GeschWhat Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 2 hours ago, abyssunder said: I wonder if can't be bryozoa, maybe something in the line of Hippoporidra, if not that. Those really do look similar - probably need to verify under a microscope. Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddingPaleo Posted August 8, 2018 Author Share Posted August 8, 2018 Thanks for the suggestions. I can make the microscope thing happen, but it'll have to wait til tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 Another interesting thread. I'm wondering about the size for Hippoporida as Lori mentioned..seems very reasonable. I do have several gastropod overgrowth examples from the Tamiami Fm and the texture size is really really fine. I'll have to get a photo with scale. Here's a group pic of other specimens in a variety of shapes...I've not come up with ID's for them and planned to take a box of them to UF to see what I might learn from them... I'm guessing some bryozoans and maybe some are the hydrozoans. I'm still also wondering about the underside of your specimen and what clues it holds/what it may show as I've collected quite a few similar specimens and many contain various invertebrate fragments/traces with similar textured overgrowths/colonies. Many dont seem to have any cavity/tube/burrow at all and yet have that lumpy/cauliflower look to them.. Does look like you've have a nice assortment of other finds to play with...congrats.... Regards, Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 18 hours ago, BuddingPaleo said: This is from 2 areas just a few sqft in size. And it's about 1/3 of my collection and I've barely scratched the surface. I'm in waaaaaaaaaaay over my head. Lol this has the look of quarried rock. Any chance there was a borrow pit on your property or that this was hauled in for driveway or foundation work? A great resource you have there and nice fossils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 18 hours ago, BuddingPaleo said: This is from 2 areas just a few sqft in size. And it's about 1/3 of my collection and I've barely scratched the surface. I'm in waaaaaaaaaaay over my head. Lol What you have is Ochopee Limestone, a member of the Upper Pliocene Tamiami Formation. The large oyster is Hyotissa haitensis and scallop is Nodipecten collierensis, both abundant in the Ochopee. I agree with Plax, Plantguy and others that your unknown is a bryozoan. Mike 1 "A problem solved is a problem caused"--Karl Pilkington "I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit." -- Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddingPaleo Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 2 hours ago, Plax said: this has the look of quarried rock. Any chance there was a borrow pit on your property or that this was hauled in for driveway or foundation work? A great resource you have there and nice fossils. It's definitely not quarried. It's not just around the house and drive, it's different colors and textures in different areas. You literally can't not find fossils. Now, the road is not paved out here and I do like to go out there and look, most of that is broken, because fill dirt comes in for repairs. I'm not sure why there'd be fill in the woods, and my best pieces come out of this weird clayish stuff. So it is certainly possible, but I just don't think it's likely. Is there a way i can tell for sure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 12 hours ago, Plantguy said: Another interesting thread. I'm wondering about the size for Hippoporida as Lori mentioned..seems very reasonable. I do have several gastropod overgrowth examples from the Tamiami Fm and the texture size is really really fine. I'll have to get a photo with scale. Here's a group pic of other specimens in a variety of shapes...I've not come up with ID's for them and planned to take a box of them to UF to see what I might learn from them... I'm guessing some bryozoans and maybe some are the hydrozoans. I'm still also wondering about the underside of your specimen and what clues it holds/what it may show as I've collected quite a few similar specimens and many contain various invertebrate fragments/traces with similar textured overgrowths/colonies. Many dont seem to have any cavity/tube/burrow at all and yet have that lumpy/cauliflower look to them.. Does look like you've have a nice assortment of other finds to play with...congrats.... Regards, Chris Those are really interesting. Have you looked at them under a microscope? For those without an opening, does the lumpy coating go all the way around? The underside of @BuddingPaleo's does look a bit like shell material which would make sense for Hippoporidra. Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddingPaleo Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 I'm just finishing coffee, then off to the microscope. The inside is looking interesting now that it's solidly dried out. Going to get some new pics. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 1 minute ago, BuddingPaleo said: I'm just finishing coffee, then off to the microscope. The inside is looking interesting now that it's solidly dried out. Going to get some new pics. Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddingPaleo Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 Got the microscope working properly. Magnified 450x; and about the wrap around of the bumps, I'd say it goes to a rim. Noticed today the netting pattern on the underneath. That's the 2nd and 3rd pics. 1st is from the top area, from the visible pattern patch into a bump cluster. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 What about the surface of the bumps that aren't coated? Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddingPaleo Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 Surface bumps. They all look alike. