Fossildude19 Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Hello all, Have a bit of a mystery here. Found a few of these items while going through the shale finds from a trip to the Utica Shale of New York - near Little Falls. Not sure what they are. Cephalopod? Conularid? Hyolith? I am stumped. also, a smaller one on a different slab: It doesn't look like any of the other cephalopods I found there - there is one in the middle of the plate that has some of these on it. Anyone else have any ideas? Thanks in advance for looking. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Strange stuff Tim. Could pic #3 be the underside of a Trilo? Pics #1-#2 I've never seen anything like that. It looks like a soft tissue preservation but with a semi hard shell (similar to a shrimp). Very weird..... ~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...
Fossildude19 Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 Strange stuff Tim. Could pic #3 be the underside of a Trilo? Pics #1-#2 I've never seen anything like that. It looks like a soft tissue preservation but with a semi hard shell (similar to a shrimp). Very weird..... Thanks, Charlie. I don't think trilo on pic 3 - very similar if not exactly the same as the larger ones. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 (edited) Might be conularids? Not sure if I see the zigzag lines on the small one (resolution not good enough) but I notice there are 4 'strands' visible. Edited September 29, 2014 by Wrangellian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazy Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 (edited) The tube like structure is from a Sphenothallus. I have found them in the Ordovician Collingwood fm. at Bowmanville Quarry and in the Silurian Eramosa fm. Wiarton Qy. I believe they lasted into the Pennsylvanian age. Here is a picture of a large colony. An artist rendition of the living worm tube. Edited September 25, 2014 by fossilcrazy 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 The tube like structure is from a Sphenothallus. I have found them in the Ordovician Collingwood fm. at Bowmanville Quarry and in the Silurian Eramosa fm. Wiarton Qy. I believe they lasted into the Pennsylvanian age. Here is a picture of a large colony. Thank you, John! I had no idea this was a possibility. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Whoa... that is a weird creature. Is it related to coral? Glad you posted about this Tim, I found one or two of those as well. -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 It appears (from what little I have found online), that they are of unknown affiliation, (problematica) with possible links to conulariids, or possibly annelids. LINK. from the above link: "Recent speculation on the phylogenetic relationships of Sphenothallus Hall, 1847 has focused on two alternatives: (1) affinity with hydrozoan or scyphozoan cnidarians, or (2) affinity with annelids or other ‘worms’." Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Annelid has always been a bin where strange things are thrown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 Jellyfish and worms - nature's catch-all for problematica. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xonenine Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 terrific find Tim, hope to hear more about it... "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...
JimB88 Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 wow, I learn something every day! neat whatever it is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagurus Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Thanks for posting this, Tim. I also found one of these: and Dave gave me one that he found too: I think these are the same as yours, Tim. Let me know if you think they are something else. They resemble the nautiloids, but I don't think that's what they are. Thank you, John, for the Sphenothallus ID. That's an interesting critter. Mike 1 Start the day with a smile and get it over with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Interesting for sure... That's what I like about the Paleozoic (and earlier), so many problematic things, it seems to never end! Great - another item for the collection 'bucket list' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewcuse Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 I've found similar fossils from the same Little Falls locality. At least one I have is obscured by iron oxide, so I don't have the level of detail you have, but the exact same shape & size. Interesting stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted September 26, 2014 Author Share Posted September 26, 2014 Thanks for posting this, Tim. I also found one of these: Little Falls unknown2a.jpg lf micro 5.jpg and Dave gave me one that he found too: Little Falls unknown1b.jpg I think these are the same as yours, Tim. Let me know if you think they are something else. They resemble the nautiloids, but I don't think that's what they are. Thank you, John, for the Sphenothallus ID. That's an interesting critter. Mike They certainly look the same as my examples, to me, at least, Mike. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazy Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Here is a small Sphenothallus colony I found at Bowmanville Quarry. The Collingwood Shale relates close in age to the Utica Shale. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 That picture really helps to pin down the ID. Thanks for posting it! -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howard_l Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 They look very similar to the Ordovician Conulariids that I have fond in KY In some cases you can't see the typical segmentation that Conulariids show unless you use magnification. 1 Howard_L http://triloman.wix.com/kentucky-fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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