Waurika Permian microfossils

[Earendil]

Hello!

 

I've recently been sorting through some Waurika, Oklahoma Permian microfossil matrix, and I've been able to identify most of my finds (As a beginner in the Permian field, @ThePhysicist's Permian album really helped me) but some I haven't been able to pin down yet. I'd really appreciate some ID assistance! Let me know if you need better photos, my photo-taking ability is, alas, subpar.

 

1. Trimerorhachis jaw perhaps? Or fish? I've heard distinguishing between the two is quite difficult.

~2 mm.

 

 

 

2. A really strange texture, I was hoping it might be diagnostic. The other side is relatively featureless.

~3 mm

 

3. Another weird looking jaw. It looks fishy, maybe. (I included both sides)

~2mm

 

4. This also had a bizarre texture. A fish mouth plate? 

A bit bigger, ~5mm

 

5. I thought it might be an Eryops tooth but I wasn't certain. It has those kind of crenulations.

~4mm

 

6. Maybe a worn part of an orthacanth tooth? A really weird texture, almost perforated.

~3 mm

 

7. A really small possible claw?

~1.5 mm

8. Another possible jawbone? 

~1.5 mm

9. I had my fingers crossed for Dimetrodon on this piece of enamel but I'm skeptical. It is pretty big though, (in microfossil terms, at least) almost 6mm.

10. Another possible Dimetrodon candidate? I'm doubtful for this one too. 

A touch over 3mm.

Front:

Serrations:

The base:

11. Looks like a claw, but it could be a really worn piece of bone.

~2mm

That's all, thanks so much!!

[fossilcrazy]

Hello yardrockpaleo, I'm not sure if these private publications by Kieran Davis are still available, but they sure would be useful for your hunting and identifying your Waurika finds. After I ordered these books, Kieran Davis moved to the UK. I think he is still a fossil and book seller there. If you have any specific needs, just PM me. Happy Hunting John Spina in NY  ( Your photography is not sub par. It will work great for anyone trying to ID your fossils.)

Edited April 8, 2023 by fossilcrazy
Wanted to assure the poster that his photography is OK

[Earendil]

5 minutes ago, fossilcrazy said:

Hello yardrockpaleo, I'm not sure if these private publications by Kieran Davis are still available, but they sure would be useful for your hunting and identifying your Waurika finds. After I ordered these books, Kieran Davis moved to the UK. I think he is still a fossil and book seller there. If you have any specific needs, just PM me. Happy Hunting John Spina in NY  

Thanks so much! I'll look into it. I know information on Waurika is sadly scarce, so I will definitely try to utilize this.

[ThePhysicist]

Glad you've found the album useful - why I made it. To place your fossils in context, and perhaps guide future IDs (not to assume you don't already know, but for the benefit of other readers), the Waurika site(s) represent a pond or swampy environment, and searching for microfossils biases your findings towards smaller animals (or large animals that can produce very small remains e.g. Barbclabornia). This means that most fossils you will find are from small aquatic or semi-aquatic animals like small fishes and amphibians.

 

1. amphibian jaw

2. amphibian skull fragment

3. different amphibian jaw

4. amphibian palatal teeth

5. Temnospondyl amphibian, possibly Eryops

6. bone

7. bone

8. amphibian jaw

9. Orthacanthus tooth fragment - if it has smooth enamel and large irregular serrations, it's a "shark" (can be tough to tell for poor preservation)

10. Orthacanthus tooth fragment

11. bone

 

You made a guess that a couple were claws, so here's a real one (probably synapsid, amphibian claws are broader in anterior view, providing better support on mud - evolved convergently with crocodilians, turtles, Spinosaurus, etc.):

All claws have a symmetry to them, with a blood groove that runs down both sides. 

[jdp]

1. Temnospondyl. Not Trimerorhachis. Might be dissorophid.

 

2. Temnospondyl skull roof fragment. Might be Isodectes.

 

3. Actinopterygian fish. Hard to narrow it down more.

 

4. Coronoid bone, possibly from a gymnarthrid "microsaur."

 

5. Temnospondyl tooth. Can't narrow it down more than that.

 

6. Xenacanth Shark tooth base is correct.

 

7. Unsure. Possibly a fin support from a ray finned fish 

 

7. Orthacanthus

 

8. Orthacanthus

 

9. Unidentifiable sliver of bone.

 

 

 

[hadrosauridae]

10 hours ago, fossilcrazy said:

Hello yardrockpaleo, I'm not sure if these private publications by Kieran Davis are still available, but they sure would be useful for your hunting and identifying your Waurika finds. After I ordered these books, Kieran Davis moved to the UK. I think he is still a fossil and book seller there. If you have any specific needs, just PM me. Happy Hunting John Spina in NY  ( Your photography is not sub par. It will work great for anyone trying to ID your fossils.)

 

Wow, those would be incredible books for a reference library.  I hate when I discover something like this, they are always out of print, not available and the authors arent accessible (or deceased) preventing future print runs.  If I ever came across these, I'd buy them in a heartbeat!

[Earendil]

13 hours ago, ThePhysicist said:

Glad you've found the album useful - why I made it. To place your fossils in context, and perhaps guide future IDs (not to assume you don't already know, but for the benefit of other readers), the Waurika site(s) represent a pond or swampy environment, and searching for microfossils biases your findings towards smaller animals (or large animals that can produce very small remains e.g. Barbclabornia). This means that most fossils you will find are from small aquatic or semi-aquatic animals like small fishes and amphibians.

