MooseRiver81 Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 (edited) James Bay Area, Ontario side. Roughly 50km north of Moose Factory, ON. This specimen is 20mm in diameter, 14mm high. There are hundreds of them in the area. Edited June 26, 2016 by MooseRiver81 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Probably some sort of sponge. Very cool. My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 mm or cm? Looks a lot bigger than an inch in diameter. "A problem solved is a problem caused"--Karl Pilkington "I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit." -- Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigHyatt Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 If it's sitting on a 2x4 then it's 20 cm and 14 cm. Info: Craig Hyatt, retired software/electrical engineer Experience: Beginner, fossil hunting less than a year Location: Eagle Pass, TX USA on the border with Mexico, hot dry desert Formation: Escondido, Marine, Upper Cretaceous Materials: Sandstone, Mudstone, Shale, Chert, Chalk Typical: Thalassinoides, Sphenodiscus, Exogyra, Inoceramus Reference: http://txfossils.com/Txfossils.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howard_l Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 My guess would be stromatoporoid, but are they all that uniform in roundness and shape? Howard_L http://triloman.wix.com/kentucky-fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkinhead Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 My guess would be stromatoporoid, but are they all that uniform in roundness and shape? Not in my experience. I think its sponge, but not a stromatoporoid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Welcome to the Fossil Forum. Please look at this geology map of Canada with link below. What rock layer did the fossil come from. uD = upper Devonian mD = middle Devonian lD = lower Devonian SD = Silurian and Devonian The map: http://ftp.maps.canada.ca/pub/nrcan_rncan/publications/ess_sst/208/208175/gscmap-a_1860a_e_1996_mn01.pdf Website: http://geoscan.nrcan.gc.ca/starweb/geoscan/servlet.starweb?path=geoscan/downloade.web&search1=R=208175 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 (edited) These are just incredible specimens. Its really difficult to identify these type of specimens as there really isnt any differentiation in the tissue. Also, a lot of identification is based on images of specimens that themselves are only tentatively identified. I'd label it a sponge with a question mark. Sponges are identified by looking at the spicules under a microscope...otherwise identification is based on 'it sort of looks like a sponge'. Anyways, welcome to the Fossil Forum. North of Moose Factory! You must be our most remote member. What an incredible location. I've visited but never lived in that part of Canada. We have family, Oji-Cree, living at Eabamatoong First Nations ( Fort Hope). Edited June 26, 2016 by Ridgehiker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Wouldn't we need to zoom in and focus on the structure to rule out a tabulate coral ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 This looks like a sponge,and I THINK i see exhalant pores. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 I agree with Rockwood, we need some close up photos to properly identify this. I'm guessing tabulate coral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guguita2104 Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 (edited) I think that your fossil is a sponge...I know that Porifera's Id is always hard without a microscopic view, but not all the sponges are constituted for spicules (some of them have a substance called spongin in their skeleton composition). P.S-Spicules are used as a defense mechanism against echinoderms, for example. This looks like a sponge,and I THINK i see exhalant pores. I also see the inhalant pores (I think sponges only have one exhalant pore:the osculum) .The first ones are used to "filter-feeding" (I don't know if this term is correct in sponge's case).The second structure is used to expell the water (edit:the big hole, I think). Regards and congratulations for the amazing fossil, Edited June 26, 2016 by Guguita2104 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 I'm with sponge, and wow, it's a nice one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooseRiver81 Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 Thank you for all your input. Could someone find me a link to show me an example of a tabulate coral that is similar to the fossil in question please? I can't load the map for the location of rock layer. I was told by Carl Mehling from the American Natural History Museum that I am located in the Ordovician period and/or devonian area? He doesn't know what this fossil is either. I guess I have to make a new thread for close ups? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 You should send the photos to Paul Copper. He is the top specialist on the Paleozoic reefs in your region. LINK 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 . I guess I have to make a new thread for close ups? Use the "more reply options" in the bottom right. This will allow You to upload more pictures. Tony Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Very nice specimens!!! Were they found along the river? Moose River brings back many great memories from 44 years ago. Between my sophomore and junior years of high school, my best friend and I threw a dart on a map of North America that landed on Moose River. So with backpacks full, we hitchhiked from Ohio as far as we could go, then hopped the "Polar Bear Express" to get there. The trip was a true eye opener for me as a kid raised in the city. Does the train still exist as it did back then? With those fossils available, it may be worth checking out my childhood past again. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodney Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Any relation to this mud house of a small present day parasitic wasp? Diameter of this mud house is less than a nickle? Picture taken with a stereo microscope. Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Any relation to this mud house of a small present day parasitic wasp? Diameter of this mud house is less than a nickle? Picture taken with a stereo microscope. Rod I think it might be a loose fit for the term convergence. Once you focus on this idea you can find similarity in a wide range of natural structures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodney Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 Loose fit may be right, here is one more with natural color. Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 (edited) DSCN9859.JPG At the end of your hunt, there's a rock cutter behind the office for use in reducing the size of the slabs. We found we needed to spend a good hour getting our finds down to a size we could travel with. There's also a polishing wheel onsite, but we didn't take the time to use it. There was a small roof over a picnic table & an outhouse. No trees, not even a decent bush. Prepare for wind & full sun. (and now for a few of my finds.....continued) Very nice specimens!!! Were they found along the river? Moose River brings back many great memories from 44 years ago. Between my sophomore and junior years of high school, my best friend and I threw a dart on a map of North America that landed on Moose River. So with backpacks full, we hitchhiked from Ohio as far as we could go, then hopped the "Polar Bear Express" to get there. The trip was a true eye opener for me as a kid raised in the city. Does the train still exist as it did back then? With those fossils available, it may be worth checking out my childhood past again. Mike Yes it still runs. My girlfriend's grandsons have taken the train up recently for hockey tournaments. I only did it once about the same era as you...mid 1970's. We hitchhiked ( common back then) across Canada. Most of the Polar bear express riders were hippies and natives. We were invited to stay at a guy's house just outside of Moosonee. Hung around a couple days then took the train south..to Timmins and back on the road. Apparently it was classier back then. There was a dining car but we probably ate a bag of cookies. Edited June 27, 2016 by Ridgehiker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 . Most of the Polar bear express riders were hippies and natives. I was not a native. So what are you telling me? A hippie? OK, I'll admit it. Don't tell my son or daughter. I have them fooled! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 . Most of the Polar bear express riders were hippies and natives.I was not a native. So what are you telling me? A hippie? OK, I'll admit it. Don't tell my son or daughter. I have them fooled!Ha! I was part of each. I've let my hair grow long again...so guess I still am. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howard_l Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 Not in my experience. I think its sponge, but not a stromatoporoid A Stomatoporoid is a sponge. Howard_L http://triloman.wix.com/kentucky-fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooseRiver81 Posted June 28, 2016 Author Share Posted June 28, 2016 Yes the polar bear express still operates. Here is another example that I found earlier this year. You can clearly see the similarities. Again, I still don't have a positive ID for this fossil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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