Periodic Paleo Posting - The Pie Cabinet

[bockryan]

4 hours ago, Bringing Fossils to Life said:

Could they be Ponticeras perlatum?

 

It looks remarkably similar to my untrained eye, but this exposure is Early Devonian, and the example on that page comes from a Late Devonian formation. Possible that genus appeared earlier though, so a good suggestion. @NickG did you have any thoughts on A. vanuxemi vs. A. oliveri for these? I don't know if there's anyone on the forum that really likes goniatites, if anyone does please tag them  

[NickG]

If House is right — he erected Agoniatites oliveri for these forms. 

[bockryan]

31 minutes ago, NickG said:

If House is right — he erected Agoniatites oliveri for these forms. 

 

Got it, so all depends on the validity of that taxa.

 

It has been a few days since an update, I've had some weddings to attend and have been out doing some collecting. Trip to Texas coming up that will also include a bit of fossil collecting, so hopefully some new additions to the display case from that coming up. For now we'll return to the Permian with another fossil from the outcrop of Cassville Shale that I visit from time to time in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania. This is likely an example of Spiropteris sp., or a "fiddlehead" of a growing "fern" or fern-like plant. I went back and forth on the ID for this one a bit, as I could still be convinced it is some type of trace fossil, with Zoophycos being what I initially looked at.

 

If it is a fiddlehead, there is a nice explanation from ESCONI here: https://www.esconi.org/esconi_earth_science_club/2024/03/mazon-monday-207-spiropteris-sp-fossils-paleontology-fern-mazoncreek-mazonmonday-pennsylvanian.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

The label is currently:

Spiropteris sp.

Carmichaels, PA

Cassville Shale

Early Permian

[bockryan]

@Nimravis not from Mazon, but wondering if the above reminds you of anything you've seen or if you'd agree with IDing it as a fiddlehead?

[NickG]

I think my biggest issue for most of the examples we have collected is that they aren’t preserved well enough to show that slight bit of ornamentation that would help from distinguishing other similarly aged ammonoids. I really need to break down into that this winter.

[NickG]

12 hours ago, NickG said:

I think my biggest issue for most of the examples we have collected is that they aren’t preserved well enough to show that slight bit of ornamentation that would help from distinguishing other similarly aged ammonoids. I really need to break down into that this winter.

Ryan, if you don't have this paper, you should download it.

https://www.palass.org/publications/special-papers-palaeontology/archive/21/article_pp1-70

 

You collected this from a well known locality for Agoniatites oliveri House, 1978, but again, we have to be sure whether A. oliveri is truly distinct from A. vanuxemi (Hall, 1879). My understanding in reading the paper is that House received a sample from W.A. Oliver of agoniatite ammonoids (40 or so specimens) from this site (26 were collected here) and also from several localities (Berkeley Springs, Saumsville, O'Neill Gap, and Gainsboro), but did not collect himself. It would be interesting to closely examine all of our ammonoids and determine if perhaps there is greater diversity present. It is surprising to me how despite how well known this site is, that we don't see more people reporting their finds online of this, especially as that same layer should crop out at the better collected Needmore localities in the same region (Lost River). I've never seen this ammonoid rich layer at the other sites cited by House (pp. 25-26).

 

 

[bockryan]

34 minutes ago, NickG said:

Ryan, if you don't have this paper, you should download it.

https://www.palass.org/publications/special-papers-palaeontology/archive/21/article_pp1-70

 

You collected this from a well known locality for Agoniatites oliveri House, 1978, but again, we have to be sure whether A. oliveri is truly distinct from A. vanuxemi (Hall, 1879). My understanding in reading the paper is that House received a sample from W.A. Oliver of agoniatite ammonoids (40 or so specimens) from this site (26 were collected here) and also from several localities (Berkeley Springs, Saumsville, O'Neill Gap, and Gainsboro), but did not collect himself. It would be interesting to closely examine all of our ammonoids and determine if perhaps there is greater diversity present. It is surprising to me how despite how well known this site is, that we don't see more people reporting their finds online of this, especially as that same layer should crop out at the better collected Needmore localities in the same region (Lost River). I've never seen this ammonoid rich layer at the other sites cited by House (pp. 25-26).

