Adam's Ordovician.

[Tidgy's Dad]

1 hour ago, Bobby Rico said:

This little beauties is a winner . Btw are you using like me a camera on a phone.

 

I don't have a camera or a camera phone, so it's wifey's camera on her phoney thing. 

She takes some of the photos and does any editing. 

And she beats me if i ask her to take too many or complain about the quality. 

[Plantguy]

I've got a similar lack of camera/phone at the moment. The wife aint too happy about it. LOL. 

You've got some interesting critters in this thread! Making me particularly want to go look into some of the Moroccan trilobites I have and what they are labeled. Thanks for the thread. 

Regards, Chris  

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

On 4/15/2018 at 2:18 PM, Plantguy said:

I've got a similar lack of camera/phone at the moment. The wife aint too happy about it. LOL. 

You've got some interesting critters in this thread! Making me particularly want to go look into some of the Moroccan trilobites I have and what they are labeled. Thanks for the thread. 

Regards, Chris  

 

 

Thanks, Chris! 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Meanwhile, I have some of my latest acquisitions being labelled and classified, prepped and generally just gazed at on the sofa. 

Tidgy sometimes chooses to sleep on the second sofa that connects in the corner of the room at right angles to the first. 

Usually, I am up before her. 

But not yesterday morning. 

Tidgy also likes to sit on my fossils and paperwork. 

Here she has climbed onto the second sofa from hers, trampled across my fossils, including some of my recent Ordovician acquisitions, and is seen here looking guilty as I caught her trampling back across them in the hope of reaching her sofa and pretending it was nothing to do with her. 

Naughty tort. 

  

[Bobby Rico]

Tortoise are like little bulldozers somethimes they go strait over stuff  . Looks like you have some nice acquisitions that Tidgy has been hiking over. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

On 4/28/2018 at 8:58 PM, Bobby Rico said:

Tortoise are like little bulldozers somethimes they go strait over stuff  . Looks like you have some nice acquisitions that Tidgy has been hiking over. 

Yup, lots of great stuff to be catalogued and added to the collection! 

But back to the Hirnatian Fauna of the Ashgill shales from Coniston, Cumbria, UK. 

Here is another brachiopod, the gorgeous strophomenid  Leptaena rugosa. 

Leptaena is one of my favourite brachiopod genera as I love the fine ribbing, growth lines, outline and the wedge shape they have as well as the fact that it is a very long-ranged genus and I have examples of other species from the Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous as well! 

This one is 17 mm at its widest point. 

And this little one 16 mm. 

And a nice internal mold also 16 mm. 

[doushantuo]

NICE!

[Tidgy's Dad]

And that's the end of my Ashgill brachiopods, indeed the end of my Ordovician brachiopods for now, though i'm expecting some to arrive in the post, but they're rather late. 

But it's not quite the end of my Coniston fossils, here is my last one of those, a partial cephalon of the trinucleid trilobite Tretaspis seticornis. 

I started prepping it to see if there was more but gave up as the matrix is so hard. Now I have my new pin vice I may have another go. 

The bit you can see is 9 mm across, notice the pitted flange in front of the glabella. 

[Spongy Joe]

Some nice material here!

Any late Hirnantian (persculptus Zone) graptolitic mudstones in your sites, TD? If so, you might want to look for sponge spicule bands. We're finding sponges all over China at that time, and think it should be a general pattern due to sea level and weathering changes, especially in enclosed basin areas with massive sediment input from erosion of nearby mountains...

[Tidgy's Dad]

I haven't visited that Hirnantian site in 30 years and doubt I will again now. 

Here in Morocco, I'm really not sure, but i expect so. I know we have earlier Ordovician graptolites but don't know about Hirnantian ones.  

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

In the pub after i collected my Ashgill shale specimens a few interested souls asked what I'd found. 

I showed them. 

Someone asked about how Coniston would have looked then. 

So I drew this. 

I added to it at some point after, but I've still kept it for thirty years. 

It proves I can't draw if nothing else. 

