Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'mississipian'.
-
Baffled.... Carboniferous Pottsville Sandstone, Blair County, Pennsylvania (USA)
SteveE posted a topic in Fossil ID
EDIT - Mistaken title. This from the underlying formation, the Mississippian Maunch Chunk. (oopsie daisie) This doesn't match the area's semi-abundant Lepidodendron or Sigillaria or their roots (Stigmaria)... and it doesn't look like Cordaites or Calamites and I'm at a loss to ID the rectangular pattern here. Help, anyone? (Note two fingers of my leather glove on left for scale)- 15 replies
-
- 1
-
Hi everyone, this is my first post! Does anyone have any tips on locating a tooth near Sulphur, Indiana? It’s a personal goal! I don’t expect anyone to give away a “secret location” or anything of that nature. I’m willing to put in the work! Thank you! 🙂
- 2 replies
-
- help
- mississipian
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
- 11 replies
-
- 3
-
- bloomington
- criniod
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
I’ve been told these blastoids appear to be Mississippian and I have some questions
SilurianSalamander posted a topic in Fossil ID
I’ve been told these blastoids appear to be Mississippian in age. That surprises me because the rocks in Dane county Wisconsin are late Cambrian - early Ordovician and the nearest Carboniferous rocks are a long ways away. I’ve done some research into the history of the buildings on the UW Madison campus where I find these fossils and they were supposedly quarried only a few miles from where they now lie. I was also told that blastoids didn’t appear until the Carboniferous. From a quick google search I got the impression that, while they massively diversified in the Carboniferous, they first appeared during the Ordovician. I’m just confused and curious as to how old these rocks are. They’re packed full of fossils and I often find tiny fossils that have eroded out of them and fallen to the ground to collect. attatched are the 2 or 3 blastoids and some of the other fossils I’ve found in these rocks. Any help as to what the age could be would be wonderful! also any IDs on some of the other fossils more specific than “gastropod” or “cephalopod” or “crinoid” are also appreciated. Thank you so much! Y’all are great.- 1 reply
-
- blastoid
- carboniferous
- (and 8 more)
-
I had a left over 5 pound piece of matrix sitting outside from last summer's trip to the Burlington, Iowa area. Finally this summer, I broke up the Mississippian age rock a bit, soaked it in acid for a few weeks, and then extracted these teeth from the softened matrix.
- 3 replies
-
- 20
-
- burlington
- keokuk
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
First time posting, i dug lurking for a while. Looking for some help to figure out what this is? Found in a region that could be Mississippi or PennSylvanian . Looks like some kind of segmented something or other, worm or something. but I don't know. Let me know if any of you are able to tell what this is! I tried to use light to enhance the detail from different angles.
- 5 replies
-
- 3
-
- mississipian
- ohio
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Id help! I’m not sure if this in an animal skull or just a rock
jwestbury posted a topic in Fossil ID
I have this piece from Central Indiana (Generally the Mississippian or Tertiary/Quatemary). What I find fascinating is that it appears to be a nasal cavity. I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or something of actual interest. I took quite a few pictures some with stronger flash so you can see the difference in the different light. -
Was the Early Miocene a second "golden age" for the Chondrichthyans
Joseph Fossil posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
I recall not too long ago there was a pretty interesting scientific article published in the Journal Science describing how scientists analyzed the amount and diversity of chondrichthyan denticles in ichthyoliths from the North and South Pacific dating from around 20-19 million years ago and discovered a sharp drop in the number and diversity of denticles around 19 million years ago, indicating a massive extinction took place which took sharks 2 to 5 million years to somewhat recover from (it's still unknown if this impacted chondrichthyans worldwide or just in the pacific). Here's the paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaz3549 E. C. Sibert, L. D. Rubin, An early Miocene extinction in pelagic sharks. Science 372, 1105–1107 (2021). But after reading it, I remembered how the Mississippian and somewhat Pennsylvanian periods of the Carboniferous era have been called the golden age of sharks due to the sheer diversity of chondrichthyan genera alive at that time. http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/evolution/golden_age.htm What I'm wondering is does this paper, in revealing this early miocene extinction event, inadvertently also reveal that the period immediately prior to the event was a second "golden age" for the chondrichthyans?- 19 replies
-
- 1
-
- carboniferous
- chondrichthyan
- (and 8 more)
-
Hi! Me and @Tales From the Shale are actively thinking of going on a fossil hunting trip in Alton Illinois (right by St. Louis, Missouri) this week to analyze the Mississippian period St. Louis limestone and I'm wondering if anyone else has gone down there? https://www.mindat.org/feature-4232679.html We're specifically looking for fossils of the Meramac group and though we have a quarry or two, we're thinking of also checking out any road cuts in the area. I'm wondering before we go on the fossil hunt (likely this Saturday), could anyone offer some info on any good road cuts in the Alton area as well as quarries and if there are also a descent amount of fossils in the Spergen limestone too?
