pleecan Posted December 18, 2009 Share Posted December 18, 2009 Mazon Creek nodules / concretions hold unique deposits of fossils including preservation of softbodied creatures such as jellyfish, worms, as well as others such as teeth, fish, plants etc... A very unique biota. [i did break down and bought one fossil from Mazon Creek ( will be arriving in the New Year)]... so Show us your Mazon Creek Fossils! PL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nala Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 Hi this is my Mazon Creek plants,cheers! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted December 19, 2009 Author Share Posted December 19, 2009 Very nice collection Nala, thank you for posting and sharing. PL ================================================================================================ Does any one have Tully Monster to show, or fish, spider, shark teeth, annelid, clam? PL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Menser Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 I have a shrimp but it photographs too poorly. So here are my Mazon Creek fossils. Millipede Esconities (predatory worm) Be true to the reality you create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted December 19, 2009 Author Share Posted December 19, 2009 (edited) Very nice fossils Frank!... I am always amazed of the Mazon Creek Lagerstatten biota... like viewing a time locked capsule. I actually bought a shrimp concretion this morning on Ebay... along with a couple of unopen nodules.... will post in the new year. PL Edited December 19, 2009 by pleecan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 Frank/Nala, love the plants and the predatory worm! PL, Here's a quick shot of an unidentified jellyfish that I almost obliterated after waiting for months for the freezing thawing technique to work. It didnt and I got impatient and the rock hammer was a smashing success! Almost too successful! I'm sure the other members have a ton of other stuff they can share here. Seen lots of it before..Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted December 19, 2009 Author Share Posted December 19, 2009 Frank/Nala, love the plants and the predatory worm! PL, Here's a quick shot of an unidentified jellyfish that I almost obliterated after waiting for months for the freezing thawing technique to work. It didnt and I got impatient and the rock hammer was a smashing success! Almost too successful! I'm sure the other members have a ton of other stuff they can share here. Seen lots of it before..Regards, Chris Chris ... that is a neat looking jellyfish! For stubborn nodules that resists cleavage.... Do you know if anyone has tried roasting the nodules follow by a drop into a bucket of cold water.... that probably is too extreme PL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted December 19, 2009 Share Posted December 19, 2009 I tried that with siderite nodules from an old strip mine in McKean Co., PA (they are very similar to Mazon Creek's); they shattered, mostly across the shortest dimension. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted December 19, 2009 Author Share Posted December 19, 2009 I tried that with siderite nodules from an old strip mine in McKean Co., PA (they are very similar to Mazon Creek's); they shattered, mostly across the shortest dimension. Thanks Auspex for sharing your observations! ... back to slow freeze thaw cycle and lots of patients !~The shortest dimension of any fossil nodule can withstand the least stress when subjected to extreme thermal cycling resulting in indiscriminant cleavage/breakage. PL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 I have already posted a few hundred specimens in my photo album. Here are some examples of why the fossils at Mazon Creek are word famous. I will start by listing the animal that the dposit is best known for. Tullimonstrum gregarium is an enigmatic creature that might be a shelless mollusk or perhaps its own unique phyllum. Complete specimens are extremely rare and only known from Illinois. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 The Mazon Creek Deposit is seperated into a terrestrial/freshwater environment known as the Braidwood Biota and the Marine Essex Biota. There are deposits similar to the Braidwood biota found at many locations around the world. Concretions that preserve marine organisms are virtually unknown outside of Illinois. I will attach a few pictures of the better known Braidwood fauna. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 The most common animal found in the Essex fauna is the jellyfish Essexella asherae. Commonly known as "blobs" these interesting jellyfish come in a variety of shapes and sizes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 RCF, I am in awe... "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 There are around a dozen different polychaete worms found in the Essex biota. The preservation can be quite amazing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Here are a few more worms. I have quite a few extras if anyone is looking to purchase some for their collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 The Mazon Creek fauna preserve several of the earliest known examples of the type in the fossil record. Here is a sea wasp which has changed little in 300 million years. I am also attaching a picture of one of the earlest known lampreys. Several others include the earliest squid and hagfish. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 There are several dozen fish and sharks described from the deposit. All are rare and several are known from only one or two examples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Most of the shark material that is found is from juveniles although occasionally teeth and sections of fins have been found from larger individuals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Sometimes known as the age of cockroaches. The Pennsylvannian had insects wih wingspans of over two feet and giant millipedes (arthopleura) that could reach lengths of six feet! Although complete fossils have not been found, on rare occasions we find sections of these prehistoric giants. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Although rare, there have been dozens of species of spiders and scorpions found in the Mazon Creek deposit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Here are a few extremely rare scorpions 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 On rare occasions we find fossils that still have traces of the animals original color patterns. I am attaching an example of a set of insect wings an a fin off of a xenacanth shark. The shark fin is the only one of its kind ever found in the Mazon Creek deposit ad shows that apparently the xenacanth shark had a polk a dot pattern! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 There are lots of other unusual animals. I am attaching pictures of a few of the rarer types. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Centipede & Millipede Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 21, 2009 Share Posted December 21, 2009 Aside from the ully Monster, there are several other enigmatic creatures in the MC biota. Esconichthys apopyris has been thought to be a grasshopper, larval lungfish or larval amphibian. The jury is still out. Palaeoxyris is now widely believed to be the egg case of a shark but in the past it was believed to be fruiting structures of Pennsylvannian aged plants. Several different types are known to occur. I am attaching pictures of the largest example hat I have evr seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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