Jump to content

digit

Recommended Posts

Last week I had to do a little yard work to remove an old hibiscus tree that had seen better days and was more dead than alive. While digging out the root ball I had to dig down a few feet in the sandy material that passes for soil here in South Florida. It is not uncommon to find lots of shells while digging--the ground is literally shot through with small bivalves (mostly Chione sp.) and small conch, murex, and whelks are not particularly rare finds either. I have a small collection of some of the nicer preserved specimens that have come to light while planting (or removing) trees on my property. I know that Florida has one of the highest densities of golf courses per capita in the US but I didn't realize that this tradition dated back so far. :P

 

P4182332.jpg.d02707d07a97f9cdae412a1ba9d0ec60.jpg    P4182333.jpg.2e5a901586b502ba810e537cebee056d.jpg

 

In actuality, this tiny coral which, admittedly does actually resemble one of Titleist's best, seems to be a small species of Siderastrea. It closely resembles an extant species, Siderastrea siderea, that can form large coral boulders however a little Google image searching brought me to a page with what appears to be a match: S. pliocenica.

 

http://porites.geology.uiowa.edu/database/corals/combined/Siderastreapliocenica.htm

 

It's nice to live in a state where fossils come looking for YOU even when you are not looking for THEM.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BTW: The aforementioned Siderastrea siderea corals that can still be found throughout the Tropical Western Atlantic can reach much larger sizes as shown here. These photos are from St. Vincent in the eastern Caribbean where I was a couple weeks ago. Sadly, these corals (like most others) are in decline and large specimens are becoming fewer and farther between.

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

P4041535.jpg.1e96e64bc64066a6d39beedd56fbf16c.jpg    P4041533.jpg.f8959d7ac126faa1c3b6ee66827df8b3.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While no one can be certain how the coral came to rest in such an unlikely place,  we do have some ideas^_^

429345934_1280x960.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And shanked it off into the rough underneath my hibiscus. Would explain those odd golf cart tracks in my front lawn.

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

C3069oAW8AENbC4.jpg.346b25a02c1e4d2ebac383833a36db1a.jpg

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wanted to share a few of mine. You and Chris (plantguy) are the only two I know that take much interest in these. Jeff and I have collected and trade each other a few things but we aren't very knowledgeable with these fossils.  

FB_IMG_1492537280699.jpg

This brainI collected from the Caribbean. 

FB_IMG_1492537273903.jpg

This is my largest specimen.  Collected locally. It's about 20" long and 40 pounds or so.  Cut me all to hell carrying out.  

FB_IMG_1492537268258.jpg

This one is about 14" completely agatized. It can't from punta gorda. It also hurt real bad carrying out lol. 

 

FB_IMG_1492537262461.jpg

It has some agate but mostly a carbonate cast? 

 

FB_IMG_1492537257153.jpg

Another heavy cast.

 

FB_IMG_1492537252600.jpg

Not sure bout this one.  Agatized though. 

FB_IMG_1492537884591.jpg

These 3 were also collected locally.  The dogs too, collected locally lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Search4 said:

 

FB_IMG_1492537280699.jpg

This brain I collected from the Caribbean. 

 

You can see why these are called "brain" corals as this one is even noggin shaped. Except for not being divided into hemispheres, this one is very cerebral. As it is modern and not fossil I can state with some certainty that this is Pseudodiploria strigosa (formerly in the genus Diploria but moved into a newly erected and closely related genus based on recent DNA work). These tend to look like this in life.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

P4041540.jpg.6ac6d0cc0d72a5105e7cff122a55e304.jpg

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw those I  Mexico the size of cars in only 30ft of water.  Mine is very heavy.  I don't know what constitutes as fossilized but its from grand Cayman and weighs about 6lbs. I had about a 50lb specimen but it was confiscated and disposed of back into the ocean.  :blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So there really are golf ball fossils!!  Ok ,it's really a coral, and Siderastrea pliocenica  does look like a good match, but it sure reminds me of the dinosaur egg I found a few years ago when I wrote a poem about it for a TFF contest:

 

Today I found a fossil egg.
It's round and hard and white.
It's worth a lot of money.
I know that I am right.
My camera isn't working.
The picture's kind of dim.
It's also out of focus
And I don't know how to trim.
I found it on the golf course.
It's shiny, not too large.
I need to sell it quickly.
Can you tell me what to charge?

Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Pagurus said:

Today I found a fossil egg.
It's round and hard and white.
It's worth a lot of money.
I know that I am right.
My camera isn't working.
The picture's kind of dim.
It's also out of focus
And I don't know how to trim.
I found it on the golf course.
It's shiny, not too large.
I need to sell it quickly.
Can you tell me what to charge?

 

Love it. Made my evening with that. It's funny because it is so true.

 

Thanks for the chuckle.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

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

×
×
  • Create New...