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Hunting From Home - Texas Pennsylvanian (Bridgeport) Matrix


JamieLynn

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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  

200827103440599.thumb.jpg.fe0e6031d65cadab82aa44f04e726e00.jpg

 

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

5f53a5641904a_EchinoidSpineB.thumb.jpg.fd1b34e37e16c2a5de2113b6fb94799c.jpg

5f53a5633ac95_EchinoidSpine(3).thumb.jpg.42fbbaa18e2578a3ee464e3220f0d19b.jpg

 

A funky Echinoid plate   7 mm

Echinoid.thumb.jpg.647c6bd19c2a77804a11ee36c0224eee.jpg

 

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. )

5f53a534e31bc_CrinoidPart(1).thumb.jpg.202d6fcf93cefb14797f3737630b5224.jpg

 

5f53a535abc4d_CrinoidPart(5).thumb.jpg.3ffe07874f1be5b0e46781368cab59ff.jpg

5f53a53353635_CrinoidArch(2).thumb.jpg.fdcfd4e8bffa8803cc67d80186ba76d4.jpg

5f53a5340e7e4_CrinoidArch.thumb.jpg.d43befa03f2dae4f702b8691f2fbc992.jpg

5f53a5364b90e_CrinoidPart(8).thumb.jpg.31a9777e3d4f8b3c64543adfce429143.jpg5f53a556bb0f3_CrinoidPart(10).thumb.jpg.920b048a6286b88b60bceca5e6fa121c.jpg

5f53a557eb29f_CrinoidPart(12).thumb.jpg.8c512476fa204a2a421889179a80a593.jpg

5f53aad5de91b_CrinoidPart(11).thumb.jpg.f2820d085c2e6e6b688532382d3decb6.jpg

 

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

5f53a559497ff_CrinoidSpineregenerating.thumb.jpg.b2ced5bd47e4b70c1684b1be3cf7d9b6.jpg

Love this crinoid column...I think it's my favorite. It's so Art Deco.....about 3 million years early.

1 cm

5f53a5171b947_Crinoid(8).thumb.jpg.69431176ab7c2db96d9f4b56dce8c64c.jpg

 

Some other nice/ interesting finds

Neospirifer Brachiopod  5 mm

brach.thumb.jpg.17eabd4e98aa44c6c460096ab6e74a35.jpg

 

Not sure what this is...I assume a brachiopod.

5 mm

200827101845610.thumb.jpg.6f7606cdd8ee6e2a6a85d958006bb8b2.jpg

 

Colorful Bryzoans

4 mm

5f53a51624e58_Bryzoan(4).thumb.jpg.a36688c395397682d6de9b730f58c5f1.jpg

 

Bryzoan on a Crinoid  8 mm

5f53aab9cf28a_Btyzoanoncirnoid.thumb.jpg.e3fa0a63554a795312a75d5427587f98.jpg

 

Girtycoelia sponges    Each are aprox 5-8 mm

5f53a97a87544_spongeGirtycoelia(2).thumb.jpg.95907a9cb1e9465c70586bece9b6b11d.jpg

 

Gastropods: 

Pseudozygopleura   4mm

5f53a9796c421_GastropodZygopleura.thumb.jpg.6224551c497a156a6dbc819444b3acb1.jpg

 

Possilbly a Phymataopleura? Not sure of ID    5 mm

5f53a978be803_GastropodPhymatopleura.thumb.jpg.32e4fe218fea40d79cab5f2555197b7b.jpg

 

Possibly Goniasma?   5mm

5f53a977d62e2_GastropodGoniasma.thumb.jpg.43da5e65d08e674846538261bfa6d0c9.jpg

 

And then there's this thing......a bryzoan encrusting a sponge!

1 cm

5f53a498b6312_odd2.thumb.jpg.6437d0b0a0516f5a219bcb593d3282b4.jpg

 

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Thanks for sharing your micro-hunt and the itsy-bitsy world under our feet.

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Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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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.

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@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! 

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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.

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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. 

 

 

 

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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..).

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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:

i0883-1351-33-11-508-f03.jpg

 

i0883-1351-33-11-508-f04.jpg

 

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 crinoid_spine_regrow_small1.jpg

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.  :thumbsu:

 

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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

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