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Calvert Cliffs Mystery Vertebrae


Incognito Rockhound

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InfoHungryMom - thank you!!!  I didn’t even know Ghost Crabs were around back then!

 

The small piece of the spiral you are holding looks exactly the same size as the one on mine.

 

Also thanks for the pointer on the clay - this is the first time I have encountered it, so I’ve really been at a loss of what to do.

 

Thanks again,

Shauna :)

 

 

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Just checked out the very informative scientific publication at the link InfoHungryMom sent and also did a Google search on Gyrolithes; the images of the spirals look EXACTLY like the spirals on my specimen!

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Shauna- I am thrilled I was able to help!

 

I am “brand-new to fossils”, and I was very excited when I discovered this site. I realized many “rocks” I had previously collected contained fossils.  

Unfortunately, the photos I posted weren’t showing what was visible “in person”, no matter how hard I tried.  

 

I reached-out to incredible paleontologists in Maryland who have taken my family & me on amazing “learning and collecting excursions”, and

who have answered my endless questions about marine paleoecology and geology.

 

Thank YOU for the opportunity to share what I am learning as well!  

 

Karen 

 

 

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Iron, fossil, or meteor...it's still cool! 

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.

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  • 11 months later...
On 1/13/2019 at 11:04 PM, Incognito Rockhound said:

InfoHungryMom - thank you!!!  I didn’t even know Ghost Crabs were around back then!

 

The small piece of the spiral you are holding looks exactly the same size as the one on mine.

 

Also thanks for the pointer on the clay - this is the first time I have encountered it, so I’ve really been at a loss of what to do.

 

Thanks again,

Shauna :)

 

 

I found a very similar ironstone trace fossil today at Calvert Cliffs State Park! See pics. The only reason I knew it was a gyrolithe / trace fossil (ichnofossil) of a spiral burrow was because of this thread. Otherwise I might have thought it was some sort of rusted spring and walked past it, lol. Thanks Shauna and Karen!

 

Lee

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Partial gastropod steinkern. From context, likely turritella, but there is actually no indication of such in an internal mold.

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14 hours ago, Rockwood said:

Partial gastropod steinkern. From context, likely turritella, but there is actually no indication of such in an internal mold.

Interesting, but the top and bottom twists of the helix are both slightly smaller than the central twist— not at all like the steadily increasing size of the turns of a turritella. It does look nearly identical to the images of helical Gyrolithes online, though. Apparently likely made by either decapod crustaceans or polychaete worms. Just fascinating stuff. Here’s a link to a cool paper (beyond the Miocene era paper linked in the thread above): https://www.sbpbrasil.org/revista/edicoes/10_3/netto.pdf

 

You can see its doppelgängers in the pics of helical burrow trace fossils here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235770223_Gyrolithes_in_holocene_estuarine_incised-valley_fill_deposits_offshore_Southern_Vietnam

 

Anyhow, not at all what I was expecting at CCSP! But way cooler than the tiny hemis I found. :-)

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