Fossil Diver Steve Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Hi Everyone, I found this simply amazing looking fossil today and I have never seen anything like it before. Any help on it's identification would be appreciated. It appears to be a hollow 3 dimensional cast of something that has some crystal in the cast and a crystal stem. The material I believe is Ordovician. The overall height is approximately 2 1/2" and the head is approximately 1" wide. This has to be one of the neatest looking fossils I've ever found. The area this was found is near Byron, Illinois. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 My best guess on the mystery specimen is a paracrinoid. Another member found one in southwest Wisconsin also in the Platteville Formation. Congrats on the unusual find Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Wicked cool! I wonder whether it might be a geodized echinoderm? The 'stem' may just be a seam of quartz or calcite, but the rest is something for sure! EDIT: Or, it could be what Piranha just said while I was typing. "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...
Jesse Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 No clue what it is, but that is absolutely amazing!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vordigern Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 that thing is really cool whatever it is ,amazing find!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hitekmastr Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Have to agree it's really amazing - congratulations on a rare and unusual find - sorry I can't contribute to the ID but I can definitely contribute to the enthusiasm on this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I believe it is an ancient sunflower! Well obviously, I have no clue; but it certainly is a wonderful object. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I think Scotts guess on a paracrinoid is pretty close, looks like some I have seen and collected 3D not in this exciting crystalized lined vug mode which is pretty cool. Great find! russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Russell Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 (edited) That's absolutely amazing Steve! I wish I had gone with you, now! And by the way... WELCOME ABOARD! Edited October 28, 2012 by Rob Russell Finding my way through life; one fossil at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Huh, that's um... something very very cool! Do you happen to know the formation it was found in? If not, what other things did you find there? There is a paracrinoid found in the Galena formation that I'll need to look up to see if it matches. As for right now, I am stumped! Caleb Midwestpaleo.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil Diver Steve Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 (edited) Hey, thanks everyone for looking. Rob Russell, above may have some better information on the formation. I'll see if he can post some. Other items found were mainly cephalopods. Edited October 28, 2012 by Fossil Diver Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 According to the USGS: Byron in Ogle County is listed as Galena-Platteville. The Ordovician Ancell Group is also in close proximity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Beautiful specimen!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Russell Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 (edited) According to one of our other members, it's either Maquoketa, decorah, or gelena. He's actually going to check for us when he gets home. lol Edited October 28, 2012 by Rob Russell Finding my way through life; one fossil at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squalicorax Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I agree with Galena My Flickr Page of My Collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79424101@N00/sets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Bizarre! Too bad you cant dissolve the crystals out and get a cast of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crinoid Queen Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I think Scotts guess on a paracrinoid is pretty close, looks like some I have seen and collected 3D not in this exciting crystalized lined vug mode which is pretty cool. Great find! russ I totally agree as well with the ID That is AMAZING!!!! Bizarre! Too bad you cant dissolve the crystals out and get a cast of it. OH heck NO why would ya wanna do that! That is beautiful!!! GREAT FIND!! -CQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil Diver Steve Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 CQ, I'm not dissolving anything! The more I look at this thing, the more I like it. I especially like where it broke and the flame shape of the voids that are around the perimeter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocksdale Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Regarding strata for Ogle county.... I've found the quadrangle maps that are available for Ogle to be very informative with a second page write up that describes the layers in detail with fossil references. Here's the one for Oregon: http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/maps-data-pub/isgs-quads/o/oregon.shtml And here's the one for Grand Detour: http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/maps-data-pub/isgs-quads/g/grand-detour.shtml From these, it would appear that a lot of the area would be Galena. But I'm thinking the road cuts along Highway 2 would be Platteville, perhaps? Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.–Carl Sagan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyce Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 That is really cool!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nandomas Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 never saw something like this. Stunning fossil Erosion... will be my epitaph! http://www.paleonature.org/ https://fossilnews.org/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wibrown Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 Batocrinus (icosidactylus)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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