AaronMcCree Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I am dealing with a tabulate coral fossil that looks a lot like Lithostrationella. It was found in Tennessee and is from the Silurian period. The name my teacher gave our class was "Ditoechloasma (sp.)" I have spent about three hours searching for this fossil online using every different spelling I could think of and as far as I can tell it doesn't exist. I am only a student, so if anyone could help me identify this I would really appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gatorman Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Could you post a picture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronMcCree Posted March 21, 2008 Author Share Posted March 21, 2008 The photo is in attachments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 It looks like a lithostrotion to me. I don't think the name your teacher gave you is correct, or even in usage. Ask your teacher for the name of the author that described the piece. I could be some archaic usage, but I don't think so. Where was the piece found? What is it's age? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 It was found in Tennessee and is from the Silurian period. there ya go solius! "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Wow, I was paying attention. It is some kind of lithostrotion, but what type, I don't know. Someone on the forum, I can't recall who, did some work with the guy who reclassified some of the Lithostronionellids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofossil Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 I can't tell from the photo if it's tabulate or rugose. Rusgose have septa...lines radiating out from the center of the coralite. As mentioned above it appears to be rugose. With a few exceptions, tabulate corals rarely have individual coralites over a couple mm wide. If (and probably is)rugosa then ''Arachnophyllum" or a related colonial rugose. If tabulate then any ID is a bit more fuzzy. In general rugose corals are used as an index fossil to age rocks, etc. The growth patterns of the septa evolve over time. Tabulate corals are much less useful and rarely studied as they don't vary much over time....there are genus names like Syringopora and Favosites which are sort of 'catch all' groups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AaronMcCree Posted March 25, 2008 Author Share Posted March 25, 2008 Thanks everyone, all of the input was really helpful. Now I can finally finish my lab report.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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