Show Us Your Favorite Brachiopod In Your Collection

[Thecosmilia Trichitoma]

Show us your favorite brachiopod fossil in your Collection! 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mediospirifer]

My favorite brachiopod? That's a tricky one--I have a lot of brachs, many of which are cool.   

 

Here's recent acquisition that's high on the list (although my pathologicals are also high on the list!). Spinocyrtia granulosa, encrusted with the bryozoan Botryllopora socialis. Middle Devonian, Hamilton Group, Wanakh shale from Penn-Dixie quarry in Hamburg, NY. This is the most complete Spinocyrtia in my collection so far, it's also my only example of Botryllopora, and it has a bore-hole (just above the bryozoan). 

 

 

Looking forward to seeing what other TFF members post!  

 

[Manticocerasman]

On 2/4/2019 at 10:32 PM, Tidgy's Dad said:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  which one will you chose Adam? 

[minnbuckeye]

5 hours ago, Manticocerasman said:

 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

     choooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[Manticocerasman]

not especially my favorite brachiopod, but I found it in a very beautiful setting. So it made my favorite picture of a brachiopod that I found:

 

Spiriferid indet.

Frasnian

Arquennes ( ancient overgrown quarry )

Belgium

 

 

[Quer]

I love this Quadratirhynchia attenuatta for two reasons: first, for being one of the few pieces I have which is from the area but it's not an Upper Cretaceous one (Jurassic Lias). And above all because my little sister found and gave it to me from one of her girl scout sorties, long long time ago.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

11 hours ago, Mediospirifer said:

My favorite brachiopod? That's a tricky one--I have a lot of brachs, many of which are cool.  

 

Here's recent acquisition that's high on the list (although my pathologicals are also high on the list!). Spinocyrtia granulosa, encrusted with the bryozoan Botryllopora socialis. Middle Devonian, Hamilton Group, Wanakh shale from Penn-Dixie quarry in Hamburg, NY. This is the most complete Spinocyrtia in my collection so far, it's also my only example of Botryllopora, and it has a bore-hole (just above the bryozoan). 

 

Looking forward to seeing what other TFF members post!  

 

Lovely! 

The bryozoan really yummy too.

I knew it, this thread is giving me a chronic case of Brachiopod Envy already! 

I would have thought you would have chosen Mediospirifer for some reason. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

9 hours ago, Manticocerasman said:

 which one will you chose Adam? 

It's impossible! 

I couldn't possibly choose.

I haven't even photographed most of them. 

But I have recently prepped this Hesperothis tricenaria from the Platteville Fm. of Wisconsin and i think it's pretty special. 

1.7cm wide, 1.5 cm in the other direction and 7 mm deep.

Thanks again to @minnbuckeye

[Tidgy's Dad]

4 hours ago, minnbuckeye said:

 

     choooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Bless you! 

[Mediospirifer]

2 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Lovely! 

The bryozoan really yummy too.

I knew it, this thread is giving me a chronic case of Brachiopod Envy already! 

I would have thought you would have chosen Mediospirifer for some reason. 

 

 

I do have a bunch of nice Mediospirifers, and I certainly like them (as you correctly guessed!), but my favorites are the unusual ones, especially if they have a visible story to tell or an association. This one, I think, died and was drilled (possibly died of boring predation, possibly burrowed through after death), became disarticulated, then had the bryozoan colonize it. I think the bryo moved in after disarticulation because it's visibly growing around the edge of the aperture, and is on the inside of the valve as well as the outside. Which makes me think that the bryo valve may have been half-buried in mud and sticking straight up at that stage! If the borehole was from a burrow, that probably occurred after the valve was buried (and the bryo died).

 

I like your Hesperothis. Nice specimen!

 

[Mediospirifer]

On 2/5/2019 at 7:11 AM, Manticocerasman said:

not especially my favorite brachiopod, but I found it in a very beautiful setting. So it made my favorite picture of a brachiopod that I found:

 

Spiriferid indet.

Frasnian

Arquennes ( ancient overgrown quarry )

Belgium

 

Nice! I especially like the modern mollusk inspecting the primitive plant.

