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Ediacaran Fossils


pleecan

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Ediacaran fossils are an interesting lot.... I do not have any in my collection... does any one wish to share images of their Ediacaran Fossils / Pre Cambrian Fossils.

Peter

Edited by pleecan
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This is my Pre-Cambrian 'oldtimer' - first eukaryotic organism?

Grypania spiralis

2.1 billion years

Negaunee Iron Fm

Palmer, Michigan

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Edited by piranha

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Hello,Peter i have these two plates of Nemiana Simplex from the Ediacaran of Ukraine,there are many theories about what really was these tracks of organic life from 600 million years ago ,i found this draw on the web.but? :zzzzscratchchin:

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Nala and Piranha: Thanks for posting those neat looking fossil. Thanks for the document Piranha.... it helps one get a better understanding .... great fossils.

Peter

Edited by pleecan
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I have a piece of the Nemiana from Ukraine also but yours is better, so I won't bother posting it!

Where can I get one of those Grypania specimens?? :rolleyes:

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On 11/24/2010 at 5:44 PM, Wrangellian said:

I have a piece of the Nemiana from Ukraine also but yours is better, so I won't bother posting it!

Where can I get one of those Grypania specimens?? :rolleyes:

Description by PMG

Potomac Museum Group collected these rare specimens in the late 1980’s as a paleontological rescue operation in an active iron mine in Michigan. They are known from only one small location in a single mine which they were allowed to access for a very brief amount of time. The area has since been lost to mining activity. The PMG specimens – numbering only a few dozen pieces - represent the bulk of what is known of these unique organisms. Most of the specimens are hand size or smaller.

This is a highly unusual specimen - it not only has many Grypania scattered all over the surface but it also shows the filaments in raised 3-D relief. This type of preservation is very rare in these specimens. Only one other piece of this type was released for sale and it was far inferior to this one. There are no reconstructions, repairs or enhancements to this specimen.

This one, and a few others similar to it, were found in the field collections among stratigraphic samples taken in the mine during the excavation. Most of the stratigraphic samples were 'float' pieces that never received an accession number for the PMG collections.

PMG did however sell a few additional specimens recently, claiming those to be the final Grypania to ever be made publicly available.

I can't verify the veracity of that disclaimer although there have not been any others that I have seen commercially available.

Besides the Negaunee Grypania it is described in the literature from China, India and Montana.

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Potomac Museum Group collected these rare specimens in the late 1980’s as a paleontological rescue operation in an active iron mine in Michigan. They are known from only one small location in a single mine which they were allowed to access for a very brief amount of time. The area has since been lost to mining activity. The PMG specimens – numbering only a few dozen pieces - represent the bulk of what is known of these unique organisms. Most of the specimens are hand size or smaller.

...

Oh well. Didn't realize it was so rare. Guess that's typical of Precambrian fossils.

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Hey PL, good choice. I hope to see some more really really old stuff pulled out of the members collections in this post. The Grypania and Nemiana are strangely intriguing traces. Great fossils Nala and Piranha.

I have a couple PC stromatolites in the collection that meet the criteria that you have set forth. The red oxidation in the banding in this small specimen from Minnesota I think adds significantly to its visual appeal. I've posted the other specimen from Australia before so I'll spare the folks the agony of seeing it again.

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Biwabik Iron formation, PreCambrian. near Marble, Minnesota. I think this is a tad over 2 billion years old. I dont have a reference for it but I've seen age values from 2.1 to 2.4 billion years old listed on the web.

Regards, Chris

Edited by Plantguy
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Thanks for posting Chris... interesting colours and patterns... this indeed should be an interesting thread!

PL

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Hey PL, good choice. I hope to see some more really really old stuff pulled out of the members collections in this post. The Grypania and Nemiana are strangely intriguing traces. Great fossils Nala and Piranha.

I have a couple PC stromatolites in the collection that meet the criteria that you have set forth. The red oxidation in the banding in this small specimen from Minnesota I think adds significantly to its visual appeal. I've posted the other specimen from Australia before so I'll spare the folks the agony of seeing it again.

