Jump to content

New Jersey Cretaceous Id Help


frankh8147

Recommended Posts

Recently, I went to a stream in the New Jersey Cretaceous (a tributary of Big Brook) and found something interesting in shell plates. I talked it over with another collector who suggested it might be the internal mold of something like a scaphopod. There are two of them in total on opposite sides of the burrow. Honestly, I have no idea what it is, what do you think?

post-11657-0-21615700-1427739033_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The curved piece I think is a steinkern of Hamulus, a worm tube as Al Dente says. But the cylinder with the tuberculated surface is Ophiomorpha, a ghost shrimp burrow.

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The curved piece I think is a steinkern of Hamulus...

I would not have recognized it as such, lacking the fluting. I does seem way too curved to be a scaphopod (which was my early conjecture).

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

internal cast of a spiney oyster spine? Seems to me also that it is too curved to be a scaphopod.

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen

No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go.

" I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes

"can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This image doesn't show it well, but there appears to be a thin steinkern-like void around the 'hook', as if shell material has dissolved away.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This image doesn't show it well, but there appears to be a thin steinkern-like void around the 'hook', as if shell material has dissolved away.

To whit:

post-423-0-21035900-1427754516_thumb.jpg

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the help so far! Let me know if additional pictures of different angles would help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We can probably rule out scaphopod because of the very strong curve. And we can rule out cephalopod hook because of the size and the preservation: a hook would be expected to be a phosphatized original rather than a sediment steinkern. Plus, as Auspex points out, you can make out the shell void. And finally, Hamulus is known from these deposits.

  • I found this Informative 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I do have a couple Scaphopods from the Wenonah as well, but I agree with Hamulus for this one.

We can probably rule out scaphopod because of the very strong curve. And we can rule out cephalopod hook because of the size and the preservation: a hook would be expected to be a phosphatized original rather than a sediment steinkern. Plus, as Auspex points out, you can make out the shell void. And finally, Hamulus is known from these deposits.

  • I found this Informative 1

---Wie Wasser schleift den Stein, wir steigen und fallen---

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...

@Carl @non-remanié

 

Can Hamulus worm tubes either be smooth or have ridges depending on the species? The pics I’ve seen online all have the ridges on them.

 

Edit: Just realized the ones in this thread are steinkerns. Does that then mean that Hamulus worms had a hard outer shell?

Edited by The Jersey Devil

“You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one.” ― Mikhail Tal

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎3‎/‎31‎/‎2015 at 4:16 AM, frankh8147 said:

...

post-11657-0-40491200-1427739357_thumb.jpg

This has the appearance of a burrow. Each little bump represents a mouthful of mud.  A larger version, from a burrowing shrimp Callionassa sp. below

Pebble%20burrows.jpg

'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'

George Santayana

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, The Jersey Devil said:

@Carl @non-remanié

 

Can Hamulus worm tubes either be smooth or have ridges depending on the species? The pics I’ve seen online all have the ridges on them.

 

Edit: Just realized the ones in this thread are steinkerns. Does that then mean that Hamulus worms had a hard outer shell?

Hamulus had calcitic tubes. The ones I find in the Peedee Formation have the typical ridged shell but these shells can break apart revealing an inner smooth tube that are frequently found whole. 

  • I found this Informative 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...