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 3 hours ago, BuddingPaleo said: It's definitely not quarried. It's not just around the house and drive, it's different colors and textures in different areas. You literally can't not find fossils. Now, the road is not paved out here and I do like to go out there and look, most of that is broken, because fill dirt comes in for repairs. I'm not sure why there'd be fill in the woods, and my best pieces come out of this weird clayish stuff. So it is certainly possible, but I just don't think it's likely. Is there a way i can tell for sure? large pieces of sharply broken limestone aren't found in the warm humid eastern USA in a natural setting. Near the surface locally occurring limestone is pocked with dissolution cavities and usually a yellow or brownish color. I'm not saying yours isn't local to your property though. Am just stating what my experience is. If your large broken hard pieces are loose in the topsoil I'd have a strong opinion that they came there as mixed fill. If you quarried them yourself making the broken jagged edges then they could be native to your place. Either way you have an excellent fossil resource in your own back yard! Wish I had a similar situation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddingPaleo Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 1 minute ago, Plax said: large pieces of sharply broken limestone aren't found in the warm humid eastern USA in a natural setting. Near the surface locally occurring limestone is pocked with dissolution cavities and usually a yellow or brownish color. I'm not saying yours isn't local to your property though. Am just stating what my experience is. If your large broken hard pieces are loose in the topsoil I'd have a strong opinion that they came there as mixed fill. If you quarried them yourself making the broken jagged edges then they could be native to your place. Either way you have an excellent fossil resource in your own back yard! Wish I had a similar situation... No doubt. Either way I'm thrilled. These are just what I could manage to break away. There's a large ridge of limestone that runs about a hundred foot line or so, after flood water receeds it breaks down more of the matrix and either pieces separate on their own, or they've weakened enough in a spot that I can break them off. Then where that stops it turns into the clayish stuff on either side. Thats where the good stuff is. But the limestone is fun to dig through. There are a couple of void spots, where it's just sand and you'll find a tooth or gastropod/bivalve here and there. It's certainly fun to explore! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 @abyssunder does it again - looks like Hippoporidra to me! You never cease to amaze me! I should really start keeping track of how much I have learned from you. The bumps on Ophiomorpha would just look granular. Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddingPaleo Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 It sure does look like it. So we're gonna go with ophiomorpha with hippoporida covering? Thanks so much everyone. Learned a TON! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddingPaleo Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 Btw, this guy was situated next to the one we've been discussing. Thought you might find it interesting. Also a bryozoan, I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 that one looks like a coral filling with the coral dissolved away. Sort of a negative impression of a coral. A real freaky looking fossil! Keep in mind that this is my opinion and someone with more expertise can refute my opinion. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronzviking Posted August 9, 2018 Share Posted August 9, 2018 I agree with Plax, I see coral polyps on the bottom half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddingPaleo Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 I thought at first it was coral, then I saw a few articles about stellate bryozoans, and they looked like this, and because it covers shell molds in spots. But I think those were extinct by this point. Probably coral then. Think you're right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeschWhat Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Very pretty! Lori www.areallycrappystory.com/fossils www.facebook.com/fossilpoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimTexan Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 On 8/7/2018 at 11:34 PM, GeschWhat said: I don't think those are fecal pellets. Crayfish and shrimp poop rod shaped structures. I think these are mud balls. This video isn't the best, but you can see how the crayfish carries mud out as it digs it's burrow. I agree they are mud balls. I’ve watched them build them around here. Definitely not poop. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimTexan Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 These may or may not be helpful. They are older books that are now in the public domain. This is a book on Tertiary bryozoa of North America. Many Bryozoa span multiple geologic periods. This is within the Cenozoic era so maybe some will be in common in the Pliocene. https://archive.org/stream/northamericanear00canu#page/62 This is one for corals for the Eocene and Oligocene in North And Cental America and Cuba I think it is. Lots of examples towards the back that you could compare your corals too. Nomenclature or classifications may have changed, but it looks like a good basic resource. https://archive.org/stream/fossilcoralsfrom00vaug#page/n359 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddingPaleo Posted August 10, 2018 Author Share Posted August 10, 2018 Thank you very much for sharing the resources. I will certainly check them out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innocentx Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Very interesting references. Thanks, @KimTexan. "Journey through a universe ablaze with changes" Phil Ochs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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