RCFossils Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Well, things are finally starting to thaw out and for us Mazon Creek collectors, it means it is time to go through our buckets of concretions that have been sitting outside all Winter going through a natural freeze/thaw cycle. A few days ago, I was searching through a bucket finding the usual jellyfish, plant fragments and worms when I came across a concretion that split preserving a nice example of Cyclus americanus! Cyclus are problematic organisms that are sometimes referred to as water bugs or fish lice. There are 3 types known from the marine portion of the Mazon Creek deposit with C. americanus being the most abundant. The concretion that the cyclus was preserved in had an elongated shape with enlarged ends. I noticed that there was an additional hairline crack on the other enlarged end and after a few gentle taps, the unusual concretion split again to preserve... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted April 16, 2014 Author Share Posted April 16, 2014 A second cyclus! It is very unusual to find associated fossils within a concretion and this is the first example I have ever seen that preserves 2 cyclus fossils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 That's ironic! Congrats on the double Rob! Hope to see you down there sometime. ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 So this would be considered a rare concretion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted April 16, 2014 Author Share Posted April 16, 2014 That is a very nice association! Plants associated with animals are more common but still unusual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 AHH! I see. Thank you RC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squalicorax Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 Very nice! My Flickr Page of My Collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79424101@N00/sets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Wonderful! I think I understand more about that critter now, seeing the detail around the outer edge of that one... pustules? 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