Cassandra Tiensivu Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 (edited) Hello everyone. I’ve been chiseling apart some of my less than fabulous Mississippian Coldwater Shale packstones that I find in South Haven (MI) on Lake Michigan. Typically, I’ll discover various brachiopods, a few gastropods, various bryozoan, some ostracods, and little bits of flora that look like tiny seaweed. However, recently I opened up a packstone with a very different fossil inside. I have nothing else like it in my collection. A few folks I know have speculated the things I mentioned in the title of this post. The second picture is... I guess I would call it a cast? The third picture is the interior of the shell of whatever this creature was. Edited April 13, 2021 by Cassandra Tiensivu Added two macro photos. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Trilo Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 Any chance of further prep? 1 “If fossils are not "boggling" your mind then you are simply not doing it right” -Ken (digit) "No fossil is garbage, it´s just not completely preserved” -Franz (FranzBernhard) "With hammer in hand, the open horizon of time, and dear friends by my side, what can we not accomplish together?" -Kane (Kane) "We are in a way conquering time, reuniting members of a long lost family" -Quincy (Opabinia Blues) "I loved reading the trip reports, I loved the sharing, I loved the educational aspect, I loved the humor. It felt like home. It still does" -Mike (Pagurus) “The best deal I ever got was getting accepted as a member on The Fossil Forum. Not only got an invaluable pool of knowledge, but gained a loving family as well.” -Doren (caldigger) "it really is nice, to visit the oasis that is TFF" -Tim (fossildude19) "Life's Good! -Adam (Tidgy's Dad) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 I'm getting a trilobite cephalon vibe on this one. Something like Ameura major? @piranha 3 1 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...
TqB Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 Just now, Fossildude19 said: I'm getting a trilobite cephalon vibe on this one. @piranha That's my first impression too, but is there a large enough Mississippian one? 1 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Tiensivu Posted April 13, 2021 Author Share Posted April 13, 2021 5 minutes ago, Top Trilo said: Any chance of further prep? I’m a super newbie when it comes to fossil prep. And, if this piece follows suit in fragility with the brachiopods in these stones, it’s going to be fragile. I’m afraid I’d damage it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Tiensivu Posted April 13, 2021 Author Share Posted April 13, 2021 45 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said: I'm getting a trilobite cephalon vibe on this one. Something like Ameura major? @piranha Yeah. That looks like part of the head, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Trilo Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 16 minutes ago, Cassandra Tiensivu said: Yeah. That looks like part of the head, right? Yeah the cephalon is the trilobite head “If fossils are not "boggling" your mind then you are simply not doing it right” -Ken (digit) "No fossil is garbage, it´s just not completely preserved” -Franz (FranzBernhard) "With hammer in hand, the open horizon of time, and dear friends by my side, what can we not accomplish together?" -Kane (Kane) "We are in a way conquering time, reuniting members of a long lost family" -Quincy (Opabinia Blues) "I loved reading the trip reports, I loved the sharing, I loved the educational aspect, I loved the humor. It felt like home. It still does" -Mike (Pagurus) “The best deal I ever got was getting accepted as a member on The Fossil Forum. Not only got an invaluable pool of knowledge, but gained a loving family as well.” -Doren (caldigger) "it really is nice, to visit the oasis that is TFF" -Tim (fossildude19) "Life's Good! -Adam (Tidgy's Dad) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Tiensivu Posted April 13, 2021 Author Share Posted April 13, 2021 28 minutes ago, Top Trilo said: Yeah the cephalon is the trilobite head Ah hah. Thank you for that! Though I’ve long admired them from afar, I haven’t found any previously. I’m going to assume figuring out a specific species is pretty much out of the question with how little of the fossil I actually have here, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 1 hour ago, Fossildude19 said: Something like Ameura major? 1 hour ago, TqB said: That's my first impression too, but is there a large enough Mississippian one? Yes, Carboniferous trilobites could attain a maximum size up to 5 cm or larger. This one is superficially similar to Ameura missouriensis but that species is not reported from Michigan. Trilobites from the families Phillipsiidae and Proetidae have been described from the Mississippian of Michigan. Unfortunately there is not enough detail preserved to ID beyond: Order Proetida indet. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaL Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 (edited) Here's a faunal list of Kinderhookian trilobites from Coldwater Shale equivalents. It's pretty dated, though: Hessler, Robert R. “Lower Mississippian Trilobites of the Family Proetidae in the United States, Part II.” Journal of Paleontology, vol. 39, no. 2, 1965, pp. 248–264. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1301689. Accessed 13 Apr. 2021. Lower Miss Trilobites.pdf Edited April 13, 2021 by LisaL file attachment 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pefty Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 Great specimen and discussion. Taking responsibility for being the one who originally suggested phyllocarid as a possibility... here is a reference specimen that had me thinking along such lines. It’s from the following FF thread: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/83763-phyllocarid-collection/ 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 2 hours ago, LisaL said: Here's a faunal list of Kinderhookian trilobites from Coldwater Shale equivalents. It's pretty dated, though: Hessler, Robert R. “Lower Mississippian Trilobites of the Family Proetidae in the United States, Part II.” Journal of Paleontology, vol. 39, no. 2, 1965, pp. 248–264. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1301689. Accessed 13 Apr. 2021. The first installment of Hessler has the formal description of Pudoproetus michiganensis from the Coldwater Shale of Huron & Branch Counties: Hessler, R.R. 1963. Lower Mississippian Trilobites of the Family Proetidae in the United States, Part I. Journal of Paleontology, 37(3):543-563 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Tiensivu Posted April 13, 2021 Author Share Posted April 13, 2021 (edited) The ribbing on piranha’s image of Pudoproetus michiganensis more matches the ribbing on my specimen than the phyllocarid. But, it was definitely worth looking into! I’ll make a note of that species and keep the image tucked away in case I ever come across something like that in the future. Comparing my piece to the photo of Pudoproetus michiganensis that piranha posted (with some tweaks to the contrast to bring out the ribbing visibility more), if you remove the eyeball from the black and white fossil, seems like a pretty good match to mine. Edited April 13, 2021 by Cassandra Tiensivu Adding a photo and following up with some comments about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassandra Tiensivu Posted April 13, 2021 Author Share Posted April 13, 2021 Does there happen to be anymore info out there on Pudoproetus michiganensis? My internet search results had hardly anything come up. Thank you all for your help! It’s been most appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 Hessler, R.R. 1963. Lower Mississippian Trilobites of the Family Proetidae in the United States, Part I. Journal of Paleontology, 37(3):543-563 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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