PennyT. Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Hello everyone, I have never found something like this but since it was surrounded by crinoid discs and stems I am guessing the inside of a stem? Found in the Kope Formation. What do you think it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyT. Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 and fron the other side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 I think it might actually be the internal view of an orthocone cephalopod. Neat find, Penny. 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...
PennyT. Posted April 26, 2015 Author Share Posted April 26, 2015 Thanks, Tim, if so,it's from a very tiny orthocone ceph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 I see a piece of brittle star arm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 It appears to be partly geodized, and thus lacking in details, but I do note that it does not appear to taper. "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 More sharing options...
PennyT. Posted April 26, 2015 Author Share Posted April 26, 2015 (edited) I see a piece of brittle star arm... I was considering that except the pictures I saw had the indentations angling while what I found seems straight. Edited April 26, 2015 by PennyT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 That photo is a starfish. Brittle stars have very different arms. Lots of little pieces that all fit into each other in a stacking manner. Have a look at the pictures on this poster and see what the peices look like. http://www.mprinstitute.org/PDF/Observations_poster.jpg I am pretty sure this is what you have. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyT. Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 This is from the Dry Dredgers site. They identify the fossil in their photograph as a broken open siphuncle of a cephalopod and say it is often mistaken for a sea star arm. So now I don't know what to think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyT. Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 (edited) For Comparison Does anyone have photographs of segments of a brittle star? I would love to confirm jpc's id. Edited April 27, 2015 by PennyT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 The plot thickens.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyT. Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 (edited) jpc, do brittle stars have the piece in the middle my find has? Puzzled. Again, sure would welcome pictures showing this. Edited April 27, 2015 by PennyT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyT. Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 I think it might actually be the internal view of an orthocone cephalopod. Neat find, Penny. Regards, Tim, do you have any internal orthocone pictures to post here? The center piece on my find is very distinctive. Do cephs and/or brittle stars have this? I will keep searching the web for images. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Tim, do you have any internal orthocone pictures to post here? The center piece on my find is very distinctive. Do cephs and/or brittle stars have this? I will keep searching the web for images. Here ya go. This one is from Wikipedia. Regards, 1 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...
Herb Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 There are some really small cephalopods in the Kope (1/4" dia.) . I think the siphuncle guess sounds good. "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 More sharing options...
jpc Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I do not have pix of brittle star arm bits... but according to the poster I linked to above, there is quit a bit of variety to the shapes of these things. I looked at the original pix again, and I am not coninced either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyT. Posted April 28, 2015 Author Share Posted April 28, 2015 Thanks to you all for taking the time and making the effort to help identify this. The orthocone has the middle piece my find has so am leaning that way but will keep an open mind since I am unfamiliar with brittle star pieces. Again, thanks everyone. Penny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Penny- Something has been bugging me about this discussion and I couldn't put my finger on it, but it hit me while I was doing dishes (yes I do them by hand in the sink). We are talking about two very different things here,not just a brittle star or a cephalopod, but an actual fossil (brittle star) or an internal mold (cephalopod). So we ought to be able to get a big clue by looking at the matrix at this site, or by looking at other fossils from here. If the fossils have the same gray/brown preservation, I would go with brittle star. If the matrix looks like this piece, then I would go with cephalopod impression. If the fossils and the matrix look different, then we are back to square one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Looking at the very first photo, it could be a piece of crinoid arm with pinnule bases. Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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