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Mazonia-Braidwood Fossil Hunting Trip LFC ES 220, 2017


Dr. John

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I've had some luck cracking open my first trove of nodules and my students have found a few cool things too.  I haven't ID'd everything yet and would appreciate any suggestions on that topic.  I'll be posting more photos as I get through the material.  Our collection was carried out at the end of September, 2017 as a part of the Ecology and Evolution class I teach in the Environmental Studies department of Lake Forest College.

Here's a jelly from a small nodule that gave up both the positive and negative casts.  

JellyFossil5.thumb.jpg.1b26672011d3e1fc87b611e14d57a6d9.jpg

Here's an awesome polycheate one of my students found.

Polychaete2.thumb.jpg.fc1611cc3ddcaa2545bfde7a8a0f99ef.jpg

 

I'm not 100% sure that this is a real fossil.  It popped out of the siderite matrix like this but I've seen other nodules with this lighter-colored mineral inside but not taking any organic shape.  If I was to guess, this is a Pteriomorphan bivalve of some type but it doesn't look like anything else I've seen online.

bivalvefossil1.thumb.jpg.8de9ea7d77f610c0c4b5081aa0ad9270.jpg

 

I sincerely doubt that I am lucky enough to have found an etacystis fossil on my first trip but this thing looks a lot like what I've seen described as such elsewhere.

Etacystis1.thumb.jpg.bbc31ba8338ca4d915fc7b0d899efa54.jpg

 

Plenty more to follow, I am totally hooked on this hobby. :)

 

Dr. John

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Nice that things are starting to pop out. In regards to your pictures, unlike most other fossils, Mazon Creek fossils do not come out very well when photographed so close- such as the pic that you ID as a polycheate worm. Is there a way that you can re-post a new pic? One that is not so close and shows the whole concretion. At this point, I am not seeing a worm. I do agree that your first pic is that of the Jellyfish "Essexella asherae", I am not seeing anything in your third pic, but again, another picture that is not so close and in better focus might show something different. I am not seeing an "H" in your last concretion, but can see how you came to that conclusion with the staining of the rock, I am more leaning toward a weathered "Essexella asherae".

 

Keep posting your concretions that pop open, you never know what's hiding inside those nodules.

 

Good luck. 

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Nice finds! Glad you are hooked on fossil hunting, now you can help assimilate others!:muahaha:

 

 

“...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

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Another polychaete, not quite so awesome of a preservation.  Also, it started out covered in calcium cabonate (is that right?) and I may have lost some detail scrubbing with vinegar.

 

59dfae2953c0d_PolychaeteFossil1.1.thumb.jpg.09c51e98eaf468fce8a508f01df63bc9.jpg

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3 hours ago, Dr. John said:

Another polychaete, not quite so awesome of a preservation.  Also, it started out covered in calcium cabonate (is that right?) and I may have lost some detail scrubbing with vinegar.

 

59dfae2953c0d_PolychaeteFossil1.1.thumb.jpg.09c51e98eaf468fce8a508f01df63bc9.jpg

This one is definitely a worm, but I cannot say the same for the one above from your original post, I believe that the 3d effect is just the way the concretion opened and is not a worm, I have seen this many times before. Some other members might chime in on this and give their opinions. 

 

One with with Mazon Creek fossils- they do present a lot of different opinions due to suggestive shapes and staining of the concretions.

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7 hours ago, Nimravis said:

This one is definitely a worm, but I cannot say the same for the one above from your original post, I believe that the 3d effect is just the way the concretion opened and is not a worm, I have seen this many times before. Some other members might chime in on this and give their opinions. 

 

One with with Mazon Creek fossils- they do present a lot of different opinions due to suggestive shapes and staining of the concretions.

 

Yes, I agree, the nodule with the 3-D inclusion looks similar to many I have split from Mazon Creek. The shape can be very suggestive, but I think it is geological, not a fossil.

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On 10/13/2017 at 12:07 AM, deutscheben said:

 

Yes, I agree, the nodule with the 3-D inclusion looks similar to many I have split from Mazon Creek. The shape can be very suggestive, but I think it is geological, not a fossil.

I also agree.  The second is a worm, but the first is just a suggestive shape.  Paradolia or apophenia is a problem with fossils in general.  It's hard to rule out shapes that look like something you are looking for.  I have seen ferns twisted into very suggestive shapes over the years.  In other places, brachiopods can be contorted in very strange ways. 

 

Partial and bad preservation, deformation, and our own hopes can make specimens tough to identify sometimes.

 

Cheers,

Rich

 

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I'm going to agree with others on your first specimen. I have a few examples on hand that may support the notion.  I don't believe either of these are fossils either; however, suggestively appear to possibly be. 

 

 

 

 

IMG_1933.JPG

Finding my way through life; one fossil at a time.

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