Not a clue here, please take a look.

[Rocky Stoner]

Hi again folks,

  In the freshly plowed garden this morning, found this very interesting, very busy chunk of shale along with several others.

I tried to break some open but did more damage than good, I think.

The big piece has what looks like a worm lying in an arc with holes radiating from the body of it. Is this an animal or maybe a plant root ?

 

The other question is: What are the features that have the appearance/texture of a strawberry ? Plant ? or ?

 

Thanks again folks, its amazing what you'll find ...... once you start looking.

more pics ........

 

Thanks

[Darktooth]

Definitely some shell imprints, with possibly some bryzoans. Can you do some closeups of #6?

[ynot]

Your "strawberry" is a bryozoan. The last item looks like a cephalopod chamber cast.

Not sure about the other things.

[Fossildude19]

I see fenestrate bryozoans (strawberry texture) , brachiopods, pelecypods, ... but am not sure about the curved imprint with holes. 

[Rocky Stoner]

Very interesting, thank you all.

wiki ... Fenestella is a genus of bryozoans or moss animals, forming fan–shaped colonies with a netted appearance.

I would have never guessed they were individuals in a colony, neat !

 

I'll get close ups of 6 shortly.

[Rockwood]

18 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

but am not sure about the curved imprint with holes. 

Root trace ?

[Rocky Stoner]

27 minutes ago, Darktooth said:

Definitely some shell imprints, with possibly some bryzoans. Can you do some closeups of #6?

Maybe better #6.

Let me know if I hit the right spot.

[doushantuo]

Prolly a oblique commissural view of a brach(iopod) in there

[abyssunder]

I could imagine the curved tubular "something" with the irregularly distributed little holes,  being more likely internal view of a branched crinoid anchoring system (rhizoids), rather than plant root system, in that devonian assemblage with brachiopods, bryozoans and crinoid remains.

 

 

It is clear for me, that in the picture below is at least one crinoid columnal facet imprint, if not three.

 

[Fossildude19]

Abyssunder probably has it correct with crinoid holdfast/root system.

[Darktooth]

1 hour ago, Rocky Stoner said:

Maybe better #6.

Let me know if I hit the right spot.

Yes you got it. The imprints that somewhat look like "scales" I believe are bryzoans. It appears you hae a couple different species in that piece. Nice find.

[Rocky Stoner]

Nice work abbyssunder !

Looks like you nailed it.

The attached pic if from the net, to ilustrate that there are many, many of thesehere as well.

Was to be my next ID posting, thank you.

Kind regards.

[doushantuo]

anch*

and yes,folks,of course I'm aware of...

Let's do "spot the difference" 

 

* outtake

[abyssunder]

Picture #7 -  I agree with doushantuo. It reminds me of rhynchonellid brachiopods. Maybe it's one of them.

[doushantuo]

to clarify my previous post:

a RUDWICKian *view of commissures

*either Fruitbat's library,BHL or the PALASS archive website will get you this article(i.e.NOT paywalled)

The BHL scans have a slightly lower resolution,BTW

[JohnBrewer]

That's one cool garden you've got there!

[Rockwood]

3 hours ago, abyssunder said:

I could imagine the curved tubular "something" with the irregularly distributed little holes,  being more likely internal view of a branched crinoid anchoring system (rhizoids), rather than plant root system, in that devonian assemblage with brachiopods, bryozoans and crinoid remains.

 

 

It is clear for me, that in the picture below is at least one crinoid columnal facet imprint, if not three.

 

Then what happened to the ridges ?

Roots can penetrate porous rock after minerals and water hundreds of millions of years later. They are the scourge of some fossil sites.

[Rocky Stoner]

53 minutes ago, JohnBrewer said:

That's one cool garden you've got there!

Thanks John.

I just went out to take a pic to give a general idea of how this layer of shale is turned up right at the surface.

I carried a few of the larger pieces back and gave them a quick scrub and rinse.

I popped a couple of them in half to reveal what was inside.

 

19 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

Then what happened to the ridges ?

Roots can penetrate porous rock after minerals and water hundreds of millions of years later. They are the scourge of some fossil sites.

There was one that I photoed in greater detail that might show more of the Crinoid with the ridges.

I took picks down into the hole as best I could. I'm reluctant to try to split it for fear of messing it up. But probably will anyway, I don't handle curiosity very well.

[Rockwood]

Okay, that's enough to tip me over to holdfast.

[Plax]

looks like Mahantango formation. You might try googling that to get some names for your fauna

[Rocky Stoner]

OK,

I clearly need a better camera .... or learn how to use this one.

more pics of the splits.

 

I'm curious regarding the closeup.

Does it look familiar ?

2 minutes ago, Plax said:

looks like Mahantango formation. You might try googling that to get some names for your fauna

Yes, it is ... according to the USGS map I referenced. Some of the data I retrieve is a bit confusing at this early stage of my interest.

Thanks !

[Plax]

with that much exposure you may find a trilobite

[Fossildude19]

The last picture looks like a cast of Pleurodictyum styloporum. 

 

See this post. 

 

 

[Rocky Stoner]

This might be some of forked rooting of the Crinoid, possibly ? Each fork disappears into a hole in the shale.

 

Several of these chunks are riddled with similar holes and tunnels, I may break into them later.

 

I seem to destroy most everything I try to expose. I've learned to brush and rinse very well but cannot get the shale to split where I want it to. It has a mind of its own but does tend to follow the highest concentration layer of fossils. Is there a trick to this ?

Thanks

 

[EMP]

26 minutes ago, Rocky Stoner said:

This might be some of forked rooting of the Crinoid, possibly ? Each fork disappears into a hole in the shale.

 

Several of these chunks are riddled with similar holes and tunnels, I may break into them later.

 

I seem to destroy most everything I try to expose. I've learned to brush and rinse very well but cannot get the shale to split where I want it to. It has a mind of its own but does tend to follow the highest concentration layer of fossils. Is there a trick to this ?

Thanks

 

 

I'd advise against hammering into layers like the Mahantango, since it tends to be more massive and not break along clear cut lines like better bedded (I have no idea how you'd say that) formations.

 

Other then that the reason you're probably not finding anything in those tiny "holes" is because they're either from Tentaculites sp. or worm burrows, both of which are unlikely to have much of anything else in them.

 

It looks like most of your finds are one of a couple of things. 8 looks like a Protoleptostrophia sp. or a similar strophomenid. 9 looks to be like a spiriferid, maybe Mucrospirifer sp. The "strawberry" looking things are bryozoans (quite common in some layers of the Mahantango), specifically Fenestella sp. I think some of your "crinoid stalks" are actually Tentaculites sp. They look similar, but the ribbing is different.