-
I've been looking at the records of the Carboniferous Eugenodontid Chondrichthyan Edestus in Illinois (famously referred to as the coal shark) in Illinois and I've found that there are a large amounts of reports from Underground mines at Sparta and Coulterville, Randolph County Illinois. I also found a record from fossilworks.org simply listed as "Coal mines of western illinois" at the coordinates 38.7° N, 90.0° W. http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=collectionSearch&taxon_no=34453&max_interval=Carboniferous&country=United States&state=Illinois&is_real_user=1&basic=yes&type=view&match_subgenera=1 O. P. Hay. 1909. On the nature of Edestus and related genera, with descriptions of one new genus and three new species. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 37:43-61 I'm wondering what are the actual best pits and mines by Sparta and Coulterville Illinois to find Edestus fossils, which ones and either still open or (if closed) still accessible, what safety precautions should one take if fossil hunting in one of these mines or pits, and is Mecca Quarry on the Indiana-Illinois border a good place to find Edestus specimens?
- 10 replies
-
- alton
- carboniferous
-
(and 7 more)
Tagged with:
-
Mississippian Roadcuts and quarries in Alton Illinois
Joseph Fossil posted a topic in Questions & Answers
I've been looking recently into possibly fossil hunting by Alton, Illinois for specimens of Mississippian era fauna. I'm specifically looking for general places like roadcuts and quarries with 330-340 million year old St. Louis Limestone (Meramec group) in the Alton area. I'm just wondering (without anyone being too specific about localities) is there any general places like quarries or roadcuts that match that description in Alton, Illinois?-
- alton
- brachiapod
-
(and 6 more)
Tagged with:
-
I have recently been combing through the geologic records of the Carboniferous Ctecanthiform shark Saivodus striatus and I'v found something curious. It's been found in Mississippian deposits in Indiana, Kentucky, but not really Illinois! https://www.uky.edu/KGS/fossils/fossil-of-the-month_2022-07_Saivodus.php I've heard that Cladodus ferox and C. spinosus (considered synonyms of Saviodus striatus) have been found in the Carbondale and St.Louis Formations in Kankakee and Madison county respectively, but I'm wondering if this is correct? I'm wondering if anyone who have any info on Saivodus fossils in Illinois (especially somewhat Northern Illinois) and if there have been any records of them in Counties like LaSalle, Kendell, or Grundy?
- 2 replies
-
- mississipian
- pennsyvanian
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hello, Some help with another unidentified piece please. The seller's label is "Crinoid (?) - central Indiana, Mississippian ~340 mya", but I don't see any ossicles or radial symmetry. A flattened brachiopod perhaps? Measures ~2cm.
- 5 replies
-
- brachiopod?
- crinoid?
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
This was found on one of my recent hikes in a creek bed in south-central Indiana (Monroe County). Geodes are very common finds as well as crinoid columnals and horn coral but this is the first find of this type. So I would think it is some type of geodized fossil but would like the experts' opinions. The first 3 photos (taken in natural sunlight) are "side" views and the 4th shows the "bottom". What do you guys think? Thanks in advance for your feedback.
