Another Backyard Hunt

[Kane]

A closeup of an interesting specimen (I've seen this shape before, but not entirely certain what it is... Perhaps coral? Brach section?), and followed up by a very tall-spired gastropod steinkern.

[Kane]

Closeup of a bryozoan, some additional trilobite partials/impressions, and an Eldredgeops rana partial cephalon. Just nice to get out on a Sunday morning.  

[Fossildude19]

I see a trilo-bit in this one:

 

Similar to the cephalic fringe on Kettneraspis?

    

[Kane]

If it helps, I did collect the impression side as well... (fragment is about 2.4 cm). 

 

All the trilo partials are coming from the same rock I split, but I'm thinking this is coral or brach or... fossilized, notched mini boomerang.  Nothing in the Devonian up here has this kind of cool Kettie-style cephalic collar.  

 

Closest I could find for a match was Kettneraspis callicera from the Onondaga. But my fragment is much too big to be a Kettie. 

[piranha]

The mystery fragment is a good match for Odontocephalus sp.  Attached for comparison from "Trilobites of New York": Odontocephalus bifidus

 

 

Stauffer 1915 reports Odontocephalus selenurus from multiple Onondaga localities in Ontario.

 

Stauffer, C.R. 1915

The Devonian of Southwestern Ontario.

Geological Survey of Canada Memoir, 34:1-341  PDF LINK

[Kane]

24 minutes ago, piranha said:

The mystery fragment is a good match for Odontocephalus sp.  Attached for comparison from "Trilobites of New York": Odontocephalus bifidus

 

 

 

Stauffer 1915 reports Odontocephalus selenurus from multiple Onondaga localities in Ontario.

 

Stauffer, C.R. 1915

The Devonian of Southwestern Ontario.

Geological Survey of Canada Memoir, 34:1-341  PDF LINK

I think that fragment just became my trip-maker! Thanks, Scott! You know, I had been looking around for a comparable trilo that I recall having a fringe, but my brain kept snapping back to Odontopleura. 

[piranha]

6 minutes ago, Kane said:

I think that fragment just became my trip-maker! Thanks, Scott! You know, I had been looking around for a comparable trilo that I recall having a fringe, but my brain kept snapping back to Odontopleura. 

 

 

In the last 100+ years, Odontocephalus sp. is only recorded in a few papers from Ontario...   Congrats on a very unusual find.  The name says it all: tooth-head 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Well, it turns out that that trilo bit is quite a find. 

But I still like the brachiopods! 

[ynot]

Always good when the strange bit ends up being something great.

Congratulations on the rare find.

[Kane]

18 hours ago, ynot said:

Always good when the strange bit ends up being something great.

Congratulations on the rare find.

Yup. Feeling pretty happy right now. It has emboldened me to go back and find more! 

 

I can also say with some small pride that I now have collected a representative from each of the three main branches of the synphoriinae (from this site, I have fragments of Anchiopsis anchiops, Trypaulites erinus, and now Odontocephalus sp.). Here is a phylogenic tree from the very excellent paper by Lesperance and Bourque (1971): 

[ynot]

14 hours ago, Kane said:

I can also say with some small pride that I now have collected a representative from each of the three main branches of the synphoriinae (from this site,

Congratulations on the wonderful milestone!

[Monica]

Congrats, Kane!!!  I look forward to seeing more of your "backyard" finds...

 

[Max-fossils]

Very cool stuff Kane!

I gotta admit that I too rather find awesome Devonian material in my backyard rather than my dog's (non-fossil) excrements. 

 

The trilobite stuff may be the rarest and coolest here (congrats on the great find btw!), but I just love the brach has plates, especially those in post #5! Very nice.

[Kane]

1 minute ago, Max-fossils said:

Very cool stuff Kane!

I gotta admit that I too rather find awesome Devonian material in my backyard rather than my dog's (non-fossil) excrements. 

 

The trilobite stuff may be the rarest and coolest here (congrats on the great find btw!), but I just love the brach has plates, especially those in post #5! Very nice.

Thanks, Max!  It certainly was a lucky find, and so far my digging into various resources (Stauffer, 1915;, Stumm, 1954, Sanford & Norris, 1975; Lesperance, 1975; Lesperance & Bourque, 1971) seems to indicate that only a handful of fragments have been reported. The nine denticles might better confirm this as Odontocephalus selenurus, but it is still a bit hazy at the moment. 

 

Perhaps I'll need to set aside some brach plates for you as well.  

[Max-fossils]

3 minutes ago, Kane said:

Thanks, Max!  It certainly was a lucky find, and so far my digging into various resources (Stauffer, 1915;, Stumm, 1954, Sanford & Norris, 1975; Lesperance, 1975; Lesperance & Bourque, 1971) seems to indicate that only a handful of fragments have been reported. The nine denticles might better confirm this as Odontocephalus selenurus, but it is still a bit hazy at the moment. 

 

Perhaps I'll need to set aside some brach plates for you as well.  

Well that's fantastic! Lucky you, and well done too 

I too often bring home things that 'look weird' and of which I have no clue what it is, and so far I have only been deceived, but your find here does give me more hope to continue. 

 

Thanks a lot for the proposition too! Much appreciated. I'll send you a PM about those brach plates.