Misha Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 I recently visited a few formations around PA, The Montour preserve pit happened to be on the way and I stopped by, The location was quite picked over as @historianmichael told me, but we did manage to get some nice finds. I will post a trip report later but for now, I want to get some IDs for some of my finds from here and another location. First, is what I thought in the field was a brachiopod but upon closer inspection, I realized that this is probably my first pteriomorph mollusk which is very exciting for me, my question is: Which? I looked through Linsley and multiple look similar, I just don't have enough experience with these to really be able to tell. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted August 25, 2020 Author Share Posted August 25, 2020 2. A brachiopod, very tiny but pretty nicely preserved. Maybe Ambocoelia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted August 25, 2020 Author Share Posted August 25, 2020 3. Not sure if brachiopod or bivalve, leaning towards brachiopod. Once again, don't know which Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted August 25, 2020 Author Share Posted August 25, 2020 4. Two very pretty and similar brachiopods 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted August 25, 2020 Author Share Posted August 25, 2020 5. Another Ambocoelia? Edit: Now seeing these pictures it is a lot harder to tell what it is than in real life, sorry about that will try to get others later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted August 25, 2020 Author Share Posted August 25, 2020 The tiniest bivalve I have, Nuculites? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted August 25, 2020 Author Share Posted August 25, 2020 Don't need an ID for this one, just wanted to post it here. This is the tiniest Greenops I have, we actually found a few of them on the trip. I also found my biggest Eldredgeops piece on the trip, it was a pygidium which was about two centimeters in width, sadly that one fell apart in my hands before I could get the superglue 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 Misha, # 1 looks like the brachiopod Protoleptostrophia perplana. It is a strophomenid, at least. Don't know if you have THIS, ... I just found it. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted August 25, 2020 Author Share Posted August 25, 2020 31 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said: Misha, # 1 looks like the brachiopod Protoleptostrophia perplana. It is a strophomenid, at least. Don't know if you have THIS, ... I just found it. Huh, that little part sticking out threw me off. Still a pretty cool find for me. Thank you, Tim for the help and the new Resource. I will be checking that out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 Unfortunately, the preservation on these is less than optimal. Some of them are internal molds, as well. Try to take your pictures from directly above, and hinge line up. 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted August 26, 2020 Author Share Posted August 26, 2020 6 hours ago, Fossildude19 said: Unfortunately, the preservation on these is less than optimal. Some of them are internal molds, as well. Try to take your pictures from directly above, and hinge line up. Thank you for the advice, Tim Mycurrent thinking about the two similar brachiopods is that they are Tropidoleptus. The other one looks like an Orthhid but I can't say much more, I will try to get more photos but I can't say it will be helpful since it is mostly covered by rock. The tiny bivalve would be hard to photograph in any other way as it is on the very edge of a piece of shale, but I will try Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted August 26, 2020 Share Posted August 26, 2020 2 hours ago, Misha said: Thank you for the advice, Tim Mycurrent thinking about the two similar brachiopods is that they are Tropidoleptus. The other one looks like an Orthhid but I can't say much more, I will try to get more photos but I can't say it will be helpful since it is mostly covered by rock. The tiny bivalve would be hard to photograph in any other way as it is on the very edge of a piece of shale, but I will try Just talking for future reference, Misha. The small white one may be a Devonchonetes sp. LINK @Jeffrey P @Shamalama 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted August 26, 2020 Author Share Posted August 26, 2020 16 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said: Just talking for future reference, Misha. The small white one may be a Devonchonetes sp. LINK @Jeffrey P @Shamalama That's probably it, the shape, especially along the hinge seems more accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted August 26, 2020 Author Share Posted August 26, 2020 Today I also found this strange object today, it has some organic shapes in it but I do not recognize any of them. Is this weird blob actually a fossil? or am I just seeing things in it? The whole thing is about 2 cm wide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 It has been quite a while since this post but I just wanted to add a quick update, The above fossil has been laying around in my collection for a year without me knowing what it was, but just recently after visiting the quarry at DSR and looking at the very similar fauna there and finding a fossil that was preserved in an almost identical way I have finally figured out this mystery. I believe that the object above is the gastropod Paleozygopleura sp., while most of its shell is covered up you can see some of their very distinct ridges peeking out of the fossil here and the form of the fossil is exactly the same as the other examples of this genus I have. As for the stuff covering the shell and surrounding it in the matrix I am not yet sure, I think that it may be either bryozoan encrustation which I have seen on these fossils from DSR or just some strange artifact of the fossilization process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 20 minutes ago, Misha said: It has been quite a while since this post but I just wanted to add a quick update, The above fossil has been laying around in my collection for a year without me knowing what it was, but just recently after visiting the quarry at DSR and looking at the very similar fauna there and finding a fossil that was preserved in an almost identical way I have finally figured out this mystery. I believe that the object above is the gastropod Paleozygopleura sp., while most of its shell is covered up you can see some of their very distinct ridges peeking out of the fossil here and the form of the fossil is exactly the same as the other examples of this genus I have. As for the stuff covering the shell and surrounding it in the matrix I am not yet sure, I think that it may be either bryozoan encrustation which I have seen on these fossils from DSR or just some strange artifact of the fossilization process. It could be a bryozoan encrustation. It could also be a "squish-out" . The gastropod fills with mud, then the weight of the overburden sediments causes the shell to crush, and squish out the mud around it. Also, your second item is indeed an Ambocoelia. 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 35 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said: It could be a bryozoan encrustation. It could also be a "squish-out" . The gastropod fills with mud, then the weight of the overburden sediments causes the shell to crush, and squish out the mud around it. Also, your second item is indeed an Ambocoelia. That is possible too, Could I ask how you edited the photo? It looks so much better than the original Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 2 hours ago, Misha said: That is possible too, Could I ask how you edited the photo? It looks so much better than the original I use the free version of PhotoscapeX. It is the best free photo editing software I have found. Easy and intuitive to use. 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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