madness Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 Founds this in Austin, in the Austin Chalk. It's 10 cm across. Any ideas what it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macrophyseter Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 My opinion, the hole in yhe middle of the fossil seems natural, ao I don't think its a bivalve. Maybe some sort of mollusk? But dony take my word seriously until someone whos an expert in this comes by and gives a better answer. If you're a fossil nut from Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Redondo Beach, or Torrance, feel free to shoot me a PM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifbrindacier Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 It looks like a piece of ammonite. Could you take photos of all the faces : those that i have circled, the other side and the parts in a circle or a rectangle, We must see those parts fronting your camera. "On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry) "We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes." In memory of Doren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifbrindacier Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 Like in those photos, for example : "On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry) "We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes." In memory of Doren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 I agree that it's a nautiloid. “...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...
madness Posted October 15, 2017 Author Share Posted October 15, 2017 Interesting. I thought it was an internal cast of something like a gryphaeidae. Here are some more photos. Using the original photo as reference: The left: The right: The top: The back is just matrix. I can see what I interpret as shell where the fossil meets the matrix. This is what lead me to think it was an internal cast. I found loads of this "shell" fossil in little bits all over in this location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madness Posted October 15, 2017 Author Share Posted October 15, 2017 Here's a magnified view of a section of the "shell". Not sure if that helps at all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Is the shell fibrous? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 It's one of the weirder "inoceramids". The genus is Volviceramus. There are three species known from the Austin Chalk. It looks mostly like V. involutus. It's a great specimen, a keeper for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madness Posted October 15, 2017 Author Share Posted October 15, 2017 1 hour ago, FranzBernhard said: Is the shell fibrous? I think I would call it fibrous! There are distinct transverse/perpendicular lines, by which I mean running from the outside to the inside. It's hard to get a good shot because of the shape of the fossil. Here are three pieces we found in the same location that have similar characteristics - though the shell on the fossil in this thread shows no signs of curvature like the bigger pieces here. The shell on the fossil under question is about 3 mm thick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madness Posted October 15, 2017 Author Share Posted October 15, 2017 5 minutes ago, erose said: It's one of the weirder "inoceramids". The genus is Volviceramus. There are three species known from the Austin Chalk. It looks mostly like V. involutus. It's a great specimen, a keeper for sure. I was typing a comment when your reply came in! Something else I've never heard of. Seems to be a lot of that these days. Off to do some more research! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Your fragments are from inoceramid shells as well. They show the classic "prismatic" structure of those bivalves. There are quite a few different genera, subgenera and species of "inoceramids" in the Austin Chalk. But there are also a few that do occur in the lower formations as well as higher up in the strata. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 The pattern reminded me of a inoceramid but that is a wierd curve, curse you convergent evolution! “...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...
KimTexan Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 I'm no expert, but I still thought it looked like something from the Gryphaeidae family maybe along the lines of the exogyrinea subfamily. But I searched for Volviceramus here on the forum and came up with this reference posted by @abyssunder and that looks like a pretty close representation of it. See the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 That's what I was searching for to my reply. Thanks for finding it. " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimTexan Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 You're welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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