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I have been going through a group of tiny coprolites from the Ryan Formation, Waurika, OK. Most of the inclusion I have come across are fish scales. Can anyone identify this ribbed bone? My first thought was part of a fish spine.

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

Coprolite-Ribbed-Inclusion-Ryan-Formation-Oklahoma-20X-2X.jpg

Coprolite-Ribbed-Inclusions-Ryan-Formation-Oklahoma-20X-2.jpg

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Hi

very interesting fossil and great photos . Looks fishy to me. Can I please ask you what's your favourite find in side some coprolite? Thanks Bobby 

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any chance it could be a trilo-bit?

 

My Permian is terrible, but I think they were still around.

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30 minutes ago, FossilDudeCO said:

any chance it could be a trilo-bit?

 

My Permian is terrible, but I think they were still around.

:rofl: Hmm...wouldn't that be something! I don't speak Permian either, nor do I know anything about bugs. Anyone trilobite experts?

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1 hour ago, Bobby Rico said:

Hi

very interesting fossil and great photos . Looks fishy to me. Can I please ask you what's your favourite find in side some coprolite? Thanks Bobby 

It is really hard to pick just one. But if I had to choose I would say cephalopod hooks and parts. I had a CT scan done of a small one from the Oxford Clay that was just loaded with them. You can see the thread HERE. That same coprolite may also have a worm, and what looks like either eggs or forams. I wish there was a way to post a video here so you could see rotated images. However, the file size is too big.

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Despite my username, I'm really not an expert on Trilobites. :ighappy:

 

Regardless, I don't think it looks like part of a trilobite. I would lean towards some kind of shell fragment.

Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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By the Permian, trilobites were barely making it. It could be a shell, but it also looks like a Paleozoic shark spine. Hard to tell. If you tried exposing the side of it, I could tell you of it was fishy or not.

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28 minutes ago, TNCollector said:

By the Permian, trilobites were barely making it. It could be a shell, but it also looks like a Paleozoic shark spine. Hard to tell. If you tried exposing the side of it, I could tell you of it was fishy or not.

I'll see what I can do...but it is really tiny. The coprolite itself is under a cm long. There are a lot of spiral coprolites in this batch of coprolites, so something shark related would be a good possibility. Standby...I'll tackle it tomorrow. Wish me luck!

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14 hours ago, GeschWhat said:

It is really hard to pick just one. But if I had to choose I would say cephalopod hooks and parts. I had a CT scan done of a small one from the Oxford Clay that was just loaded with them. You can see the thread HERE. That same coprolite may also have a worm, and what looks like either eggs or forams. I wish there was a way to post a video here so you could see rotated images. However, the file size is too big.

Holy WOW! I had missed that post. I don't ever check that discussion. Only had time for the photos, but WOW! So cool. Publish them!

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3 hours ago, Carl said:

Holy WOW! I had missed that post. I don't ever check that discussion. Only had time for the photos, but WOW! So cool. Publish them!

I had though about it, but kind of ran out of steam when I tried to separate the elements using the high resolution data (about double the resolution). Problem is the files were so big that I would get halfway through the sections, and the freeware program I was using on my computer would crash. That is why you don't see a good resolution image of the worm-like inclusion. The university only has one copy of the "good" software for use in their lab, and since it was getting close to summer (their busy research season), I had put it on hold. Last fall was crazy and I haven't yet gotten back to it. I just posted what I have so far in "Collections" last night. I also tried to post the a video I had made up using the sections last night to the member's gallery, but I got a plugin error when I tried to view it. I don't know if it is me or it just didn't work.

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Very cool! It looks like it could be a section of shark spine such as Ctentacanthus, is this genus known from the Ryan Formation?

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Wow, the CT images are fantastic. i  now see why you like the investigation of coprolites, fascinating. Thank you for showing us. Sometimes the smallest fossils I find are just amazing . I have some petrified wood with beautiful defined grain but this is for me far from most interesting part of this fossil . The little traces of woodworm holes Amazes me. Who would have thought that a tiny little insignificant larvae of a species of beetle could have a left a viable trace of life millions of years late.

 

thank you for the insight in to your collection. Bobby

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20 minutes ago, Bobby Rico said:

Wow, the CT images are fantastic. i  now see why you like the investigation of coprolites, fascinating. Thank you for showing us. Sometimes the smallest fossils I find are just amazing . I have some petrified wood with beautiful defined grain but this is for me far from most interesting part of this fossil . The little traces of woodworm holes Amazes me. Who would have thought that a tiny little insignificant larvae of a species of beetle could have a left a viable trace of life millions of years late.

 

thank you for the insight in to your collection. Bobby

I find anything with traces fascinating. Check out those worm holes carefully; you never know what else you may find. Check out THIS. Termite coprolites and eggs in petrified wood!

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I don't know if coprolite is the correct term for fossilized termite droppings?  Fresh insect waste is known as frass, and it seems I have seen fossilized insect waste also called frass.

 

Really, it's sophomores that make me this way.

 

Probably full of frass, or coprolites, or excrement,

Brent Ashcraft

ashcraft, brent allen

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1 minute ago, ashcraft said:

I don't know if coprolite is the correct term for fossilized termite droppings?  Fresh insect waste is known as frass, and it seems I have seen fossilized insect waste also called frass.

 

Really, it's sophomores that make me this way.

 

Probably full of frass, or coprolites, or excrement,

Brent Ashcraft

Coprolite is the correct term for any fossilized (mineralized) poop, regardless of it's maker. If I understand it correctly, frass can refer to any waste generated by termite activity including debris generated by boring activities. The word coprolite comes from the Greek words for dung (Kopros) stone (lithos). That said, there is not reason you couldn't refer to mineralized insect dropping as petrified/fossilized frass as well. I actually have a whole box of petrified "frass" from a petrified hollow log that I haven't had it sliced up yet, so I'm not sure exactly what is in there. Just too coprolites, not enough time.:D You teach sophomores?

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Nice bore hole on the left. I like the cyclamen-colored spots. Could you take a picture from the lower part transverse section of the specimen?

" 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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