Pennsylvanian Fossils from the Glenshaw Formation

[connorp]

22 hours ago, cngodles said:

There is still about a quarter of the left labial side in a small piece of rock that likely won’t easily free. Vinegar?

[cngodles]

39 minutes ago, connorp said:

23 hours ago, cngodles said:

There is still about a quarter of the left labial side in a small piece of rock that likely won’t easily free. Vinegar?

I haven't yet subjected the teeth to Vinegar. The limestone and calcium carbonate dissolves, do you think the tooth would?

[cngodles]

Neospirifer is a very common brachiopod in the Carboniferous, however I don’t find many locally. I’ve found one in what is sort of punky limestone, but most large brachiopods I uncover are rounded.

 

This specimen is the largest and likely only second or third I’ve found so far. I have a case full of other types, but not Neospirifer.

 

I am about 60% done with prep. I still need to uncover more of the left side.

 

Full write up: https://fossil.15656.com/2020/09/19/neospirifer-sp/

[cngodles]

Astartella concentrica

326.4 – 247.2 MYA

The last two packed years of fossil hunting has always resulted in me taking a break in the Fall. I found this specimen late in the Summer in Pine Creek Limestone North West of here. I liked this specimen as I got both sides exposed and easily cut it to a presentable shape. It seems to be two sides of the same creature.

 

I’m fairly certain on the ID, but am not good at identifying clams.

 

 

 

Full write-up: https://fossil.15656.com/2020/12/13/astartella-concentrica/

[cngodles]

Pulchratia sp.

 

Quick little post about a small brachiopod found in the top punky layer above the limestone. This seems to be limestone that was softened by water or never fully hardened. It’s wet and very fragile. But this makes for detailed fossil specimen.

 

I tried to decide between Pulchratia and Juresania, but Pulchratia seemed to be a better fit. The specimen is only 15mm x 10mm, so it may be a juvenile Juresania, not yet showing the physical features of a more mature specimen.

 

 

 

 

 

More Information Here

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

17 hours ago, cngodles said:

Pulchratia sp.

 

Quick little post about a small brachiopod found in the top punky layer above the limestone. This seems to be limestone that was softened by water or never fully hardened. It’s wet and very fragile. But this makes for detailed fossil specimen.

 

I tried to decide between Pulchratia and Juresania, but Pulchratia seemed to be a better fit. The specimen is only 15mm x 10mm, so it may be a juvenile Juresania, not yet showing the physical features of a more mature specimen.

 

More Information Here

 

 

Yum yum.

I think Pulchratia is correct. 

[cngodles]

Bellerophon

CG-0106

 

I'm sold on the genus, but the species will be more difficult to nail down. There are 126 different species on Fossilworks. Plus, the genus has existed for 235 million years of time.

 

Found in the Brush Creek Limestone in the Glenshaw Formation.

 

 

 

 

More Information Here: https://fossil.15656.com/2021/01/03/bellerophon-2/

 

 

[cngodles]

Petalodus ohioensis XV

CG-0107

 

No. 15 or the tooth I may have left behind? For the first time in about three months I took a walk up the local stream in search of fossils. I found this tooth lying next to a rock I was trying to split before. Either I missed it, thought it was a shell, or maybe was coming back for it? Either way, I collected it today. No scale yet, but I’ll be doing a follow up.

 

That’s 14 I’ve found locally in Brush Creek Limestone and 1 found regionally in Pine Creek Limestone. They are all from the Glenshaw Formation.

 

[cngodles]

Trilobite Free Cheek / Genal Spine

 

Last August, 2020, I found what was the first head piece from a local trilobite that I've personally recovered. I sent photos to a researcher friend who had never recovered one himself over decades of searching through the local section. This gives me a feeling that any part of the cephalon is a rare find, locally.

 

When I broke the rock to expose this piece, it was very shiny and caught my eye immediately. It appears very large in comparison to the pygidium pieces I've recovered over the past two years. Like most specimens, I have very little confidence in freeing it from the Brush Creek Limestone, as the rock is much harder than the preserved specimen. The exposed portion is roughly 16mm long. Entire tails that I have found have been 4cm wide, so this represents a much large piece, relative to others I've found.

