JimB88 Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 managed to get out yesterday for a nice trip. i was going to go to my usual Ordovician spot (the Leipers Formation) but after packing some fossils for my friend Carmine I realized I didnt have enough of certain types of brachs to share. So I decided to go where they occur in abundance - the Hermitage Formation. I hadnt been there for a couple of years and always wanted to go back. This exposure of the Hermitage is called the Ctenodonta zone and consists of a soft limey mudstone sandwiched between two layer of limestone that are full of Ctenodonta bivalves. The nature of the matrix means that fossils readily erode out it. So to use the collectors vernacular - this is a crawling site (and I didnt bring my knee pads ) The first 15 min were spent crawling on the ground right next to where I parked. I filled two ziplocks with small brachs, bivalves and other odds - n - ends. Heres a pics of some of that haul. Sorry for the size of the image; it was necessary to show some detail: heres what they are: 1. Rhynchotrema increbescens 2. Onniella americana 3. Dalmanella sp. 4. Dinorthis pectinella 5. unknown coral or bryozoan 6.Zygospira modesta 7.Modiolodon sp. 8.Ctenodonta hermitagensis 9.Ambonychia sp. 10.Orthodesma sp. 11.u.f.o. possible crinoid stem 12.Momomuchites sp. cephalopod sections Two of the Rhynchotrema have encrusting bryo's on them like this one. oops out of room..to be cont. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastoid Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Nice haul! I'm very fond of brachs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimB88 Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 after crawling around enough to make my knees sore I checked a low bench behind the buildings on the site and found some more brachs, and trilobits I think this cephalon is Ceraurus as are these hypostomes: Im not sure what genus these pygidiums belong to; maybe Flexicalymene? there were a lot of strange bryos as well out of room again.....brb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimB88 Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 not sure if these are coral or bryozoan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimB88 Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 another large image of a piece of Ceraurus hash plate. more as I prep them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Thanks for sharing. This is always my favourite type of 'stuff'. Always neat to see epifauna....quite the rhynchotrema with the bryozoan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimB88 Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 Thanks! There seem to be a lot of that in the Hermitage - bryos were growing on everything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 I do so envy your knowledge of the areas you hunt, and the use to which you put it "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...
Wrangellian Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 (edited) I envy your proximity to such sites - looks like a dream to collect! Just crawl along and pick them up, like the Pennsylvanian Jacksboro/etc sites in Texas? Nothing like that anywhere near here! Edited October 27, 2013 by Wrangellian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimB88 Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 Thanks guys, that site is special. Next time definitely knee pads! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyT. Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Jim, your description reminded me of Rockford, Iowa's Fossil Park- you can practically step on brachs as you leave the car, but not trilobites. (trilobite envy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Excellent report and finds, Jim. Very nice variety. Thanks for posting these. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimB88 Posted October 30, 2013 Author Share Posted October 30, 2013 here's why its called the Ctenodonta Member these are all bivalves (with a few brachs) of the genus Ctenodonta it forms a very hard coquina that sandwiches the softer limestone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimB88 Posted October 30, 2013 Author Share Posted October 30, 2013 one can also find trilo bits in this material still not sure what genus this one belongs too (the matrix is too hard for me to excavate it.) the other pygidium belongs to Ceraurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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