Pennsylvanian Trace Fossils

[Kehbe]

I found this piece yesterday afternoon in the winterset ls. at this location... http://www.thefossil...__fromsearch__1

pic1 pic2

pic3 pic4

pic5

I first noticed the hook shaped trace on the left, pic4 and pic5, and after picking it up and looking closer, I see the little trough/burrow like trace on the right, pic3. In relief, it looks strikingly similar to this piece I posted about a while back and even though the two pieces came from different areas, they almost 'fit' together....

http://www.thefossil...__fromsearch__1

The hook shaped trace in pic 4 and 5 appears from the one end, you can kind of see it in pic5, to have some depth down into the matrix. A half round shape almost like a worm cut in half longitudely. I apologize for the pictures not showing details very well. I have been having trouble lately for some reason. It seems with rock of certain color I can't get the details to show. Might be the lighting. Anyways, as always, any input is appreciated and thanks for looking!

[Boneman007]

That is way cool!

I have no knowledge of this time period, but it sure looks like a soft bodied worm to me!

Again, neat as heck!

[Indy]

You find a lot of interesting "brain buster" fossils

I will throw my hat in the ring with a "Burrow" ID

Crop/Edited from the original photo

[Boneman007]

You find a lot of interesting "brain buster" fossils

I will throw my hat in the ring with a "Burrow" ID

Crop/Edited from the original photo

That makes too much sense, Indy!

[Bill]

Looks like a burrow to me too. Checkout the last 2 London Clay specimens here Yours might be on a different scale though.

[Missourian]

It reminds me of Rhizocorallium:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gbv=2&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=500l4140l0l4265l22l20l0l9l2l1l234l1967l0.8.3l11l0&q=Rhizocorallium&spell=1&sa=X

though yours looks like a starter kit.

[cgodwin37]

It's always helpful to orient the sample, often with an arrow pointing up. At this point I would guess the top of the sample is where Indy highlighted. Trace fossils can often look similar but have different orientations that suggest different behaviors.

[cgodwin37]

Problem with Rhyzocorallium is that you don't have the spreiten backfill withn the u-shape. I like how it's cross-cut by what appears to be planolites, assuming the top of the sample is where I think it is. I also like the backfill of the the trace on the upper right of pic 1 & 2, may be ophiomorpha if the fill and lining are pelloidal, but it looks to have spreiten.

[Kehbe]

It's always helpful to orient the sample, often with an arrow pointing up. At this point I would guess the top of the sample is where Indy highlighted. Trace fossils can often look similar but have different orientations that suggest different behaviors.

Im not sure I know which way is 'up' on this. I found it in the debris slope of the picture in the link so which way was 'up' when it was still in the bed is anybodys guess. I did read that the "inclination (of a rhizocorallium) is typically within 10° of the bedding planes of the sediment", If a rhizocorallium is in fact what it is, I would say pics 1,2,3 and 4 are sitting in what would have been the 'up' orientation. I took pic5 at an odd angle to try and show what looks to me like the "end" of the tube. Hey thanks for all the input everyone.

[cgodwin37]

The end of the tube, plus the nature of that surface, suggests to me that it is th top of the sample. Again, Rhizocorallium will (most often) have spreiten in between arms of the u-shape, showing the migration of the burrow.

[Herb]

Another possibility is one or another of the burrowing clams.