SteveRoz Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Hi, I'd appreciate some help with this one, it's got me completely foxed and I can't find anything similar online. The matrix is a mudstone, it was a loose rock in a stream, the rocks in the area are all Brigantian (Upper Visean) - Carboniferous Cyclothem deposits (Northumberland, UK). There were 3 of these, all about an inch long, oval shaped, but fairly irregular, with faint radial lines/corrugations from a central 'spine'. They are three dimensional about a quarter of an inch thick. Small spiriferid brachiopod shell fragments in the same rock are undeformed, so I think the irregular shape is original. They remind me of small jellyfish but I think that's highly unlikely to have fossilised so I'm guessing some sort of trace fossil. All three are similar in shape and size so I'm wondering if there's a specific name for these, and whether it's known sort of creature made them? Cheers Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Welcome to TFF! My first thought is a sponge of some sort. But wait for others to reply. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Are mud bubbles (or other blobs of preserved mud) a possibility? Now that I think about it I think I've seen something like this in my collection, late Carboniferous. Let me go take a look... “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Ahh yes, it's actually on my upload to IPFOTM, it's hard to see though and has been broken, had to be glued back together. Don't know what it is though.... its a about a centimeter or two from a horsetail root, but I dont think that has anything to do with it. “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 These are pseudofossils; nodules slickensided by burial compaction: Guilielmites 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 I agree with piranha. I've found exactly the same things in Brigantian shales in Co. Durham, fooled me for a while. Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted August 2, 2017 Share Posted August 2, 2017 Just learned something new Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 vide("see") "fossil hunting trips,Turimetta headland",on this very same forum The Byrnes/Karaolis PDF I couldn't find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 I find these all the time in shale around here. They are very annoying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 Are these restricted to carboniferous rocks? I wonder why... “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveRoz Posted August 3, 2017 Author Share Posted August 3, 2017 Wow, that's a fantastic response, thanks everyone for ideas and particularly piranha, I've never come across these Guilielmites before, great to learn something new! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor Mud Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 13 hours ago, piranha said: These are pseudofossils; nodules slickensided by burial compaction: Guilielmites Thanks Piranha, I hadn't heard of this process but it makes perfect sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 6 hours ago, WhodamanHD said: Are these restricted to carboniferous rocks? I wonder why... No, they aren't. We have found them in Permian - Triassic rocks around here (Sydney). Nowhere else that I can remember? o.O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 3 hours ago, Foozil said: No, they aren't. We have found them in Permian - Triassic rocks around here (Sydney). Nowhere else that I can remember? o.O Still makes me wonder. What's the consistent factors between pennsyvanian of Pennsylvania, carboniferous of U.K., and Permian to Triassic rocks of Australia. And why aren't there slickensided nodules in rocks of all ages? I don't know, seems suspicious to me.... “...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin Happy hunting, Mason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 Ya learn something new everyday. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted August 3, 2017 Share Posted August 3, 2017 Here is the most recent paper: Byrnes, J.G., Rice, T.D., & Karaolis, D. (1978) Guilielmites formed from phosphatized concretions in the Ashfield Shale of the Sydney area. Geological Survey of New South Wales Records 18(2)169-199.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveRoz Posted August 3, 2017 Author Share Posted August 3, 2017 Thanks for the paper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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