cngodles Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 When cleaning up rocks I brought home today, I found this little piece that I didn't originally target. It's pentagon shape makes me believe it's for sure a fossil. I've never found anything like it, so I feel like I'm about to get an education here. Perhaps part of a crinoid? Whatever it is, I don't have the experience, yet. Also noticed the indented hole on the top. Maybe part of it, maybe not. It's way too centered I think to not be part of it. Underside. It is convex with a small raised ridge along the edge. Sideways view of the underside with scale: Front view with scale (non focus stacked) There is a porous layer on top, which is very similar to crinoids I've seen in the past. I've only ever found stems. Fossils of Parks Township - Research | Catalog | How-to Make High-Contrast Photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 Perhaps this may help. 3 Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cngodles Posted January 6, 2021 Author Share Posted January 6, 2021 So pretty sold on this being a calyx piece. Has to be the first one I’ve ever found, that I know of. Do I have any chance of identifying based on shape? Seems to be many polygon shaped pieces on these charts. 1 Fossils of Parks Township - Research | Catalog | How-to Make High-Contrast Photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 Plus, it appears to be covered with encrusting forams, possibly Tolypammina. 3 Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted January 6, 2021 Share Posted January 6, 2021 @Missourian Excellent Crinoid key!! I wish one existed for the Mississippian of Iowa as nice as yours. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cngodles Posted January 6, 2021 Author Share Posted January 6, 2021 8 hours ago, Missourian said: Plus, it appears to be covered with encrusting forams, possibly Tolypammina. Now I'm learning double! Is this the worm like structures on there? I've found several examples of that, and have always wondered if that was a fossil process or a modern day process. You've helped load up my research queue for the week. 1 Fossils of Parks Township - Research | Catalog | How-to Make High-Contrast Photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 On 1/6/2021 at 7:38 AM, minnbuckeye said: @MissourianExcellent Crinoid key!! I wish one existed for the Mississippian of Iowa as nice as yours. Mike Steve, I almost forgot about that. Thank you minnbuckeye. Actually, I drew it up myself with a felt-tip pin. It's a miracle I didn't make a mistake. I don't know if I could do that again. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 On 1/6/2021 at 8:37 AM, cngodles said: Now I'm learning double! Is this the worm like structures on there? I've found several examples of that, and have always wondered if that was a fossil process or a modern day process. You've helped load up my research queue for the week. Here is an example from the Pennsylvanian of Kansas City. These forams are mixed in with algae encrusted on a shell: Still, there's a chance yours could be something else entirely. 2 Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 @Missourian, Could you enlighten me as to what is algae and what is foram in your picture? My minimal understanding of forams is that of single celled organisms. If such, the tubular structures are the algae? If so, I don't see the forams. And NO, I am not questioning your IDs by any means. Just hate questions in my mind that need answered!!! The only forams in my collection are from Florida and they are small round flat pancakes. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 (edited) 29 minutes ago, minnbuckeye said: @Missourian, Could you enlighten me as to what is algae and what is foram in your picture? My minimal understanding of forams is that of single celled organisms. If such, the tubular structures are the algae? If so, I don't see the forams. Wow! It looks like Tolypammina looks sort of like worm tubes. http://yadda.icm.edu.pl/yadda/element/bwmeta1.element.agro-41b16c1b-5e26-48b8-8ac2-fe6cfe13a6d3/c/app18-095.pdf https://www.palass.org/sites/default/files/media/publications/palaeontology/volume_11/vol11_part4_pp601-609.pdf Edited January 8, 2021 by DPS Ammonite 2 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cngodles Posted January 8, 2021 Author Share Posted January 8, 2021 Sort the same deal here on this Metacoceras and Solenochilus? 1 Fossils of Parks Township - Research | Catalog | How-to Make High-Contrast Photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 Doing a bit of looking, I now understand some forms of forams construct calcium carbonate tubes in which algae live with them in a symbiotic relationship. This would make sense to me when I look at the specimen now. Did I interpret articles correctly?? The Foraminifera ("forams") are among the largest and most abundant of all unicellular organisms. They can reach 20 cm in length and 18 cm in width, and the shells surrounding them are even bigger, up to 30 cm in length. Ebio Reef-dwelling large benthic foraminifera (LBF) are single-celled protists that build a calcium carbonate (CaCO3) test and harbour algae as photo-symbionts. Microbiome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 6 hours ago, minnbuckeye said: @Missourian, Could you enlighten me as to what is algae and what is foram in your picture? My minimal understanding of forams is that of single celled organisms. If such, the tubular structures are the algae? If so, I don't see the forams. And NO, I am not questioning your IDs by any means. Just hate questions in my mind that need answered!!! The only forams in my collection are from Florida and they are small round flat pancakes. Mike Sorry for the sparse details. The algae is the 'matrix' containing the tubular forams. It is sometimes called Ottonosia. Some examples: 3 Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 2 hours ago, minnbuckeye said: Doing a bit of looking, I now understand some forms of forams construct calcium carbonate tubes in which algae live with them in a symbiotic relationship. This would make sense to me when I look at the specimen now. Did I interpret articles correctly?? The Foraminifera ("forams") are among the largest and most abundant of all unicellular organisms. They can reach 20 cm in length and 18 cm in width, and the shells surrounding them are even bigger, up to 30 cm in length. Ebio Reef-dwelling large benthic foraminifera (LBF) are single-celled protists that build a calcium carbonate (CaCO3) test and harbour algae as photo-symbionts. Microbiome Yeah. Now that I remember, there are two types of these forams -- calcified and agglutinated. Agglutinated -- Fragments (silt grains, shell fragments, other tests, etc.) to construct the test. Tolypammina belongs in this group. Calcified -- The test is deposited calcium carbonate. Calcitornella is the calcified equivalent of Tolypammina. I've leaned toward my forams as the agglutinated variety, based on identifications of specimens in publications and the coloration and the chalky white near-opacity of the specimens. 2 Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 8, 2021 Share Posted January 8, 2021 8 hours ago, cngodles said: Sort the same deal here on this Metacoceras and Solenochilus? Yes. Very nice examples! 1 Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cngodles Posted June 17, 2022 Author Share Posted June 17, 2022 I like to come back to these threads and post better photos. The contrast reveals the textured pattern on the convex, outer side. Scale bar = 5 mm. 1 Fossils of Parks Township - Research | Catalog | How-to Make High-Contrast Photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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