Salvageon Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 I went arrowhead hunting near Lowery City, Missouri South of Clinton, MO in a local stream bed last week and found this marine fossil. It is about the size of my hand and the round organism is about 1 inch in diameter. Is it possible to identify what all or some of these small fossils are? I believe the area is either Pennsylvanian or or Mississippian strata right by the Truman reservoir. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBrewer Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Bryozoans I think. Nice! John Map of UK fossil sites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Hi Salvageon! My guess is you have a bunch of rugose corals since I think I see septae (maybe?) and because the diameter of each circular object is quite large (1 inch). But whatever is embedded within the rock is really pretty - well done! Do you by any chance know the age of the rock where you found this specimen? Monica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkinhead Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Looks like a bunch of bryozoans to me too, most likely fenestrates. Nice finds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Hi all! Firstly, Salvageon, you did indicate the age of the rock where you found your specimen (Pennsylvanian or Mississippian, which would be the Carboniferous Period). I'm sorry for not reading your post closely enough. Secondly, John and Pumpkinhead - I can see the bryozoans you're talking about (fenestrate bryozoans) - they look kind of like fish scales to me. Would this type of bryozoan be organized in such a way as to make a circle-shaped cross-section with a hole in the middle? I know very little about bryozoans so I'm eager to learn more - thanks! Monica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkinhead Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 The circular objects could also be bryozoans, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm looking forward to hearing more opinions on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Nice bryozoans, all ! They might be comparable to these : http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/30643-some-pennsylvanian-bryozoans/ " 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...
Pumpkinhead Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 A very relevant topic, thanks abyssunder. I'm just throwing this out there, but take a look at this picture from the other topic: Notice how the mineralized exoskeleton spreads outwards from one focal point (ancestrula). Maybe the circular fossil is an imprint of a similar bryozoan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvageon Posted August 8, 2016 Author Share Posted August 8, 2016 Thank you all for the input I think you have got it figured out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I would guess they are Mississippian. The mid Pennsylvanian (Cherokee Stage) limestone beds in the vicinity are thin and not well exposed. The Mississippian carbonates, on the other hand, can be quite dramatic. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the tatter Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I feel confident that the circular one is the fan from a Archimides bryozoan. I am fortunate to have an outcrop of the Pitkin Limestone (formerly archimides) on my property, and have many examples similar to the above. Marilyn Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen, and thinking what nobody has thought. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Digital image ninja warrior! Zoom,! crop!, contrast!, sharpen!! If you look closely at the texture and details, it doesn't look like septa, it looks like a net (called fenestrate)... like bryozoa. I don't think it is Archimedes, because those are a spiral fenestrate and this is dish shaped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I think you have a receptaculites. (Sometimes called a sunflower coral, but isn't really a coral). Missouri is one of the best places in the world to find them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Receptaculites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I just don't see the " intersecting patterns of clockwise and counterclockwise rows of plates or stalk spaces " in the specimen in question, but I see a radiating pattern which is similar to Missourian's specimen. Here are all three : " 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...
Guguita2104 Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 I vote for fenestrate bryozoan,also. Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifbrindacier Posted August 15, 2016 Share Posted August 15, 2016 I too vote for fenestrate bryozoans. "On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry) "We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes." In memory of Doren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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