Jump to content

Unidentified Middle Devonian Bivalve From Madison County, Ny


Jeffrey P

Recommended Posts

Found this bivalve on Monday at a quarry in Madison County, NY. Tried to find it in Linsley's Devonian book and on Karl Wilson's website. No luck. Anyone have any idea what species it is?

post-13044-0-95784900-1412985619_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks similar to a modern Angel Wing clam. I know its not modern, clearly a fossil, but its a place to start.

Cole~

Knowledge has three degrees-opinion, science, illumination. The means or instrument of the first is sense; of the second, dialectic; of the third, intuition.

Plotinus 204 or 205 C.E., Egyptian Philosopher

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Karl. This one's got me stumped. The shell has an elongated shape like Prothyris but the ribbing pattern on the shell doesn't match up. I'd love to see a pic of the one you found.

Best wishes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Jeffrey - I in fact had made a composite image comparing our two specimens, but hadn't figure out how to attach to my post. I have now uploaded the image to the new gallery "NY Middle Devonian". I still haven't figured out how to attach to a post! Karl

Karl A. Wilson
(NY Paleontology): http://bingweb.binghamton.edu/~kwilson/home.htm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks again Karl for posting the image of the bivalve fossil you found. They appear almost identical. I'm fairly certain they are the same species, the question is what. I would hesitate to call it Glossites.

Best wishes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going to add some more fuel on this fire and show a specimen I found today in the Mahantango formation near Seven Stars, PA. I stopped off after visiting my parents and spotted this as I was splitting rock. The fauna at this locality is very close to that found at the Cole Hill location in NY and also the Delphi Rd. locality. Good chance to find Dipleura parts and Goniatites plus lots of bivalves and chonetids.

Is the positive and negative below also possibly Glossites?

post-1408-0-46879600-1413145496_thumb.jpg post-1408-0-08204400-1413145499_thumb.jpg

-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 McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave,

The bivalve shell I found appears more elongated in shape than yours though the ribbing pattern appears identical. Could be the same species. I've wanted to visit Seven Stars and hope to some day. I've heard it is an excellent site. Thanks for posting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a pretty decent site and one of the more productive in Central PA although right now it needs some fresh rock to be exposed.

-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 McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Avicula does look similar. Perhaps the same genus. I think this is the best lead so far. I'll see if I can't find out more. Thanks a bunch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

It appears I finally found it: Phthonia sectifrons, a rare bivalve). Thanks everyone for your input.

Thanks for the update, Jeff.

Could you share how you arrived at this identification? I'd be interested to hear about your research/contacts.

I took the liberty of enlarging and adding Karl's comparative photo. It would be a shame for it not to be posted here.

post-2806-0-69402200-1424111214_thumb.jp

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  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

Thanks for the update, Jeff.

Could you share how you arrived at this identification? I'd be interested to hear about your research/contacts.

I took the liberty of enlarging and adding Karl's comparative photo. It would be a shame for it not to be posted here.

attachicon.gifgallery_5725_2093_49077.jpg

Regards,

Tim;

It was totally random: Our friend, Dave Shamalama pointed out a typo in one my pics in my Cretaceous gallery. I then visited the Fossils of New Jersey website which I used to browse quite a lot but haven't much recently, to help confirm Dave's info. While there I checked out trip reports and one from Deer Lake, PA. had a photo of a bivalve that matched mine with a species label. Coincidently, Dave was credited for the IDs of the specimens found in that report. I confirmed the ID with Dave and also checked a couple resources he provided. A rather fortuitous series of events. I'm pretty excited since this bivalve is so different from the others in my collection.

Jeff

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tim;

It was totally random: Our friend, Dave Shamalama pointed out a typo in one my pics in my Cretaceous gallery. I then visited the Fossils of New Jersey website which I used to browse quite a lot but haven't much recently, to help confirm Dave's info. While there I checked out trip reports and one from Deer Lake, PA. had a photo of a bivalve that matched mine with a species label. Coincidently, Dave was credited for the IDs of the specimens found in that report. I confirmed the ID with Dave and also checked a couple resources he provided. A rather fortuitous series of events. I'm pretty excited since this bivalve is so different from the others in my collection.

Jeff

Jeff,

Thanks for the details! I figured this might have an interesting story behind it!

That is great - and,.. it is a wonderful fossil!

Congratulations on a positive ID.

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  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

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...