Taylordesa Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 My 5 year old found this near a river edge in Southern Ontario. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 I believe these are corals, which have worn away, to show the internal stucture. 1 I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Cross section of a rugose coral. 1 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Actually I would go with a branching bryozoan, along the lines of Hallopora (as one possibility, not a definitive ID). You can see the very small tubes of the individual zooids. Don 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Quite possible, Don... Now I'm second-guessing myself. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylordesa Posted October 11, 2019 Author Share Posted October 11, 2019 Thank you all! My daughter wants to take it to school and I wanted her to be able to share some information with her class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 I think a more precise scale of the size is in order. Aren't those pores in the walls of a tabulate that I see ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Compared with the finger, that looks like a bryozoan. I make it at least 40 zooecia per fingernail, so assuming a fingernail width of very roughly 12mm, that's at least 3-4 zooecia per mm, too small for corallites. 2 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 But if that is a thumb and you counted a facet or two as a zooecia it's in range of smaller tabulates. I still think I see pores in walls, and faceted tubes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 42 minutes ago, Rockwood said: But if that is a thumb and you counted a facet or two as a zooecia it's in range of smaller tabulates. I still think I see pores in walls, and faceted tubes. Conceded - I can see the holes which may be pores, and I can get the diameter up to nearly 0.5mm (an awkward crossover size). (Polygonal tubes aren't diagnostic of corals, a lot of bryozoans have angular zooecia.) Fingernail size could be critical here! Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Don't quote me on this,because i haven't done the requisite research yet: Lichenaria/E.g.Heliolites dubius doesn't have pores edit : it's very hard to identify Paleozoic carbonate-secreting organism without insight into ultrastrucutural detail. Bryozoan remains a possibility... (image from Sardeson' thesis/1896-status: out of copyright) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 12 hours ago, Taylordesa said: My 5 year old found this near a river edge in Southern Ontario. Any ideas? @Taylordesa Are you able to measure how many zooecium or corallites per cm? @TqB What is the smallest diameter of a corallite and name of species? Could it be Chaetetes, a sponge? My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 When you throw in crystallization and a touch of subsequent dissolution perhaps. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 I'd recommend using calipers,measuring diameter(longest axis of "corallite" in the the case of non- circular ones) to the nearest 0,1 MM,and taking ontogeny and diagenesis into account Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 1 hour ago, DPS Ammonite said: @TqB What is the smallest diameter of a corallite and name of species? Could it be Chaetetes, a sponge? You have to trawl the literature to find individual examples of small ones, I've not seen a definitive statement. However, there are various favositids in the Treatise in the 0.5 - 1mm range. 0.5mm is large but not impossible for a bryozoan, and chaetetids span this range too. It's always difficult with just normal photos, no matter how good - you probably need wall ultrastructure (e.g. corals have trabeculae) and detailed sections and ontogeny, as @doushantuo says. Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 It is a bryozoan IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 The fingernail in the picture has sparkling nail polish. The OP referred to a 5 year old and to a daughter that I am assuming are the same person. So I suspect that the particular fingernail in question would belong to a 5 year old female human. This would put it at the smaller end of the spectrum of fingernail sizes. So I agree with the bryzoan camp on this one. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJB Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 15 hours ago, Kane said: Quite possible, Don... Now I'm second-guessing myself. Glad im not the only one that second guesses. I seem to do it all the time. RB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 I just witnessed an attribution based on nail polish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 1 hour ago, doushantuo said: I just witnessed an attribution based on nail polish Beats wood grain hands down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylordesa Posted October 12, 2019 Author Share Posted October 12, 2019 Thank you all for your responses! My daughter and I have loved following along and we appreciate your help. My daughter is autistic and has an incredible eye for detail and finds fossils so easily. She was literally finding one every couple of minutes! I couldn't find a ruler but I took a photo with a Canadian quarter for scale. Also, that was my thumb in the first photo... I wear sparkly nail polish at 37. I'm also posting a couple of other fossils my daughter found that she's curious about. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylordesa Posted October 12, 2019 Author Share Posted October 12, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taylordesa Posted October 12, 2019 Author Share Posted October 12, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Bryozoan wins. Nautiloid orthocone, I think, on the second one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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