 

 

Full Write-up here: https://fossil.15656.com/2020/08/07/trilobite-free-cheek-genal-spine/

More research on local late Pennsylvanian Trilobites: https://fossil.15656.com/research-pages/late-pennsylanian-trilobites/

 

 

[cngodles]

Non Fossil Post, More Focusing on the Geology of the Formation

 

I have spent the last few days writing up an article for the Pine Creek Limestone, and it lead me to illustrate the formation using a cross of two resources. One is an illustration by John A. Harper who knows a great deal about local formations. And the other is from a paper about the Ames Limestone by Srilak Nilmani Perera and Alycia L Stigall from Ohio University.

 

The charts are slightly different from each other, the big difference is the Missourian ending at the Upper Freeport Coal for the S.N. Perera/ A.L. Stigall paper, whereas John puts it somewhere near the Mahoning Coal.

 

The hard part about correlation is this is all sedimentary rock, so ages are difficult to ascertain. Anyway, here is my best blended guess.

 

 

For all of you across the country who follow this thread, in Illinois, my Ames, Pine Creek, Brush Creek Limestone is your Shumway, Shoal Creek and Macoupin Limestone. Further West in the OK,KS,MO,NE and IA these are Oread/Heebner, Dennis/Stark and Swope/Hushpuckney. All of this has been correlated by condont research. Reference for that work below:

 

Reference: Heckel, P.H., Barrick, J.E., and Rosscoe, S.J., 2011, Conodont-based correlation of marine units in lower Conemaugh Group (Late Pennsylvanian) in Northern Appalachian Basin: Stratigraphy, v. 8, p. 253-269.

 

Articles I've written on local stratigraphy:

Brush Creek Limestone: https://fossil.15656.com/local-geology/brush-creek-limestone/

Pine Creek Limestone: https://fossil.15656.com/local-geology/pine-creek-limestone/

The Glenshaw Formation: https://fossil.15656.com/local-geology/glenshaw-formation/

The Ames Limestone: https://fossil.15656.com/local-geology/ames-limestone/

 

[cngodles]

Detalodus

 

This is my first confirmed Detalodus Tooth Plate. I have another potential one, but haven’t research it well enough. I like the look of the surface.

 

 

 

Detalodus Write-up: https://fossil.15656.com/2020/09/05/holocephalian-tooth-plate-maybe-deltodus/

 

 

 

 

[cngodles]

Eomarginifera longispinus

 

This specimen was found early on in my collection. It is ID CG-0008. I went through a couple of thoughts about what it might be but eventually landed on Eomarginifera longispinus.

 

The specimen is preserved in what is a soft layer or what I consider to be demineralized limestone. It's hard when dry, but is very fragile and more like soil. The layer was called a rine by a local Geologist friend of mine.

 

There was a long history in naming this species, being originally named Productus longispinus by Sowerby in 1812, and reassigned to a new genus, Eomarginifera longispinus, by Helen M. Muir-Wood in 1930. This was due to species/genera crowding, and these specimens needed to be more particular. Even Sowerby's original photo looks to be three to four different species all in one.

 

Specimen with preserved inner features:

 

 

@Tidgy's Dad helped me figure out what each inner part actually was. He also helped me identify the genus and species.

Hopefully, this is helpful for others figuring out inner fossilized Brachiopod features.

 

 

Full Write Up Here: https://fossil.15656.com/2021/02/04/eomarginifera-longispinus/

 

[cngodles]

Quote some time ago, @Wrangellian helped correct me on the proper genus for what I was calling "Sea Pens". This ended up being Aviculopinna, at least I think. I have long been interested in these bivalves, and really want to know exactly what I have here, locally. I've collected dozens of specimens, they are very common in the calcareous limestone. So I started doing research on the genus. This article is a draft of sorts, I plan on trying to get feedback and improve it.

