Silurian Of Wisconsin

[aaronboydarts]

Thank you very much, I really appreciate your time and help. I have a few books of fossils of my region, but it's still a guessing game half the time for me. Thank you too for the kudos on the gastropod in post 50, it's one of my favorites. One of those finds where I just happened to turn the rock over and saw something beautiful.

[aaronboydarts]

My best Cephalopod find today, size wise at least. It's weathered quite a bit, but still it's a good few inches long. The second image has a rough outline of the complete fossil because it's hard to see the full length in the photo.

Enjoy all

[aaronboydarts]

A few finds today. Rather common, but I am curious if anyone has any ideas as to what the Cyclops rock is (last jpgs). Its a very dark stone with a quarter sized circle in the middle. The line going across looks like something too, but I'm at a loss. The "eye" actually protrudes a little while the "mouth" or long line going across is recessed into the stone.

The other fossils I believe are a prismatic corallites, another coral and the last one seems to just be a common mish mosh of local fossils.

I'd love to hear any thoughts. Thanks friends.

Edited August 19, 2013 by aaronboydarts

[aaronboydarts]

Nice find today. I believe it's Phramolites Gastropod. It could be a fluke but I've only found two gastropods of this size and both were found in the exact same area.

[aaronboydarts]

I think I found my first Trilobite!!! I've been an amateur fossil hunter since I was a kid. Here in southeast Wisconsin it's easy to find crinoids, brachiopods ect ect.... So a couple weeks ago I found a hand sized rock that had a little fossil sticking out. A light tap revealed the larger brachiopod seen in these photos. However there's the little pimply looking object sitting on top (circled in blue). And you know what, I think that's the head of a trilobite!!! I was so focused on the brachiopod that I almost missed my dream find.

I'm going to go back through the piece that I cracked off the top to see if there is much more of the specimen to be revealed. I usually don't mess with a fossil once I find it, but I may clean this one up with a dental pick.

I wish there were a little more there, but if I'm correct in what it is, I'm thrilled :-D!!! Special thanx to squalicorax for helping me with figuring out the pentamerid brachiopod.

[evren]

I don't see any trilobite material. I'd guess it's a pentamerid brachiopod.

[PennyT.]

beautiful!!

[aaronboydarts]

Thank you Evren and PennyT. I'm going to go back to the location later this week and see if I can get more of the sample. I just thought the pimply texture on it looked as if it could be an encrinurus trilobite. I appreciate feedback and help. Most of the fun is learning :-).

Thanks again,

Aaron

[squalicorax]

I couldn't tell from the photo. Could be a cystoid.

[aaronboydarts]

Trying to squeeze in some more fossil hunting before it gets too cold out. An okay day, nothing really radically interesting, but a few decent finds and a lot of fun had. I found what a believe to be a cluster of brachiopods (bottom view). You can see four of them clearly, but zooming in there are light outlines of a few more. The crinoid stems are not terribly rare, but they're the biggest I've found to date. I'd say just under the size of a penny round. I believe the beautiful round fossil is a coral. I'm pretty sure the fourth find is actually a worm. They're not unusually rare, but this was a nice one. Finally, the last one is a large gastropod or at least the largest I've found to date. I picked up the rock because the backside (which I saw first) had an interesting chain coral on it. Once I turned it over I saw the worn shape of the gastropod.

I did go back and go through the rubble of my last trip to that location to find bits of what I thought were possibly a trilobite, but couldn't find anything. Oh well, any day fossil hunting is fun.

[evren]

These fossils are looking much better than a lot of your previous finds. You're starting to get the eye!

From left to right:

1st pic are internal molds of pentamerid brachiopods that have since had some calcite grow inside them.

2nd pic you're correct wopper crinoid stems.

3rd pic internal mold of a rugose coral.

4th pic not a worm, possibly a burrow, but it looks like some sort of iron replacement.

5th pic nice gastropod!

[aaronboydarts]

Thank you Evren,

I appreciate your help and feedback with my finds. Thank you too for the kudos as well, that's a great complement. I hope to get out a few more times before the weather turns to freezing. Lol, even when it gets cold I'll probably still get out a couple more times.

Be well and thanks again :-)

[aaronboydarts]

A fun day fossil hunting with my dog. Nothing radically new, but a couple worth sharing. Let me know what you all think :-).

This first one is the same fossil rotated. The last fossil is an oldie but still one of my favorites.

Be Well

[aaronboydarts]

My favorite find of the day

[aaronboydarts]

A couple of the last finds from my last fossil hunt. Again my favorite finds were the previous submission (above), but I thought these two were worth sharing. The little one is a nice little jewel of a fossil. I'm going to guess the shell is an Atrypa (brachiopod). Kinda cool, it was just sitting there as a complete piece on the ground. The second fossil I'm less sure about and it was hard to get the details to show in the photo, but I think it's Receptaculites. Kind of interesting thing is that the fossils overal shape is concave which is what first caught my eye.

I'm going to try to get in a couple more fossil hunts in before we get snow.

Be well all

:-)

[squalicorax]

that first item is an Pseudoatrypa from the Devonian here in Wisconsin.

[aaronboydarts]

I haven't found much new, but here are some recent finds. I've got one of my best coral finds to date, but I'll upload that one later. These are some crinoid stems huddled together. I've often seen a wavy pattern on rocks that left me baffled. When I found these I realized ( I think) that its a pattern created by the crinoid stems as they rolled along an area. The last two are just a coral I believe and a nice shell cluster.

[PennyT.]

Aaron,hunt, hunt, hunt! It snowed here so can the ice be far behind? Get those last fossil finds in.

[aaronboydarts]

Hello Penny and thank you :-). Yeah the snow hit this morning. Even worse the last couple days have been in the mid 20s so the ground is solid. I got these pieces just before the freeze a few days ago. My pup and I went out for a walk and came across this nice coral. It was just sticking strait up out of the ground. It's a little worn, but it's the most complete horn coral I've found. The second might be a whitfieldocera cephalopod. I circled the possible cephs in blue.

[PennyT.]

looking cephalopoddish to me

[squalicorax]

Those are nice silicified cephalopods.

[aaronboydarts]

Much appreciated Penny and Squalicorax :-D. I cannot wait for temps get back to upper 30s so I can get back out to my favorite fossil grounds.

By chance would you happen to know what my October 31 post is? I believe it's a coral, but I'm unsure as to what type. This years finds mostly seem to have been corals for me (like this specimen attached).

[squalicorax]

Favosites?

[aaronboydarts]

Thank you Squalicorax for your help. I've been researching Favosites today and I think you are spot on correct. You're the best. Happy Turkey day my friend.

[PennyT.]

Aaron, you did cheat winter and get in some fossiing! Is it horn coral? I've found many a circular fossil similar and had assumed so. Cyclops is still my favorite.