Brachiopod Star Tattoo?

[Peat Burns]

Are there any stellate bryozoans in that formation?  Here's a Mississippian one called Evactinopora...

 

 

[KimTexan]

 

22 minutes ago, Peat Burns said:

Another possibility is that the star shape is pure coincidence and not biological.  

 

Hum, what would be the statistical

odds of a perfect 5 pointed star forming randomly without biological involvement? Seems highly unlikely.

 

Are there any minerals or crystals that form such shapes? I can’t think of any, but they are the only other things that I know of which naturally form geometric shapes. I know each type of crystal has specific angles they form as the crystalline structure develops. Maybe not helpful, but I’m trying to think outside the box.

 

When I saw it before reading anyone else’s comments my first thought was crinoid.

[Peat Burns]

4 minutes ago, KimTexan said:

Hum, what would be the statistical

odds of a perfect 5 pointed star forming randomly without biological involvement? Seems highly unlikely.

Remember this object / thread? 

 

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/70152-we-cant-figger-this-one-out-solved-counter-septarian-structures/

[doushantuo]

Evactinopora "arms" vary from 4-8 in number?

edit:that might be wrong,will let it stand/Is Evactinostella quinqueradiata known from the Ordovician?

As regards that famous Seilacher explanation:he has provided A explanation(cyclical loading of overburden).

Whether it's THE explanation....

 

 

[JohnJ]

5 hours ago, GeschWhat said:

I just went up and took another gander at it under the microscope and brushed it with a soft brush. It isn't mineral staining. The star appears to be somewhat translucent. Most of the shell material appears to be missing, so perhaps a pentacrinoid holdfast??? 

Playing with the microscope of course! I like to scan everything for microfossils. 

 

Is this something someone is interested in or should I donate it? Mike, of course, would get first dibs.

 

Lori, you might try photographing it damp...maybe with rubbing alcohol first, then with water.  The moisture might reveal other details within the preserved layers. 

 

[Rockwood]

8 hours ago, GeschWhat said:

Most of the shell material appears to be missing, so perhaps a pentacrinoid holdfast??? 

It's always the first step in any good adhesion. The stain would be the adhesive.

[KimTexan]

13 hours ago, Peat Burns said:

Remember this object / thread? 

 

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/70152-we-cant-figger-this-one-out-solved-counter-septarian-structures/

Yes, I remember it well. 

 

I did throw in the question about crystal/mineral which would fall under geologic.  So I’m not throwing out the possibility of other causes.

[GeschWhat]

7 hours ago, JohnJ said:

Lori, you might try photographing it damp...maybe with rubbing alcohol first, then with water.  The moisture might reveal other details within the preserved layers. 

 

Here you go. I first rubbed it with alcohol on a Q-tip and then with water using the same.

 

8 hours ago, Peat Burns said:

Are there any stellate bryozoans in that formation?  Here's a Mississippian one called Evactinopora...

 

 

I haven't seen any, but this is my first experience with fossil from this formation. Perhaps @minnbuckeye or @Bev could answer that.

[GeschWhat]

13 hours ago, Peat Burns said:

Remember this object / thread? 

 

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/70152-we-cant-figger-this-one-out-solved-counter-septarian-structures/

Only the most amazing thread ever!

[Plax]

Preservation is too poor in the relatively course sediment to nail this one down I think. It could be a crinoid holdfast with the holdfast further into the rock or not even preserved, a starfish, a stellate bryozoan, crinoid or endrioasteroid. The relatively course sediment has the effect of looking at an out of focus picture. I know the scale is tiny which is why I'm saying "relatively course". In very fine shale or limestone the edging would probably be preserved better along with minute details of structure.

[old bones]

Could it be a foram?

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/17977-arkona-devonian-star-shaped-fossil-object-1mm/

[GeschWhat]

1 hour ago, old bones said:

Could it be a foram?

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/17977-arkona-devonian-star-shaped-fossil-object-1mm/

It does seem to match the star-shaped object in this thread. I wish there would have been a more definitive ID on that one. 

 

What do you all think...should I remove the matrix from the center to see if it is a crinoid?

[JohnJ]

Nice images, Lori.  

 

Not sure I would risk much more prep on that tiny thing; but if you do, less is better.  Maybe a little using an insulin needle in the center under the microscope...grain by grain.

[GeschWhat]

4 hours ago, JohnJ said:

Nice images, Lori.  

 

Not sure I would risk much more prep on that tiny thing; but if you do, less is better.  Maybe a little using an insulin needle in the center under the microscope...grain by grain.

Thanks, John. I did a little bit of micro prep, but I'm not sure if it reveals much. I felt like I was getting close to the fossil in the center, so I stopped. 

[ynot]

6 minutes ago, GeschWhat said:

I did a little bit of micro prep,

That is a real neat find Lori! (whatever it is.)

[Auspex]

21 hours ago, minnbuckeye said:

@Auspex, your response has to be followed by a question, HOW DID YOU KNOW THIS! Hopefully the story will lessen how foolish I feel!

It involved a young visitor, a handy sharpie, and a moment's inattention.

[JohnJ]

Given the tiny size and the most probable 'hitchhikers', it looks more like the endrioasteroids Ben posted.

2 hours ago, GeschWhat said:

Thanks, John. I did a little bit of micro prep, but I'm not sure if it reveals much. I felt like I was getting close to the fossil in the center, so I stopped. 

 

 

[GeschWhat]

So the consensus is an agelacrinid endrioasteroid? 

 

Have I told you lately how amazing you all are?

[GeschWhat]

UPDATE: I sent photos of this to a local paleontologist who works with Minnesota Ordovician fossils. He has never seen anything like it. Like many of you, he feels it is likely some type of echinoderm, but would expect to see a least a trace of a surrounding disk if it was an edrioasteroid.  He will take a look at it on Tuesday. I've decided to donate it to the Science Museum of Minnesota. Hopefully, he or someone else there will be able to ID it eventually. Now, back to my coprolites. 

[GeschWhat]

UPDATE to my UPDATE: I met up with a local paleontologist specializes in the Ordovician and volunteers at the Science Museum of Minnesota yesterday. Our museum is between paleos right now. I hate to see this sit in a drawer for years. So I gave this specimen to him for study. After looking at it he thought it could be a baby (larval?) sea star. While it is rare to find sea stars in Minnesota, they have been found. He didn't rule out a juvenile crinoid holdfast.