Montague New Jersey Devonian

[frankh8147]

I recently took a break from my usual Cretaceous streams and met up with another forum member in Montague NJ for some Devonian fossils. I had a really good time and came back  with some nice fossils.

 

First of all, the scenery is amazing - Montague is up in the mountains of Northern New Jersey and this spot was basically on a mountain. I saw deer and wild turkeys and also heard that there were bears in the area too. I found the usual trilobite parts but my favorite find of the day were the nautiloids (Weller has them as Orthoceras but I believe that species was reclassified - I could be wrong), which both came out of the same rock. I had no idea coming in that you could find these guys here! 

 

Overall, it was a great day at a nice nice spot!

 

 

[piranha]

The trilobites are: Phalangocephalus dentatus

 

 

figures from:

 

Campbell, K.S.W. 1977
Trilobites of the Haragan, Bois D'Arc and Frisco Formations (Early Devonian) Arbuckle Mountains Region, Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Geological Survey Bulletin, 123:1-227

[Pagurus]

Thanks for your post,  Those nautiloids look great!

[Monica]

Those orthoconic nautiloids are nice, but I love your little high-spired gastropod - what a beauty!!! 

[GordonC]

The gastropod is Loxonema jerseyensis. Weller identified the new species  in1903. Collected from the same location as your fine specimen.

[ynot]

Nice finds!

It is always fun to hunt different ages.

[Miocene_Mason]

Loves the trilos and the Orthocone! You are right; Orthoceras is only found in Northern Europe to my knowledge. Gotta love the trilobite ridge, found my first trilo-bit there.  

[frankh8147]

11 hours ago, GordonC said:

The gastropod is Loxonema jerseyensis. Weller identified the new species  in1903. Collected from the same location as your fine specimen.

Thanks for the ID Gordon! Much appreciated.

11 hours ago, Monica said:

Those orthoconic nautiloids are nice, but I love your little high-spired gastropod - what a beauty!!! 

Thanks Monica! That's one of my favorites of the trip; here is a close-up

[frankh8147]

9 hours ago, WhodamanHD said:

Loves the trilos and the Orthocone! You are right; Orthoceras is only found in Northern Europe to my knowledge. Gotta love the trilobite ridge, found my first trilo-bit there.  

That's what I'm seeing also. Besides Weller's report from over 100 years ago I haven't really been able to find anything on these from New Jersey... Glad to hear you got to collect there - it's a beautiful location!

 

Thanks for the help the other day with the cetacean bone!

[Miocene_Mason]

2 hours ago, frankh8147 said:

That's what I'm seeing also. Besides Weller's report from over 100 years ago I haven't really been able to find anything on these from New Jersey... Glad to hear you got to collect there - it's a beautiful location!

 

Thanks for the help the other day with the cetacean bone!

I could find anything else on the orthocerids from there either.  Maybe someone who knows will come along. 

 It is quite a nice location! Loved the Turkeys. Also very nice of the man to allow fossil hunters such as ourselves to hunt there.

No problem! Nice job finding it

[Masp]

Wow really cool.  Jersey is just full of cool stuff If you look in the right places...congrats on those finds!

[frankh8147]

Thanks everyone!

[Dalen]

Hello I’m new to this haven’t collected since I was a kid ...I’m 51 now. I live about 20 minutes from Montague and would love to check out the ridge in Montague. Any advice would be appreciated.