Bev Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Hi Guys, Unfortunately, the photo won't load into the attachment section. However, I can email it to individuals They look to me like segmented worms (they because their are 3 that are all slightly different)? About a 6 inch long ladder? No heads or tails on any of them--that I can distinguish. And there is nothing raised or lower, just blackish ladder marks on the limestone. I recently had a fossilized stone deck installed. SE Minnesota, Fillmore County, is where the rock is from and where I live. Limestone. I beieve we are looking at the Lower Cretaceous period. Other fossils identified in these rocks are: Sunflower Sponge, Trilobites, and lots of fairly large (like 3-5 inches across) snails (flatter shelled versions of Ammonites perhaps Protetragonites quadrisulcatum. Southeast Minnesota's limestone quarries are a hotbed for fossils. There are probably a lot more fossils in this deck than I can identify Does anyone know of a fossil book for SE MN? Thanks for any help. Bev The more I learn, I realize the less I know. BluffCountryFossils.NET Fossil Adventure Blog Go to my Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts Pinned Posts: Beginner's Guide to Fossil Hunting * Geologic Formation Maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 (edited) I probably cant ID anything for you because i have never really collected anything other than sharks teeth. But if they are worms that would be a great find. i hope you get them ID'd and also that you get5 the pics up. Edited August 31, 2012 by Survivor : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 (edited) Guide to fossil Collecting in Minnesota a free PDF document online. As I stated in your last post, I do not believe the strata you are collecting from is of Cretaceous age. More likely in the Paleozoic - Ordovician or Devonian. Which is cooler to me, as it is older than dinosaurs. Read the PDF. It is very informative. Trilobites died out before the Cretaceous, so that kind of makes the point. If you're finding trilobites - it's not Cretaceous aged strata. Also probably not a worm, as soft body preservation, (while it does exist, and there are worm fossils), is exceedingly rare. I am betting your find is a piece of a crinoid stem, or an orthocone cephalopod. Possibly in cross-section. Without pictures, however these are merely guesses. I hope this helps. Regards, Edited August 31, 2012 by Fossildude19 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 Thanks Survivor... I will check back and hopefully someone will know something I have never found a shark's tooth! Kudos to you! The more I learn, I realize the less I know. BluffCountryFossils.NET Fossil Adventure Blog Go to my Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts Pinned Posts: Beginner's Guide to Fossil Hunting * Geologic Formation Maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 Oh Tim! Thanks so much! Now to the reading! Bev The more I learn, I realize the less I know. BluffCountryFossils.NET Fossil Adventure Blog Go to my Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts Pinned Posts: Beginner's Guide to Fossil Hunting * Geologic Formation Maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 (edited) Bev, Found this Bedrock Geologic map of your area online - Looks like mostly Ordovician in your area, with some Devonian to the west. You may be able to narrow down the formation and part of the Ordovician you are actually in with this. Regards, Edited August 31, 2012 by Fossildude19 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Fillmore County is all Ordovician and contains the Platteville limeston, Decorah Shale, Galena limestone and Maquoketa limestone. All of these formations are full of fossils. The quarry the rock came from is likely in the Platteville or Galena formation. Caleb Midwestpaleo.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 I forgot, you may want to check The Geology of Minnesota, Vol. 3 of the Final Report, Part 2. Part 1 is also useful in Id-ing fossils from Minnesota, especially the Ordovician ones. Caleb Midwestpaleo.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 Wow, you guys are really smart! Going to more reading! THANK YOU! Bev The more I learn, I realize the less I know. BluffCountryFossils.NET Fossil Adventure Blog Go to my Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts Pinned Posts: Beginner's Guide to Fossil Hunting * Geologic Formation Maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Feel free to email me the photo at: trilobiteruss@me.com. Suspect a crinoid stem or cephalopod as mentioned given the Ordovician in the area. russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Send me the pix also please @ herb40291 at bellsouth.net. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Bev, The Guide to Minnesota Fossils is good for a beginning collector, there are a couple errors in it to be aware of: Brachiopods Rafinesquina and Strophomena seem to have their pictures switched, R. is much larger than S. Atrypa is Silurian to Devonian. In the gastropods the size scales are off. Except for Loxonema which is pictured actual size, the others are about 2X actual size not 1/2 X. Please post more of your finds and welcome to the Forum from KY. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 I forgot, you may want to check The Geology of Minnesota, Vol. 3 of the Final Report, Part 2. Part 1 is also useful in Id-ing fossils from Minnesota, especially the Ordovician ones. Nice old texts, I love the old fossil plates. There's one out there for Fossils of Ohio and Kentucky Fossils I think I found them at www.the Gutenburg Project (free old texts downloads) or the Ohio Geological Survey and KPS texts. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 Thanks so much guys! You will be getting photos shortly! I hate to say this, but the more I read and the more pictures I look at, the more confused I've become! Perhaps these aren't trilobites... But I just found another one of the "worms", I think that makes 4 now and given that they are "squiggley" you are probably right about crinoid stems. I have been hunting fossils with a broom! Tons of fun! There are so many that I am rather overwhelmed! Bev The more I learn, I realize the less I know. BluffCountryFossils.NET Fossil Adventure Blog Go to my Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts Pinned Posts: Beginner's Guide to Fossil Hunting * Geologic Formation Maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 If anyone gets photos by email, perhaps they could post them here so the rest of us could chime in. