West4me Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 I have searched and looked through a couple of books I have on Missouri fossils, no luck. Looking at the geologic map of Missouri, my best guess is that it was found in Mississippian or Pennsylvanian. It is difficult to tell due to the location. I found them at an old coal mine that has been filled in and turned into some lakes. They were located in an eroding outcrop. I am very new, my first attempt at using a geologic map, and trying to describe location. Any information would be most helpful. Thanks. "You have to listen. It is under the rocks." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 West4me - not looking for your locality, but can you give more specific info on where it was found? County, etc.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West4me Posted April 20, 2010 Author Share Posted April 20, 2010 North of Columbia about 15 miles, in Boone county. "You have to listen. It is under the rocks." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 (edited) Your fossil resembles the bryozoan Chondraulus Duncan of the Suborder Esthonioporina -- a massive colony of polygonal zooids which are uniform in size and no axial zone from which the zooids branch out. Chondraulus is found in the Devonian of Indiana and Kentucky and (likely) Ohio. If you are confident the Carboniferous age of the rocks where this specimen was found, I would be looking at others species in this suborder. But, I'm a vertebrate guy. Edited April 20, 2010 by Harry Pristis http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West4me Posted April 20, 2010 Author Share Posted April 20, 2010 I wouldn't say I was sure about anything I am just using the map that is referenced from this site. Google sure wasn't my friend when I tried to look up what you wrote. "You have to listen. It is under the rocks." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 I wouldn't say I was sure about anything I am just using the map that is referenced from this site. Google sure wasn't my friend when I tried to look up what you wrote. I'm growing more confident about my guess with every passing minute! http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Given that locality info, it's most likely Mississippian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West4me Posted April 20, 2010 Author Share Posted April 20, 2010 Thanks for the input, just noticed you are in St. Louis. Nice to hear from someone near me. "You have to listen. It is under the rocks." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Thanks for the input, just noticed you are in St. Louis. Nice to hear from someone near me. There are a few of us "Show-Me fossil hunters" hanging around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Well, I've found two different sources that assign Chondraulus to two different families in the Order Trepostomatida! Here is how the second source organizes these taxa. You may find that one of these species lived in the Mississippian - that's how I'd proceed. Order Trepostomatida (33+ Families, 199+ Genera, 728+ Species) Family Esthonioporidae (2+ Genera, 2+ Species) Genus Esthoniopora (1+ Species) Esthoniopora communis Genus Esthonioporella (1+ Species) Esthonioporella crassimuralis Family Orbiporidae (3+ Genera, 3+ Species) Genus Chondraulus (1+ Species) Chondraulus granosus Genus Nekhorosheviella (1+ Species) Nekhorosheviella cribrosa Genus Orbipora (1+ Species) Orbipora distinctus http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West4me Posted April 20, 2010 Author Share Posted April 20, 2010 Wow thanks for the extra effort! Now I will actually have to learn something to make sense of what you wrote. It is a wonderful way to learn though. Find something you are excited about and then be pointed in a direction, now I just hope I can read the compass. "You have to listen. It is under the rocks." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cousin it Posted April 21, 2010 Share Posted April 21, 2010 (edited) It might be a trepostomate, but, even though I am not much on that newer stuff, I think, more likely, it is a tabulate. Some magnification of the corallite/zooecia should settle the question. Edited April 21, 2010 by cousin it http://soliussymbiosus.wordpress.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West4me Posted April 21, 2010 Author Share Posted April 21, 2010 These photos are as close as I can get with my current camera. I also cropped them. Maybe they will help. "You have to listen. It is under the rocks." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cousin it Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 (edited) It is a tabulate. Probably Chaetetes sp. A micro-photo of a small section of corallite would be definitive. EDIT: Apparently now, Chaetetes is classified as a demosponge. Edited April 23, 2010 by cousin it http://soliussymbiosus.wordpress.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West4me Posted April 23, 2010 Author Share Posted April 23, 2010 It is a tabulate. Probably Chaetetes sp. A micro-photo of a small section of corallite would be definitive. EDIT: Apparently now, Chaetetes is classified as a demosponge. I tried looking up coralite and I am still not perfectly clear what they are. Did I take a picture of them but not close enough? "You have to listen. It is under the rocks." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cousin it Posted April 23, 2010 Share Posted April 23, 2010 A corallite is the individual skeleton produced by one critter,ie, one of the tubes. But, since Chaetetes in now classified as a poriferid, I guess the more correct term would be osculum. Your photo is "close" enough to determine that it is not a bryozoan, but often for a generic identification, one needs to see the micro structure of the invertebrate. http://soliussymbiosus.wordpress.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 I am a bit behind on my reading of posts. I spent a year near that area, attending Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri. We used to go to the coal pits and fish. They held some great bluegill and crappie. One fellow caught an 11 pound bass once. I was dumber then dirt when I was in college, but I was thinking that the coal deposits were a bit younger, Pennsylvanian age. Some have been implicated as even being Permian, which would be the only Permian rock in the state, if true. Brent Ashcraft ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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