 

 

 

I have seen a small collection of ammonoids at a layer in the Lost River quarry, but it was ephemeral. I did get one nice one which is also in my display, I can try posting it soon. I do wonder if it is the same species. Thanks for the paper, very helpful. I can also post a few photos of another nice specimen I have from Capon Lake.

 

Here is the one from Lost River:

 

 

The sutures on this one do look different, but it is even more compressed than the Capon Lake ones so difficult to tell. I can get some better photos soon.

[NickG]

That’s definitely a different taxon

[bockryan]

Back at it after a short break!

 

This one is Exogyra cancellata from the Cretaceous of Delaware. Mounds of dredged material from the Mount Laurel Formation are located at several locations around the C&D Canal, but from what I’ve read they are becoming less and less accessible as they get overgrown and as newly dredged, non-fossiliferous material gets piled on top. The diversity of finds in these piles is pretty low, but they do produce lots of belemnites and these oysters, as well as very occasional shark and marine reptile teeth. I have not returned to collect here for several years, so curious if anyone has visited more recently and how the site is holding up.

 

 

The label for this one is:
Exogyra cancellata
C&D Canal, DE
Mount Laurel Formation
Late Cretaceous

[bockryan]

Will do a few today as I had some time on the plane back from Texas to write some of these up.

 

Next is an example of Kogiopsis sp. from the Miocene Hawthorn Group, found at an unknown location in South Carolina. Kogiopsis is apparently closely related to the living Pygmy Sperm Whale and Dwarf Sperm Whale. 

 

This was a Christmas present from my wife, but we had to take our gifts on the plane from DC to Michigan and this one got flagged (somewhat understandably) by airport security. Pretty odd thing to have to explain to a TSA agent – but that’s life with fossils! 

 

 

 

 

 

The label I have for this one is:
Kogiopsis sp.
Unknown location, SC
Hawthorn Group
Miocene

[bockryan]

Next is Saccocoma sp., a type of floating crinoid from the very famous Late Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone in Germany. This was another fossil I got in the exchange I did after NAPC and I think it’s quite a nice one! The matrix is weirdly close to tile or porcelain.

 

 

 

The label for this one is:
Saccocoma sp.
Eichstatt, Germany
Solnhofen Limestone
Late Jurassic

[bockryan]

Next is another brachiopod: the very common Mucrospirifer from the Middle Devonian Mahantango Formation. This one comes from a roadcut near the town of Gore, Virginia. I’m pretty sure this is Mucrospirifer mucronatus, but could be wrong. I like how rich the brown color is on this one, and being a double is always nice. 

 

 

 

 

The current label is:
Mucrospirifer mucronatus 
Gore, VA
Mahantango Formation
Middle Devonian

[bockryan]

Next up is one I purchased from the forum: this is Nilssoniopteris sp. from the Hettangian Stage of the Early Jurassic, from an exposure of the Bayreuth Formation in Pechgraben, Germany. Lovely color and good contrast with the matrix. I have very few Jurassic fossils so this is a nice one. Despite appearances and it coming from "the age of cycads," this is not a cycad, but belong to the Bennettitales group. 

 

 

 

 

The label I received for this one is:

Nilssoniopteris sp.

Pechgraben, Germany

Bayreuth Formation

Early Jurassic

[Ludwigia]

That looks somehow familiar to me

[bockryan]

17 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

That looks somehow familiar to me

 

It is a really lovely fossil! Did you collect it yourself?

[Ludwigia]

Just now, bockryan said:

 

It is a really lovely fossil! Did you collect it yourself?

Yes I did.

[bockryan]

This one is another coral, this time from the Late Ordovician: Favistina stellate from the already featured roadcut near St. Leon, Indiana that exposes a large part of the Richmond Group. I don’t think colonial corals are a particularly common find there, so I was excited to discover this one among the many, many solitary “horn corals” that can be found at the locality.

