Fossil found in central Missouri

[jwblake]

Fossil I found the other day have no idea what it is. I can take more pictures if needed. 

[doushantuo]

This might be a cephalopod(mollusc)shell ,perhaps an ascoceratid.

On the other hand,I'm bad at determinations.

 

[Xiphactinus]

That is a beautiful internal mold of a cephalopod. A great find!

[Peat Burns]

1 hour ago, jwblake said:

Fossil I found the other day have no idea what it is. I can take more pictures if needed. 

Welcome to the forum.  Outstanding find!  As the others have said, it is an orthoconic nautiloid  (Google it for more info).  It resembles  Gomphoceras  (of the Silurian and Devonian periods).  Could you Google Image search "Missouri bedrock geology" and based on where you found it tell us what geologic time period it likely came from?  That will help with specific ID.

 

Note, the geologic map of missouri will only show bedrock geology.  If your fossil was found in glacial deposits, it was likely transported from elsewhere and  could be from a variety of different aged rocks.

[jwblake]

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Edited May 9, 2017 by jwblake

[jwblake]

6 hours ago, Peat Burns said:

Welcome to the forum.  Outstanding find!  As the others have said, it is an orthoconic nautiloid  (Google it for more info).  It resembles  Gomphoceras  (of the Silurian and Devonian periods).  Could you Google Image search "Missouri bedrock geology" and based on where you found it tell us what geologic time period it likely came from?  That will help with specific ID.

 

Note, the geologic map of missouri will only show bedrock geology.  If your fossil was found in glacial deposits, it was likely transported from elsewhere and  could be from a variety of different aged rocks.

I found this in Callaway county which has 5 different ages so I'm not sure when it was from. I just found this thing laying in the creek while looking for arrowheads. Is this a rare find or anything I know nothing about it.

[Peat Burns]

9 minutes ago, jwblake said:

I found this in Callaway county which has 5 different ages so I'm not sure when it was from. I just found this thing laying in the creek while looking for arrowheads. Is this a rare find or anything I know nothing about it.

I'm guessing it is middle palaeozoic.  I don't know if it's rare or not (I guess that's a relative term), but I'd be extremely happy if I found that.  It would definitely go into my collection.  I have only found one of that type of cephalopod (mine is Gomphoceras) and it's not nearly as nice as yours.

[jwblake]

3 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

I'm guessing it is middle palaeozoic.  I don't know if it's rare or not (I guess that's a relative term), but I'd be extremely happy if I found that.  It would definitely go into my collection.  I have only found one of that type of cephalopod (mine is Gomphoceras) and it's not nearly as nice as yours.

So mine is a orthoconic nautiloid 

[Peat Burns]

4 minutes ago, jwblake said:

So mine is a orthoconic nautiloid 

Yes.  Comparable to or at least similar to Gomphoceras (a type of orthoconic nautiloid ) (you can see similar ones on google image search).  I'll try to remember to post a picture of mine tonight.

[Peat Burns]

@jwblake, here's mine.  Yours is much nicer and more complete.  I wouldn't try to chip it out or anything.  I'd leave it just as it is.  It is more scientifically valuable / informative with the rock attached.  Someone with knowledge of your local geology could probably look at the attached rock and any smaller fossils within and figure out from which rock layer / time period the specimen came.

 

[jwblake]

15 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

@jwblake, here's mine.  Yours is much nicer and more complete.  I wouldn't try to chip it out or anything.  I'd leave it just as it is.  It is more scientifically valuable / informative with the rock attached.  Someone with knowledge of your local geology could probably look at the attached rock and any smaller fossils within and figure out from which rock layer / time period the specimen came.

 

Thank you so much for all the help I went from knowing nothing about it to knowing what it actually is! Thanks so much again!

[Peat Burns]

8 minutes ago, jwblake said:

Thank you so much for all the help I went from knowing nothing about it to knowing what it actually is! Thanks so much again!

Glad to help!  Please feel free to post any other finds you come across.  We all love to see fossils and help each other out.