Do Centipede Fossils With Legs Exist?

[Jed '06]

Hi Folks,

A friend of mine at work recently told me that he had a natural rock outcropping on his farm so I naturally asked about any fossils there. He said he has found fossil centipedes. I had him draw a picture for me, it was an elongated narrow oval with legs around the outside perimeter. Swears they are centipedes!

Possible? I think that area is Pennsylvanian, SW Indiana.

Thanks,

Jed

[Missourian]

Centipedes have been found at Mazon Creek, but I understand they are extremely rare. An example:

http://www.fossilmall.com/EDCOPE_Enterprises/Mazon-Creek/MC37/MC-fossils-37.htm

Your friend's specimen, if Pennsylvanian, could be plant material. Some seed cones have the appearance of centipedes:

[Jed '06]

Centipedes have been found at Mazon Creek, but I understand they are extremely rare. An example:

http://www.fossilmall.com/EDCOPE_Enterprises/Mazon-Creek/MC37/MC-fossils-37.htm

Your friend's specimen, if Pennsylvanian, could be plant material. Some seed cones have the appearance of centipedes:

post-6808-0-02411800-1375257165.jpg

Thanks for the info and photos! I'll show them to him tomorrow.

Here's a photo of how he drew the fossils he found:

[Wrangellian]

I hope you can follow up on this and eventually show us pics of the fossils, whatever they turn out to be!

[Jed '06]

I hope you can follow up on this and eventually show us pics of the fossils, whatever they turn out to be!

Wrangellan,

I'll ask him tomorrow if he will bring a fossil in to view. Hope he is right about what they are! I've had other people bring in "fossils" that were just interesting "rocks" , but you never know!

[Scylla]

Trilobites with soft tissue preservation would look like fat centipedes. Can't wait to see what they really are.

[Auspex]

I've no doubt that they look like centipedes, but a more critical assessment by those experienced with more likely alternatives is needed.

[RCFossils]

Hi Jed,

Pennsylvannian aged millipedes have been collected in the siderite concretions found in the old coal spoil piles around Southern Indiana. They are very rare but I know a few have been collected over the years. I am not aware of any fossil centipedes ever collected in Indiana but it is entirely possible.

Having said that, it would be extremely unlikely that centipedes would be preserved in an rock outcrop. It is much more likely that they are something like crinoid columns.

Centipedes are essentially soft bodied so it would take very special conditions to preserve one as a fossil.

We have several varieties of both centipedes and millipedes in the Mazon Creek deposit of Northern Illinois. The centipedes are much rarer then the millipedes.

I am attaching pictures of two different types of Mazon Creek centipedes from my collection. The first is Mazoscolopendra richardsoni and the second is Latzelia primordialis.

[TyrannosaurusRex]

They do indeed. Some are much better preserved than others. They are some incredible fossils. You might google search centipede fossil. I did and found some incredible specimans which were complete with legs.

[Stocksdale]

Love that centipede. Another amazing fossil in your collecton!

Such detail. I could almost see it scurrying across my basement floor.

[Jed '06]

Thanks to all for the info, photos and links!!

I talked to my friend again, when he's done deer hunting we are going to check out the rock exposure for fossils. There is a mixture of sandstone, shale and what he believes is limestone. He isn't into fossils but has picked up 3 fossils that look like centipedes to him.

Hope I can share some good news with everyone! Sounds like it is very unlikely that they are centipedes, but hoping!

Thanks again,

Jed

[Herb]

WOW! nice 'peds!