pleecan Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Magnificent fossil and images... looks like the demosponge family of Choiidae. Thanks for posting Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 The colours.... ... amazing.... What size are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Scott and Thomas: Thanks for the comments and and ID (Scott) ... JB had similar comments to ones I posted earlier. With regards to size around 7-10 mm diameter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ordovician_Odyssey Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Wow thank you for sharing Peter! This are amazing! The colours are indeed spectacular -Shamus The Ordovician enthusiast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Thanks Shamus, they were imaged under film of water to improve contrast.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indiana Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Those are great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Thanks Indiana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Breaking news...Dr Joe Botting saw this and he is excited! "Um... your choids have hexactines. This doesn't deserve a or even a - it deserves something along the lines of this: How can I put this? They ain't meant to be there. Choiids are 'protomonaxonids', and officially are meant to be early demosponges... but the third specimen clearly shows at least three little cross-shaped spicules. They're probably there in the others as well - and we'd need to check, to rule out fortuitous overlying of spicules in the sediment. Isolated hexactines are really not common in the Fezouata, though. This is actually not all that surprising to me, in that I'm writing a series of papers on protomonaxonids, demonstrating that several groups can be traced directly back to some early Cambrian hexactine-bearing sponges (not hexactinellids, incidentally, but that's another story). However, I didn't expect to see any in Choia itself, or its close relatives. Before spotting the spicules, I was actually thinking this might be closer to Hamptonia rather than Choia or Choiaella - based on the Burgess specimens, there really is very little between them, and a juvenile Hamptonia is almost identical to a Choiaella. Hamptoniids I think are the immediate ancestors of choiids, and although I've not seen any hamptoniids with hexactines, it's starting to become more plausible. Based on all that, I suspect this younger species is actually more primitive than the Middle Cambrian ones, and is a basal hamptoniid that has converged onto a choiid morphology. But I reserve the right to change my mind at any time - this is a whole new aspect of sponge history that we're delving into, and each new specimen highlights something new... Assuming it's not a fortuitous overlying of spicules, I'm sure that other specimens will show these spicules as well, and there are numerous examples of this species at the Peabody. So, when I have the chance to write up those sponges, this species is going to be one to look at very closely indeed. Actually, it's probably worth a separate paper. Or maybe mentioning and illustrating in one of the others I'm doing now.... hmm... " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Great news Peter. KOF, Bill. Welcome to the forum, all new members www.ukfossils check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Great news Peter. Thanks Bill... The plot thickens..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Wow!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Peter, can you circle or highlight what Joe is talking about for us , I know he is talking about a 6 rayed spicule but I am not sure I can pick out what he sees in the third picture..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Malcolm: Here is the relevant thread In context with Joe's comments : http://oldasthehills.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Interaction&action=display&thread=288 there are more pictures posted there. PL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Pictures there are even more stunning than the ones here. Amazing that you have been sitting on these for a while..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Another fascinating item, Peter. Can you post a wider angle shot of it here, like the one I saw at the Old/Hills site? BTW Looks like you could easily pry up that bit of matrix to expose the rest of it. I gather these are common at that site, how many of these do you have? Maybe they are a little more affordable than the other things Malek sells.. I'd love to get one. I expect you'll keep us updated on this development.. please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Yes , I love to look at the items Malek sells but if I were to spend that type of money on "a rock" as my wife calls them I'd never live it down. Peter is very fortunate to be able to acquire the types of fossils that he has gotten. Interesting enough though my wife has no issue at all if I go to Trilobite jam this summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Another fascinating item, Peter. Can you post a wider angle shot of it here, like the one I saw at the Old/Hills site? BTW Looks like you could easily pry up that bit of matrix to expose the rest of it. I gather these are common at that site, how many of these do you have? Maybe they are a little more affordable than the other things Malek sells.. I'd love to get one. I expect you'll keep us updated on this development.. please! I can get you a wide angle shot.... will keep every one up to date.... PL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Yes , I love to look at the items Malek sells but if I were to spend that type of money on "a rock" as my wife calls them I'd never live it down. Peter is very fortunate to be able to acquire the types of fossils that he has gotten. Interesting enough though my wife has no issue at all if I go to Trilobite jam this summer. My family told me I was nuts to spend good hard earn money on rocks and to build an optics lab that could easily buy a brand new family car..... at least a happy nut case Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Typical size... 7-10mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 (edited) JB comments "Crivvens! (sorry, but I'm so staggered by the non-leaning tower of extensions that I lapsed into Scots there... bad sign) That's seriously impressive... and guess what? It worked. Wow. It really shows the difficulty with interpreting these - the most obvious 'hexactine' actually seems to be randomly overlain rays, but at least some of the others are now clear (there's a very 3D one at the top right of the last image, for example). As far as I'm concerned, it's definitely a hamptoniid/choiid with hexactines. Well done! If you can confirm the same in another specimen, it's job done. I wouldn't want to do a full description without seeing a lot of specimens, but would it be possible to use some of these images in a discussion paper about protomonaxonid relationships? Obviously, fully credited and acknowledged." Edited February 8, 2012 by pleecan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Hi, This pile of objectives is impressive ! Coco ---------------------- OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici Un Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Stunningly beautiful specimens and some great photography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Coco and Lloyd: Thank you for the compliments. The hunt for more hexactine is on.... for confirmation.... having lots of fun in the process... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Another exciting sponge adventure... Congrats Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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