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Softbodied Jellyfish? Ordovician


kazzoo

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Had a hour to kill coming back from a appointment and had sometime to kill.

Took a detour down some Department of Natural Resources dug roads and had me a walk in the woods. Looking at a wash or gulley cut down a side of a hill that still had water trickling down it I remember all you folks talking about finding fossils in streams.

So I had a look and sure enough there were all these rocks washed out from the sides of the hills from under planes of hard dolomite limestone and this is what I found.

post-27-1220050408_thumb.jpg

I wet the area with water to contrast the thing from the surrounding area.

Either I have a very pretty rock or I got a soft bodied jelly fish type creature here. Some sort of blastiod with its guts knocked out"

Regards

Kaz.

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Guest solius symbiosus

The pick is out of focus. Can you get a better one? Blastoids are very rare in the Ord, and Jellyfish are probably even more rare.

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Will do the best I can with the 5mp camera, already thinking if so, cyndaria scyphoza?

post-27-1220051497_thumb.jpg

Gave the whole piece a water spray this time.

Regards

Kaz

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I don't see fossil; looks like a conglomerate.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Guest Nicholas

Top left is a brachiopod shell, the right middle is the impression of what used to be a brachiopod shell. There looks to be other "Shelly" material within it too.

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Top left is a brachiopod shell, the right middle is the impression of what used to be a brachiopod shell. There looks to be other "Shelly" material within it too.

Are we looking at the same rock? I gotta' get a new computer screen...

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Guest Nicholas
Are we looking at the same rock? I gotta' get a new computer screen...

That's what the fuzziness has shown me. :P I see evidence of 2 brachs the rest i just mineral or rock.

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I am with you Auspex,

The media is like a coquina of shells and sediment. Primaily hard limestone. Chocked full of goodness.

A little more reading on my part surely makes this unlikely to be a soft body structure. Was looking at existing recorded specimins on soft bodies and the softbodies all seem to be nothing more than stains on a flat rocks. This one isnt. So not likely to be one. I doubt I have found something new.

I can tell you I got excited to see it. Because it is all of one piece and there are no breaks in the structure. It lies on top of several brachyopod shells along its length.

I found it because water was trickling over it making the feature standout. Sure looks like how a man o war or jelly fish should be.

I really appreciate you guys taking the time on this one. I am willing to admit that this could just be a interesting feature of this rock, or several remains lying very close together making this look like a whole one. Makes me look twice. I am very very new at this.

I promise I will keep finding them and posting them.

Regards

Kaz.

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Just to give other angles and discriptions, the object body is about the size of a dime and is the same thickness. One end of the body is up off the matrix.

post-27-1220058014_thumb.jpg

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another shot

post-27-1220058440_thumb.jpg

Regards

I am trusting these are clearer, fossil newbie as well as camera one as well.

Kaz

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Much better pictures! It looks like "hash" from a fairly high energy depositional environment, or else possibly reworked at some point.

As an aside; give the members with a slower connection a break and resize your pics to around 800 wide. I'm fortunate to have high-speed, but those with dial-up won't even try to open monster photos (which is a shame, 'cause these are cool!). :)

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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Greetings Solius

This would be in southwest Wisconsin in the Driftless area. Not far where the Wisconsin River meets the Mississippi. On an area geologically speaking is called a Palaeozoic plateau. The stuff is like pre historic concrete, substitute the stones with shells and you get the idea.

Regards

Kaz.

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Guest solius symbiosus

^It looks very similar to the Ord stuff that I find in Ky. The stuff around here is also very hard(well indurated).

On a side note, they say that continental glaciers aren't affected by topography, but the Driftless Plains sort of contradict that ...

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Guest Nicholas
Much better pictures! It looks like "hash" from a fairly high energy depositional environment, or else possibly reworked at some point.

As an aside; give the members with a slower connection a break and resize your pics to around 800 wide. I'm fortunate to have high-speed, but those with dial-up won't even try to open monster photos (which is a shame, 'cause these are cool!). :)

Told you so. :P

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I don't think you have jellyfish. generally it takes very special circumstance to get the preservation of scyphozoa either as an imprint or as a cast. Shown below are two that I have. The first is Brooksella alternata from the Cambrian in Alabama and the second is Duodecimedusina typica from the Permian near Fife, Texas.

JKFoam

post-8-1220200720_thumb.jpg

post-8-1220200794_thumb.jpg

The Eocene is my favorite

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