sonofthree Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 I am a complete novice. I have searched for fossils as a hobby but have never found anything like this. I found this near Lovell, Wyoming, near the base of the Big Horn mountains. It measures approximately 5cm x 5cm. Thanks for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 Reminds me of some kind of colonial coral, but not sure. Im sure someone here will know for sure. RB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 Kind of a nifty piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 Heliolitid coral 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonofthree Posted August 3, 2019 Author Share Posted August 3, 2019 Thanks so much for your help, I suspected coral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 The morphology matches well with the receptaculitid: Ischadites Foster, M. 1973 Ordovician receptaculitids from California and their significance. Lethaia, 6(1):35-65 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 Hmmm That rascal @piranha is seeing it sectioned isn't he. I guess it could be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Looks to orderly to be a coral to me. I'm also going with receptaculitid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted August 13, 2019 Share Posted August 13, 2019 Okay. Time for me to fold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalmayshun Posted August 14, 2019 Share Posted August 14, 2019 https://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2017/02/10/wooster’s-fossil-of-the-week-a-receptaculitid-middle-ordovician-of-missouri/ Interesting and informative link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geert-Jan Brummer Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Dear XXX, Nice find! The fossil illustrated is certainly a receptaculitid, although part of the lower body. It shows the typical regular arrangement of skeletal elements in spires for which it was called the "sunflower coral" (for a common large species in North America). It also shows what they call "intercalations", which are a certain give away. Although I could only find one such intercalation, it is an asymmetrical one, typical for Ordovician receptaculitids (none known from the Silurian-Devonian, except for the Australian mid-Silurian Hexabactron). The same type of asymmetrical intercalations are shown by "Piranha" copy of Foster's (1973) drawing for "Ischadites mammilaris" (the letters "d" in the drawing). It is unlikely to be the same species though, but I would need to know more for a better identification. Receptaculitids have long been regarded as "algae" or "sponges" but they are probably metazoans not related to sponges. What they are exactly has been debated for over two centuries. Best wishes, Geert-Jan Brummer 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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