Jump to content

Black Cat Mountain Quarry field trip with Dallas Paleo Society, 3-18-17


DinoMike

Recommended Posts

 On 3-18-17, Dallas Paleo Society had a field trip to the Black Cat Mountain quarry in Coal County, Oklahoma.  Here are a few of my finds from the trip.  The details on the site are as follows:

 

Harangan and Bois D'arc formations. Age: Lower Devonian, approximately 419.2 to 393.3 million years ago.

 

 58ceb0b83373a_BlackCatMountain3-18-17006.jpg.6a582abff72afb9181d312dc756863ca.jpg

 

 Brachiopods, and what I think may be some form of coral.

 

58ceb0bd489ac_BlackCatMountain3-18-17007.jpg.404e2bc686127e022eb0352a2cc1f2fe.jpg

 

 Other side of the brachiopods, same side of the coral piece. Other side is just bare rock.

 

58ceb188381f3_BlackCatMountain3-18-17014.thumb.jpg.a38681b0bc3984f3232c8f689d38fb78.jpg

 

 Crinoid columnal section

 

58ceb1c40beb9_BlackCatMountain3-18-17018.thumb.jpg.eb9f8c46e7274d169a2b99e366a2042e.jpg

 

 Brachiopod bits & crinoid columnal section

 

58ceb288018ec_BlackCatMountain3-18-17011.thumb.jpg.cc93b2ffc4626344cc7e3ec3a54d49a4.jpg

 

 Random broken bits on a hash slab, brachiopod shells at top.

 

58ceb2de04bfb_BlackCatMountain3-18-17026.thumb.jpg.5e773d842c4dd0e106a7a1579174e6f6.jpg

 

 Brachiopod, Leptaena sp. Thanks for the ID help, @Kane:)

 

(Continued in next reply... )

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The last photo is a brachiopod, Leptaena sp.

 

Here's a hash plate I found of them a while back:

lept.jpg

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  Now on to the big draw of the quarry, trilobites!

 

 58ceb3acda37e_BlackCatMountain3-18-17001.thumb.jpg.3a2306b94b4f0579ff58c8a5b6e734a4.jpg

 

 Partial thorax & pygidium. I believe this is a Huntoniatonia sp.

 

58ceb46c8d28e_BlackCatMountain3-18-17008.thumb.jpg.650d876c7a121ae9b8554238079c9e6d.jpg

 

 I also found this enrolled trilobite in matrix. Got a little overeager when I saw this one, and shoved my hand right under a thorny vine to grab it. OW.  No idea what species this "roller" is unti some prep is done.

 

 Now for the surprise I got this morning when I started cleaning excess dirt off some of the hash slabs. Can you see it?

 

58ceb52554e05_BlackCatMountain3-18-17032.thumb.jpg.f7131f2e64690861b5b94b4bc6b52a0d.jpg

 

Can you see it?

 

58ceb563e3352_BlackCatMountain3-18-17033.thumb.jpg.6918fd71ab69132155ba83c5313e632d.jpg

 

 How about now?  :D

 

58ceb5b8107b1_BlackCatMountain3-18-17034.thumb.jpg.32cef5385998393cc2481c882777bde5.jpg

 

 BOOM! Trilobite cephalon! I think it's a Paciphacops campbelli.

 

58ceb602e5053_BlackCatMountain3-18-17035.thumb.jpg.6ba9a1d71d7240a169f5499bbc55702d.jpg

 

 Check out that detail in the right compound eye!

 

Last, here's another lonely random brachiopod.   It was a great trip!

 

 

 

58ceb63c00560_BlackCatMountain3-18-17036.jpg.5130dfdaa7fc520d4c77cbfbdb6d45ea.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great finds - thanks for sharing. It looks like you had a prosperous trip! 

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mine actually was less so than some others. many people had multiple trilobite pygidiums, several had more than 1 "roller"... that place was producing! At least no one ran afoul of any diamondback rattlesnakes this trip... that I know of.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice trip! Black Cat Mountain has always produced for me!

"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."
-Romans 14:19

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like a great trip. It is so weird that I recognize most of that Devonian fauna despite being across the the country. It is just in a different matrix than we see here

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 New find this morning! I noticed that I had left a chunk of rock in my collecting bucket, unexamined. A little cleaning, a touch of dental pick work, and what do ya know... another trilobite cephalon!

 

58cfbe6e7fb08_BlackCatMountain3-18-17037.jpg.5936d1a0a9b3a7cdc3253f571ddbe11d.jpg

 

 Little trilobite cephalon on the left, broken brachiopod on the right.

 

58cfbe719ee28_BlackCatMountain3-18-17040.jpg.cf5014346c20d2809be0dd69fff567d4.jpg

 

 Closeup of the cephalon. Scale in millimeters. Alas, the right eye & the right side of the glabella were pretty well weathered.

 

58cfbe68eac2e_BlackCatMountain3-18-17041.jpg.1c7a6282aa892014c480e29183343fab.jpg

 

 Digital microscope shot. I'm 90% certain it's another Paciphacops campbelli.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Black Cat is one of those places Ive always wanted to go to and hunt.  Maybe someday?   A great report with some great photos.  Neato stuff.

 

RB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Too bad I can't edit my earlier reply any longer. Seems that I got the trilobite genus wrong. It's now known as Huntoniatonia, due to Huntonia being preoccupied by a genus of isopod.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, DinoMike said:

 Too bad I can't edit my earlier reply any longer. Seems that I got the trilobite genus wrong. It's now known as Huntoniatonia, due to Huntonia being preoccupied by a genus of isopod.

 

 

Done! ;) 

    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      

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

 

 

Done! ;) 

 

 Thanks! Found another pygidium of the species today! Also found another Trilobutt that I haven't locked down as to genus yet. These Black Cat Mountain slabs are LOADED with triloparts, they're just kinda hard to see in the field sometimes. There are also 2 places that look like they MAY be piles of trilo-shell parts from some predator offloading undigestible bits. Hard to tell if it is really trilo, the piles are also full of brachiopod shell parts, bryozoan bits... may just be where eddy currents let Devonian "sea trash" pile up. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

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

×
×
  • Create New...