Tiny trilobite free cheek from the Ordovician

[Nautiloid]

Hello everyone!

 

So a while ago I collected a couple of rocks while fishing up near Plattsburgh, NY. These rocks were from the Ordovician Trenton Group and contained a variety of organisms including inarticulate brachiopods and corals. More importantly though, were the variety of trilobites. In one of the rocks I found pieces of Isotelus, Cryptolithus, and Ceraurus. 

I was looking at a small piece of that rock yesterday when I noticed a strange little fossil. It was a tiny, spiny free cheek of a trilobite! It looks very similar to Meadowtownella trentonensis although it could be a different species. I do apologize if the pics aren’t great but the fossil is so small that I had to use my microscope to see any detail lol. Also, how do I get my images to be not turned sideways? 

Thanks for looking!
Owen

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Looks like a bryozoan to me. 

[Nautiloid]

Just now, Tidgy's Dad said:

Looks like a bryozoan to me. 

I agree that the long bumpy part in pics 1&3 does kinda look like a bryozoan lol. Although the spiny part connected to it in pic 2 leads me to believe that it is the long spine coming off the end of the cheek. And that those bumps may just be detail on the spine. 
 

It looks similar to the cheek of this trilobite from the Trenton Group in NY. 

[Kane]

That image would be a Diacanthaspis parvula from the Rust Fm. The genal spines of Meadowtownella trentonensis are comparatively smooth (although also having a fringe of small anterior spines).

I agree with bryozoan; the small divots are too evenly spaced in an almost fenestrate pattern. The second image of what appear to be fringe-like do give me pause, however.

[Nautiloid]

24 minutes ago, Kane said:

That image would be a Diacanthaspis parvula from the Rust Fm. The genal spines of Meadowtownella trentonensis are comparatively smooth (although also having a fringe of small anterior spines).

I agree with bryozoan; the small divots are too evenly spaced in an almost fenestrate pattern. The second image of what appear to be fringe-like do give me pause, however.

Since two knowledgable people have said that it’s a bryozoan, then I have to agree with you on that haha. The fossil in the second picture is more interesting though. I’ll have to see if I can get some more detailed pics of it. 

[Nautiloid]

I was able to get an ID from a NY trilobite expert. He was almost certain that it’s a free cheek from Meadowtownella trentonensis!