married2rick Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 These were found yesterday in New Bloomfield Pa. Devonian. Someone suggested that they are fish scales. They look nothing like scales to me, lol. Can anyone confirm or dispute this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Hello Brenda! Nice to see you back posting. Sorry, but I don't think there are scales on this. Many Devonian fish had armor plating, which this doesn't really resemble. Here is an example from forum member Kane. The colored spots look too amorphous to be scales, as well. I think you have some lumpy, mineral stained matrix. Regards, 4 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER 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 More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Also ,many Devonian fish did NOT have armour plating the uppermost piece/ plate has a bit of a resorbed cosmine look,but that's probably not important 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 22 minutes ago, doushantuo said: Also ,many Devonian fish did NOT have armour plating True Ben - thanks for mentioning that. The ones with scales however, did have more shape and structure to the scales than amorphous blobs. I'm also not familiar with any Devonian age scaled fish found in Pennsylvania. More o' a Scottish thing,... Nae? 2 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER 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 More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 bit of paleozoic fish taphonomy: burrowacanthodpiscaphoTaphonomy_of_acanthodians_from_the_Devon.pdf I am sure glad i know nothing of paleozoic fish 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 29 minutes ago, doushantuo said: Also ,many Devonian fish did NOT have armour plating the uppermost piece/ plate has a bit of a resorbed cosmine look,but that's probably not important True. Some of them had adorable onesies and Devo band shirts. Neither of them lasted too long in the hurly burly age of fishes. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 the Devonian was a very fashionable time. Was I around then? Well,Heather Yowza-Yowza and Jeff "Pootie" Nakamura and yours truly are working on a time machine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 Just now, doushantuo said: the Devonian was a very fashionable time. Was I around then? Well,Heather Yowza-Yowza and Jeff "Pootie" Nakamura and yours truly are working on a time machine Would that make them "fishionistas," then? 1 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 It is puns such as those that have earned you the well-earned reputation of being a bit of a potential liability for this forum A modicum of seriousness wouldn't go astr.. yes,it would. The moderators are here,with an insultingly big straitjacket... I am NOT that fat,good sirs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 On 4/23/2017 at 9:55 AM, married2rick said: These were found yesterday in New Bloomfield Pa. Devonian. Someone suggested that they are fish scales. They look nothing like scales to me, lol. Can anyone confirm or dispute this? Are they raised? I've seen worm burrows take on a similar pattern. Alternatively, there is a resemblence to a particular type of Devonian coral (Aulopora?), though the "tubes" would be more distinct. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 paleozoicfish,sorta primer for ichthyoliths 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 There are scaled fishes at Red Hill, including the lobe-fin Holoptychius (and others), but that's the only Devonian deposit in Pennsylvania with which I am remotely familiar. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 5 minutes ago, doushantuo said: paleozoicfish,sorta primer for ichthyoliths Thanks for posting this one. The diagrams are very helpful! ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 24 minutes ago, Peat Burns said: There are scaled fishes at Red Hill, including the lobe-fin Holoptychius (and others), but that's the only Devonian deposit in Pennsylvania with which I am remotely familiar. Doh! Too true. Totally forgot about Red Hill. 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER 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 More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted April 23, 2017 Share Posted April 23, 2017 1 hour ago, Fossildude19 said: Doh! Too true. Totally forgot about Red Hill. No worries . I'm the king of brain f&rts and do this all the time. I was sure you knew about Red Hill because you responded to an ID confirmation question on Catskill Fm. material I posted a number of months back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
married2rick Posted April 23, 2017 Author Share Posted April 23, 2017 Kane - they are not raised. All you wonderful people are too much, so funny. Hey Tim, good to be back. I'm going with NOT fish scales! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 I have seen similar material from a site in the book "Fossil Collecting in Pennsylvania" perhaps from susquehanna county? It was labeled as "fish" but perhaps scale isn't the correct term for this material. I also recall that the rocks there were mildly radioactive. Wish I had paper references here at work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sTamprockcoin Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Plax Though "fish scales" were reported ,in the old literature, in Susquehanna County around Montrose I was never actually able to find the locality or anyone who had any samples (I got to live there in Pennsylvania hill billy heaven{?} for 2.5 years). I don't recall seeing any reports of radioactivity in those boring thick Catskill beds of gray and red blue-stone. Occasionally a well flattened plant stem or shell cast would turn up in a blue stone slab but that was about it. If you search the Pa DCNR website I think the Geological Survey Susquehanna County Report is posted as a downloadable PDF. I'd say that the mottled rocks pictured are probably weathered (accounting for the color contrast) clay/mud clastic layers. “Beautiful is what we see. More beautiful is what we understand. Most beautiful is what we do not comprehend.” N. Steno Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted April 25, 2017 Share Posted April 25, 2017 12 hours ago, sTamprockcoin said: Plax Though "fish scales" were reported ,in the old literature, in Susquehanna County around Montrose I was never actually able to find the locality or anyone who had any samples (I got to live there in Pennsylvania hill billy heaven{?} for 2.5 years). I don't recall seeing any reports of radioactivity in those boring thick Catskill beds of gray and red blue-stone. Occasionally a well flattened plant stem or shell cast would turn up in a blue stone slab but that was about it. If you search the Pa DCNR website I think the Geological Survey Susquehanna County Report is posted as a downloadable PDF. I'd say that the mottled rocks pictured are probably weathered (accounting for the color contrast) clay/mud clastic layers. My experience is old and from paper for the most part. The specimen in the OP does indeed look like what you describe. A lot depends on scale of the scales. The radioactivity at the Montrose site (if that's the one I'm remembering) may have been documented in "Pennsylvania Geology" or the account of the site in "Fossil Collecting in Pennsylvania". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 I finally got around to looking up the Devonian site with "fish scales". It's page 166 in "Fossil collecting in Pennsylvania" 1983. They list Holoptychius and Bothryolepsis. May have the names misspelled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMP Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 On 4/23/2017 at 9:55 AM, married2rick said: These were found yesterday in New Bloomfield Pa. Devonian. Someone suggested that they are fish scales. They look nothing like scales to me, lol. Can anyone confirm or dispute this? I don't think that's fish related. My guess is hematite oolites that have differential weathering with the shale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 you're probably right EMP. Was providing more information from my earlier post on this thread. I'd still like to see a nice sharp enlargement of one of the "scales" in the bottom subject. How big are these? I may have missed the size earlier? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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