 

[Manticocerasman]

my favorite brachiopod is this one:

Ryocarhynchus tumidus

Late devonian ( Frasnian)

Matagne formation

Lompret

Belgium

 

 

[Wrangellian]

Mine is this one, the first obvious brach that I found up my local site almost 10yrs ago... still unidentified. I wish I hadn't used white glue to stabilize it, as I'm not sure how stable that stuff actually is over time and with humidity, but that's what I was using at the time.

I'll hate to part with it but it might end up in the museum sometime soon so that someone can research it. I don't have very many others of this type.

 

[Ludwigia]

I love the sneezing humor here. Here's the stealth bomber from Hungry Hollow along with a few other brachi bits and bites.

 

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

54 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

I love the sneezing humor here. Here's the stealth bomber from Hungry Hollow along with a few other brachi bits and bites.

 

[Mediospirifer]

Cool specimens, all!

 

Love that stealth bomber, Roger! 

 

Manticocerasman, that Ryocarhynchus is very cool--I'm not familiar with that genus. Looks a bit like a pregnant Athyris spiriferoides! 

 

Wrangellian, nice piece. "Firsts" are always cool, especially when you can't find it in the field guides! 

 

[Al Tahan]

I have to join @Mediospirifer in declaring Spinocyertia granulosa as a favorite! To honor brach lovers (I’m a secret admirer myself)

I couldn’t choose just one. I think @Tidgy's Dad wouldn’t mind a few extra brachs in the thread lol. 

I also love my Megastrophia concava specimens. Both are hard to find, especially megatsrophia in collectible condition.

I have tons of amazing condition common brachs but these are more special to me.

 

 

 

My best Spinicyrtias...all have both shells. I have a bunch of single shells that aren’t half bad but these are my pride and joy lol.

Found in the Wanakah shale south of Buffalo.

 

 

 

 

I’ve found more destroyed Megastrophia concava fossils than I can stomach.

These alway are so destroyed and super hard to find in collectible condition.

I have 2 nice single shells, a partial single shell (not pictured) and **1** specimen with both shells.

 

 

 

 

My 3 favorite Spinocyrtias. The ones on the left have aulopora and a brach (forgot the name yikes) as hitchhikers.

The right is my first ever complete from my early collecting days. 

 

 

 

This is worth its weight in gold to me. Megastrophia concava with ***both*** shells.

Fragile...rare....only the wanakah shale hunters would know the struggle haha. 

PS..sorry for lack of scale bar in photos...

 

Al

[Tidgy's Dad]

8 hours ago, Al Tahan said:

I have to join @Mediospirifer in declaring Spinocyertia granulosa as a favorite! To honor brach lovers (I’m a secret admirer myself) I couldn’t choose just one. I think @Tidgy's Dad wouldn’t mind a few extra brachs in the thread lol. I also love my Megastrophia concava specimens. Both are hard to find, especially megatsrophia in collectible condition. I have tons of amazing condition common brachs but these are more special to me.

My best Spinicyertias...all have both shells. I have a bunch of single shells that aren’t half bad but these are my pride and joy lol. Found in the Wanakah shale south of Buffalo.

I’ve found more destroyed Megastrophia concava fossils than I can stomach. These alway are so destroyed and super hard to find in collectible condition. I have 2 nice single shells, a partial single shell (not pictured) and **1** specimen with both shells

My 3 favorite Spinocyrtias. The ones on the left have aulopora and a brach (forgot the name yikes) as hitchhikers

This is worth its weight in gold to me. Megastrophia concava with ***both*** shells. Fragile...rare....only the wanakah shale hunters would know the struggle haha. 

 

PS..sorry for lack of scale bar in photos...

 

Al

[Ken K]

Excellent topic here.  Have enjoyed perusing all the wonderful specimens.  Specializing in the Waldron Shale, I wanted to jump in here with two specimens in my collection that stand out in my mind.  The first is due to it's rarely collected status and the other for its preservation.

 

The first is a beautiful mature specimen of the rare Strophonellidae...Strophonella semifasciata, Hall.  This brachiopod is rarely collected even as partials let alone complete as you see here.  This is due in part to its large size (note the cm. scale bar) and fragile nature of the shell.  Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale Formation, Bartholomew County, Indiana.  Collected and prepared by Ken Karns.

