A most unusual blastoid

[matt2396]

Hey everyone, long time no see! Last week, my historical geology class went on a field trip and did a little fossil collecting, so naturally I've had the fever ever since. A couple of days later I decided to hit a nearby roadcut and do some nosing around. After a few hours I had collected some very nice echinoderm material (including a nice Taxocrinus crown), some of which I am not totally familiar with. What I thought to be my most unusual find was this weirdo little blastoid. The first thing that struck me is the rust color, I've only seen this in my Floraville blastoids, and those are just slightly rust-colored, not covered head to toe like this little guy. You may not be able to see this in the photos, but there appear to be some pseudofossil markings on one side. Another strange characteristic is what I'm going to call the arrangement of the plates, could it be that this thing didn't get to 'close itself up' all the way before it was buried? (I do not study biology or paleontology so please stop wincing) If not, I'm wondering if I found one of the less common species of what I assume to be Pentremites. Of all the blastoids I've found, this one is probably the most unique, if someone could help me ID this thing it would be greatly appreciated! If additional photos are needed, I will gladly provide them.

 

Thanks,

Matt

 

P.S. I apologize for the poor lighting in the photos (and for the lack of scale!), it's very hard to get a good picture in my half-subterranean apartment that only gets direct sunlight early in the morning.

P.S.S. Hats off if you picked up on the Twilight Zone references.

[matt2396]

Sorry, I put this in the tags but not in the actual post: the age of this formation is Mississippian (Lower Carboniferous). Probably Chesterian.

[Tidgy's Dad]

Very nice find. 

Looks like a species of Pentremites to me. There were several different varieties and quite a bit of variation within species. 

[fifbrindacier]

A very nice one, felicitations.

[matt2396]

1 hour ago, fifbrindacier said:

A very nice one, felicitations.

Thanks!

[Packy]

Nice find, I wonder if that is a mold showing he inside impression, I do not se any plate markings. The photo is good, buy try laying the fossil on a metric ruler and use a small tripod using your timer to take the photo, then we could see all the parts of the fossil. It will give us even better detail.  I would like to see your Taxocrinus.  Packy

[FossilDAWG]

I agree that the fossil is an internal mold.  Very cool as it gives a different perspective, one that is rarely seen with blastoids.   I also would like to see the Taxocrinus.

 

Don

[matt2396]

I went back home for the weekend so I don't have my fossils handy, these are the only other photos I have at the moment (still with no scale, sorry!):