evannorton Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 Hi Folks- I've always thought this was a jellyfish from a Essex location. Folks agree? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 I'm not sure but it's very interesting. It shares the kind of cracked white surface that a holothurians from that location have but it is much fatter. I'll be watching this one to see what others have to say! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
araucaria1959 Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 I'm not sure about jellyfish. Jellyfish, like the common Essexella, is preserved usually much more delicately. Perhaps a coprolite? araucaria1959 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 I am not seeing anything that would indicate a jellyfish. Probably just mineralization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evannorton Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 The fossil has a very unusual u shaped component on the positive side - at the very top. This shape makes me believe it is not mineralization. Perhaps it could be a sea cucumber....take another look and see if you still feel the same way. Thanks for looking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
araucaria1959 Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 (edited) It is not possible for us to decide from these pics whether this is a sea cucumber or not; this would need an enormous magnification. If it is a sea cucumber, you can see "sigmoidal hooks": http://i740.photobuc...ek/IMG00709.jpg I once had a specimen myself which had been labelled (by the seller) "sea cucumber" (Achistrum). After I looked at it (with 20 x magnification) and didn't find the hooks, it became evident that it was not a sea cucumber. araucaria1959 Edited January 28, 2013 by araucaria1959 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Govinn Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Hmmm... I'm no expert, but what I think you have there is a juvenile sasquatch footprint No, really, I don't know. 99.9% of my collection is vertebrates, so I can't add anything but a little laughter, however, it's VERY interesting to see this because I would have never thought a jellyfish would leave a fossil record... Thanks for posting it. History will be kind to me for I intend to write it. ~Sir Winston Churchill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evannorton Posted January 28, 2013 Author Share Posted January 28, 2013 Thanks Araucaria......I will try to dramatically improve the image magnification. Thanks for the comic relief, Govinn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now