[Jaimin013]

Amazing specimens

[Tidgy's Dad]

6 hours ago, Jaimin013 said:

Amazing specimens

Thank you! 

What did you find amazing in particular? 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Moving back from the Ashgill into the Lower Llanvirn, but sticking with trilobites is this lovely bug which was part of an exchange with @Bobby Rico

Thank you, Bobby. 

It comes from Ljungsbro, Ostergotland, Sweden. (a new country for fossils in my collection, i think!) 

It is Asaphus and there are three species that seem to be commonly found here. 

This specimen is 6.5 cm long and even without its full length is thus too long for one of the species A. fallax. 

Even though half of the cephalon and part of the left side are missing, i think this is a pretty nice trilo, notice the tiny tubercle in the first photo, just to the anterior of the occipetal ring. 

Because of this raised part of the glabella (not the tubercle itself which occurs on the other species found here) and the rather raised axis continuing down through the thorax and pygidium, as well as the slightly elongated shape, I am more inclined to believe this is Asaphus expansus, but as Mr Piranha pointed out, one should probably play safe and label this Asaphus sp.  

 

 

 

[indominus rex]

2 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Moving back from the Ashgill into the Lower Llanvirn, but sticking with trilobites is this lovely bug which was part of an exchange with @Bobby Rico

Thank you, Bobby. 

It comes from Ljungsbro, Ostergotland, Sweden. (a new country for fossils in my collection, i think!) 

It is Asaphus and there are three species that seem to be commonly found here. 

This specimen is 6.5 cm long and even without its full length is thus too long for one of the species A. fallax. 

Even though half of the cephalon and part of the left side are missing, i think this is a pretty nice trilo, notice the tiny tubercle in the first photo, just to the anterior of the occipetal ring. 

Because of this raised part of the glabella (not the tubercle itself which occurs on the other species found here) and the rather raised axis continuing down through the thorax and pygidium, as well as the slightly elongated shape, I am more inclined to believe this is Asaphus expansus, but as Mr Piranha pointed out, one should probably play safe and label this Asaphus sp.  

 

 

 

That's a lovely Asaphid trilobite.

[indominus rex]

On 28 April 2018 at 9:48 PM, Tidgy's Dad said:

Meanwhile, I have some of my latest acquisitions being labelled and classified, prepped and generally just gazed at on the sofa. 

Tidgy sometimes chooses to sleep on the second sofa that connects in the corner of the room at right angles to the first. 

Usually, I am up before her. 

But not yesterday morning. 

Tidgy also likes to sit on my fossils and paperwork. 

Here she has climbed onto the second sofa from hers, trampled across my fossils, including some of my recent Ordovician acquisitions, and is seen here looking guilty as I caught her trampling back across them in the hope of reaching her sofa and pretending it was nothing to do with her. 

Naughty tort. 

  

That's an adorable tortoise! Maybe she just wants to play?

[Tidgy's Dad]

24 minutes ago, indominus rex said:

That's an adorable tortoise! Maybe she just wants to play?

She loves to play, the little minx! 

[indominus rex]

22 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

She loves to play, the little minx! 

I also have 2 tortoises but they are a bit odd, one is smart for a turtle and is always trying to harm us(bites our toes) and the other one tries to eat the walls(even when he is fed).

[Bobby Rico]

3 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Moving back from the Ashgill into the Lower Llanvirn, but sticking with trilobites is this lovely bug which was part of an exchange with @Bobby Rico

Thank you, Bobby. 

It comes from Ljungsbro, Ostergotland, Sweden. (a new country for fossils in my collection, i think!) 

It is Asaphus and there are three species that seem to be commonly found here. 

This specimen is 6.5 cm long and even without its full length is thus too long for one of the species A. fallax. 

Even though half of the cephalon and part of the left side are missing, i think this is a pretty nice trilo, notice the tiny tubercle in the first photo, just to the anterior of the occipetal ring. 

