Blasdell/Hamburg NY Part 2

[FossilDAWG]

That is an amazing number of quality fossils!  

 

I am curious about why everyone seems to be calling the orthocones Spyroceras, as Spyroceras is characterized by strong annular ribs (ribs that encircle the shell, as opposed to longitudinal ribs that run the length of the shell).  The photos show a smooth shelled orthocone.  Perhaps people are mistaking the septa for ribs?  In any even I think these are not Spyroceras, perhaps something like Michelinoceras is a better fit?

 

Don

[Kane]

Thanks, Don, and I think you're right. Jay and I found a large fragment of Spyroceras last September that looks as you describe it with the annular rings. I think we just fell into a bad habit of calling all the nautiloids we pull up Spyroceras. 

[Dsailor]

On 4/16/2017 at 6:35 PM, ischua said:

 I love this one. The way it is positioned half out makes it look like the very definition of "fossil"

[Fossil-Hound]

@Peat Burns and @Kane we had a solid day today. @DevonianDigger and I hit the site early and were surprised to find that Mr. Bellacartwrightia himself was in our midst. He actually goes by Alasdair and we encouraged him to create an account on TFF. I completely forgot to show him what you found yesterday but he recovered the following which could be another Bellacartwrightia.

[Fossil-Hound]

@Kane I am crossing my fingers that this one is complete but if there is an upper half it will be hard to get to, so I'll probably have this one professionally prepared so that I don't destroy it. He's mine all mine!  I just really hope it's a complete specimen. Looks like a Greenops boothi but I'll need to have an expert look at this one. Might be a Bellacartwrightia but I'm really not sure. The difference between the two is subtle.

[Kane]

4 minutes ago, jsnrice said:

@Peat Burns and @Kane we had a solid day today. @DevonianDigger and I hit the site early and were surprised to find the Mr. Bellacartwrightia himself. He actually goes by Alasdair and we encouraged him to join the site. I completely forgot to show him what you found but he recovered the following which could be another Bellacartwrightia.

This is a lovely specimen. I'm not confident it is Bellacartwrightia, though. Genal spines tend to be longer and the spine has raised spikes. Can you zoom in on this one? Even if it is Greenops, it is quite excellent. 

[Fossil-Hound]

I'm really going to miss this magical place and am a bit envious that @Kane and @DevonianDigger live so close to it! @DevonianDigger so after you left I packed up all my gear and was waiting for my ride, so I decided to dig some more. Pulled out a monster slab and within half an hour recovered the following Spyroceras and all these rollers and partial prones. 

[Fossil-Hound]

1 minute ago, Kane said:

This is a lovely specimen. I'm not confident it is Bellacartwrightia, though. Genal spines tend to be longer and the spine has raised spikes. Can you zoom in on this one? Even if it is Greenops, it is quite excellent. 

 

Sorry Alasdair has it in his possession but he promised to send pictures once he had it prepped. What do you think of the one that I found? Is that a Greenops? I really wish there was a side-by-side comparison of the two species.

[Kane]

@jsnrice a bit more challenging (for me) to tell from just the pygidium, but I think Bellacartwrightia has longer pygidial spines. 

[Fossil-Hound]

2 minutes ago, Kane said:

@jsnrice a bit more challenging (for me) to tell from just the pygidium, but I think Bellacartwrightia has longer pygidial spines. 

 

That's what I figured. Well Greenops are still pretty sweet. Prep yours out and then we can do some research and see if you have the coveted Bella.  I'm too nervous to touch the two I have. 

[piranha]

 

This trilobite is a Greenops sp.

 

Here is an excellent monograph:

 

Lieberman, B.S., & Kloc, G.J. (1997)
Evolutionary and biogeographic patterns in the Asteropyginae (Trilobita, Devonian) Delo, 1935. 
American Museum of Natural History Bulletin, 232:1-127   LINK

 

[Fossil-Hound]

@piranha thank you for the ID!

[Kane]

@jsnrice I think mine is pretty beat up and won't benefit much from any more significant prep, but there's enough diagnostic details to have one of our trilo experts confirm my strong hunch that it is the beloved Bella. 

