Paleome Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 I would like to show you all some items I have termed "elongates", so as not to hint as to what they may be. They could be a number of things, but they all form elongated strips. I have grouped them into several different types, based on structure. Interestingly, some of these combine different structures or all of the above, so these may all be the same kind of thing. Some of them extend short, and some of them are very long, taking all kinds of twists and turns. They all show the same structural features whether they are almost microscopic (taken at 250x) or quite visible to the naked eye (taken at 40 or 50x). Each square shown in the scales is 5mm x 5mm. The difference in structural types could be due to weathering down from complex to simple. They could be tracks, feeding tracks or parts of burrows. They could be cruziana, though I have never found anything resembling the "cruziana" I have seen described in numerous illustrations and photos labeled as such. One would think there would be such things in the Wheeler Formation, what with all the trilobites and other fauna there. In the renderings I have seen, cruziana look like TWO of the circular elongates, directly side-by-side, not single strips that I see. First, we have the circular elongates. They look as if something had been feeding in a circular pattern, but all along moving in one direction while doing so. Check out rhizocorallium. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleome Posted July 20, 2021 Author Share Posted July 20, 2021 Next, we have the Complex/Intertwining Elongates. Notice, I am sending only four of each type of elongate, for simplicity sake. I have many more of each type where they came from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleome Posted July 20, 2021 Author Share Posted July 20, 2021 Now we have the Fibrous/Filamentous Elongates. These have fibers loosely sprinkled throughout each strip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleome Posted July 20, 2021 Author Share Posted July 20, 2021 Next, the Middle Ridge or Trough Elongates. These have a fibrous ridge or trough down the middle. Most have the middle ridge, have only seen one trough. Could these be cruziana? - they have a bilateral quality to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleome Posted July 20, 2021 Author Share Posted July 20, 2021 Finally, the Thin, Flat, Fine-Grained/Simple Elongates. They are clearly demarcated strips, but show nothing more than mineral staining within. That's it, for now. I have much larger files of each type of Elongate, and if you wish to see them, you can PM me. Thank you for all and any input. Hopefully, we can generate some good conversations out of this. Happy fossilin'! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxytropidoceras Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 (edited) Fossil Algae cf. Margaretia dorus? Handle, K.C. and Powell, W.G., 2012. Morphologically simple enigmatic fossils from the Wheeler Formation: A comparison with definitive algal fossils. Palaios, 27(5), pp.304-316. Handle and Powell (2012) PDF file Sematic Scholar link to PDF file Yours, Paul H. Edited July 21, 2021 by Oxytropidoceras added URL / link 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleome Posted July 21, 2021 Author Share Posted July 21, 2021 Thank you for your reply. You are the first one. Yes, I have considered algae, like Margaretia dorus, and I am not alone. I have loads of M. dorus, but they are black, shiny fronds and have gaps or pores in them. In one of the books I own, and in some posts online, some people think the grainy strips are of Margaretia. I, personally, do not know what to think, having seen the other specimens. I guess this could be a possibility, but they look so unlike each other. Maybe level of preservation could account for the differences. I shall check out your links, but I am already familiar with the first one you listed. Thank you very much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleome Posted July 21, 2021 Author Share Posted July 21, 2021 Here is the Margaretia dorus I am familiar with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 I don't think Margaretia dorus is correct either. I so want these to be worms or at least worm burrows, that I'm probably not being reasonable. The last one in the first 'circular elongates' section in particular looks so much like a priapulid to me. I hope it is, which may be my problem. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleome Posted August 19, 2021 Author Share Posted August 19, 2021 I am bringing this post to the forefront of the Fossil ID subforum, as I would like to have these specimens looked at again. Thank you for any inputs you may be able to share. This is really important to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabRatKing Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 (edited) All you need to know is here: https://kumip.ku.edu/cambrianlife/Utah-Algae.html i have quite a few of these specimens too. Margaretia dorus. Find any of them that are filled with small, rust colored cubic crystals? Edited August 19, 2021 by LabRatKing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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