Latest Images

Paraconularia sp. fragment

Fri, 04 Oct 2024 15:09:33 +0000

Paraconularia sp. Lower half

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 20:23:39 +0000

Normally you see the top portions of these and not the lower half. At the base it is covered in an odd white layer where it would have attached to a hard surface/brachiopod.

Conulariid (Paraconularia) with slight test malformity

Sat, 11 May 2024 21:42:51 +0000

This test is slightly bulging and test malformations are known to occur for this species. This suggests conulariid tests have a soft pliable stage before hardening.

Its a little hard to see but the bulge on the top portion is the aforementioned malformity.

Paraconularia steinkern with some odd preservation

Sat, 11 May 2024 21:19:41 +0000

There appears to be a hole visible where right below where the soft tissue flaps would cover. Conulariid Steinkerns are known to preserve internal anatomy of Conulariids and have been seen in a 2023 paper. I assume this could be the begging/opening that leads to the gastric chamber.

PDF Link:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12542-023-00649-7

Crushed Conulariid with small nodules inside

Mon, 06 May 2024 23:54:11 +0000

Hello! Here is another Conulariid I've been meaning to post for some time now. Visible nodules are present in what would have been the gastric chamber when they were alive. I believe this is a secondary effect from when the animal died and the phosphate-rich sediment went into its systems. I believe these would normally be found in the Muncie Creek but this one eroded out of the reincorporated Muncie Creek in the Paola.

Another Broken Paraconularia sp.

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 07:26:50 +0000

Another broken specimen weathered from the rock. I always find these jellyfish fascinating whenever they present themselves.

Broken Paraconularia sp.

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 07:26:43 +0000

A lot of my conulariid finds tend to be broken at or near the tip of the apex, even before the attachment which is typical of other conulariid specimens. I am not sure if it is a plane of weakness, a common feature when the animal dies, or simple predation, but when I collected this specimen from the Paola limestone the lower half was missing from the rest of the slab, despite being an almost clean fracture.

Paraconularia sp. With Pearl preserved

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 21:56:55 +0000

Found this wonderful specimen on March 10th, 2024.

After finding this specimen I decided to do some research on these jellyfish and found out that they can form calcium phosphate pearls oddly enough. As fate would have it the only specimen I own to have a visible pearl was my most recent find! If I had not read in a paper that these jellyfish can create pearls I would not have believed it, but as the saying goes seeing is believing!

Size:

Pearl:

Paper which has the only other image I've seen of these pearls online: