2020 Ontario Trilobite Hunting

[Kane]

1 minute ago, JohnJ said:

How long did you search for the missing pieces?

 

I looked for a while, but it was sitting out in the open on a slab for a few years, so sadly no dice. Because there were so many layers filled with brachs, my eyes were glazing over and I almost dismissed this at a distance as another brach but did a double take when I saw the axis and then the sensory pits! As I lifted the rock to its side to prepare for a careful extraction, the piece came out whole in my hands. 

 

Suffice it to say, I probably spent just as long obsessively scrutinizing every rock within a ten metre radius of this one!  

[Malcolmt]

Actually I think you missed my pink tape indicating that I had found it first and was coming back for it later. Epic trip mon Amigo...1930 kilometres and almost as many beverages...lol

[Huntonia]

Amazing finds! Quite a few Cheirurina and that dolichoharpes!   What a great trip!

 

Now, out of curiosity, I've heard that Xylabion is an incorrect name and it actually falls under the genus Ceraurinella. Is that true or are they two separate genus? 

[Kane]

8 minutes ago, Huntonia said:

Amazing finds! Quite a few Cheirurina and that dolichoharpes!   What a great trip!

 

Now, out of curiosity, I've heard that Xylabion is an incorrect name and it actually falls under the genus Ceraurinella. Is that true or are they two separate genus? 

Thanks! I was pretty floored!

There is a cheirurid revision currently in the works, so there is still some debate as to where to place "Xylabion." Many of the cheirurids in the US have been very well described, but the ones in Ontario need a lot of love as there are some distinct differences (particularly in the Ceraurus genus). 

[piranha]

Very nice assortment of trilobites and receptaculitids ..not Receptaculites.. a genus which is restricted to the Devonian.  Speaking of the Devonic, I propose a campaign to scrap the names Eldredgeops and Phacops as not adequately old-timey enough.  Calymene latifrons or Somatrikelon megalomaton are actually preferable and should have broad consensus appeal for all the intransigent old-school collectors!

[Kane]

 

Collecting with the veteran old-timers must have rubbed off on me.  

[Praefectus]

Wonderful finds!

[Tidgy's Dad]

Shed loads of wonderful finds. 

Love the receptaculitids and, of course, the edrioasteroid and Dolichoharpes are to die for. 

I also adore the plate with all the hypostomes in it. What on earth were those trilos trying to eat that made all their teeth fall out? 

[piranha]

4 minutes ago, Kane said:

 

Collecting with the veteran old-timers must have rubbed off on me.  

 

 

I'm still waiting for the mad scramble to change all the Pseudogygites labels to: Asaphus canadensis

[FossilDAWG]

1 hour ago, piranha said:

 

 

I'm still waiting for the mad scramble to change all the Pseudogygites labels to: Asaphus canadensis

It does bother me a bit that the beautiful pristine complete holotype of Pseudogygites canadensis was dethroned by an incomplete (pygidium only) weathered holotype of Pseudogygites latimarginatus, which does not even have a type locality but was found on a loose piece of shale.  Sometimes priority sucks.

 

Don

[FossilNerd]

Wow Kane, what a trip! Fossils, friends, and shenanigans! 

With such great finds, it's hard for me to pick a favorite!

To be able to add 10~ish new trilobite species to the list is pretty awesome! Even if the Dolichoharpes dentoni isn't complete, it's an epic find. Congrats!   

[Malcolmt]

The Mighty Kane "Just another Day at The Office"

 

 

[Ludwigia]

@Kane Omigosh! How could I miss out on these last reports!?!? I'll have to pay more attention here in the future! Fantastic finds! You've got enough material to keep you busy the whole winter by the looks of things!

[digit]

2 hours ago, Malcolmt said:

The Mighty Kane "Just another Day at The Office"

 

 

Wow! How long did it take him to bust up all that rock? At least till lunchtime I'm guessing.

 

Looks like you all had good (and productive) fun out there.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Malcolmt]

Not sure of the final count but I think we ended up with pieces of 17 different species of trilobites, 2 species of edrioasters, and 3 to 5 species of crinoids. We took a sampling of corals, bryozoans, brachs, lingula, cephs, algae and ostracods. Kane was the fossil whisperer on this trip. I took home perhaps 10 crinoid plates and an assortment of other things most notably a fairly complete ceraurus. We had to work extremely hard for anything we found.. Definitely not casual collecting.

[minnbuckeye]

On 8/19/2020 at 9:51 AM, Kane said:

But my real trip-maker was this: a ventral Dolichoharpes dentoni. Harpids are very rare and prized in Ontario. I stabilized it in the field and will be filling it with ground matrix / glue, mounting it on matrix, and prepping it dorsally. It is not complete, but even finding fragments makes for a trip to remember.

 

 

 

I remember the day when I found a ventral Dolichoharpes and prepped it out dorsally. I hope yours is as beautiful as mine turned out. What a great group of fossils!!

 

[Kane]

Thanks all.  

As Malcolm said, it was not easy pickings. By old Lake Simcoe area standards, we collected over five days what could once be collected in a single day at the productive quarries, but it was worth the effort.

 

Of course, this season is not yet over. Autumn usually sees a surge of collecting activity. We're already plotting the next trip(s) to make hay while the sun still shines.  

[Monica]

OUTSTANDING TRIP REPORT!!!

I'm glad that your trip up north was fun and successful - thanks for sharing!

[FossilDAWG]

On 8/20/2020 at 7:54 PM, Malcolmt said:

Not sure of the final count but I think we ended up with pieces of 17 different species of trilobites, 2 species of edrioasters, and 3 to 5 species of crinoids. We took a sampling of corals, bryozoans, brachs, lingula, cephs, algae and ostracods. Kane was the fossil whisperer on this trip. I took home perhaps 10 crinoid plates and an assortment of other things most notably a fairly complete ceraurus. We had to work extremely hard for anything we found.. Definitely not casual collecting.

I hope we will get to see some of those crinoid plates.

 

Don

[Fossildude19]

7 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

I hope we will get to see some of those crinoid plates.

Don

  

[Malcolmt]

So busy prepping material for The ROM and various dealers and clients.. not sure when I will be getting to any of my own stuff

[Fossildude19]

44 minutes ago, Malcolmt said:

So busy prepping material for The ROM and various dealers and clients.. not sure when I will be getting to any of my own stuff

That's OK, Malcolm. We can be patient.   

[Kane]

A quick update on one of the recent finds. A trilobite worker has suggested the Failleana may, in fact, be a better match for Eobronteus (albeit missing the usual prosopon). 

 

Please pardon the poor quality of my blitz-sketch just to indicate placement. If it is the very rare Eobronteus, what is of note is I've rarely seen a robust, convex example as the scutellines in this material tend to be flattened without much vaulting. 

 

[piranha]

1 hour ago, Kane said:

A quick update on one of the recent finds. A trilobite worker has suggested the Failleana may, in fact, be a better match for Eobronteus (albeit missing the usual prosopon).

 

 

I liked your first answer better!

 

Eobronteus has a prominent cephalic marginal brim.  This one matches well with the figure of Failleana indeterminata from Ludvigsen 1978.

 

 

Ludvigsen, R. 1978
Towards an Ordovician Trilobite Biostratigraphy of Southern Ontario.
Geology of Manitoulin Island, including the Road Log to the Michigan Basin Geological Field Trip,
September 29, 30 and October 1, 1978. Michigan Basin Geological Society, Special Paper, 3:73-84

[Kane]

It does seem a better match to Failleana. There was some uncertainty among two Ontario trilo workers over this specimen, but nice to put this one to bed!

It would have been a fairly big boy if complete!