Cephalopod Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 May anyone help identify a cephalopod fossil I've found? While it seems as a normal nautiloid at first glance, it has a shell composed of two rows of plates, instead of uniform surface. These plates overlap each other, instead of leaving an empty surface betwwen, like in actinocerids. I don't know the original location, I've just noticed it in a gravel near a building. Shallow sea covered Eastern Pomerania, where the fossil was found, in Palaeozoic times, so I guess it's local. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 (edited) Hi! Are you sure, that this is really the cephalopod or could it be "only" the isolated siphuncle? Some genera; such as Discosoridae for example; have a really massive siphuncle, which is often found isolated.The reason for this lies in the disproportion between the very thin septums and the massive and heavy siphuncle. Here is an example from the Middle Devonian of Germany: Endodiscosorus eifeliensis SCHINDEWOLF, 1942 Givetian Isolated siphuncle of Discosoridae(?) indet. Givetian Edited November 17, 2014 by nils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cephalopod Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 It looks like such a siphuncle, thanks for help. It'd still be nice to know this fossil on at least a family level. Which nautiloids have the "plates" as in photo below? They seem to not be a common feauture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Okay, the location where you have found this specimen is somewhere at the baltic sea, probably Poland. At the coast of the baltic sea you can find rocks from several geological ages, from Cambrian up to Tertiary. In Germany, we call this kinds of rocks "Geschiebe". It has been transported by glaciers during the ice-age, its point of origin is somewhere on the bottom of the baltic sea. Your find might be Ordovizian or Silurian age. I'm not a specialist on paleozoic cephalopods, unfortunately i can´t help you to get a proper ID. Maybe the given informations are useful to limit your search. Best regards, Nils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cephalopod Posted November 23, 2014 Author Share Posted November 23, 2014 I still can't find any info, so if there is somebody here accknowledged in such fossils, some help would be nice. May it be a new species? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 I'm far from knowledgable on the topic of Cephalopods, but those last two photos remind me a lot of an arthropod, lobster tail? Just an uneducated observation based on morphology..... "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nils Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 I´m pretty certain, that this piece belongs to an cephalopod. Check out this book , maybe it will be helpful DZIK, J.: Phylogeny of the Nautiloidea. Palaeontologia Polonica, 45, 3-203. 1984 http://www.palaeontologia.pan.pl/Archive/1984_45.pdf Cheers, Nils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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