Jurassicbro238 Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 Last week my friends and I stopped by Mineral Wells in Texas to do some fossil hunting and it was really fun! However, I'm not familiar with this type of fauna and I was wondering if anybody could help ID them for me. I think I got a decent representation of what is available at the site but there's definitely other fauna there that I didn't spot. The first group are bryozoans and they have this really cool texture on them. How easy is it to identify them to genus or species level? The second one on the first row was also really interesting. It's flatter but I'm not sure if that's the preservation and not what it looked like in life. The first one on the second row was really interesting as a bryozoan colony seemed to wrap around a crinoid stem! The second group are crinoids! I hadn't realized they were so diverse, although they were the most common fossil I encountered by far. This is the cross section of the first row. This is the cross section of the fourth row. The third one has a really neat pattern on it on the outside. And finally, the fifth row has a crinoid base(?) and what might be a small crinoid impression? Not entirely sure. The third group are shells. The variety of shapes was really cool. This first row are flat and rounded. Are these clams? These first two on the second row are extremely flat but have these knobs on the shell. These first two on the third row are very simple with a general slope. The last two on the second row have a really neat shape. They're concave on the inside as well. And the last two on the third row kinda remind me of little hats haha I also managed to find some snails(?). This first one was particularly tiny This larger one is unfortunately crushed. And these last two shells are super thin. The first one is a scallop(?) and one of my favorites shells I recovered because its complete with both halves! This next one is what I think is a nautiloid shell. Sort of reminds me of ones like baculites. Onto other inverts, I found a spine from an echinoderm. Sea urchin? And I was pretty excited to find two pieces of trilobites! I only found the hind parts but one of my friends found a head which was cool. Now to unknowns. This first one reminded me of a hybodont tooth but I wonder if its a crinoid piece. There's some texture on it that looks like the ones on the stem fragments. This second looks like a bryozoan but I wanted to make sure. These third ones have some really interesting shapes and texture and I have no idea what they are. This fourth one is a long fossil with a groove. There's a texture inside the groove but again, not sure what it is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassicbro238 Posted April 23, 2023 Author Share Posted April 23, 2023 And finally, this fourth one looks like a flower. Is this the base of the crinoid "feathers"? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 Here are some of my best guesses at some of the brachiopods and horn coral IDs, I'm not too sure with some of these as I have limited experience with the Mineral Wells fossils but this is the best I could come up with, the small shells are hard to ID, better closeups of them would be helpful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobWill Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 The stick with a groove from a crinoid arm. The spine, the one that looks like a tooth and the "interesting shapes" are also crinoid parts. This page of the Dallas Paleo Society website has links to the "Pictorial Guide to Pennsylvanian Fossils" which may help: https://dallaspaleo.org/Jacksboro-Study-Group Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikrogeophagus Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 3 hours ago, Jurassicbro238 said: And finally, the fifth row has a crinoid base(?) and what might be a small crinoid impression? Not entirely sure. I'm also interested in this crinoid basal plate. I've got a similar, but more complete one from the Mineral Wells Fm (I think) as well. I know basically zero on crinoids, but I saw Ulocrinus convexus which looks pretty similar. Any crinoid experts agree with this ID? From the side view, the point where the stem connects sort of pokes outward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassicbro238 Posted April 23, 2023 Author Share Posted April 23, 2023 Thank you all for your help! @Misha here are some more views of the smaller shells. #1 #2 #3 is partially crushed #4 I have to wonder if some of these are referable to Crurithyris based on the guide shared earlier which was really insightful! @BobWill do you know which parts of the crinoids by any chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobWill Posted April 23, 2023 Share Posted April 23, 2023 @Jurassicbro238 said: I have to wonder if some of these are referable to Crurithyris based on the guide shared earlier which was really insightful! @BobWill do you know which parts of the crinoids by any chance? Brachiopods can be very hard to verify without pretty good specomens. It will be easier to explain the crinoid parts if you photograph them on a numbered background for reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jurassicbro238 Posted April 23, 2023 Author Share Posted April 23, 2023 How's this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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