 

1. amphibian jaw

2. amphibian skull fragment

3. different amphibian jaw

4. amphibian palatal teeth

5. Temnospondyl amphibian, possibly Eryops

6. bone

7. bone

8. amphibian jaw

9. Orthacanthus tooth fragment - if it has smooth enamel and large irregular serrations, it's a "shark" (can be tough to tell for poor preservation)

10. Orthacanthus tooth fragment

11. bone

 

You made a guess that a couple were claws, so here's a real one (probably synapsid, amphibian claws are broader in anterior view, providing better support on mud - evolved convergently with crocodilians, turtles, Spinosaurus, etc.):

All claws have a symmetry to them, with a blood groove that runs down both sides. 

 

5 hours ago, jdp said:

1. Temnospondyl. Not Trimerorhachis. Might be dissorophid.

 

2. Temnospondyl skull roof fragment. Might be Isodectes.

 

3. Actinopterygian fish. Hard to narrow it down more.

 

4. Coronoid bone, possibly from a gymnarthrid "microsaur."

 

5. Temnospondyl tooth. Can't narrow it down more than that.

 

6. Xenacanth Shark tooth base is correct.

 

7. Unsure. Possibly a fin support from a ray finned fish 

 

7. Orthacanthus

 

8. Orthacanthus

 

9. Unidentifiable sliver of bone.

 

 

 

Thanks ThePhysicist and jdp! I need to do some serious research now, it appears I'm woefully underread! A Dimetrodon tooth apparently still eludes me, but I'll get one before long.

Edited April 8, 2023 by yardrockpaleo
clarify

[jdp]

Dimetrodon is rarer in these bulk matrix samples than many people think. I don't actually think it was a particularly common animal, but it is an animal which is just really easy to identify if you find a piece of it. I think the same thing applies to most of these giant synapsids.

[NickG]

On 4/8/2023 at 9:33 AM, hadrosauridae said:

 

Wow, those would be incredible books for a reference library.  I hate when I discover something like this, they are always out of print, not available and the authors arent accessible (or deceased) preventing future print runs.  If I ever came across these, I'd buy them in a heartbeat!

Does anyone know where these can be ordered now?

[hadrosauridae]

1 hour ago, Nick G. said:

Does anyone know where these can be ordered now?

 

I actually found where! Well, someone pointed me to the location, but here it is....

 

https://www.rhyniechert.com/permian/waurika_oklahoma

 

The original 2-book set have been combined into a single book.  The author is now living in England, so expect the shipping to take a little longer. 

[hadrosauridae]

On 4/10/2023 at 7:20 AM, jdp said:

Dimetrodon is rarer in these bulk matrix samples than many people think. I don't actually think it was a particularly common animal, but it is an animal which is just really easy to identify if you find a piece of it. I think the same thing applies to most of these giant synapsids.

 

Since this thread has been revived, I found an interesting explanation about the number of Ddon vs fossils.  Because their sail spines were so long, and there were so many, I read that they would average about 30 linear feet of sail-spine for whichever species was being discussed.  Probably limbatus.  Anyway, we tend to find their scattered spines in pieces only a few cm long, so each animal could be responsible for many hundreds of individual fossils.  If the other bones such as ribs, limbs, etc were also broken, you could have 1000 fossil items from a single individual.  So when I go to my Permian site and go "wow, there are so many fossils of Dimetrodon here", I'm probably looking at the scattered remains of a few or maybe only 1 animal. 

[NickG]

2 hours ago, hadrosauridae said:

 

I actually found where! Well, someone pointed me to the location, but here it is....

 

https://www.rhyniechert.com/permian/waurika_oklahoma

 

The original 2-book set have been combined into a single book.  The author is now living in England, so expect the shipping to take a little longer. 

Thanks. I'll try contacting them again and see if I have any success. Has anyone tried their contact information on the website recently? I feel I may have emailed them a bit ago and never received a reply.

[hadrosauridae]

10 hours ago, Nick G. said:

Thanks. I'll try contacting them again and see if I have any success. Has anyone tried their contact information on the website recently? I feel I may have emailed them a bit ago and never received a reply.

 

I just ordered the book through their link and paid online.  The front page of the website has ordering informaion details.

[NickG]

1 hour ago, hadrosauridae said:

 

I just ordered the book through their link and paid online.  The front page of the website has ordering informaion details.

Let me know if it comes through. I've exchanged emails with the author this morning!

"I think the Lower Permian Vertebrates book is sold out. I will have to check. I was looking at getting a reprint done, but the costs have increased so much I don't know if it would be worthwhile."

 

I inquired if they might release an eBook of the earlier volumes and the joint volume as well their Permian shark book. I would definitely pay for that!

[hadrosauridae]

53 minutes ago, Nick G. said:

Let me know if it comes through. I've exchanged emails with the author this morning!

"I think the Lower Permian Vertebrates book is sold out. I will have to check. I was looking at getting a reprint done, but the costs have increased so much I don't know if it would be worthwhile."

 

I inquired if they might release an eBook of the earlier volumes and the joint volume as well their Permian shark book. I would definitely pay for that!

 

I have it, I ordered it earlier in the year.

[NickG]

1 hour ago, hadrosauridae said:

 

I have it, I ordered it earlier in the year.

Cool, thanks! I'll wait to hear from the author and then put my own order in.