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UK Jurassic Oxford Clay Micros!


JamieLynn

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I convinced my friend in England to send me some matrix from the Oxford Clay site I have the pleasure of hunting a few years ago. I really wanted to see what I could find in the micro stuff! He packed up a "Fosters sized package of Pay Dirt" as he referred to it and I got it in the mail a couple of weeks ago. It didn't take me long to go through it because I just couldn't stop! So many beautiful tiny fossils!! Star Crinoids, Belemnites, Ammonites, all of those I expected to find. What I was surprised to find was lots of tiny crab claws, couple of shark teeth and some possible Starfish ossicles!

 

First the Ammonites:

I am over the moon with my new favorite fossil: a Kosomceras spinosum. Even has a little bit of nacre still on it!  6mm

1677678598_AmmoniteAKosmocerasspinosum(1).thumb.jpg.ffbb4e7073d239bed3500944f59a47d1.jpg

 

I found an even better preserved one too, but the one with the nacre is special. 

893170643_AmmoniteKosmocerasx(2).thumb.jpg.ff950310c0884249b5fb2e581a714d7f.jpg

 

On my previous hunt in this spot, all I had found were the Quenstedtoceras ammonites. They are still really cool too....

1 cm

865495748_AmmoniteDQuenstedtoceras(1).thumb.jpg.6a7a6ceb1e6cc891bf778c90d555490a.jpg

 

Then there is this beauty which I am not sure what it is, but it might be Distichoceras bicostatum

5mm

967894891_AmmoniteJ.thumb.jpg.4ba17e8aac268e6758430f326f6a90df.jpg

 

I found so many little crab claws and legs! Really elaborate ones and very simple ones:

3mm

1223821666_Crabtt.thumb.jpg.1dc2ea0340c382b85570573810003744.jpg

 

504672014_Crabq.thumb.jpg.b5ebff7de458edbd18b51a9810031802.jpg

 

1531812559_CrabClawhJurassic(1).thumb.jpg.d10f349634661cba2d59045a2fc2a388.jpg

 

880669856_Crabvvv.thumb.jpg.a8438a827c10ab455ba2754cf29215a8.jpg

 

And of course, the crinoids - 5mm

 

454804106_Crinoid33.thumb.jpg.4898fa0b0325268ba033a15483737699.jpg1493267056_Crinoid1.thumb.jpg.061fb549f4c35fe1876f307d300a723e.jpg

877098644_Crinoid2.thumb.jpg.f59df5695595b3d54c26f07964a769e7.jpg

 

Some lovey little gastropods, including a really nice pyritized one:

5mm I think it's a Dicroloma trifida

248321492_gastrop.thumb.jpg.cbea18a7ba50705f5e7ced05e7bc4ff0.jpg

 

 Not sure what these two are - both 3mm

 

Gastropod.thumb.jpg.96246e28fe402dffdd18e16d75344514.jpg

1623367469_Gastro2.thumb.jpg.b17173916d6335130b045a1c6fe6b677.jpg

 

One of my unexpected surprises...this little tooth! 3mm

Shark.thumb.jpg.ce1c1ac08c16315dc7de6832dbae9e93.jpg

1754682607_Sharka.thumb.jpg.697bf6ff7be204673476e81afe179849.jpg

 

And I THINK these might be starfish ossicles? If so, that would be really cool. They look an awful lot like the starfish ossicles we find in the Texas Cretaceous. But they might also just be crinoid bits.

2mm

1910929009_Star2.thumb.jpg.b9bbef6b34bd773bbeab2b21a5339684.jpg

star.thumb.jpg.37c208bf6a7ff36a891463f25eab61b3.jpg

 

1405295732_Crinoidpieceb.thumb.jpg.b2b7b6e04d9e46999366434a3aadf1ab.jpg923353760_Crinoidpiece.thumb.jpg.afb492c102248676d7bbea4f7ec753fd.jpg

 

 

And last but not least- a little worm tube. I liked the crenulated edge on the bottom

3mm

 

 

Worm a.jpg

1822269948_wormaa.thumb.jpg.18bde9e4bf1a601c65a842e27f82ea1e.jpg

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Amazing photography and thread yet again! :b_love1:

I also am very interested in your 'starfish ossicles' as I have three very similar looking things from the UK Much Wenlock Limestone Formation. 

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

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Excellent finds and photos, Jamie Lynn!

Thanks for posting these!  :) 

 

 

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    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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Oh that little shark tooth is nice. Could that be an Akaimia tooth ? I believe teeth from that genus can be found in the Oxford Clay. 

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Thanks y'all!! @Tidgy's Dad  These are starfish ossicles from the Cretaceous of Texas. They just look an awful lot like those little bits from the Oxford Clay. What got me thinking they might be is the interior line.  I might be way off, but they look a bit similar.

780437533_005StarfishA(1).thumb.jpg.6a71ead27cf19d855b5c5efd333e0350.jpg

1023399360_004StarfishEee(3).thumb.jpg.0b3c3645762121d050218bd59ba66df7.jpg

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Super cool stuff! Love the little serpulid at the end, very typical Oxfordshire fossils.

 

I've always wanted to go hunting in the ever-famous clay; I'm even in the same county, Oxfordshire! 

 

So jealous :drool:

~ Isaac; www.isaactfm.com 

 

"Don't move! He can't see us if we don't move!" - Alan Grant

 

Come to the spring that is The Fossil Forum, where the stream of warmth and knowledge never runs dry.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
On 11/10/2021 at 11:44 AM, FB003 said:

I think the Kosomceras spinosum is the one I like most.  How big are they?

Sorry! Didn't see your post until just now. The Kosmoceras are about 6 mm

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  • 1 month later...

Any ID on that little shark tooth? It's a super interesting shape - kinda reminds me of a shape seen in modern filter feeders, however filter feeding harks haven't evolved yet in the Jurassic

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“Not only is the universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think” -Werner Heisenberg 

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15 hours ago, Jared C said:

Any ID on that little shark tooth? It's a super interesting shape - kinda reminds me of a shape seen in modern filter feeders, however filter feeding harks haven't evolved yet in the Jurassic

Nope, no clues yet. 

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2 hours ago, JamieLynn said:

@Jared C - so I found out finally that the little tooth is Akaimia sp! Finally a name to go with it!

 

@Mr Galasphere I use a Hayear 16mp microscope camera that plugs into a monitor screen, so nice BIG screen to see what I'm doing! And then I stack the images with Picolay. 

The hayear certainly works very well. I've been looking at those cameras, nice to see what they are capable of.

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BTW, having looked at these finds again, I find similarities with our Callovian-Oxfordian fauna.

4 I'd say Brightia if found in our region

IMG20211128143357.jpg

6,7 - why not echinoid spines

Crinoids - Pentacrinus

2nd gastropod - Cryptaulax 

 

Later - definitely starfish

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@RuMert - thanks for the ID on the gastro and starfish confirmation!  The reason I don't think the ammonite is Brightia is because of the pointy nodes you can see starting to appear just on the keel near the broken end.  And crab claws because I have found claws that look VERY similar in Cretaceous material. The little dots are a typical indication for crab claws as opposed to being echinoid spines. 

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