[Peat Burns]

40 minutes ago, jsnrice said:

@Peat Burns and @Kane we had a solid day today. @DevonianDigger and I hit the site early and were surprised to find that Mr. Bellacartwrightia himself was in our midst. He actually goes by Alasdair and we encouraged him to create an account on TFF. I completely forgot to show him what you found yesterday but he recovered the following which could be another Bellacartwrightia.

Holy c**p that is an awesome Greenops.  This has been one of the best trip reports.  You guys scooped me a bit, though, with your "real time" report .  I was going to do that this year for fun.  

[Fossil-Hound]

@Peat Burns yes it has been one of the funnest trips I've ever experienced in my short life (I'm only 30). 

[Fossil-Hound]

8 hours ago, Kane said:

Deb found this little Spyroceras with nicely articulated chambers.

 

I realize that the trilobites are the main attraction at PD, but the cephalopods are so cool looking! 

[Fossildude19]

Cropped and turned it for you, jsnrice.  

 

[Fossil-Hound]

Just now, Fossildude19 said:

Cropped and turned it for you, jsnrice.  

 

 

Ha that does look better! Thanks @Fossildude19 Praying that this beauty is complete and this might be one of the few fossils I'll ever have professionally prepared.

[Ludwigia]

12 hours ago, Kane said:

Just got home and going through buckets. Plenty to still sort through, prep, etc. Just a pic of some rollers, semi-prone, and distorted E. rana. 

Why do I always have to think of Darth Vader when I see these little rollies? Black on brown looks to have potential.

[Ludwigia]

10 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

The brown ones are the ones that typically show the chromatophores. 

Some careful prep may expose that.

 

Now you've got me curious. Can you show us what they look like?

[Fossildude19]

5 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

 

Now you've got me curious. Can you show us what they look like?

 

Roger,

It has been mentioned here before. LINK 1   LINK 2             

[Ludwigia]

11 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

 

Roger,

It has been mentioned here before. LINK 1   LINK 2             

 

Thanks for the links, Tim. I'd forgotten all about the last one, seeing I'd made a comment there. In Buttenheim the chromatophores come in the form of dotted stripes on the flanks of Pleuroceras ammonites.

 

[Malcolmt]

21 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

Cropped and turned it for you, jsnrice.  

 

Unfortunately these typically break just above the point where yours goes into the matrix. Not to dash your hopes but in all likelihood it is just a pygidium. Unfortunately I have found far too many greenops pygidiums at Penn, to the point where I just give them to the little kids wandering around. In all my trips there I have only ever found 3 that are more than about 60% complete with the best one being about 90% complete. Yet I suspect I have found well over a hundred pygidiums and perhaps 20 cephalons. Complete greenops or even mostly complete are a rare find at Penn Dixie. Here's keeping our fingers crossed for you.

[Malcolmt]

21 hours ago, jsnrice said:

 

I realize that the trilobites are the main attraction at PD, but the cephalopods are so cool looking! 

This ceph is quite nice for Penn Dixie. Depending on the thickness of the slab it might prep out very 3d

[Kane]

1 hour ago, Malcolmt said:

Unfortunately these typically break just above the point where yours goes into the matrix. Not to dash your hopes but in all likelihood it is just a pygidium. Unfortunately I have found far too many greenops pygidiums at Penn, to the point where I just give them to the little kids wandering around. In all my trips there I have only ever found 3 that are more than about 60% complete with the best one being about 90% complete. Yet I suspect I have found well over a hundred pygidiums and perhaps 20 cephalons. Complete greenops or even mostly complete are a rare find at Penn Dixie. Here's keeping our fingers crossed for you.

I hear that. We were lucky to find about two at about 60-75% out of all that shale. Mostly pygidia and cephalons is what's on offer. And very flaky, a little like Arkona where it's several hundreds of bits to one full one. Prep on a likely confirmed full one is very much best left to a seasoned prep expert with a very steady hand. Just as bad, they tend to have pieces stuck on the impression side, and the pygidial spines flake off very easily.