 

https://fossil.15656.com/research-pages/aviculopinna/

 

I might as well include some specimen photos. Here are some examples of Aviculopinna, from the local Brush Creek limestone. One of my favorite features is the look of the preserved prismatic layer. This is a series of stacked polygon calcite that gives modern shells a pearly shimmer. This is also known as one of the toughest natural materials on Earth. Scientists have gone to great lengths to try to discover how various sea creatures produce this layer and why it is so strong. More surprisingly, you can see this preserved layer in fossil remains. It even still has a shimmer in the light, giving off a sparkle when you shine light upon the fossil surface. I've taken microscopic photos of this surface, it is very interesting. I've included two photos of it at the bottom of this post.

 

Here are recent specimen photos I took for the research page.

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, the preserved prismatic layer, showing a broken edge:

 

 

Likely inner prismatic layer. White specs are reflected light from the internal prism surface.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cngodles]

Just some updated photography of some older specimens in my catalog.

 

CG-0003: Palaeoneilo and Fish Spine.

One of the earlier discoveries thanks to TFF. I thought this piece next to the shell was wood, but the kind folks here on the forum suggested it to be a fish spine. I had not used focused stacking when I took the original photos, so these might be of better quality.

 

 

 

 

CG-0006: Mooreoceras

Found in the soft layer adjacent to calcareous limestone. There might have been more, but this is what came out in pieces. The three camerae to the left are very fragile, could be crushed to dust under my thumb. You can see the septal necks under magnification.

 

 

 

All photos of my first seven, here.

 

[cngodles]

The ground and streams are frozen, so I keep going back and photographing specimens from my catalog. I want to photograph the first 100 using the blown out white background approach. I've considered black as well, but I don't have the background material right now to do it. Typically a black velvet that sucks up the light. Each will be done with a metric scale.

 

CG-0009, Lepidodendron

 

I'm not 100% sure where this came from in the stratum. It was found along side a rural, but state run road that was well positioned within the Glenshaw Formation. The road was recently worked on, so perhaps this piece of sandstone was brought up with it. Worst case scenario, it was brought in with other fill to build up the road. Either way, it's a beautiful example of the scales from the so called scale tree. Fun fact, centuries ago people thought these were the remains of ancient large snakes.

 

 

More Information about this Lepidodendron here

 

 

[Petalodus12]

8 hours ago, cngodles said:

The ground and streams are frozen, so I keep going back and photographing specimens from my catalog. I want to photograph the first 100 using the blown out white background approach. I've considered black as well, but I don't have the background material right now to do it. Typically a black velvet that sucks up the light. Each will be done with a metric scale.

 

CG-0009, Lepidodendron

 

I'm not 100% sure where this came from in the stratum. It was found along side a rural, but state run road that was well positioned within the Glenshaw Formation. The road was recently worked on, so perhaps this piece of sandstone was brought up with it. Worst case scenario, it was brought in with other fill to build up the road. Either way, it's a beautiful example of the scales from the so called scale tree. Fun fact, centuries ago people thought these were the remains of ancient large snakes.

 

 

More Information about this Lepidodendron here

 

 

In regards to the stratum, the best guess I would have would be either the Saltsburg or the Buffalo Sandstones. It would be more likely that it would have come from the Buffalo, as that is more centrally located in the Glenshaw. This is just a guess, though, as lateral variation is rampant in the Glenshaw and there are also many small riverine sandstones that interfinger with the shales. 

[cngodles]

Continuing specimen photography. Photographing 120 total. I've found that IT IS easy to lose specimens, and I'm on the hunt for 2 or 3 that "must be around here somewhere". I have a desire to print these in magazine format, if there is any interest.

 

Anyway, the photos.

 

CG-0119, Pecopteris

 

From the shale below the Brush Creek limestone. Not often do you get these nice colors. Very fragile, needed to handle carefully.

 

 

 

 

CG-0110, Worthenia tabulata

 

Specimen from the Pine Creek limestone.

 

 

 

CG-0033, crinoid

 

A very large crinoid column. The widest I've found locally. Brush Creek limestone.