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted September 2, 2012 Share Posted September 2, 2012 Bev, The sunflower coral looks like a "Receptaculites sp" a kind of sponge/algae not known for sure. The one piece looks like a part os a trilobite. The long segmented things look like crinoid stems. The Ordovician period was roughly 440 -505 MYA. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 Hi Guys! Russ and Herb have my pics. So if they will upload them for you to view, that would be great! I am still trying to figure out how to reduce my pics to upload myself. I'm on Windows 2010 if anyone has "suggestions for a dummy" I've been obsessing on these fossils! Found another "segmented worm" today that is somewhat more complete and pretty much proves it is a crinoid. Went to Niagra Cave (only 30 miles away) to their rock and fossil shop and picked up: National Audubon Society Field Guide to Fossils and Smithsonian Handbooks FOSSILS by Cyril Walker and David Ward--great pics! Also, many many varieties of crinoids so that may also explain why each of the now five specimens are somewhat different. Also came across a couple of more fossils this morning. Will have to take pics... I'm just so new to this I don't know what I am looking at! I was looking at the locally collected fossils at Niagra and boy, I just didn't see the fossils... But they have to look like something for me to "get it" at this point. Would LOVE to show you guys pictures of my fossilized limestone deck! Or whatever it is called, one of my latest brainstorms! Very cool though if you like rocks and I am rock obsessed! I also have sparkly "creek rock" that has fossils in it Quartz I think they call it when it sparkles in the sun. Even some of my limestone sparkles! Gotta love the bling! Bev The more I learn, I realize the less I know. BluffCountryFossils.NET Fossil Adventure Blog Go to my Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts Pinned Posts: Beginner's Guide to Fossil Hunting * Geologic Formation Maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 Hey Herb, I have an uncle in Louisville, or is it Lexington? Bill Bowles. Sound familiar? Bev The more I learn, I realize the less I know. BluffCountryFossils.NET Fossil Adventure Blog Go to my Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts Pinned Posts: Beginner's Guide to Fossil Hunting * Geologic Formation Maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 SE Minnesota Ordovician Era Ammonite? Snail? Nautilus? There are a lot of these in this limestone. They vary somewhat in appearance though, so they may not be the same species. The more I learn, I realize the less I know. BluffCountryFossils.NET Fossil Adventure Blog Go to my Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts Pinned Posts: Beginner's Guide to Fossil Hunting * Geologic Formation Maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 Again, Ordovician Era Just found another one this morning, that one had more of what I believe are crinoid parts. But there are lots of different crinoids. All five of the specimens so far are different from one another, but similar. The more I learn, I realize the less I know. BluffCountryFossils.NET Fossil Adventure Blog Go to my Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts Pinned Posts: Beginner's Guide to Fossil Hunting * Geologic Formation Maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 Believe this is a Sunflower Sponge/Coral. Same time period. Probably... a half dozen that I have found so far in the deck. The more I learn, I realize the less I know. BluffCountryFossils.NET Fossil Adventure Blog Go to my Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts Pinned Posts: Beginner's Guide to Fossil Hunting * Geologic Formation Maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev Posted September 3, 2012 Author Share Posted September 3, 2012 Same era, another slightly different example. Some of the rocks have as many as 5 snails in them! The trilobite segment (I think) is out of focus, so I will take new pics tomorrow. Bev The more I learn, I realize the less I know. BluffCountryFossils.NET Fossil Adventure Blog Go to my Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts Pinned Posts: Beginner's Guide to Fossil Hunting * Geologic Formation Maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 SE Minnesota Ordovician Era Ammonite? Snail? Nautilus? There are a lot of these in this limestone. They vary somewhat in appearance though, so they may not be the same species. Snail or gastropod, you find internal molds of these in a number of Paleozoic units but especially the Ordovician in your area, the external shell disolved leaving only internal portion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 The first photo is a Maclurites gastropod. The second is a cross-section through a Recepticulites ("sunflower coral, now thought to be an algae), and the third photo is a top view of a nice Recepticulites. These are typical Ordovician fossils; where they occur, you can also often find large cephalopods. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted September 3, 2012 Share Posted September 3, 2012 (edited) Again, Ordovician Era Just found another one this morning, that one had more of what I believe are crinoid parts. But there are lots of different crinoids. All five of the specimens so far are different from one another, but similar. Bev that is more of the Recepticulites fossil algae we talked about via email It is a cross section of the biscuit like your later post, this is a typical fossil in the Ordovician of many locations, if you see the biscuits or the cross sections of these then you know you are in Ordovician rocks. FossilDAWG was able to give you a good summary also, and that gastropod (a snail) genera Maclurites. He is right though keep eyes out for cepahlopods you usually can find them.. Edited September 3, 2012 by trilobiteruss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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