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Biwabik Iron formation, PreCambrian. near Marble, Minnesota. I think this is a tad over 2 billion years old. I dont have a reference for it but I've seen age values from 2.1 to 2.4 billion years old listed on the web.

Regards, Chris

Nice piece, Chris. Is that one from the Mary Ellen mine/area? I have a line on some of that material, and I have also a piece of Collenia sp, that I will post when I get them. Where do I find your other pic that you mention?

The figure I see most for the Minn. stromatolites ('Mary Ellen Jasper' to rockhounds) is 2.1 billion. Not that that makes it correct, just the most widely accepted I assume!

Eric

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I have nothing to show. :( A number of years ago a good friend of mine who lives in the US of A, but who is Australian went to visit his native land. He got lucky enough to go on a tour of Ediacara with a geolgist friend of his and collected a few samples of fair dinkum Ediacaran fossils to bring home to me. Well, sometime later in his tour of Oz, his car got broken into and they took everything, including some stupid looking rocks that happened to have ediacaran fossils in them. He was sad. Later when he told me about this, I joined him in being sad, but was thrilled that he had thunk of me way out in the back of beyond.

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I have nothing to show. :( A number of years ago a good friend of mine who lives in the US of A, but who is Australian went to visit his native land. He got lucky enough to go on a tour of Ediacara with a geolgist friend of his and collected a few samples of fair dinkum Ediacaran fossils to bring home to me. Well, sometime later in his tour of Oz, his car got broken into and they took everything, including some stupid looking rocks that happened to have ediacaran fossils in them. He was sad. Later when he told me about this, I joined him in being sad, but was thrilled that he had thunk of me way out in the back of beyond.

That's a tragic story... so close yet so far!! I'm surprised they allow collecting at that site (or do they?)

Here's my humble Nemiana specimen.. my only Ediacaran (Ukraine) fossil. Nothing like others I've seen posted but it's something

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That's a tragic story... so close yet so far!! I'm surprised they allow collecting at that site (or do they?)

Here's my humble Nemiana specimen.. my only Ediacaran (Ukraine) fossil. Nothing like others I've seen posted but it's something

yeah, I don't know if they allow colecting in the Ediacara Hills either. Any aussies onboard know about this.

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Nice piece, Chris. Is that one from the Mary Ellen mine/area? I have a line on some of that material, and I have also a piece of Collenia sp, that I will post when I get them. Where do I find your other pic that you mention?

The figure I see most for the Minn. stromatolites ('Mary Ellen Jasper' to rockhounds) is 2.1 billion. Not that that makes it correct, just the most widely accepted I assume!

Eric

Hi Eric, unfortunately I don't know specifically where it is from--could very well be from that locale. Its an old Collenia sp. sample from Ward's, Rochester, New York from 1968.

Here's a shot of the other PC stromatolite. This section is from a larger polished sample, about 12X11Cm.

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It's Asperia ashburtonia from the Duck Creek Dolomite, near the town of Paraburdoo in Western Austrailia, Proterozoic, around 2 billion years old. The label says they are believed to have grown in a shallow marine lagoon environment with rare periods of emergence.

Regards, Chris

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  • 6 months later...

Here is my first example of Upper Ediacaran fossil from Nowodniestrowsk Ukraine. Nemiana simplex ( Palij) from Poland dealer. 6" x 8" roughly

They look like bryozoans...

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Cross section view

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  • 7 months later...

Somehow I lost track of this thread after my last post (TFF isnt sending me updates except where I'm quoted using the 'quote' function).. Let's keep it going.

Nice piece, Peter! To me they look suspiciously like these anemones:

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Thanks Eric...

Update: Dr Graham Young Curator of Manitoba Museum and authority on Jellyfish commented a while back " But it is pretty certain that none of these Ediacaran "jellyfish" are actual fossil jellyfish!" So the blobs could be anemones

Edited by pleecan
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Further more Dr. Young commented this morning "Peter, my best guess would be that they are microbial structures. But really a person would need to do some very detailed analysis to get any solid determination."

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