Because of this raised part of the glabella (not the tubercle itself which occurs on the other species found here) and the rather raised axis continuing down through the thorax and pygidium, as well as the slightly elongated shape, I am more inclined to believe this is Asaphus expansus, but as Mr Piranha pointed out, one should probably play safe and label this Asaphus sp.  

 

 

 

Them Trilobites I gave you have been ID by professional he has a PHD specialising in Tributes . If I still have his card I will PM his address to you , he is back in my hometown. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

6 minutes ago, indominus rex said:

I also have 2 tortoises but they are a bit odd, one is smart for a turtle and is always trying to harm us(bites our toes) and the other one tries to eat the walls(even when he is fed).

Tortoises are much smarter than people think. 

When they did the intelligence tests on animals like rats, dogs, cats and so on, back in the '60s, '70s and 80's, tortoises did not score very well at all. 

It was only quite recently that someone realized that the tests were conducted at room temperature and that tortoises need to be at about 85 F (30°C) to be at their optimum. 

When the tests were done in these conditions, some species of tortoise performed very favourably compared to some mammals. My Tidgy is toilet trained and can understand some simple commands. She asks to be picked up and will look at where she wants to be placed. She stands under the tap on the terrace in the summer when she wants a shower to cool down . 

The one that is trying to eat the wall is either trying to keep its beak trimmed or is suffering a deficiency of an element or two, most usually calcium or phosphorus but possibly a trace. Check the correct diet on Tortoise Forum or buy a supplement Miner-all is a good one. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

3 minutes ago, Bobby Rico said:

Them Trilobites I gave you have been ID by professional he has a PHD specialising in Tributes . If I still have his card I will PM his address to you , he is back in my hometown. 

Thanks Bobby, that would be great! 

[Jaimin013]

15 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Thank you! 

What did you find amazing in particular? 

I love the ribbing on the Leptaena rugosa and the Asaphus !

[Tidgy's Dad]

7 hours ago, Jaimin013 said:

I love the ribbing on the Leptaena rugosa and the Asaphus !

Me too. 

Thank you.

So just for you (and everyone else), here is another Asaphus. 

This one is also from the wonderful @Bobby Rico and is also from Sweden, but this time Gullhogen Quarry, near Kinnekulle, Vastergotland. 

Also going to be Lower Llanvirn, Middle Ordovician in age.

I think the red colour of this one (iron) id truly beautiful and though it's cephalon is damaged it's a lovely thing and pretty large at 8 cm long. 

And here begins the id puzzle again. There is a label on the back from the shop in Sweden  that lists it as Asaphus expansus. 

But I don't think it is, A. expansus only grew to 7 cm max for starters and Bobby and/or his trilobite PhD. friend seem to agree as it came to me as Asaphus cf. latus.   

This is quite possible, as the greater than usual width to height ratio seems about right and it's the right length, but I can't find reference to this species at the location. (or Sweden,)

The site does have a "Lepidurus Formation" though and A. lepidurus also seems to fit the bill and it is interesting to compare this specimen with one put up by oilshale under the  Members Collection Gallery. This is from the same location, the same size and the same preservation.

Anyway, here's mine :

It's odd that the matrix looks grey in the photos, it's actually quite red, like @oilshale's.  

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

I acquired this one in Spain recently. 

The cephalon is 3 cm wide. 

It's Dalmanitina socialis from the Middle Ordovician (Llandeilo), Letna Formation at Ded Hill, Beroun, Prague Basin, Czech Republic. 

 

Maybe not quite up to @Kane's Russian pieces, but i'm very happy with it. 

[Bobby Rico]

29 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

I acquired this one in Spain recently. 

The cephalon is 3 cm wide. 

It's Dalmanitina socialis from the Middle Ordovician (Llandeilo), Letna Formation at Ded Hill, Beroun, Prague Basin, Czech Republic. 

 

Maybe not quite up to @Kane's Russian pieces, but i'm very happy with it. 

Very nice buy indeed. Them Trilobites are well traveled my friend. Thank for sharing