-
Taxonomy from Poplin & Lund 2000. Description for the genus from Woodward 1893, p 286: "Trunk elegantly fusiform, more or less elongated. Mandibular suspensorium oblique, and dentition compromising conspicuous well-spaced conical laniaries; external head and opercular bones completely ornamented with striations, vermiculating rugae, and dots of ganoine. Fins small, without fulcra, and the rays delicate, distally bifurcated. Dorsal and anal fins triangular, the former opposed to the space between the pelvic and anal fins; upper caudal lobe slender and the caudal fin forked. Scales large and thick, covered with ganoine and ornamented with transverse ridges, usually serrated at the hinder border; principal flank-scales not much deeper than broad, and no enlarged series of ridge-scales; lateral line conspicuous." Line drawing from Birstein et al. 1997, p. 17: Identified by oilshale. References: Woodward (1893) Palaeichthyological Notes. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) 12. Obruchev, D.V. 1955. L.S. Berg’s works on fossil fishes. pp. 127– 137. In: E.N. Pavlovskii (ed.) To the Memory of Academician L.S. Berg, Izdatelstvo Akademii Nauk USSR, Moscow (in Russian). Birstein, V. & Bemis, W. E. (1997) Leo Semenovich Berg and the biology of Acipenseriformes: A dedication. Environmental Biology of Fishes 48: 15–22. Lund, R. & Poplin, C. (1997) The Rhadinichthyids (Paleoniscoid Actinopterygians) from the Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana (USA, Lower Carboniferous). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 466-486. Lund, R. & Poplin, C. (2000) Two New Deep-Bodied Palaeoniscoid Actinopterygians from Bear Gulch (Montana, USA, Lower Carboniferous). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20(3):428-449.
-
- carboniferous
- ganolepis
- (and 4 more)
-
11 Sep 2021: Mississippian brachiopods at Crystal Lake, MT
kehaz posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
The weather was promising, the husband wanted a good place to hike, and the dog had cabin fever. So I loaded them, along with my gear, into the truck and drove down to Crystal Lake to hunt around in the Madison limestone while the husband and the dog went for a romp in the Big Snowy Mountains. On the dirt road to the area, we drove past a mama black bear and her cub, hanging out only about 30 feet from the road. To avoid aggravating either, we didn't slow down to take pictures, but my husband was pretty "bear"-anoid about running into them again Well, the mountains weren't snowy and the lake wasn't much of a lake, but the weather was great and the shoreline looked promising, so I set off to start combing through the countless dead snail shells to find myself some brachiopods. Most of the shoreline was water-worn limestone chunks, but the outcrops of layered stone jutting from the shore harbored some wonderful fossils. My first find of the day! Can you spot it? After my first little brach, I started seeing a lot of crinoid and coral hash plates. This plate was several feet across and still half-buried. I had been finding some nice little brachiopods that I suspected were some sort of spirifer, and decided to start splitting some limestone to see what else I might be able to find. After a few hours, the husband and dog came back and started smothering me with their boredom. So, in an attempt to appease them, and perhaps scout out another good spot or two, we started off on the trail that circled the lake. There wasn't much in the way of good exposures, but the dog ran most of her energy out on the little trail. We picked along the opposite shore on the way back to the truck, finding a few more small brachs and crinoid bits, but I didn't want to go home yet. I talked my husband into letting me stop at a few roadcuts on the way back to the highway, and he agreed as long as he could nap in the truck while I hunted. Perfect: now I don't have to entertain him. The dog was pretty pooped out too, so it was a nice stress-free hunt-and-peck down Crystal Lake Road. Until my angry bowels could not hold out any longer. We swung over to Cascade Falls Trailhead to use the outhouse, and there was a tiny little exposure near the parking area of the trailhead. I couldn't help it. I had to check it out. A whitetail doe hanging out on the right side of the hill played peek-a-boo with me as I scoured the well-split limestone. My last find of the day is probably my most favorite. After researching these a bit more, I believe these are a type of Cyrtospirifer, lower Mississippian and common in this area. I believe that there are at least two different species present in this plate and need to do some more research to find the species of each. I believe I found the impression of a Schizophoria on this piece. Bryozoa? I have a fair bit of homework to do, and as always, I am extremely happy with my finds. Thanks for stopping by; have a great day!- 2 replies
-
- 3
-
- brachiopods
- crinoids
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
A recent trip to the Madison Group near Yogo, MT turned up a small exposure for Mississippian fossils, mostly small crinoid hash plates but with a few little surprises. I'm still learning about different types of fossiliferous rocks; I believe this was an outcropping of limestone. I tried to locate these fossils in the National Audubon Society's Field Guide to Fossils, but I'd like to get an opinion from someone who knows much more than I do (which, let's be honest, isn't very much ) 01: These were the largest brachiopods I recovered from the site. Perhaps schuchertella? 02: This one straight-up stumped me. At first I thought it was some sort of aquatic plant or coral, but my reference book is pretty limited in plants, and it looks like no corals I've seen. 03: These are very small, but the coloration of this tiny group is what caught my eye. I'm sure the small segments are crinoid, but please correct me if I'm wrong. I have sectioned off a few small fossils in the plate that I'd like to know more about. 03-1 looks plantish, but I had the same issue with this one that I had with 02. 03-2 are so small that I'm not really able to differentiate one mollusc from another. 03-3 is straight-up weird and I have no idea what to make of it. I won't even venture a guess; I just have no clue. A picture of the outcrop. It was small but kept me busy for several hours. Please let me know if I need to upload more pictures. I'm pretty sure I did everything that the multitude of "how-to" posts said to do... Thank you!
