Samurai Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 Location is in Missouri The area is dated to the Pennsylvanian Formation: Muncie Creek Shale I assume this could be some part of a fish, as I have found other parts of them inside a few of the concretions from the Muncie Creek formation such as cartilage, or it could be some sort of crustacean part but I do not know what this one could be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 It looks similar to shark fins I've found in the Muncie Creek: Chondrichthyan cartilage would be indicated by cellular structure shown in the second specimen. 1 Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samurai Posted July 28, 2020 Author Share Posted July 28, 2020 5 hours ago, Missourian said: Chondrichthyan cartilage would be indicated by cellular structure shown in the second specimen. While It is most likely fin in nature, I would like to mention how bizarre these "fish fins" are, It is very difficult for me to visualize/know if these are merely quirks of fossilization, or what they would actually look like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdp Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 So technically that is not cellular structure; it is tesselated calcified cartilage. The tesserae are far bigger than individual chondrocytes. In terms of overall anatomy, there are good specimens of animals like Fadenia and Campodus preserved in various black shales in Illinois, Nebraska, etc. Something like this might be a good example: You're only seeing a couple of those little cartilage rods, called pterygiophores, which support an otherwise sharklike fin. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now