens in the first photo, I've got a few names in my head but I can't remember which is which. 12 minutes ago, Ludwigia said: Nice haul. I've also been there several times myself and almost always came away with a couple of nice nautis. Your "Tentaculite" is actually a crinoid columnal....oops, Adam just beat me to the punch, so I don't need to say much else. Wow that is really cool, I thought for sure it was a tentaculite. That's way more exciting though! is there an easy way to tell the difference between the two? They always look so similar to me.... 1 minute ago, Peat Burns said: I have a lot of these mussel fossils, I'm considering giving some away, or trading because they are really starting to stack up! - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 Tentaculites tend to have more pronounced ribbing and taper to a point. They are like slimmed down versions of Bugles, if you've ever eaten those. 2 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 3 minutes ago, Emthegem said: I'm considering giving some away, or trading because they are really starting to stack up! I'd be interested in trading for any of the mussels that aren't Ambonychia. Let me know when you're ready and what you want in return. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 9 minutes ago, Emthegem said: Wow that is really cool, I thought for sure it was a tentaculite. That's way more exciting though! is there an easy way to tell the difference between the two? They always look so similar to me.... What Kane said. Crinoid stalks are not tapered, rather cylindrical. Yours could be from Glyptocrinus. I found a few at that spot myself. 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emthegem Posted May 24, 2020 Author Share Posted May 24, 2020 44 minutes ago, Kane said: Tentaculites tend to have more pronounced ribbing and taper to a point. They are like slimmed down versions of Bugles, if you've ever eaten those. 39 minutes ago, Ludwigia said: What Kane said. Crinoid stalks are not tapered, rather cylindrical. Yours could be from Glyptocrinus. I found a few at that spot myself. Ah okay, I feel like I might have found a lot more Crinoid stalks then Tentaculites which is very cool! I tend to find bunches of a couple dozen together, do Crinoid stalks typically come in bunches or does it depend? - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 It somewhat depends on life and depositional factors. Taphonomy is helpful to suss that out. In some conditions of high energy marine environments, crinoids will be more commonly disarticulated as single columnals. Where the seas are more peaceful, quick burial can result in better intact preservation. In some environments, such as the Arkona mudshale, crinoids could prosper but frequent mud slides have been able to preserve spectacularly intact specimens. And these were very stormy environments, too! It very much depends on exposure in life. 1 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 It depends, but in the Georgian Bay Formation it isn't too uncommon to find bundles of stems. Calyxes are much rarer, although they can be found. Some time ago @JUAN EMMANUEL showed a spectacular plate with multiple crowns, as I recall. It must be said that I never found anything like that when I lived in Toronto, almost 50 years ago ()! Don 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilNerd Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 Nice finds! Even though it’s not a Tentaculite it’s still a nice crinoid stem section. Most that I find are highly fragmented and are typically single columnals or just a couple of them. 1 The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. -Neil deGrasse Tyson Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JUAN EMMANUEL Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 5 hours ago, FossilDAWG said: It depends, but in the Georgian Bay Formation it isn't too uncommon to find bundles of stems. Calyxes are much rarer, although they can be found. Some time ago @JUAN EMMANUEL showed a spectacular plate with multiple crowns, as I recall. It must be said that I never found anything like that when I lived in Toronto, almost 50 years ago ()! When was the last time someone found crinoid crowns in Toronto before me? I want to bet it was a century ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JUAN EMMANUEL Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Here @Emthegem in case you would be interested in this topic I wrote back in May 2017: I would also like to add a friend of mine found a multiple starfish plate not far off (just a stone throw away) from where I found this material sometime ago before I came upon this fossil. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Hopefully all pieces were carefully prepared. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emthegem Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 11 minutes ago, JUAN EMMANUEL said: Here @Emthegem in case you would be interested in this topic I wrote back in May 2017: I would also like to add a friend of mine found a multiple starfish plate not far off (just a stone throw away) from where I found this material sometime ago before I came upon this fossil. Starfish? I've never seen or heard of any in Toronto, thats impressive! And those crinoids are very impressive, never seen any that pristine and complete in Toronto - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JUAN EMMANUEL Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 32 minutes ago, Emthegem said: Starfish? I've never seen or heard of any in Toronto, thats impressive! And those crinoids are very impressive, never seen any that pristine and complete in Toronto Just found the starfish pic my friend sent me 3 years ago: I believe this is a Promopaleaster solitarius. Unfortunately, he does not own the fossil and it was found and kept by a young girl who he was leading at a camp back during that time. Little does she realize the significance of this find. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted May 25, 2020 Share Posted May 25, 2020 Nice finds all around, Em! I think this is probably a sectioned bryozoan of some sort (there are LOTS of bryozoans in the Georgian Bay Formation): Re: tentaculitids... Both Tentaculites and Cornulites are part of the same class (Tentaculita) but different families. According to Bill Hessin's book, the species Cornulites flexuosus is found in the Georgian Bay Formation - here is a photo of one that I found at Mimico Creek a couple of years ago: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 On 5/24/2020 at 11:22 PM, JUAN EMMANUEL said: Here @Emthegem in case you would be interested in this topic I wrote back in May 2017: Have you had that specimen prepped yet? I recall the ID was a bit up in the air, although tilting strongly towards Iocrinus, but we needed to see the plate arrangement on the calyx to be sure. I suspect you might have one or two other calyxes more buried on the plate. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 On 25/05/2020 at 12:06 PM, Monica said: Nice finds all around, Em! I think this is probably a sectioned bryozoan of some sort (there are LOTS of bryozoans in the Georgian Bay Formation): Re: tentaculitids... Both Tentaculites and Cornulites are part of the same class (Tentaculita) but different families. According to Bill Hessin's book, the species Cornulites flexuosus is found in the Georgian Bay Formation - here is a photo of one that I found at Mimico Creek a couple of years ago: Oh, I love that Cornulite !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markjw Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 On 24/05/2020 at 4:05 PM, Emthegem said: Wowowow I was very surprised to find all this amazing stuff today at my favourite river bank fossils spot of the Etobicoke creek. I managed to snag a whole lot of stuff today, some Orthoconic Nautiloids, Brachipods and what I believe to be the nicest tentaculite I've ever seen!!! The fossils are from the Georgian Bay Formation and they were found in the broken up "rock fields" next to the creek. This is going to be one of my longer posts, so I will have to split them up into section. The full haul, with the typical estwing 22 ounce rock pick (33 cm from bottom of the handle to the top of the hammer end for anyone who doesn't own one). First lets start with the usual: Them cone boys, aka Orthoconic Nautiloids. I believe all of the following to be Treptoceras crebriseptum. That's a really fantastic haul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emthegem Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 Yeah, it's kind of maddening, the local creeks are chock-full of this kind of stuff, with a nice balance of shells, nautiloids and crinoid pieces. I noticed you're from oakville, if you're interested try checking out Credit River, right around and just north of the U of T mississauga campus there are a ton of really cool corals that I've collected from there. No pick was even needed as they seem to just be strewn about all over the rocky shore deposits. The best luck I've had personally has been in Etobicoke creek, there just seems to be a never ending supply of nautiloids! Do you guys get a lot of cool stuff in Oakville? @markjw - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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