Alabama fossil ID

[platypusofdeath]

Hello!  I'm new to the forum and have a fossil I need some help with.  I am very familiar with crinoids, as I grew up in north-central Alabama and they're everywhere.  However, I'm not sure what this one is.  It was found in Blount County, AL in a creek.  Here are photos of the entire piece with two areas circled, and a couple of closer-ups.  The bit in the upper left of the first photo looks like plant material to me, but I'm not sure about the rest.  I'm happy to provide more photos or info if it would help.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2019 by platypusofdeath

[Wightlight]

Perhaps a fenestrate bryozoan?

[jdp]

can you post some close-ups of the edges?

[Darktooth]

Welcome to the forum!

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, and a very warm welcome to TFF from Morocco.

Hmm. Bryozoan or possibly a coral.

Death to trees! 

[platypusofdeath]

1 hour ago, jdp said:

can you post some close-ups of the edges?

Sure!  Do you mean the edges of the whole rock, like this?  If not, I can try to get more of what you're looking for.

 

[Innocentx]

It may be an arborescent bryozoan, but I'm not sure they are found in Arkansas.

[Innocentx]

Welcome to the Forum from Kansas!!!

[platypusofdeath]

25 minutes ago, Innocentx said:

It may be an arborescent bryozoan, but I'm not sure they are found in Arkansas.

I’m currently in Arkansas, but it was found in Alabama. Does that make it more likely to be a bryozoan?

[platypusofdeath]

Thank you all for responding! This is such a neat forum, and I’m glad it’s so active. Looking forward to learning a thing or two!

[Innocentx]

Sorry, Alabama, I missed that.

If it were possible to see pore-like openings on the surface, then it would most likely mean either bryozoan or coral.

Your sample is quite worn so these features may no longer be present.

You have a fossil for sure and good spotting!

[platypusofdeath]

@Innocentx, thanks, but I have to give credit to my dad. I found crinoids and vugs full of crystals everywhere I looked on that trip, but he found this one. 

[jdp]

20 hours ago, platypusofdeath said:

Sure!  Do you mean the edges of the whole rock, like this?  If not, I can try to get more of what you're looking for.

 

Yes, like this. Can you send pics of some of the other edges too?

 

Also what was the context in which you found this specimen?

[abyssunder]

May it be a receptaculitid?

[platypusofdeath]

@jdp I have one of the top edge as well, and can get the other sides when I’m back in the office tomorrow. We found it in a creek (or right next to the gravel bar, still in the creek bed). There are wooded foothills on one side of the creek and former pasture land on the other, if that is at all helpful. The creek feeds into the Locust Fork of the Warrior River. 

 

[Innocentx]

5 hours ago, abyssunder said:

May it be a receptaculitid?

This could be, I agree.

[Plantguy]

7 hours ago, abyssunder said:

May it be a receptaculitid?

Hey Lori, could be.  I'd love to know more about what the formation/depositional environment was/is.  I'm predisposed and admittedly biased to flora. I dont see any actual leaf scar detail in the quick view but was wondering about one of the Lycopods possibly and maybe Lepidophloios---a bit different than a Lepidodendron in that the leaf scars are wider than tall..There's even one that seems to be spirally arranged called Halonia.  Here's a picture of one that Jack referenced in the Natural History of Lepdophloios.  Museum  https://naturalhistory2.si.edu/paleobiology/mazoncreek/_imgSpecimens/40294_2.jpg

Regards, Chris 

[minnbuckeye]

On ‎1‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 2:39 PM, Wightlight said:

Perhaps a fenestrate bryozoan?

 

Seems pretty thick for the fenestrated bryos I have had contact with.  My Recepticulites (fisherites) appear much more geometric than this unknown. But I have no ID.

Sorry,

Mike

[Innocentx]

@platypusofdeath  I think the best ideas have been given.

This piece is quite worn.  In the very 1st photo the patterns do seem like impressions at the top, and raised at the bottom.

Maybe this indicates 2 different creatures, maybe not. 

I hope we see more of your finds (perhaps with sharper details) from that area so we can get a better idea of what is there.

As @Plantguy has said, we need to 

16 hours ago, Plantguy said:

know more about what the formation/depositional environment was/is.

Was it marine, etc.

[Rob Russell]

I’m with plantguy. Bark impression was my first impression. 

[abyssunder]

19 hours ago, Plantguy said:

Hey Lori, could be.  I'd love to know more about what the formation/depositional environment was/is.  I'm predisposed and admittedly biased to flora. I dont see any actual leaf scar detail in the quick view but was wondering about one of the Lycopods possibly and maybe Lepidophloios---a bit different than a Lepidodendron in that the leaf scars are wider than tall..There's even one that seems to be spirally arranged called Halonia.  Here's a picture of one that Jack referenced in the Natural History of Lepdophloios. 

 

That was my first thought, also, but as I'm not versed in fossil plats, I took the other possibility. The weathered surface (with possibly pholad borings on the upper left side in the first picture) and the long distribution of the patterns confused me. Now I can see it in a different light.

[abyssunder]

2 hours ago, Innocentx said:

Was it marine, etc.

Good question!