Possible trilobite part ?

[Rocky Stoner]

Hey folks, just picked this up after lunch.

This is the first I've seen anything like this in the garden shale.

Does it look like the wings from a trilobite ?

It is shown exactly as it split.

Is there a way to prepare this ?

Thanks !

[ynot]

Does not look like a trilobite part to Me.

Not sure what it could be though.

How big is it?

[Kane]

Nice... It looks to be the pygidial spikes of a Greenops trilobite. Here's a picture of a complete one: 

[FossilDudeCO]

How big is your piece @Rocky Stoner

[ynot]

3 minutes ago, Kane said:

It looks to be the pygidial spikes of a Greenops trilobi

The preservation of this does not match the other trilobite parts that rockystoner has shown from this site.

[Miocene_Mason]

It's weird that the Pygidial spikes separated from the pygidium,I wonder if some more is under the matrix...

[Rocky Stoner]

12 minutes ago, FossilDudeCO said:

How big is your piece @Rocky Stoner

Here is another pic.

10 minutes ago, ynot said:

The preservation of this does not match the other trilobite parts that rockystoner has shown from this site.

There is a wide range of exposure, preservation and mud "types" in this garden. VERY wide range of shale / mud textures.

[FossilDAWG]

I can't think of what else it might be other than pygidial spines from an asteropygid trilobite such as Greenops or Bellcartwrightia.  I'd guess that more of the pygidium is in the rock on one side or the other.

 

Don

[Rocky Stoner]

2 minutes ago, WhodamanHD said:

It's weird that the Pygidial spikes separated from the pygidium,I wonder if some more is under the matrix...

That's why I asked how to expose it. It evidently split through the center, or ? ? ? ?

Which side is up ?

Thanks.

[Miocene_Mason]

1 minute ago, Rocky Stoner said:

That's why I asked how to expose it. It evidently split through the center, or ? ? ? ?

Which side is up ?

Thanks.

I think it may be split through the center, but that's just a guess. I'm not sure how you would get at it, or which side is up. Maybe other will know...

[ynot]

5 minutes ago, Rocky Stoner said:

preservation and mud "types" in this garden.

But all of the trilobites have shown similar preservation that does not match this piece.

But it seems that the consensus is against Me.

[Fossildude19]

I agree - looks like a Greenops sp.  pygidium to me. 

What does the other side of the small piece look like? 

Can you also take a pic with the 2 pieces back together?

Just now, ynot said:

But all of the trilobites have shown similar preservation that does not match this piece.

But it seems that the consensus is against Me.

 

Tony, 

The Mahantango formation does weird things to trilobites - most of Rocky's other posts have been of casts of the cephalons or pygidiums.

This one appears to still have at least some of the integument intact.  

[ynot]

3 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

The Mahantango formation does weird things to trilobites - most of Rocky's other posts have been of casts of the cephalons or pygidiums.

This one appears to still have at least some of the integument intact.  

That makes sense.

[Rocky Stoner]

1 minute ago, ynot said:

But all of the trilobites have shown similar preservation that does not match this piece.

But it seems that the consensus is against Me.

A typical chunk I pick up is maybe 1 to 2 inches thick with a layer of pure fossils (or nearly) in or near the center. The center split is where most all of the other parts were found. This however was a split of the solid hard green,gray shale that borders the "plate" layer. I do not normally split the harder stuff as I find little there, just happened to this time. Might split more of it now.

Thanks.

[Rocky Stoner]

12 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

I agree - looks like a Greenops sp.  pygidium to me. 

What does the other side of the small piece look like? 

Can you also take a pic with the 2 pieces back together?

Here is both sides and "on edge" assembled.

Thanks

[Kane]

It is looking like it didn't split very fairly for you.  When I find this (or a very similar species) in another formation, they can be very "sticky"; i.e., you can have bit stuck on one half and bits on the other, and that can be a nightmare to prep since it will involve a lot of careful removal and gluing. In this case, I would probably leave it be as it doesn't look complete as it doesn't seem to continue. Instead, you have half of a pygidium. But, like before, take heart: where there is one fragment, there may be a whole one lurking somewhere nearby.  

 

@WhodamanHD - It is the nature of this species, sadly. Their flakiness results in a lot of disarticulated bits, including just the "eyelash" spikes without the rest of the pygidium  

 

@ynot - Eldredgeops and Greenops do occasionally buddy up in some layers, and usually one will be in a majority while the other in the minority. I find that to be the case in both areas I more regularly collect, such as the Widder and the Windom. 

[Darktooth]

3 hours ago, Rocky Stoner said:

Hey folks, just picked this up after lunch.

This is the first I've seen anything like this in the garden shale.

Does it look like the wings from a trilobite ?

It is shown exactly as it split.

Is there a way to prepare this ?

Thanks !

Wings? I didn't know trilobites could fly?

[EMP]

3 hours ago, Rocky Stoner said:

That's why I asked how to expose it. It evidently split through the center, or ? ? ? ?

Which side is up ?

Thanks.

 

Yes it is. @WhodamanHD the way you can tell is that on Greenops sp. there is one central "spine" with five other spines on each side. Counting the spines, we can see that there are five spines on each side of a central one.

[Rocky Stoner]

4 hours ago, Darktooth said:

Wings? I didn't know trilobites could fly?

Sure they do.

How else do you think they got up on top of this here mountain ?

 

#17 & #18

I went out to split a few more of the harder shale pieces in hopes of finding more of the green' variety and these 2 fellows popped out.

A nice pygidium mold and another one eyed cephalon. This was an excersize in prep practice, trying to find that other eye without damaging it only to find that it wasn't even there.

This shed might have broken and separated at one of the suture lines, maybe ?

 

 

 

[MeargleSchmeargl]

I dunno...Not an expert on this, but might be a pygidium, though it kinda looks off to me. 

 

How about we ask @piranha ?

[Fossildude19]

10 hours ago, MeargleSchmeargl said:

I dunno...Not an expert on this, but might be a pygidium, though it kinda looks off to me. 

 

How about we ask @piranha ?

 

The last one posted is definitely an Eldredgeops  rana cephalon. 

Looks like it was crushed, flat and forward a bit.  Also, it's a cast - so it has lost lots of the external detail.

Regards,

[MeargleSchmeargl]

1 hour ago, Fossildude19 said:

 

The last one posted is definitely an Eldredgeops  rana cephalon. 

Looks like it was crushed, flat and forward a bit.  Also, it's a cast - so it has lost lots of the external detail.

Regards,

Yeah, I can see that pretty well. That Pygidium feels off to me though...

[Fossildude19]

10 minutes ago, MeargleSchmeargl said:

Yeah, I can see that pretty well. That Pygidium feels off to me though...

 

Which one? There are two posted here.  

The Greenops, and the Eldredgeops. 

[Kane]

11 minutes ago, MeargleSchmeargl said:

Yeah, I can see that pretty well. That Pygidium feels off to me though...

How so? It looks fairly typical. I've collected hundreds of both species, and seen them in all sorts of configurations (the twisted, crushed ones are always interesting!).

[MeargleSchmeargl]

Just now, Kane said:

How so? It looks fairly typical. 

I dunno, really. Probably just feels, so not very reliable. 

 

Probably wrong feeling about that first Pygidium shown (first pic) anyway, but eh, I'm not that much of an expert.

4 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

 

Which one? There are two posted here.  

The Greenops, and the Eldredgeops. 

The Green and Ellie are obvious to me, as I've seen many of them before. I'm referring to the first pic that isn't so clear about what's there. Probably is a pygidium, but it just felt off to me. Again, not an expert, so I'm probably wrong.