Brewcuse Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Following some hints I found here and on a few other sites, I had the chance to spend a little bit of time in the Little Falls, NY area. Prior to today, all my fossil hunting has been in various Central NY locales finding brachiopods, bryozoan and the like. Today I found my first ever trilobites in shale. We only spent about 45 minutes in two different spots and once we knew what we were looking for (at), we started finding them pretty quickly. Some of the finds: I can't wait to head back with the kids when we have more time. Thanks to everyone for sharing finds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Congrats on breaking the Trilo ice! I have yet to do so...... ~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...
Pagurus Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 It looks like your research has paid off. Congratulations on finding a productive site. Little Falls is a beautiful place. Start the day with a smile and get it over with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xonenine Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 congratulations! It's a fun and pretty site I wouldn't mind going back to at all "Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile." Lepidus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey P Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Congrats. Those look like thorax and cephalon (head) parts of the blind trilobite Triarthrus becki and the formation you hunted in is called the Utica Shale. The Little Falls trilo locale is definately worth visiting over and over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 ...Those look like thorax and cephalon (head) parts of the blind trilobite Triarthrus becki... One correction worth noting: Triarthrus and all the trilobites in the Family Olenidae had eyes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey P Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 That's interesting. I was told Triarthrus becki was a blind trilobite. Though the diagram you show does show eyes, I've seen hundreds of Triarthrus becki cephalons from Little Falls and have yet to spot any eyes in the place where the diagram shows them. I wonder if any other forum members have found trilos at Little Falls with eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazy Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 (edited) A good place to see the anatomy of Triarthrus, is to see examples of superbly preserved specimens like those from the Frankfort shale in New York. Check out the pictures from the "Gold Bugs" website. Markus Martin finds and preps these himself. http://gold-bugs.com/index.php/2014-galleries/dorsal-photo-galleries Here is a picture of the Frankfort Shale at Beecher's Quarry. Such a plain looking rock with unbelievable fossils. Edited August 7, 2014 by fossilcrazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 That's interesting. I was told Triarthrus becki was a blind trilobite. Though the diagram you show does show eyes, I've seen hundreds of Triarthrus becki cephalons from Little Falls and have yet to spot any eyes in the place where the diagram shows them. I wonder if any other forum members have found trilos at Little Falls with eyes. The flattened black specimens usually obscure the eyes. Some of the 3D pyritized examples showcase the Triarthrus eyes much better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey P Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Thanks for the info. I looked at my collection again and one cephalon does show thin slits that are possible eyes right next to the glabella. However, the specimen you showed and those displayed on the gold bugs website are Triarthrus eatoni while those at Little Falls are Triarthus becki. The Little Falls site is deep water where light penetration would have been minimal so those well developed antennae would have been much more useful for navigating than eyes would have been. The absence of other creatures except for nautiloids and rare gastropods shows how harsh the environment must have been. I'm still on the fence on this issue of whether or not Triarthrus becki was blind.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 On 8/7/2014 at 6:51 PM, Jeffrey P said: Thanks for the info. I looked at my collection again and one cephalon does show thin slits that are possible eyes right next to the glabella. However, the specimen you showed and those displayed on the gold bugs website are Triarthrus eatoni while those at Little Falls are Triarthus becki. The Little Falls site is deep water where light penetration would have been minimal so those well developed antennae would have been much more useful for navigating than eyes would have been. The absence of other creatures except for nautiloids and rare gastropods shows how harsh the environment must have been. I'm still on the fence on this issue of whether or not Triarthrus becki was blind.. There's no need to be on the fence! When I said all Triarthrus had eyes, that also includes Triarthrus beckii. Ironically, Triarthrus beckii did have smaller eyes, and that's a key feature differentiating it from Triarthrus eatoni. Whiteley, T.E., Kloc, G.J., & Brett, C.E. (2002) The Trilobites of New York. Cornell University Press 380 pp. 1 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