Unidentified fossil from the shore of northwestern Lake Ontario [Silurian?].

[Humphr67]

I collected this while walking along the shore of Lake Ontario just west of downtown Toronto. I am at a loss. Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks so much.

[Monica]

@Humphr67

 

Hi there, and welcome to the forum!

 

I think what you have are bryozoans - if you look really closely you might be able to see tiny holes - the individual zooids would have resided within these holes.

 

Monica

[Humphr67]

Hi Monica, thanks for your response.  I have a lot of bryozoan fossils from the area and these don’t seem to resemble any of them.  The images are not great but there are no holes in the fossils, and  while the bryozoans are more amorphous, this seems to have a well defined shape (see the fish-tail shape in the top image). You may be right, but not convinced.  Thanks again.  

Alex

[JohnBrewer]

Hi Alex, welcome to the forum!

 

Can’t help, not really my era but I believe @Monica @Malcolmt @Kane collect from that era and reside in Canada. Yeah, I know it’s a huge country!

 

To get a good chance of an id you will need to get some much more detailed close up images preferably with a metric scale. 

 

 

[Kane]

I would need to see a closer and more detailed image. Preliminary guess would be worn section of rugose coral. Zooming in on the image you have here, I think I can make out striations that may confirm my hunch.

[Monica]

1 hour ago, Humphr67 said:

Hi Monica, thanks for your response.  I have a lot of bryozoan fossils from the area and these don’t seem to resemble any of them.  The images are not great but there are no holes in the fossils, and  while the bryozoans are more amorphous, this seems to have a well defined shape (see the fish-tail shape in the top image). You may be right, but not convinced.  Thanks again.  

Alex

 

There are many different bryozoans around here - it's pretty amazing!  I've even found ones that are bumpy on the outside - very cool!

 

Oh, and by the way - your specimen is likely from the Upper Ordovician, unless it has come from further west of the GTA...

 

 

[Miocene_Mason]

Just to add a pinch of confusion to the pot, I think it looks like a cross section of a brachiopod or bivalve.

[Tidgy's Dad]

Yes, shell of a brachiopod or pelecypod for me, too. 

[Innocentx]

If you could get an excellent close up of the area circled in red, that would help. I am also seeing bryozoan here.

[Rockwood]

It looks like there may be a fracture near your thumb in the upper photo. I would consider splitting it open to perhaps expose a more diagnostic surface. 

What we're seeing so far could be just calcite crystals.

[Humphr67]

Somewhere I have a handheld digital microscope and will try to get a good closeup.  I will post it when I get the chance.