 

 

 

 

 

My label for this one is:

Favistina stellate

St. Leon, IN

Richmond Group

Late Ordovician

[bockryan]

Next is another shark tooth – Carcharocles angustidens from the Oligocene Chandler Bridge Formation, from the famous exposures in Summerville, South Carolina. This is quite a little one, but I enjoy the good preservation on the defining cusps and it was good to add something from the Oligocene to the cabinet. I acquired this one from the Fossil Forum rolling auction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The label for this one is:

Carcharocles angustidens

Summerville, SC

Chandler Bridge Formation

Oligocene

[bockryan]

Another brachiopod – this one I believe is Inflatia inflatia from the Mississippian Greenbrier Group, exposed in roadcuts near Gap Mills, West Virginia. The exposure here is basically a small pile of red dirt with small, loose fossils that are preserved in chert. I was happy to get this one out in one piece and to get some of the extra matrix off cleanly as sometimes the chert loves to break straight across the fossil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My label for this one:  

Inflatia inflatia

Gap Mills, WV

Greenbrier Group

Carboniferous (Late Mississippian)

[bockryan]

Next is a cool one – a small pterosaur tooth from the Kem Kem Basin in Morocco that I purchased as Siroccopteryx moroccensis. These seem to be pretty common, but still pretty cool to have a pterosaur fossil in the collection as I think they're a really cool group. I had a special fondness for the “Giant of the Skies” episode in Walking with Dinosaurs as a kid. 

 

 

 

 

 

There seems to be some controversy over the validity of Siroccopteryx, but nothing definitive that I've been able to see. So for now, I will keep the label this one came with:

Siroccopteryx moroccensis

Taouz, Morocco

Kem Kem Group

Late Cretaceous

[bockryan]

Next is another nice one from Green Mill Run in North Carolina, although this is a mollusk instead of a shark tooth. I had it listed as Busycon spiratus pyruloides based on Geology and Paleontology of the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina, but I believe that name is now incorrect, having been superseded here by Fulguropsis spirata. Is that correct, or is it something else entirely?

 

I carefully levered this one out of the “bedrock” clay that is filled with other shells and shell fragments and washed it off with a pick and toothbrush, was quite happy to get it out unbroken. I don’t know if that’s the Yorktown Formation, but that’s my best guess? @Al Dente - curious what you think as you helped with the Great White

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My current label is:

Fulguropsis spirata

Green Mill Run, Greenville, NC

Yorktown Formation

Pliocene

[bockryan]

Next is Lepidodendron latifolium – another find from the ESCONI trip to Danville last month. Good detail and a nice vibrant color, looks and sounds exactly like brick!

 

 

 

 

 

The label for this one is:

Lepidodendron latifolium

Catlin, IL

Carbondale Formation

Carboniferous (Middle Pennsylvanian)

[bockryan]

Next is a fun purchased fossil – the wonderfully named Heliophora sp. from mixed Miocene and Pliocene exposures around Boujdour, Morocco. The sunshine color and the little “rays” make this a pretty cool little echinoid. Interestingly, this genus is apparently still extant and only has one species in it: Heliophora orbicularis. The label I received just gave the genus. The Wikipedia page for these guys is worth a read, they do some interesting things and have obviously been pretty successful, having persisted from the Miocene until today.

 

 

 

 

The label for this one is:

Heliophora orbicularis

Boujdour, Morocco

Unknown Formation

Miocene/Pliocene

[bockryan]

This one I am almost certain is Coronura aspectans from the Early/Middle Devonian outcrops of the Needmore Formation around Yellow Spring, West Virginia. A nice place to sit with your hammer next to a beautiful flowing river on a crisp day while looking for trilobites. Next time I'll hopefully find a complete one!

 

 

 

 

 

The label is:

Coronura aspectans

Yellow Spring, WV

Needmore Formation

Early/Middle Devonian

[Al Dente]

4 hours ago, bockryan said:

I don’t know if that’s the Yorktown Formation, but that’s my best guess? @Al Dente - curious what you think as you helped with the Great White

 

I believe the shell bed in the creek is Yorktown. There are certainly plenty of Yorktown fossils in the creek but I'm not positive if they are coming from the shell bed or from the base of the shell bed. It's been years since I've collected there, and I don't think I've ever directly collected from the shell bed.