Jump to content

deutscheben

Recommended Posts

Last summer I posted a trip report about finding some Pennsylvanian black shale in a river bed in East Central Illinois http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/106753-628-illinois-black-shale-trip-w-listracanthus/. I was able to visit the site again once more in the fall last year when the river was running much lower and collect more and larger pieces of the finely bedded and fissile shale. 

D1F972EC-99A6-4F07-9E9C-BBAF00E77E18.thumb.jpeg.7b18297119fb7584031ec70926f2de17.jpeg
 

860AC85F-4255-45B8-877C-6CD888E8BE83.thumb.jpeg.bde6b7b27021947f07c9597eb0b94311.jpeg

 

Since then I have been slowly splitting and going through the rocks I brought home, and finding many interesting fish parts- that is definitely the dominant fauna present, disarticulated and scattered fish remains. I have also found  frequent inarticulate brachiopods, one piece of woody material and a few small poorly-preserved spiral shaped invertebrates- they could be gastropods or Spirorbis.

 

In this thread I’ll be sharing my finds from the above-mentioned site, as well as any other ones I may find in my explorations in Illinois and Indiana.

  • Enjoyed 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking forward to seeing your finds. It’s always interesting to see finds from formations and members similar to the ones I hunt!

  • Thank You 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This shale comes from an unnamed member of the Fithian Cyclothem in the Bond Formation. 

I’ll start with one of the most identifiable and interesting bits I have found- I think this is the maxilla from a palaeonisciform fish- this one was preserved with both part and counterpart.
 

B34D8475-8A79-4D6B-A22E-835B8456542F.thumb.jpeg.5e45a84258a9a8bc215684cc3309d650.jpeg

 

88965AEB-0609-4A2F-AE01-25337A14ACE7.thumb.jpeg.bb2ae1194c5f26ef2b4a12a2d88b01e5.jpeg
 

6329F567-F891-40CB-96CB-0BE582A94942.thumb.jpeg.9a98c2d3c1aabd6ab8306a24a270e822.jpeg

  • I found this Informative 1
  • Enjoyed 6
  • I Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool find! For some strange reason I have found a large amount of lower jawbones from these fish, but no maxillas.

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, jdp said:

Nice maxilla!


Thanks!

 

6 hours ago, Petalodus12 said:

Cool find! For some strange reason I have found a large amount of lower jawbones from these fish, but no maxillas.

 
Thanks! This is my only maxilla thus far and I have not found any lower jaws yet, as far as I can tell.

  • Enjoyed 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is a nice example of some scattered palaeonisciform scales- they are very frequently pyritized and quite lovely.

 

A1DCFC10-94B3-44BF-ABD5-FB83CBAD79FB.thumb.jpeg.8109c139532c5b30d892c652f56f5a78.jpeg
 

Occasionally other fish parts are partially pyritized as well, such as this example that I have not been able to identify- it’s less than 1 cm long.


9358C842-9FA1-4AE9-9CD9-5118093C9462.thumb.jpeg.7241e84e98a026cb9b668c29e0dd4182.jpeg

 

  • Enjoyed 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now I’d like to switch for a moment from the fish material to a brachiopod- an incomplete, but iridescent Lingula in this case. I have found others with just a hint of color on them, but this one has the most by far.

 

14AD155E-7A40-4B5D-A408-1316663F46FC.thumb.jpeg.84eda98b741cfbbae418e9bb2dac5766.jpeg

 

2FDC30A0-1970-4282-BD01-2BBFDAECDA7F.thumb.jpeg.5cee17367f69cc2b04ef6fed5d7c58b1.jpeg

  • I found this Informative 1
  • Enjoyed 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very cool! I am excited to see what else you found!

Follow me on Instagram (@fossil_mike) to check out my personal collection of fossils collected and acquired over more than 15 years of fossil hunting!

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/22/2021 at 8:09 PM, Nimravis said:

Great finds, keep the pics coming.

 

On 3/23/2021 at 10:24 PM, historianmichael said:

Very cool! I am excited to see what else you found!

 Thanks!

 

 Up next is a mystery structure. I’m really not sure what it could be- One thought was perhaps some sort of Orodus-like shark tooth? It’s about 1 cm long.

 

C16BAA84-6C83-42F1-8C6C-FAD2EF3E0422.thumb.jpeg.f60fafc8aa1e3c57a34cccf8ebd11110.jpeg
 

4E637D49-779C-4DF8-97C9-6FF8D3C0C790.thumb.jpeg.09cd1c9f7dd4b216aafdd9c87eb8718c.jpeg

 

A comment on the preservation from this site- the fish material is preserved as part and counterpart, both as negative impressions. 

