Missourian Posted January 21, 2013 Author Share Posted January 21, 2013 Ostracod mass mortalityParaparchites sp. Upper Cherokee Group, Pennsylvanian Knob Noster, Missouri The largest are about 1.5 mm in length. Edit: This appears to be Paraparchites sp. (possibly Paraparchites mazonensis). It is virtually identical to specimens shown in a publication on a Mazon Creek species: (Sohn, I. G., 1977. Paraparchites mazonensis n. sp. (Ostracoda) from Middle Pennsylvanian ironstone concretions of Illinois.) Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 Fish regurgitation or coprolite Muncie Creek Shale, Pennsylvanian Kansas City metro This phosphatic concretion contains a jumble of fish bones, scales, plates, spines, and whatever else: The detail is exquisite: A close-up of a complex skeletal element of some kind: Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 More.... A jumbled mess: Stack of 'plates': Close-up of some intriguing details: Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Thats a great regurgitate/coprolite.... Very detailed... These puzzle me to....masses of preserved organic matter some displaying parts of insects or shells, that have all ended up mashed up in a pile in some form of phosphatic blob in a nodule.... Some look like coprolites and have a form but some dont and these we attributed it to fish, regurgitating the undigested parts of a meal.... I know sharks can do this...The problem with this idea though is if it was carried out under water... perhaps the waste material regurgitated would be very quickly diluted and maybe even have spread out more thinly by the time it reached the bottom of the river system, and wouldnt end up in a 'localised spot ' tofossilise...so then we thought possibly lungfish in the margins or possibly even amphibians...I know amphibians very often regurgitate when frightened... maybe they could even be coprolites that have 'spread and opened' after being soaked in the slow moving margins of the river system of a levee...... the great regurgitate mystery...Ive found one containing a spider body,arthropod & millipede bits, bivalves and an amalgamation of allsorts... I ran it by Joe Botting and he told me this.... The problem, as you say, is how to keep them in intect masses (whether coprolites or regurgitates), but there are a couple of options: 1) they were deposited under very quiet conditions, and bound together by bacterial or fungal material, so that when the current increased enough to deposit lots of sediment, they stayed intact. Such biofilms are known to have happened around, for example, some graptolites under different conditions. 2) The deposition of sediment was rapid enough that the structures didn't have time to break up. Once buried, they should be relatively intact until the nodule grew, I'd have thought. I reckon the key will be in the phosphatic surrounding material - if it's made of minute, but ground-up particles, then it probably was coprolite. If it's simply phosphatic mineral material, then it may well be caused by microbial growth over the remains, which makes it more likely to be a pile of regurgitated bits. 1 Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 On 1/22/2013 at 4:57 AM, Terry Dactyll said: I reckon the key will be in the phosphatic surrounding material - if it's made of minute, but ground-up particles, then it probably was coprolite. If it's simply phosphatic mineral material, then it may well be caused by microbial growth over the remains, which makes it more likely to be a pile of regurgitated bits. Some of the phosphatiic matrix near the fragments does have a granular texture. This can be seen in the second image. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acryzona Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Like the ostracods! Collecting Microfossils - a hobby concerning much about many of the little paraphrased from Dr. Robert Kesling's book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtleguy Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Hi Missourian, very cool stuff, I wonder if you've ever tried using your loupe over the lens of your cell phone. Works great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squalicorax Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Amazing details! My Flickr Page of My Collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79424101@N00/sets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 On 1/22/2013 at 10:07 AM, turtleguy said: Hi Missourian, very cool stuff, I wonder if you've ever tried using your loupe over the lens of your cell phone. Works great. I haven't tried that yet. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Cross sections of sponges Fissispongia sp. Argentine Limestone, Pennsylvanian Clay County, Missouri The sponges are 3 mm across: Close-up: The white encrustation is probably Shamovella sp. (a.k.a. Tubiphytes). According to one source, this problematic organism could be cyanobacteria, a sponge, or a hydrozoan. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgrilusHunter Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Great stuff Missourian! I'm really enjoying your images and your fossils, keep em coming! "They ... savoured the strange warm glow of being much more ignorant than ordinary people, who were only ignorant of ordinary things." -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 A couple more spiders.... 8 mm body: 10 mm body: Upper Cherokee Group, Pennsylvanian Knob Noster, Missouri Very nice!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Preserved gut contents of an Ichthyosaurus communis.... Possibly fish teeth and squid hooklets... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 On 1/23/2013 at 8:45 AM, Terry Dactyll said: Preserved gut contents of an Ichthyosaurus communis.... Possibly fish teeth and squid hooklets... Nice. What's the scale? Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Nice. What's the scale? Average hooklet length 2 - 3 mm.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Fern frond details Neuropteris sp. Upper Cherokee Group, Pennsylvanian Knob Noster, Missouri Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Very nice... I havent looked at my plants yet... blimey... Its like having a new collection.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 On 1/24/2013 at 0:05 PM, Terry Dactyll said: Very nice... I havent looked at my plants yet... blimey... Its like having a new collection.... Indeed, though up close, most fossils look like a worn highway surface. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 25, 2013 Author Share Posted January 25, 2013 Crustacean tails Upper Cherokee Group, Pennsylvanian Knob Noster, Missouri Acanthotelson sp. (~15 mm wide): Paleocaris sp. (5 mm wide at base): Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Juvenile eurypterid Adelophthalmus sp. Upper Cherokee Group, Pennsylvanian Knob Noster, Missouri It is 17 mm from head to telson. Oh my gawd! Too cool! "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" - Saint Augustine"Those who can not see past their own nose deserve our pity more than anything else." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 26, 2013 Author Share Posted January 26, 2013 Arthropod? Upper Cherokee Group, Pennsylvanian Knob Noster, Missouri I'm hoping some Mazon Creek fans recognize something here.... The fossil is 23 mm in length. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 26, 2013 Author Share Posted January 26, 2013 More of the same specimen.... Close up of 'head': Close up of 'legs': Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 Insect Gerarus sp. Upper Cherokee Group, Pennsylvanian Knob Noster, Missouri Thorax and wings. The head may be buried in the nodule on the right: Abdomen and wings: Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 Gerarus sp. continued.... Combination of the two images above: Nodule counterpart: Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Polished slab of fusulinid hash Beil Limestone, Pennsylvanian Osage County, Kansas This area of the slab is outlined by the green box in the first image above: A section on the other side of the slab: The Beil fauna is relatively diverse. Visible in this sample are fusulinids, a possible sponge, coral, bryozoans, crinoids, and mollusks including gastropoods and pelecypods. Fusulinids are prominent on the weathered side of the slab: The fusulinids average about 2 mm in width. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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