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Plant or feather (Glen Rose / Devils River Lower Cretaceous Texas)


Mr.Marcus

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Could someone please help me identify this fossil. I'm not sure if it is a plant or feather. My instincts tell me it is some sort of filtering sea plant. I found it while fossil hunting with my boys on top of small mountain approximately 3 miles west-northwest of Camp Wood, TX. The geologic atlas of Texas indicates that the formation is the Lower Devils River / Upper Glen Rose (Lower Cretaceous). The fossil is 1.5" x 0.5".

20170620_211933 (2).jpg

20170620_212019 (2).jpg

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It does appear to be a bivalve and could very well be a rudist since they must come in a variety of different shapes considering all of the fossils that get identified here as rudist. I usually just see broken pieces of them though so maybe someone else can give us the rest of the name.

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It looks like an inoceramus clam with both valves attached at a hingeline. See a photo of one by Ludwigia on TFF

 

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7 hours ago, DPS Ammonite said:

It looks like an inoceramus clam with both valves attached at a hingeline. See a photo of one by Ludwigia on TFF

 

It's funny that you would post a link to an example from my neck of the woods... So I don't have to!

The ornamentation on that is so close to the ones I find at my local spot, though it's oddly narrow and then there are those long striations on the side..?

I never find them with articulated valves, either, but that's a difference in taphonomy of course.

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Not sure if this photo changes anyone's mind. What genus/species clam would this rudist be? I found it in the Glen Rose formation in SW Central Texas / Uvalde County (~3 miles northwest of Camp Wood).

fossil2.jpg

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This is a bivalve, but not a rudist and it is not an inoceramid. It is either Inoperna concenticecostellata (Roemer) or possibly Modiolus banderensis (Whitney).  I have been working on IDs for my own Glen Rose Formation and lower Fredericksburg Group fossils and have similar specimens. Modiolus may be the better ID based on size. It would help to have a photo from the other side since I can not tell if it is a closed or open specimen.

 

It is a fairly decent specimen. As many of you know most of our regular bivalves do not preserve as anything more than a steinkern. Specimens like this with good detail are always welcome.

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