Jump to content

Is this a fossil or ?


tklassen

Recommended Posts

We found this strange rock on our farm near Swift Current not far from the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatchewan Canada. Does anyone have a clue as to what it is?

Thanks,

Tyler

post-22236-0-88511700-1471234799_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

100% sure this is a receptaculite. They are very common here in SE Minnesota. There is no mistaking this once you have seen one. I am always amazed at the intricate swirling pattern of their holes. Great find!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, welcome to the TFF from France.

I also vote for receptaculites. Even if they are common in SE Minnesota, that is not so common for fossils collectors to find a fossilized algae. It's a nice find. :D

theme-celtique.png.bbc4d5765974b5daba0607d157eecfed.png.7c09081f292875c94595c562a862958c.png

"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

photo-thumb-12286.jpg.878620deab804c0e4e53f3eab4625b4c.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I lean towards receptaculitid for this one. The large circular holes and somewhat spiral pattern make it not quite bryozoa to me.

Zoom! Crop! Level shift!!!

post-16101-0-86461500-1471259705_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

might be Ischadites..You can clearly see the orthostichies of the merom.Tetragonis is also a possibility.

The orthostichies are alway arranged in a spiral,which is why most people go for an algal affinity.

The skeleton consists of three layers,but diagenesis almost aways obscures that fact

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I never realized there were multiple species of receptaculites. Does anyone know the type that I mention as so common in SE Minnesota, out of Ordovician rock.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I never realized there were multiple species of receptaculites. Does anyone know the type that I mention as so common in SE Minnesota, out of Ordovician rock.

If it's for it's for sure of the genus Receptaculites:

Receptaculites oweni is found in Minnesota: http://www.fossilmall.com/Stonerelic/stromatolite/DS353/DS353.htm

Also mentioned in this PDF on page 18: http://midamericapaleo.org/content/EXPO/Digests/EXPO_Digest_2010_Final.pdf

And here: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/25728-receptaculites/

If it's perhaps some other receptaculid algae:

Another receptaculid from Minnesota: http://fossilworks.org/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=108064

Website: https://www.instagram.com/paleo_archives/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream.”

Edgar Allan Poe

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On this one I clearly see the " intersecting patterns of clockwise and counterclockwise rows of plates or stalk spaces ", so it could be a receptaculitid. :)

" 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

I never realized there were multiple species of receptaculites. Does anyone know the type that I mention as so common in SE Minnesota, out of Ordovician rock.

Be very careful about declaring a specimen to be of a species. Often there is a urge to drive it that far, but not enough evidence to support it. The distinctions between species can be subtle, and often the specimen doesn't have all the diagnostic feature to firmly declare it to be that species.

So "Genus species?" is a safe way to define something but warn people that it may not be verifiable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On this one I clearly see the " intersecting patterns of clockwise and counterclockwise rows of plates or stalk spaces ", so it could be a receptaculitid. :)

Great example of the natural occurence of Fibonacci sequences, Nature's Numbers.

Be very careful about declaring a specimen to be of a species. Often there is a urge to drive it that far, but not enough evidence to support it. The distinctions between species can be subtle, and often the specimen doesn't have all the diagnostic feature to firmly declare it to be that species.

So "Genus species?" is a safe way to define something but warn people that it may not be verifiable.

Very well said. We are all often too quick to show off by throwing a species name on something for which we have limited information on.

I think it is one of those faux landscaping rocks with an outdoor speaker inside.

Just kidding.

Ha ha. They should have a line of those based on real fossils like this. I might consider buying one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it is one of those faux landscaping rocks with an outdoor speaker inside.

Just kidding.

It is well done and good looking. :)

theme-celtique.png.bbc4d5765974b5daba0607d157eecfed.png.7c09081f292875c94595c562a862958c.png

"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

photo-thumb-12286.jpg.878620deab804c0e4e53f3eab4625b4c.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Considering that there are open pore spaces visible on the surface is likely to be a mold of a receptaculitid, probably the original calcified skeleton has been dissolved.
Also, about the receptaculitids of the Galena Group, mentioned in Morphology and merom gradients in the Ordovician receptaculitid Fisherites reticulatus - STANLEY C. FINNEY, DANIEL C. FISHER, and MATTHEW H. NITECKI, the largest and the abundent receptaculitid of the Galena Group, previously known as Receptaculites oweni, should be referred to as Fisherites reticulatus.

" As restricted by Finney & Nitecki (1979b), Receptaculites is a Devonian genus not present in the Ordovician of the Upper Mississippi Valley. "

" 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

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...