 

 

 

 

CG-0059, pseudorthoceras

 

Brush Creek Limestone. One of the more complete ones I've found, with body chamber opening.

 

 

[cngodles]

On 2/22/2021 at 7:25 PM, Petalodus12 said:

either the Saltsburg or the Buffalo Sandstones

 

There is a sandstone layer down the road exposed, it starts at the ground and ends about 8 feet high at the end of the road. It's only 2-3 feet wide. Further away the massive sandstone from the bottom of the Glenshaw is available, with exposures several 10's of feet high. Even now, I'm not 100% sold on which Limestone I am hunting in.

[LabRatKing]

On 4/25/2019 at 11:42 AM, cngodles said:

 A mold of a crinoid columnal. Is is embedded in what could be Schizodus.

I'm a bit late to the game, but this is a fascinating specimen. I cannot wrap my head around how it formed.

[Wrangellian]

17 hours ago, LabRatKing said:

I'm a bit late to the game, but this is a fascinating specimen. I cannot wrap my head around how it formed.

It looks like a loose crinoid ossicle got inside the bivalve, filled with sediment and lithified, then both the ossicle and valve dissolved away.

Cool piece.

[cngodles]

Finally done with a 2nd prep of this pedicle valve of Neospirifer. I'm not yet ready to assign a species. I think I still want to remove the extra matrix at the anterior portion of the shell. The battery grinder died just as I finished cutting the rock. Photography was a bit rough when dry, as the abraded surface of the limestone closely matches the color of the preserved shell material.

 

This is a 2nd prep, and this is only the 2nd example of this genus I've found in rocks I search. They are a common Pennsylvanian Brachiopod, but seemingly not common here.

 

 

 

Complete Photos of Finished 2nd Prep

 

 

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Some lovely specimens added since i last looked here. 

[cngodles]

Gastropods

 

Some of these might be repeats. Most of what is currently in the catalog as a Gastropod. I find these hard to remove, however the one below was in a softer limestone, and was the first successful recovery of a specimen I've had from the Brush Creek with intricate shell patterns.

 

CG-0142, Shansiella carbonaria

Recent prep, Brush Creek limestone.

 

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CG-0138, Strobeus sp.

Gifted to me, from Pine Creek limestone.

 

 

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CG-0090, Trepospira illinoisensis

Pine Creek limestone

 

 

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CG-0097, Strobeus paludinaeformis

Squashed, Brush Creek limestone

 

 

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CG-0061, Shansiella carbonaria

Pine creek limestone. Fault line in specimen polished.

 

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CG-0060, Shansiella carbonaria

Pine Creek limestone. Excellent shell example

 

 

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CG-0110, Worthenia tabulata

Pine creek limestone.

 

 

 

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CG-0014, Shansiella sp.

Brush creek limestone, preserved inner mold.

 

 

 

 

 

[cngodles]

CG-0144, Shansiella carbonaria

Recovered earlier today, Brush Creek limestone. Large steinkern. Was at the margin of a boulder, presenting as 4 raised bumps. I gave it a whack, and got a piece back that I could finish prepping. The 2nd photo shows the eroded surface of the boulder, showing a familiar gastropod shape. I gave up removing the last bit of limestone matrix, to avoid knocking a whorl off the spire.

 

 

 

More about recovered Shansiella carbonaria specimens from Parks Township.

 

 

 

 

[cngodles]

I added seven new Shansiella cabonaria and a very sparse Petalodus specimen to the catalog over the weekend, but I didn't find them as interesting as the petrified taproot I recovered. I don't have any idea on taxonomic identification, except that it's a plant. My knowledge of carboniferous plants is lacking, aside from the various leaf material I find and the Lepidodendron bark I've found.

 

Either carboniferous finds like this are very common and are not written about, or they are a bit rare. Either way, I have not found any material about them thus far.

 

 

I tried my best to describe it here: https://fossil.15656.com/2021/03/23/fossilized-carboniferous-taproot/

Edited March 24, 2021 by cngodles