 

The second is a wonderful specimen of the Cyrtiidae...Eospirifer radiatus, Sowerby.  This species is a conspicuous taxa in the Waldron Shale yet specimens of this quality are rarely seen.  Most specimens of E. radiatus are compressed and the shell is very prone to "flaking" off into the impression of the surrounding matrix.  This one was completely covered in matrix and fully inflated.  I prepared the entire specimen with air abrasive retaining all the micro detail and epizoans.  Middle Silurian, Shelby County, Indiana.  Collected and prepared by Ken Karns.

[Tidgy's Dad]

37 minutes ago, Ken K said:

Excellent topic here.  Have enjoyed perusing all the wonderful specimens.  Specializing in the Waldron Shale, I wanted to jump in here with two specimens in my collection that stand out in my mind.  The first is due to it's rarely collected status and the other for its preservation.

 

The first is a beautiful mature specimen of the rare Strophonellidae...Strophonella semifasciata, Hall.  This brachiopod is rarely collected even as partials let alone complete as you see here.  This is due in part to its large size (note the cm. scale bar) and fragile nature of the shell.  Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale Formation, Bartholomew County, Indiana.  Collected and prepared by Ken Karns.

 

The second is a wonderful specimen of the Cyrtiidae...Eospirifer radiatus, Sowerby.  This species is a conspicuous taxa in the Waldron Shale yet specimens of this quality are rarely seen.  Most specimens of E. radiatus are compressed and the shell is very prone to "flaking" off into the impression of the surrounding matrix.  This one was completely covered in matrix and fully inflated.  I prepared the entire specimen with air abrasive retaining all the micro detail and epizoans.  Middle Silurian, Shelby County, Indiana.  Collected and prepared by Ken Karns.

 

Very special specimens.

Thanks for sharing.

[minnbuckeye]

1 hour ago, Ken K said:

The first is a beautiful mature specimen of the rare Strophonellidae...Strophonella semi

 

Impressive!! I have an affinity towards our local Strophonella. 

 

 Mike

[Al Tahan]

@Ken K amen on the strophomenids!! Those large ones are hard to find complete and in 1 piece!! Seems the wanakah and Waldron strophomeids share the same fate often times....incomplete and destroyed lol.

 

Ife always wanted to hunt the Waldron...it’s so similar yet so different from the buffalo fauna  

[Tidgy's Dad]

5 hours ago, Al Tahan said:

@Ken K amen on the strophomenids!! Those large ones are hard to find complete and in 1 piece!! Seems the wanakah and Waldron strophomeids share the same fate often times....incomplete and destroyed lol.

 

Ife always wanted to hunt the Waldron...it’s so similar yet so different from the buffalo fauna  

I'd be very happy to have the opportunity to spend time in either! 

[Mediospirifer]

12 hours ago, Ken K said:

Excellent topic here.  Have enjoyed perusing all the wonderful specimens.  Specializing in the Waldron Shale, I wanted to jump in here with two specimens in my collection that stand out in my mind.  The first is due to it's rarely collected status and the other for its preservation.

 

The first is a beautiful mature specimen of the rare Strophonellidae...Strophonella semifasciata, Hall.  This brachiopod is rarely collected even as partials let alone complete as you see here.  This is due in part to its large size (note the cm. scale bar) and fragile nature of the shell.  Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale Formation, Bartholomew County, Indiana.  Collected and prepared by Ken Karns.

 

The second is a wonderful specimen of the Cyrtiidae...Eospirifer radiatus, Sowerby.  This species is a conspicuous taxa in the Waldron Shale yet specimens of this quality are rarely seen.  Most specimens of E. radiatus are compressed and the shell is very prone to "flaking" off into the impression of the surrounding matrix.  This one was completely covered in matrix and fully inflated.  I prepared the entire specimen with air abrasive retaining all the micro detail and epizoans.  Middle Silurian, Shelby County, Indiana.  Collected and prepared by Ken Karns.

 

Very nice!!   It's always satisfying to get a fragile specimen out intact (or at least repairable). Nice prep work!