Lowville NY Tug Hill Plateau area

[DrDave]

Anyone with knowledge of Northern NY Ordovician trilobites within 2-3 hour radius of Lowville,  NY,  I would appreciate any advice on sites to search.  Please PM any replies,  which will be kept confidential. Interested in soft tissue pyritization. Will share success stories with anyone with specific suggestions. Thanks! 

[fossilcrazy]

Any exposure just under the Deer Hill shale could have the pyritized Triarthrus. Trouble is finding an exposure and a landowner letting you dig there.

[fossilcrazy]

Here is a specific reference: 

https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/37/10/907/103864/beyond-beecher-s-trilobite-bed-widespread

[Jeffrey P]

As far as I know, soft tissue trilobite sites in that area are carefully guarded secrets. Otherwise I would be there now. Good luck finding them and if you do, would love to see the results of your exploration. 

[fossilcrazy]

One more piece to the puzzle is, what to do when you find those Triarthrus. I know where they can be found, but prepping them is a very technical challenge. The person that prepped my gold bugs, is a very capable Trilobite preparer and it is a difficulty we haven't resolved yet. 

[fossilcrazy]

Just to make sure you know. The preparer did this bug and I didn't believe it could come out this good. It was a basket case of matrix parts. The guy is absolutely no slouch at doing careful intricate work. 

[goatinformationist]

Yep, that's a grade A prep job.  Well done and thanks for sharing.

[DrDave]

I was staying in Lowville, NY, but ranged south to Boonville NY, mostly along the eastern edge of the Tug Hill Plateau. I found a few nice things, two of which were first acquisitions for me.

A partial Flexicalymene senaria in sandstone (Roaring Brook)

 

 

Isotelus gigas pygidium

[DrDave]

[DrDave]

Can anyone ID the associated fossils?

[DrDave]

Triarthrus cephalon (Roaring Brook)

Pretty star shaped crinoids(Roaring Brook)

 

8 inch long three dimensional orthocone. (Roaring Brook)

[DrDave]

Gastropod mold, rock outcropping just outside of Lowville.

[Kane]

7 minutes ago, DrDave said:

Can anyone ID the associated fossils?

Definitely an orthocerid. They used to be assigned to the waste-bucket of Geisonoceras, but I believe Robert Frey parsed that out and tidied it up in 1995 as it was not morphologically supported. 

[DrDave]

@Kane

Sorry, I meant the shelly ones next to the orthocerid.

[Darktooth]

Great finds Dave! Love that Flexy!

[Monica]

Nice assortment of finds!  That crinoid mash is beautiful, and those trilobites are wonderful - congrats!!!