LisaL Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 I have some exciting news, thanks to the help of @TqB, who suggested that this tabulate coral I found in southwest Michigan glacial drift a few days ago is much more interesting and unusual than I could have imagined! After thinking about and dismissing a number of favositid possibilities, we realized that this is a cerioid syringoporid. Tarquin suggested that, due to the appearance of domed and/or infundibuliform tabulae inside the transverse and longitudinal sections, along with a few apparent mural pores and a possible syrinx (mural pore tunnel) structure, this might be a roemeriid. This is exciting because, besides a documentation from the Devonian Canadian Arctic on Fossilworks, this family has not been found before on the American continent, certainly not in the U.S. I emailed photos to the tabulate coral specialist Dr. Mikolaj Zapalski, who confirmed Tarquin's diagnosis! Here's his reply this morning: I think that your diagnosis is correct - it is a roemeriid. . . . as far as I can tell, it resembles Roemeripora - but the corallites are much larger than any Roemeripora I have seen. On the other hand I have experience only with some Polish and Russian taxa, so these species may be different. An isolated specimen may not be very helpful, but if further specimens are found, this could be potentially interesting for research. Mikołaj K. Zapalski Ph. D., D. Sc., FLS University of Warsaw, Faculty of Geology So, it looks as though this could be the first known discovery of a roemeriid, possibly a new species of Roemeripora, from the U.S.! Here are photos! I'm sending the specimen to Tarquin in hopes that he can prep it a little better or notice more details that I've missed. Best! Lisa An annotation of the previous photo, showing possible mural pore and syrinx structure: 9 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 (edited) @LisaLThat's a wonderful find! It was an exciting few days when you were producing photo after photo while we both trawled through the Treatise, followed by an ever increasing store of online papers. People take instant communication across an ocean for granted - I think of all the early natural historians exchanging letters by boat! I'm greatly looking forward to seeing the actual specimen, and will just add that we've agreed it will go to a suitable institution if required. Edited March 17, 2021 by TqB 1 3 1 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 (edited) @TqB Another coral specialist to contact is our member (name?) that lives in Mexico (Sonora?). I believe that he is German. He may know more about North American corals. EDIT Hans Loeser. @HansTheLoser http://www.paleotax.de/coral/ Do you know anyone that might also be interested in seeing this coral? Edited March 17, 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...
TqB Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 (edited) 3 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said: @TqB Another coral specialist to contact is our member (name?) that lives in Mexico (Sonora?). I believe that he is German. He may know more about North American corals. Thank you, we'll try to track him down. Edited March 17, 2021 by TqB 1 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Nice. I hope you find more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaL Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 22 minutes ago, Al Dente said: Nice. I hope you find more. Thank you! I'm hoping that by spreading the word here and on some of the fossil groups on Facebook, we may find others who have turned up examples! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaL Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 1 hour ago, TqB said: @LisaLThat's a wonderful find! It was an exciting few days when you were producing photo after photo while we both trawled through the Treatise, followed by an ever increasing store of online papers. People take instant communication across an ocean for granted - I think of all the early natural historians exchanging letters by boat! I'm greatly looking forward to seeing the actual specimen, and will just add that we've agreed it will go to a suitable institution if required. Those few days of research and messaging back and forth were more exciting than any on site exploration I've ever done! Can't thank you enough. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaL Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 41 minutes ago, TqB said: Thank you, we'll try to track him down. Thanks, TqB! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaL Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 42 minutes ago, TqB said: Thank you, we'll try to track him down. 45 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said: @TqB Another coral specialist to contact is our member (name?) that lives in Mexico (Sonora?). I believe that he is German. He may know more about North American corals. Many thanks for the lead, @DPS Ammonite! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Excellent! How exciting! 1 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 How marvelous. Well done, Lisa and Tarquin. 2 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainefossils Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Congratulations! 1 The more I learn, the more I find that I know nothing. Regards, Asher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 That's amazing! Congratulations on such a cool find 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Well done, both of you! 2 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilNerd Posted March 18, 2021 Share Posted March 18, 2021 Very nice! Great job you two. A fine example of why I love the TFF community. Fossil camaraderie and collaboration at its best! 1 The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. -Neil deGrasse Tyson Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansTheLoser Posted March 21, 2021 Share Posted March 21, 2021 Hans The Loser does not Paleozoic. But there are even Scleractinians that show a similar morphology, just recently decribed by Bogdan Kolodziej as Heteroamphiastrea loeseri from the Aptian of East Africa: Kolodziej, B. 2020. A new coral genus with prominent, ramified main septum (Aptian, Tanzania). -- Ameghiniana. Revista de la Associación Paleontológica Argentina, 57, 6: 555-565; Buenos Aires. https://doi.org/10.5710/AMGH.26.06.2020.3341 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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