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Mojave Desert Coral - Trachyphyllia Or Heliophyllum? And An Unknown Fossil


z10silver

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Found these two specimens in southern NV. Do you guys think they are Trachyphyllia or Heliophyllum?

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And how about this one? Some kind of shell? (note the 2 holes in the upper left portion of the fossil)

post-8385-0-92142700-1353884991_thumb.jpg

Thanks,

Zach

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The 2 holes on the shell ...

My first thought was parasitic borings

However, I think they represent spine attachment areas

and there are 3 ... the 3rd is not a hole because part

of the base of the spine is present ??

TFF_3.jpg

Flash from the Past (Show Us Your Fossils)
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Unfortunately, identification of rugose corals requires thin sections cut both as cross sections and longitudinal sections. In some cases a reasonably confident ID can be made if you know the exact formation and locality a specimen came from, and the local fauna has been well studied using proper thin sections, and the species has distinctive features that can't be misidentified. For example, in the Hamilton Group (Middle Devonian) of Ontario/New York, Heliophyllum halli can be recognized because it has very distinctive yard-arm carinae on the septa; no other solitary corals in the formation have this structure. On the other hand, in the latest Devonian Percha Shale of New Mexico there are a half dozen different genera of solitary corals that look identical from the outside, and there is no way to ID them without thin sections.

In your case, you have two specimens that show only a somewhat worn exterior without any distinctive features, and we don't know the age or formation. I'm afraid there is no way to put a name to these specimens without thin sections.

The shell is part of a productid brachiopod. I don't know if the holes are broken off spine bases or parasite borings.

Don

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Thanks for the info guys. Inyo, this was the same site that produced the brittle stars. (I now know of several people who have found them there).

-Zach

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