- 11 replies
-
- 1
-
- brachiopod
- madison group
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
Phyllocarid carapace, trilobite, or possibly a brachiopod?
Cassandra Tiensivu posted a topic in Fossil ID
Hello everyone. I’ve been chiseling apart some of my less than fabulous Mississippian Coldwater Shale packstones that I find in South Haven (MI) on Lake Michigan. Typically, I’ll discover various brachiopods, a few gastropods, various bryozoan, some ostracods, and little bits of flora that look like tiny seaweed. However, recently I opened up a packstone with a very different fossil inside. I have nothing else like it in my collection. A few folks I know have speculated the things I mentioned in the title of this post. The second picture is... I guess I would call it a cast? The third picture is the interior of the shell of whatever this creature was.- 14 replies
-
- 2
-
- brachiopods
- coldwater shale
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
This specimen was taken from a Mississippian deposit in Jefferson county, Missouri. All of the other items I found were easily identifiable, but I have no idea what this is. The "skirt" is interesting. I'm not sure if the material behind the skirt is solid, or if it is just a fragile membrane. I didn't post a photo of the bottom because it is just dirt/rock.
- 7 replies
-
- fern glen
- mississipian
-
(and 1 more)
Tagged with:
-
- 2 replies
-
- 1
-
- fossil
- identification
-
(and 3 more)
Tagged with:
-
Hi everyone, I haven't been able to post much lately as I've been ill for a few months so haven't been getting out hunting as much as I'd like but I've had some good luck when I have been able to get out so wanted to share some finds! All are from the Carboniferous of the Midland Valley of Scotland from several formations, I haven't gotten round to photographing everything yet so I'll post some more stuff over the next few days. First some finds from the Lower Carboniferous/Mississippian marine Blackhall Limestone. Undescribed jellyfish, Fife Coast, 3cm across. Apparently a paper describing these is about to be published very soon. I'm told this ones a male, the bumps in the center being the male reproductive organs. This is by far the more common form, there is a second spotty form known from this formation which I found a specimen of a few weeks back and will post shortly.
- 103 replies
-
- 19
-
- carboniferous
- invertebrates
-
(and 4 more)
Tagged with:
-
I am risking the possibility of a huge embarrassment here, but I am wondering about this large rock. I at first assumed that it was a large chunk of concrete but then I started looking more closely. It is located in a creek bed with no other concrete around it. We have a massive amount of fossilifferous (sp?) limestone rocks in our yard, so I began reevaluating this one... I am not able to climb down to look at it closely, so this photo will have to suffice. Is this actually a chunk of concrete or is it a conglomerate rock with fossils in it? If it is concrete I will put my tail between my legs and slink off into the far distance. We live in Huntsville, AL. Thanks! Ramona
- 20 replies
-
- alabama
- conglomerate
-
(and 2 more)
Tagged with:
-
I am trying to wrap my head around what these things looked like in "real life" so I can recognize them better. This is a limestone rock with what I think are fenestella bryozoan fossils, found in Huntsville, AL. Mississipian age. This photo is looking down at what I call the "top" of the rock. The next photo will be from the side, looking at the same area but from the "inside" of the rock. Can anyone point me to a site where I might find a diagram of these to better help me understand what they looked like? Thanks! Ramona
- 12 replies
-
Hi! This teacher is spending the last day of Fall Break Christmas shopping - fossils for my students! Found a few beauties for teacher, too... I think this may be part of a trilobite... thoughts? More pics in comments of other mystery finds as I find them! Thanks in advance!
- 2 replies
-
- brachiopod
- bryozoan
-
(and 7 more)
Tagged with: