Wisconsin Ordovician 09/27/22

[Tales From the Shale]

Years of searching Wisconsin's various websites and old Geo surveys have always yielded varying levels of success ranging from mediocre, to misses entirely. Not this time, this is effectively the best hunting I've ever had in my home state.

Period: Ordovician

Formation: Platteville

Location: SW Wisconsin

Endoceras? I say that primarily based on size.

Goniaceras, the flattened curved shape seems to support that?

Gabriceraurus mifflinensis? It is a fragmentary cephalon, but that species is more common than other Ceraurids that I've read about.

Sinuites? A common gastropod, I saw maybe 30 of these, but only grabbed a few.

Unkown gastropods and a large bivalve that I recovered. I've only ever found one other bivalve from Alabama.

An unkown brachiopod. Reminds me of Enteletes from Kansas. I really can't seem to find anything on these at the moment.

A Strophomenid brachiopod. These are my favorite variety, I've got at least 200 from Michigan alone.

Some various hashplates with Rugose corals, gastropods and other various Fauna.

I found 3 productive locations worth a repeat on my scouting trip. Here was a singular find I recovered out in the boonies near the Iowa border.

Ive got some 3 and 4 foot long associated crinoid stems from Kentucky, but this is far better than any little fragement I could ever get in Milwaukee. Measures roughly 7 inches.

This trip was a real game changer, I understand now that Wisconsin is ripe for fossil plunder, for those able to find its secrets.

[Neanderthal Shaman]

Very nice! I bought a small gastropod from the Grand Detour Formation a while back and it's one of my favorites, it seems like many of the fossils from Wisconsin have a very glittery quality to them. 

[Coco]

It is good to use a checkered paper for the size, but don’t forget to give square measures

 

Coco