  • Enjoyed 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

These two scale-like pieces (one is part only and the other is part and counterpart) seem to be similar parts of the fish anatomy. Both are about 2 cm tall.
 

0EA2CC91-2D3E-4775-ABB6-60A22A693286.thumb.jpeg.16534e09a6b66aa04bdc7b9807877848.jpeg

 

E9A53BBF-CAE9-4179-B941-2F2A44B39FE6.thumb.jpeg.8228f031308aa7eccd5540212ddbcdec.jpeg

 

2F817268-2F40-4DBD-834D-204C51549D60.thumb.jpeg.dfb40659f040379bd901d7c7862c88be.jpeg

  • Enjoyed 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It’s fascinating to be able to see the front and back of the various fish scales and bones thanks to the preservation at this site. Here is another example- this one is about half the size of the ones in the previous post:

 

20B7459D-24DA-4A9A-9880-2F279F719687.thumb.jpeg.33c1e25257061ef0183672054238607b.jpeg

 

67D8A19C-4E8A-4D9D-B99A-DB24414C59B2.thumb.jpeg.cfccdf425948a8ea938b8e01b077f0bd.jpeg

 

 

  • Enjoyed 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have found a few of these cladodont-like teeth/denticles, but this is my best one. It is extremely tiny, about 1.5 mm tall.


E749E5AC-8F13-4A35-9399-C389E5AE79BC.thumb.jpeg.df1dcdd8896d381526e9dee8e0ae821f.jpeg

 

97C88229-1729-4E48-AE7E-09BE96EBF21C.thumb.jpeg.29c0a780109a75f59e229303e913754c.jpeg

 

  • I found this Informative 1
  • Enjoyed 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, deutscheben said:

I have found a few of these cladodont-like teeth/denticles, but this is my best one. It is extremely tiny, about 1.5 mm tall.


E749E5AC-8F13-4A35-9399-C389E5AE79BC.thumb.jpeg.df1dcdd8896d381526e9dee8e0ae821f.jpeg  97C88229-1729-4E48-AE7E-09BE96EBF21C.thumb.jpeg.29c0a780109a75f59e229303e913754c.jpeg

Nice tooth!

  • Thank You 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Petalodus12 said:

Nice tooth!


Thanks!

 

10 hours ago, connorp said:

 

Thank you, it’s always fascinating to see the similarities and differences between these sites- as I said, I have only found these denticles as isolated single elements, while they found large quantities.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/29/2021 at 10:28 PM, deutscheben said:

These two scale-like pieces (one is part only and the other is part and counterpart) seem to be similar parts of the fish anatomy. Both are about 2 cm tall.
 

0EA2CC91-2D3E-4775-ABB6-60A22A693286.thumb.jpeg.16534e09a6b66aa04bdc7b9807877848.jpeg  E9A53BBF-CAE9-4179-B941-2F2A44B39FE6.thumb.jpeg.8228f031308aa7eccd5540212ddbcdec.jpeg  2F817268-2F40-4DBD-834D-204C51549D60.thumb.jpeg.dfb40659f040379bd901d7c7862c88be.jpeg

 

 

These might be a megalichthyid of some sort.

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, jdp said:

 

 

These might be a megalichthyid of some sort.

Thanks, I will look into that. 
 

This next specimen is one of the most intriguing I have found. It has the general appearance of a jaw with teeth, but it’s completely unlike the other images of Pennsylvanian fish jaws that I can find, with wide blade-like “teeth”. 

97EBDDD1-8ED3-40EF-9A2E-AF1727C19801.thumb.jpeg.f3042b009099d5b9546424b0c7e7ef64.jpeg

 

E06A31CF-E947-4175-8A67-61C5D4DDC171.thumb.jpeg.3d832107370323bce7880d45e080a2ae.jpeg

 

681CC702-B190-4F2D-8B75-1075FA94EFDA.thumb.jpeg.2fea1b4ce8180c850d1d2db1edb91834.jpeg


The white squiggles near the “jaw” are conodont elements.

  • I found this Informative 2
  • Enjoyed 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That really is strange. Only thing that I have seen that looks slightly similar to it is this vomer from the lungfish Monongahela, as figured here. It really is a weird find, though. 

vomerine.JPG

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...