icycatelf Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 (edited) I'm fairly certain that it's a fish, but does anyone know what kind? It was found in Johnson County KY near some railroad tracks. The rock measures about 2.4 inches long. Also, what kind of leaves are these? They were found in a ditch by a road and there were calamite fossils nearby. Each rock measures about 2 inches long (they were bigger, but I sanded off most of the excess rock because they were clunky and just had these little fossils on the edge). Edited December 12, 2015 by icycatelf Casual surface-collector and Pokémon fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 I'm fairly certain that it's a fish, but does anyone know what kind? It was found in Johnson County KY near some railroad tracks. The rock measures about 2.4 inches long. Actually, it is a section through a spiral bryozoan called Archimedes LINK Pretty neat! 1 "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...
howard_l Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 First off I am not a vertebrate person so I cannot say 100% one way or the other if it is a fish vertebrate or not. Your area is all Pennsylvanian rocks and there were fish in the Pennsylvanian. The problem is the majority of the Penn. units in KY are not marine, but there are some. You said it was found near a RR. was it in the RR gravel in and around the tracks? If so it was brought in and could be from all most any where. If not you can look at associate fossils for a clue. From looking at all your rocks they appear to be Pennsylvanian age sand/siltstone with plant fossils on it. If they all came from the same unit, it would not be a marine environment and your fossil would be a fern of some type not a fish. If it was marine you should find the more common invertebrate fossils with it. I would go over to the KY Geological Survey located on the UK campus and let them look at it in person. If it was a fish vertebrate it would be very rare. Regardless it is a nice fossil. 1 Howard_L http://triloman.wix.com/kentucky-fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howard_l Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Archimedes is a great possibility but only if it came from the Rail Road material. I am guessing it did, I took a closer look and the rock and it looks like limestone, see if it reacts with vinegar and fizzes. If it is limestone then the material came from some of the local quarry north of you. Archimedes bryozoan is VERY common in the upper Mississippian Limestone I'm the counties north of you. Howard_L http://triloman.wix.com/kentucky-fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icycatelf Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 (edited) Huh, I could have sworn it was a fish, but you guys have me doubting myself now. Even if it is more common, I think I'd be happier if it was the Archimedes. Those seem much cooler than fish to me. Yes, the fossil came from the railroad material. There were also pieces of what looked like could be white marble in the material. Would apple cider vinegar work? That's all I've got at the moment. Edited December 12, 2015 by icycatelf Casual surface-collector and Pokémon fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 I agree. As Auspex said the first specimen is an Archimedes bryozoan. What is visible in the first pic is a section through the central spiralling structure of the calcified skeleton with the mesh part attached (you see it left-right). Frequently the mesh is detached from the central part and you will find them fragmented. You are lucky to have a mesh fragment on the other side of the specimen. Here is also one under #35 of this thread: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/12242-show-us-your-bryozoans/page-2 Nice and interesting fossils! 1 " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howard_l Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 It should, it is just acid reacting with the limestone, The material probable came from Rowan or Carter Co, There is a quarry in Menifee just over the county line with Rowan. I grew up in Morehead and went to school at MSU back in the 70s and 80s. Howard_L http://triloman.wix.com/kentucky-fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icycatelf Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 (edited) Does the rock have to be fully-submerged? I tried dipping about a quarter of the rock into the apple cider vinegar and didn't see or hear any bubbles/fizzles. Edited December 12, 2015 by icycatelf Casual surface-collector and Pokémon fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howard_l Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Depends on how acidic the vinegar is, try scratching it up to get a more power like material, sorry can't write anymore the Cats are playing. Howard_L http://triloman.wix.com/kentucky-fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Yes, Archimedes...not fish. Note that if you look at the pointy parts of the 'vertebrae' they alternate from one side to the other. If these were fish verts, the pointy parts would be exactly opposite each other. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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