TqB Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 (edited) Lithostrotion maccoyanum Milne Edwards & Haime 1852 which I've had for a few years and it's surprisingly attractive when photographed under water which I got round to a few days ago. The white centres are silicified, the rest is calcite though I'm not sure about the golden mineral. An erratic from the north Yorkshire coast and is quite a rare one generally. It's the smallest of the four recognised Lithostrotion species - the tabularium rather than the corallite diameter is the important measurement for these, being around 1.5mm. The next one up, the more common L. decipiens, is it's probable ancestor and has a tabularium diameter of about 2.5mm. Scale bar in photos 2 & 4 is 1cm. Edited February 20, 2021 by TqB 1 2 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted February 20, 2021 Share Posted February 20, 2021 Beautiful! Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted February 20, 2021 Author Share Posted February 20, 2021 9 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said: Beautiful! Thanks, Adam! It was a dull little pebble. 1 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 Lonsdaleia duplicata (Martin, 1809), Cefn Mawr Limestone Formation, Brigantian Stage, North Wales. One of several that I took from a friend in exchange for sawing a batch of beautifully preserved corals from this formation. The bluish edges are silica. (It is very difficult/practically impossible to distinguish this from some phaceloid parts of otherwise cerioid Actinocyathus floriformis colonies and I'll try to do a separate post on the problem when I've looked at all the literature!) Scale bar 1cm 4 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted July 14, 2022 Author Share Posted July 14, 2022 A very special find last week, a beautiful natural section of a rather rare Carboniferous tabulate coral that I've never collected before. Also, I believe it is a completely new taxon for the Great Limestone (Pendleian Stage, Upper Mississippian). I picked it up in a dry river bed in Weardale, Co. Durham. It's Sutherlandia parasitica (Phillips) (formerly Emmonsia, which is now just Devonian). It is typically found in the UK in the lower Brigantian, and sometimes lower than that. So this comes from a stage higher than all the UK records I can find. I haven't polished it, just photographed the natural surface under water but have enhanced the contrast on the photos to show the structure. The last photo is as it appears on the dry surface of the cobble. It is a member of Subfamily Emmonsiinae, favositids that are distinguished from others by having septa represented by squamulae. These are tongue shaped projections on the inside walls of the corallites, appearing in longitudinal section as curved lines like incomplete tabulae with inner free ends. They all have mural pores, like all members of Suborder Favositina. In Sutherlandia, these are large. 1.2 cm (scale bar 1cm), so it's likely to be a spheroid of approximately that diameter which is typical. I can't tell if it's formed around a crinoid piece, as the species name suggests; sometimes they appear to be unattached so it's not critical. Squamula structure in Squameofavosites. 6 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted July 14, 2022 Share Posted July 14, 2022 (edited) Is the tan area quartz and the other parts of the coral carbonate? You would have a field day with the Pennsylvanian Naco Formation corals in Arizona. Not one has been officially described. Know any US Pennsylvanian coral experts? Also, great artistic looking coral: Edited July 14, 2022 by DPS Ammonite My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted July 14, 2022 Author Share Posted July 14, 2022 (edited) 5 hours ago, DPS Ammonite said: Is the tan area quartz and the other parts of the coral carbonate? You would have a field day with the Pennsylvanian Naco Formation corals in Arizona. Not one has been officially described. Know any US Pennsylvanian coral experts? Also, great artistic looking coral: Thanks! Yes, the centre has a tan silica blob standing proud and the rest is calcite. I'd love to see some Naco Formation stuff. I don't know a specialist but a lot of the corals would presumably be pretty cosmopolitan? We hardly see Pennsylvanian corals here as the rocks are all Coal Measures - there's the occasional small solitary in one or two thin marine bands. Edited July 14, 2022 by TqB Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted July 14, 2022 Share Posted July 14, 2022 The Lonsdaleia is stunning and congrats on the Sutherlandia from a younger age than previously known. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted July 14, 2022 Author Share Posted July 14, 2022 (edited) @Tidgy's Dad Thank you, Adam! I shall be looking out for more now. It isn't from one of the the usual coral rich subdivisions of the bed. Edited July 14, 2022 by TqB 1 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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