JamieLynn Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 While I have been out fossil hunting a bit in the Texas Summertime heat I am still having great fun with the Micro Matrix- it sure is pleasant to sit in the AC and poke about for fossils! I had some great little finds in the Mineral Wells matrix, but i am just amazed by the Bridgeport matrix. Even though it's still Pennsylvanian, it's very different from the MIneral Wells stuff! Different formations and all..... What's really neat about the Bridgeport matrix is firstly - it's bigger, typically. and secondly...it's COLORFUL! Reds and golds and purply browns and oranges. It's really lovely stuff!! Here are some of my favorites from the Jasper Creek formation. : First the Echinoid bits - I love these little "cat ghost" plates. 2 mm Most of the spines were incomplete, but I found a nice base and a nice spine, just not all one piece 7mm base and 1 cm spine A funky Echinoid plate 7 mm So many neat Crinoid fragements - arms, cup fragements, columnals, etc! All of these are aprox 5-8 mm except the first one which is a honking 1.5 cm. ) And this crazy crinoid spine that was broken and was regenerating before it died...hence the "dimple" on the end. Thanks fellow Forum Members for helping with that ID! 1 cm Love this crinoid column...I think it's my favorite. It's so Art Deco.....about 3 million years early. 1 cm Some other nice/ interesting finds Neospirifer Brachiopod 5 mm Not sure what this is...I assume a brachiopod. 5 mm Colorful Bryzoans 4 mm Bryzoan on a Crinoid 8 mm Girtycoelia sponges Each are aprox 5-8 mm Gastropods: Pseudozygopleura 4mm Possilbly a Phymataopleura? Not sure of ID 5 mm Possibly Goniasma? 5mm And then there's this thing......a bryzoan encrusting a sponge! 1 cm 10 www.fossil-quest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagurus Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 Thanks for sharing your micro-hunt and the itsy-bitsy world under our feet. 1 Start the day with a smile and get it over with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 Very nice finds and pictures. Just a couple of suggestions. Your Neospirifer is definitely not that but rather more likely one of the many species of Chonetinella. The spines along the hinge line are a indicator of the chonetid group. Your questionable brachiopod is very interesting, any chance you can put it in an ultrasonic cleaner and see if you can get some of the debris off? i would love to see the large end of the spine you suggest is regenerated. It could be a spine, or it could be a piece of a scaphopod. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieLynn Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 @ClearLake Thank you for the info. I will see about getting a pic of the large end (tomorrow). Here is the reference for the "regeneration" http://www.catnapin.com/Fossil/Echinoidermata/ffCrinoids.htm I have never heard of using an ultarsonic cleaner..I will look into that! www.fossil-quest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 18 hours ago, JamieLynn said: Love this crinoid column...I think it's my favorite. It's so Art Deco.....about 3 million years early. 1 cm Nice photos. I’m pretty sure this is another urchin spine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieLynn Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 ooohh...interesting. Yes, it does not have the "breaks" a crinoid colum would....I totally missed that. I've just not seen a spine look like this one. Very cool! 1 www.fossil-quest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 12 hours ago, JamieLynn said: I have never heard of using an ultarsonic cleaner..I will look into that! Here is a link to a recent thread that discussed this (about half way down) and had some good suggestions from members. You can probably find other threads on TFF by searching for sonic cleaners. I find them very helpful for small material. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieLynn Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 @ClearLake thanks for the info on the cleaner! I will look into that! Here is the picture of the other end of the "spine". Let me know what you think www.fossil-quest.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 Well, that is interesting. To me the picture appears to show a thin wall with filling inside which I believe would be more indicative of a scaphopod than an urchin spine. But I guess I'd have to stare at some spines and look at your specimen under a microscope to feel more comfortable with that. I certainly see from the link you provided why you called it what you did (I will also caution however, that scaphopod fragments are often misidentified) and the tip is interesting and not that similar to what I would expect on a scaphopod, so I'm a bit torn. I suppose the change in growth could also happen in a scaphopod, I just don't remember having seen a published example of that. If it is a scaphopod, I do not see any longitudinal striations on it so it would be a species of Plagioglypta (unless the striations are just worn off..). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpa Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 On 9/5/2020 at 7:45 PM, ClearLake said: i would love to see the large end of the spine you suggest is regenerated. It could be a spine, or it could be a piece of a scaphopod. While @ClearLake raises an interesting possibility of scaphopod, I'm fairly certain this is a regenerating Crinoid spine. For reference see the following: 1) https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/palaios/article-abstract/33/11/508/567363/REPEATED-REGENERATION-OF-CRINOID-SPINES-IN-THE 1.a.) picts from article: 2) Evolutionary History of Regeneration in Crinoids https://academic.oup.com/icb/article/50/4/514/653430 3) Spinosity, regeneration, and targeting among Paleozoic crinoids and their predators https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/paleobiol/article/44/2/290/530920/spinosity-regeneration-and-targeting-among 4) http://www.catnapin.com/Fossil/Echinoidermata/ffCrinoids.htm Description: crinoid anal or brachial spine. The base (large end) is broken off. The point end broke while the animal still lived and started regenerating. 5) I have, over time, seen a number of examples of this morphology (like your specimen) found associated with other crinoid parts (spines, plates, columnals, etc.) but no association with scaphopods in the area. Given the above, I'm reasonably (actually "quite") certain that your specimen is a regenerating crinoid spine. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 1 minute ago, grandpa said: I have, over time, seen a number of examples of this morphology (like your specimen) found associated with other crinoid parts (spines, plates, columnals, etc.) but no association with scaphopods in the area. Agreed. Good post, @grandpa! The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now