New Mazon Creek Collection

[stats]

3 hours ago, deutscheben said:

That is a very nice collection of Cyclus, you have some with quality detail and preservation there. Regarding the structures you noticed- I have also seen that the holes around the perimeter are typical for the Cyclus I have. The paper describing the Mazon cycloidea can be read online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254788906_Mazon_Creek_Cycloidea and talks about the carapace having bumps, so maybe that's what they are. 

 

That structure on the last one is interesting, I wonder if it is revealing some internal structure or partial decomposition? For a look at some similar structures and some amazingly preserved Cyclus from elsewhere, check out @t-tree's post:

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/103247-carboniferous-cyclus/

I think you are right.  You can see the gills.

 

Cheers,

Rich

 

[stats]

3 hours ago, deutscheben said:

Actually! I finished reading through the Mazon Creek Cycloidea paper and I think your last one may not be a Cyclus at all, but rather Halicyne max. The overall shape and the anatomy all matches, and the paper depicts multiple examples with visible gill lammelae or rugae that look just like the structures in question. Another nice find!

I meant to quote this one.  I think you might be right as you can see the gills.

 

Cheers,

Rich

[deutscheben]

10 hours ago, bigred97 said:

Wow, @deutscheben are you a detective in real life? Awesome find! I looked at that paper and page 278 in the upper left picture looks remarkably similar. How interesting. And to think that at one point I was thinking that was kind of a ruined specimen and maybe when I had a number of other Cyclus specimens I might want to toss it! But those structures always kind of puzzled me, they looked to have some symmetry. Gosh am I thankful for your sleuthing skills!

 

+1 to my Mazon Creek species count! Chris

You are welcome! I'm not a detective, but I am a librarian. 

[Mark Kmiecik]

That's four more Cyclus  and one more Halicyne  than I ever collected. Congratulations. It seems the locations you've chosen to hunt are paying dividends. This is where field notes pay off. Go hunt the same spots.

[bigred97]

@Mark Kmiecik you are right, but boy is this quarantining hard to take. Missing so many opportunities to be out there finding more concretions. If Illinois at some point reopens the state parks, we will have a second opening day of the season and I'll be there! 

[bigred97]

15 hours ago, stats said:

You remembered correctly!  One of my favorites.  Nice specimens, Chris!

 

Cheers,

Rich

 

Thanks, Rich!

[Mark Kmiecik]

10 minutes ago, bigred97 said:

@Mark Kmiecik you are right, but boy is this quarantining hard to take. Missing so many opportunities to be out there finding more concretions. If Illinois at some point reopens the state parks, we will have a second opening day of the season and I'll be there! 

Yup. Hopefully we have some good hard spring rainstorms before then.

[bigred97]

Next I am going to post 2 separate specimens of Lepidostrobophyllum. Say that 5 times fast. I think these might be ovatifolius. Found in Pit 11. I actually remember finding these because I found all three concretions sides in the same place. They were all opened when I found them. Two of the halves went together. I hunted hard but never found the matching side to the other one. I find this really interesting, that the only two specimens of cone bracts that I've found were sitting in the same place. I notice this same phenomenon when I go shelling in FL - if I find one shell that is somewhat rarer, I seem more likely to find another close by.

 

 

[bigred97]

 

Here is specimen #2 -

[Mark Kmiecik]

 

Here's a few, but not all, species. Some of these are not found at MC. Some species not on this list can be found at MC. Lepidostrobophyllum oblongifolium is relatively common.

[bigred97]

Thanks, @Mark Kmiecik!

[bigred97]

I believe this may be my second specimen of Coprinoscolex ellogimus. Found at Pit 11.

[RCFossils]

1 minute ago, bigred97 said:

I believe this may be my second specimen of Coprinoscolex ellogimus. Found at Pit 11.

Hard to say for sure

i do not see any segmentation or fecal pellets.

It might also be a coprolite.

[bigred97]

Thanks, @RCFossils - I also can't see either. So I think you are right, and this goes in the ? category. 

[Mark Kmiecik]

17 hours ago, bigred97 said:

Thanks, @RCFossils - I also can't see either. So I think you are right, and this goes in the ? category. 

"Problematica " looks better on the label than "?". 

[bigred97]

Problematica!  I love it! +1 to my Mazon Creek species list!  Haha

[Tidgy's Dad]

Problematica is the most common genus in my collection. 

[bigred97]

Here's one that I'm curious about. I found this concretion in Pit 11 last year. It went through more freeze thaw cycles than I could keep track of, at least 50. Last week I decided that my last concretions from that trip had to have their final judgement handed down by my rock hammer. I laid them out on the back patio to dry in the sun. When I went back a few hours later to pick them up and start whacking them, I found that this one had already split. I can't tell for sure that it is a fossil at all. But I think it looks like it might be a worm of some type - maybe Rhaphidiophorus hystrix? (By the way, I had another 20 or so concretions with this one, and no others had any sort of fossil inside).

[bigred97]

[bigred97]

[bigred97]

[RCFossils]

7 hours ago, bigred97 said:

It is definitely a worm.

i would agree that it appears to be Rhaphidiophorus hystrix

[bigred97]

Thanks, @RCFossils! I'm on a bit of a "worm roll", I'll have a couple other specimens posted soon (I think all Didontogaster). Chris

[bigred97]

Another Pit 11 worm. I think this is Didontogaster cordylina. I believe the dark spot is the jaw, although I can make out no detail under magnification.

[bigred97]