Some type of nautiloid? (Big Brook, NJ)

[TRexEliot]

Sorry for all the posts, but I'm trying to post some of the bizarre/unidentified pieces from my big brook fossil collection. Here is the best example of a fossil I've found a few of over the years. I assume it's some type of shelled cephalopod, but I have no idea what. Once again going to call @Trevor for his help, and hope I'm not being rude in doing so!

[Fossildude19]

Baculite! Nice one! 

[TRexEliot]

Thanks @Fossildude19!

[Jeffrey P]

Very nice baculite! Baculite fragments are fairly rare in Big Brook. Like all cephalopods there they tend to break down into unidentifiable fragments in a very short while. Back in the spring I found my very first one from New Jersey in Ramanessin Brook. It, however was a juvenile and way smaller than yours. Congratulations and thanks for sharing. 

[Carl]

Yours is also quite rare because it preserves several chambers. These almost always break up in the brooks, Big congrats!

[TRexEliot]

44 minutes ago, Carl said:

Yours is also quite rare because it preserves several chambers. These almost always break up in the brooks, Big congrats!

Wow, seems I have very good luck with cephalopods between this and the nautilus! This is actually one of two large sections of becalite  I've found at Big Brook, but the other is either from closer to the tip or from a smaller animal.

[jonnyquest]

Nice. I've only found one in many years of searching. 

[TRexEliot]

@Carl @Jeffrey P here is a picture of my other Baculite found at Big Brook. Figured I'd post it since I didn't realize these cephalapods were fairly rare.

 

 

Edited July 8, 2021 by TRexEliot

[PrehistoricWonders]

Nice Baculite! Cool finds!

[Carl]

On 7/8/2021 at 12:23 PM, TRexEliot said:

@Carl @Jeffrey P here is a picture of my other Baculite found at Big Brook. Figured I'd post it since I didn't realize these cephalapods were fairly rare.

That's a living chamber -  the more common type of preservation, But a huge score anyway!  I think I have a single baculite from over 30 years of collecting!

[TRexEliot]

2 hours ago, Carl said:

That's a living chamber -  the more common type of preservation, But a huge score anyway!  I think I have a single baculite from over 30 years of collecting!

Sorry, can you explain the difference? I thought the living chambers were the internal spaces within a cephalapod shell? What makes the second one different from the first? Thanks!

[Carl]

Cephalopods with external chambered shells (nautiloids, ammonoids) have a large, terminal chamber called the living chamber or body chamber, in which the majority of the living tissue of the animal can be found, followed by the phragmocone, which is made of chambers filed with (as I understand it) gas or water. These chambers are used to regulate the bouyancy of the animal by means of a thin strand of tissue called the siphuncle that pierces all of the chambers and adjusts the amount of gas or water. The siphuncle is the only living tissue in the phragmocone. The first specimen you showed preserves a few of these normally gas-filled chambers.

[TRexEliot]

42 minutes ago, Carl said:

Cephalopods with external chambered shells (nautiloids, ammonoids) have a large, terminal chamber called the living chamber or body chamber, in which the majority of the living tissue of the animal can be found, followed by the phragmocone, which is made of chambers filed with (as I understand it) gas or water. These chambers are used to regulate the bouyancy of the animal by means of a thin strand of tissue called the siphuncle that pierces all of the chambers and adjusts the amount of gas or water. The siphuncle is the only living tissue in the phragmocone. The first specimen you showed preserves a few of these normally gas-filled chambers.

Thanks for the explanation!

[Ludwigia]

And here's a helpful link explaining cephalopod anatomy.

[Carl]

37 minutes ago, TRexEliot said:

Thanks for the explanation!

And for a bit of further clarification, neither of your specimens preserves shell. They are what are called steinkerns: sediment that filled a cavities and then later lithified.

[TRexEliot]

12 minutes ago, Carl said:

And for a bit of further clarification, neither of your specimens preserves shell. They are what are called steinkerns: sediment that filled a cavities and then later lithified.

Ah, yes. This much I knew, but I appreciate the clarification anyway (:

[BobWill]

I've been told that omitting the "s" from the word baculites is okay because it is so common that "usage" takes over but I would not want to go to all the trouble to identify and confirm the existence of a new genus and then write and submit the paper only to have people change the name at will. We should all get used to using the whole name. It's easy to remember when you learn to pronounce it correctly,  "back-you-light'-ease"

[hadrosauridae]

7 hours ago, BobWill said:

I've been told that omitting the "s" from the word baculites is okay because it is so common that "usage" takes over but I would not want to go to all the trouble to identify and confirm the existence of a new genus and then write and submit the paper only to have people change the name at will. We should all get used to using the whole name. It's easy to remember when you learn to pronounce it correctly,  "back-you-light'-ease"

 

Thank you, that was a question I have had.  I have heard it pronounced like you said, and then I see it written everywhere as BACULITE.  Thanks for clearing up the proper naming.