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Long Island, NY Fossil Find


Mike E

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I found this dense, dark gray shale rock loaded with fossils in Greenvale, Long Island, NY. It weighs over 2 lbs.. I discovered it when I was 9 years old in 1959. I knew then even at an early age that I had something most unusual. Long Island was formed as a glacial deposit from the last ice age. It's basically a big, flat sand mound with a few notable boulders scraped off  New England and deposited when the glacier melted off Connecticut. Fossils are not natural for this part of the earth yet here it is! I found it amidst other small stones along an abandon dirt road/path in a fairly new residential area at that time. I can not discount contamination from other sources such as a resident throwing away his fossil collection or imported road surface material. Never the less, this is an amazing find. What do you think? Can you identify the fossils or time period of this shale rock?  Please let me know.

 

 

Mike Ellegaard

Greenvale, NY Fossils.JPG

 

Greenvale, NY Fossils.JPG

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Mike your rock is very likely deposited there from that glacier that created Long Island, brought down from one of the northern states or Canada as glacial till.   It is filled with several different species of Brachiopod imprints. The age I can not help you with.  

Just a caution: Do yourself a favor and do not post your personal email and phone number. If someone wants to contact you, they can easily do so through PM (private messenger).  

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Welcome to the forum Mike. Your rock with the shell imprint looks like it came from a Devonian deposit which was a shallow sea some 419 to 358 million years ago 

Here are some example of shell's that can be found.

   

Plate-IX-Devonian-Fossils.jpg

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Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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Here are a few more.

 

91a27dd04266747e1cfb0f7a67359d2f.jpg

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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Hi and welcome to the Fossil Forum from the Hudson Valley up north. I recognize Leptaena rhomboidalis as one of the brachiopod shells on that rock whose remains are generally widespread throughout the Lower Devonian. The rock appears remarkably similar to a piece I have displayed in my Lower Devonian Gallery which I found in bedrock near the Kingston/Rhinecliff Bridge near Kingston, NY. Perhaps your fossil rock originated there. Fossils of any sort are extremely rare on Long Island. Consider that piece a very lucky find.

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Welcome to the Forum from Connecticut. :)

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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Welcome to TFF ! :)

" 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

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  • 3 weeks later...

Welcome aboard Mike.

Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt
behind the trailer, my desert
Them red clay piles are heaven on earth
I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt

Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers

 

image.png.0c956e87cee523facebb6947cb34e842.png May 2016  MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160.png.b42a25e3438348310ba19ce6852f50c1.png May 2012 IPFOTM5.png.fb4f2a268e315c58c5980ed865b39e1f.png.1721b8912c45105152ac70b0ae8303c3.png.2b6263683ee32421d97e7fa481bd418a.pngAug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png.af5065d0585e85f4accd8b291bf0cc2e.png.72a83362710033c9bdc8510be7454b66.png.9171036128e7f95de57b6a0f03c491da.png Oct 2022

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