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Fossils From The Ordovician: Montreal, Canada


JeanB

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Hello everyone,

I am fairly new in this exciting fossil «hobby». Some part of the city of Montreal, so it seems, are rich in ordovician fossils: brachiopods, bryozoans, trilobites, gastropods. One day while taking care of my wife's garden I discovered a piece of sedimentary rock the size of my hand. I noticed peculiar patterns and decided to have a closer look with a magnifying glass. Many small shells were present.

I used my lab's dissection microscope (I am a microbiologist) to better observe the fossilized life forms and was immediately «hooked» by what I saw. Since then I found many other pieces of fossilized history just by picking up rocks in my immediate neighborhood.

Here are three pictures taken through my microscope and a luminera CCD camera. My goal is to be able to identify some structures, which for the present looks an unreachable task.

I was also wondering if there is some preparation steps that could better preserve or increase the contrasts of the structures.

Best Regards

Jean

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19 avril.bmp

JeanB

Montreal, QC, Canada

Ordovician, Trenton group

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Lovely image work! You've already noted the brachiopods (which someone here should be able to identify more specifically), and I can also see individual columnals (discs) from the stems of crinoids (sea lilies).

"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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The brachiopods on the left are a Sowerbyella species, probably S. sericea. The small disks are crinoid stem ossicles. The brachiopod on the right is some sort of an orthid, maybe a Dalmanella or Paucicrura species, but there isn't enough showing to be sure.

Are you at McGill by any chance? I used to collect in Montreal sometimes when I was a student at the University of Ottawa many years ago.

Don

Edited by FossilDAWG
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The brachiopods on the left are a Sowerbyella species, probably S. sericea. The small disks are crinoid stem ossicles. The brachiopod on the right is some sort of an orthid, maybe a Dalmanella or Paucicrura species, but there isn't enough showing to be sure.

Are you at McGill by any chance? I used to collect in Montreal sometimes when I was a student at the University of Ottawa many years ago.

Don

Thanks to all for your comments and help.

Don, I work at the Université de Montréal. Can you point me some good places to collect more fossils in Montreal? I would love to find my first trilobite!

Thanks again!

Jean

JeanB

Montreal, QC, Canada

Ordovician, Trenton group

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nice pix! :wub:

"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

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