Nimravis Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Last night I was looking through a bucket of concretions that I want to open and I found this piece on the bottom, it is the only piece I have and would have picked it up about 15 years ago. I washed it off and I am stumped by this one. I have sent pics to other FFM who known Mazon stuff, but no definitive ID. So, I thought that I would throw it out to the masses and see what you think. I cannot tell if it Flora or Fauna. The ridges on this thing are very pronounced. Here it is for your viewing pleasure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 It really looks like a coiled cephalopod. This paper mentions several species from Mazon Creek. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780125196505500205 3 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goatinformationist Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Great looking paper, it seems to correlate well with impression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted June 20, 2018 Author Share Posted June 20, 2018 11 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said: It really looks like a coiled cephalopod. This paper mentions several species from Mazon Creek. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780125196505500205 That had entered my mind when I first saw it and thought that it looked like an exoskeleton of something. Thanks for the reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted June 20, 2018 Author Share Posted June 20, 2018 Jack @fiddlehead what do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Why don't you send a photo of the fossil to the author of the Mazon Creek cephalopod paper. https://www.brynmawr.edu/people/bruce-saunders My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted June 20, 2018 Author Share Posted June 20, 2018 9 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said: Why don't you send a photo of the fossil to the author of the Mazon Creek cephalopod paper. https://www.brynmawr.edu/people/bruce-saunders I could do that- thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted June 20, 2018 Author Share Posted June 20, 2018 11 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said: Why don't you send a photo of the fossil to the author of the Mazon Creek cephalopod paper. https://www.brynmawr.edu/people/bruce-saunders Lol- I just pulled him up from your link and I think he has a typo, it shows he is from the Class of 1897. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 I wonder if the class of 1897 endowed a professorship since there is no comma between 1897 and Professor. It is confusing if that is what it means. I suppose Saunders would have picked up on that mistake by now if it were a mistake. "Class of 1897 Professor Emeritus of Science and Professor Emeritus of Geology" Saunders notes that cephalopds are rare but diverse in the Mazon Creek fauna. Whatever it is keep it. 1 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miocene_Mason Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Nice fossil, does look like a cephalopod though I’ve never seen any from Mazon Creek. Hope you get a good ID from the Professor! “...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...
deutscheben Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Very interesting impression. One thing to note from the paper posted above, all of the cephalopod material found had come from Pit 11. Do you know where this nodule was found? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted June 20, 2018 Author Share Posted June 20, 2018 36 minutes ago, deutscheben said: Very interesting impression. One thing to note from the paper posted above, all of the cephalopod material found had come from Pit 11. Do you know where this nodule was found? Funny you ask that, when I sent the e-mail to Dr. Saunders, I advised him that this was one bucket that I did not label where it came from. I am thinking that it is cooling lake material (Pit 11- Essex Biota), but am not certain since I have not opened any of the concretions to see what they possibly contain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlehead Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 In my opinion this is mostly a poorly preserved example of a Calamites in cross section. Here is an example that shows more and should clear up the morphology. The shape on the side is hard to identify. Known Cephalopods at Mazon Creek are very rare and all are from Pit 11. They are either tightly coiled and discoidal or straight and Bactrites-like. This falls somewhere in between. Though this does not rule it out, in my opinion it is not a known Cephalopod. Though it does appear to be a part from some type of a mollusk. Hope this helps, Jack 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 23 minutes ago, fiddlehead said: In my opinion this is mostly a poorly preserved example of a Calamites in cross section. Here is an example that shows more and should clear up the morphology. The shape on the side is hard to identify. Known Cephalopods at Mazon Creek are very rare and all are from Pit 11. They are either tightly coiled and discoidal or straight and Bactrites-like. This falls somewhere in between. Though this does not rule it out, in my opinion it is not a known Cephalopod. Though it does appear to be a part from some type of a mollusk. Hope this helps, Jack I love thoughtful dissenting opinions that use logic and evidence. That is why I like TFF and not most public forums where if you mention a (political) dissenting opinion you can be run out of town. We learn more by listening to all/most opinions than by only "hearing" only one. Jack, @fiddleheaddo you think that the white semi-circular structure in the first and third photos is a cross section of a calamities normal to its long direction? The white circular structures look similiar to the ones in your posted photo. My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 Jack @fiddlehead I totally agree with the calamities ID as I have found numerous examples recently and bark and stem features are some of my favorite. Thanks for the help on the other thing, it is just really odd and I have never seen anything like it in all my years collecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 @DPS Ammonite that is a calamities on both his example and mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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