Evans Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 (edited) Hey Guys, need some help with a recent cretaceous find from the Central Texas Glen Rose. I thought at first the "bowling pin" shaped objects may have been echinoderm spines of some type (Phyllacanthus tysoni???), but after a closer look I don't think so. They are smaller and without detail as compared to other spines that I have seen. Possibly some type of plant material???? Definitely not calcite. Thanks, Brian Edited November 4, 2011 by Evans Brian Evans For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Formanifera maybe? ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roz Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 Now those are odd, Brian.. I am going to have to look around.. They look there is an attachment at the top on several of them? Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanceH Posted November 4, 2011 Share Posted November 4, 2011 (edited) Interesting. Edited November 4, 2011 by LanceH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 They look to be slightly irregular, and without any surface pattern; could they be crab or shrimp burrow pellets? "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike from North Queensland Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 I think your first intuition is correct echinoderm with the main body a bit squashed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evans Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 Thanks for the looks and suggestions. Going back to the idea of echinoderm spines, has anyone seen anything possible related to these type spines (if that is what they are)? Running out of ideas..... Brian Brian Evans For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Brian, is there a chance you could get some really good close-ups of the narrow ends of the "spines"? That jumbled area might hold the key to an ID. Is the contrast better when it is a little damp? The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evans Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 Hey John, I'll do that tonight and get back with guys. Brian Brian Evans For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 I saw this specimen in person and don't think they are spines despite correct general shape. They don't have the surface topography of any sort of spines I've seen. Plus the ones that are slightly cracked and perhaps distorted don't have the fracture pattern of calcite. In fact, I don't recall calcite spines having any sort of shift or distortion in this formation as they tend to be very brittle. They are much smaller than the Phyllacanthus et. al. spines I've seen in the Glen Rose Formation...that is not an acid test as rare species obviously have juveniles too, but worth mentioning when weighing percentages. Also worth mentioning is that when echies die, the spines are often the first thing to disarticulate, yet here we see a pile of spine like shapes with no sign of a any portion of a test. My guess is that we are looking at some sort of ichnofossil. Still very cool...I've never seen anything like these things so they may be more rare than the spines they emulate. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 They look like lithophagous mollusk tubes to me. They often come in clusters. Basically a shipworm (teredo) type of pelecypod that bores into rock or even shell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 They look like lithophagous mollusk tubes to me. They often come in clusters. Basically a shipworm (teredo) type of pelecypod that bores into rock or even shell. Yes, I can see that as a possibility; wish I'd thought of it (especially since you've reminded me that something similar was posted on the Forum previously). "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Found the previous discussion: LINK "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evans Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 (edited) Auspex....great memory and thanks for the link from jwcounts. After reading his attached documents from the previous discussion it is almost certainly is a trace fossil from the Gastrochaenolites sp. Definitely a new one for me. Thanks all. Brian Edited November 14, 2011 by Evans Brian Evans For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
non-remanié Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 (edited) I agree, but I believe they are actually the internal casts of some Lithophagous mollusk. They are the guys responsible for the holes bored in phosphatic nodules or other hardened clasts in reworked lag beds. They look like lithophagous mollusk tubes to me. They often come in clusters. Basically a shipworm (teredo) type of pelecypod that bores into rock or even shell. Edited November 15, 2011 by non-remanié ---Wie Wasser schleift den Stein, wir steigen und fallen--- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowgirlfossils Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 First time I've seen them somewhere else... In looking, they sure do look like the ones I picked up, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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