An Other Set Of Microfossils From Montreal

[JeanB]

This one was pretty cool to look at under the microscope. The first pic is a mozaic showing the whole sample with the size. The second pic is a shot from a part of it.

The third pic was taken from a different rock. I can identify a brachiopod in the center of what looks like a Favosite (but I will take the advice of the experts here).

Jean

[FossilDAWG]

Hi Jean,

Not enough of the brachiopod there for me to confidently ID. As for the coral, Favosites is not present in the Trenton as it didn't evolve until the very end of the Ordovician, or maybe even early Silurian. There are several tabulate coral genera present, though. One needs either cut or good natural cross and longitudinal sections to see the features needed for ID. Also one needs to know the diameter of the individual corallites. In your specimen the corallite walls seem to be relatively thick, so the actual corallites seem almost rounded instead of obviously hexagonal. This suggests a genus such as Nyctopora, or maybe Billingsaria if the specimen is from the Chazy rather than the Trenton, but Saffordophyllum is also a possibility and I've also seen Lichenaria with thickened walls.

Don