"best" Book/guide For Ordovician Fossils Of Ontario & Ny

[ottawafossil]

I am a new fossil collector mainly exploring ordovician limestone and shales from eastern Ontario (Ottawa) and looking for the "best" visual resource for ID'ing typical fossils in this type of rock. So far i am finding many trilobite pieces, cephalopod shells, brachipods, crinoide, but no idea how to ID the species. I am especially lost on the trilobites. Are there 1 or 2 "best" resources i should invest in, especially for the trilobites? (Book or websites)

Thanks in advance forum!

[Herb]

"Fossils of Ohio"

[FossilDAWG]

Here is a link to a guide that will get you quite far. It's published by a Fossil Forum member by the way.

Here is a link to a site where you can download the ROM Fossils of Ontario series. You will especially want volume 1, which deals with the trilobites. You may also want volume 3, which deals with the Pleistocene Champlain Sea fossils, which are abundant at several places around Ottawa. Volume 2 deals with eurypterids and phyllocarids, which you won't find around Ottawa but you can collect at some sites in Southern Ontario.

I lived in Ottawa for several years back in the 1970s to the mid 80s. You have to invest the time if you want to find great material, but I was able to collect many species of crinoids, cystoids, edrioasteroids, starfish, trilobites, brachiopods, corals, etc from the Ordovician formations. I also collected Pleistocene fish and even published a paper on them. I have family in Ottawa and get back there from time to time. I usually find some time to get out and collect, and I can still find interesting things, but a lot of the places I used to go are closed off, built on, or have been picked bare over the years. I recommend you especially keep an eye out for construction sites that get down to excavating bedrock, then figure out where they are hauling and dumping the rock. Some of the Upper Ordovician formations can really only be accessed that way, but they can produce great trilobites, cephalopods, and other fossils, and often they are pyritized.

Don

[Northern Sharks]

I agree that Hessin's book is invaluable as far as IDing the local ordovician fauna. What I did was to purchase the quick reference guide in book form and the full guide as a CD, then printed it off at work -with Bill's permission of course.

[FossilDAWG]

Right now, Bill's books/CDs are a relative bargain for Canadian purchasers. The list price is the same whether you pay in Canadian or US dollars. However $85 US = $111.59 in Canadian currency, so US customers are paying 35% more. Maybe I can get one of my brothers to order it for me.

The current state of the Canadian economy is going to make it tough for a lot of Canadians to travel/collect in the US, I think. I've seen predictions that the Canadian dollar may go to 55 US cents. Hard to believe they were on par just a few years ago.

Don

[Malcolmt]

The Canadian dollar definitely sucks right now.... All the more reason for you US TFF members to come up here for a weekend and help our economy and remove a few of the fossils that are littering our environment.........

[Mike Pocock]

Hi I love fossil books, and came across this free PDF download, it may be of interest to you.

Good luck with the hunting,

Regards

Mike

[crinus]

The most current book on Ontario Trilobites, just came out. It is:

"Ordovician Trilobites of Southern Ontario, Canada and the Surrounding Region" an Illustrated Guide By Phillip A. Isotalo, Forward by David Rudkin.

Siri Scientific Press, Manchester, UK

ISBN 978-0-9929979-1-5

I can't tell you where to buy it, as the author sent me a copy.

crinus

[Bev]

If you Google "Fossils of Ontario" you will find a variety of free pdfs.

I'm in the Minnesota Ordovician. A good site for trilobites is http://www.midwestpaleo.com/index.htm

My website and more so the blog, is all about Ordovician fossils we are finding here - might help. :-) Also, there is an excellent book I have on my website, page 2 at the bottom maybe, by Robert Sloan. A true bargain at $30 postage paid! Maybe a bit more for Canada, not sure. Minnesota Fossils and Fossiliferous Rocks - lots of photos to help ID your finds.

However, I would suggest you post your finds in the Fossil ID section of this forum. Real people looking at good photos of what you have found is SO MUCH BETTER than trying to id them yourself from pictures in a book! I tried the pictures in a book routine it it was only good about 50% of the time, especially for trilobites! Plus you get more out of it than just an ID. :-D And we enjoy seeing your finds too! Waiting... LOL

[Pseudogygites]

On 2015-08-20 at 3:46 PM, crinus said:

The most current book on Ontario Trilobites, just came out. It is:

"Ordovician Trilobites of Southern Ontario, Canada and the Surrounding Region" an Illustrated Guide By Phillip A. Isotalo, Forward by David Rudkin.

Siri Scientific Press, Manchester, UK

ISBN 978-0-9929979-1-5

I can't tell you where to buy it, as the author sent me a copy.

crinus

That book is great for researching and identifying Trilobites! However, you have to be careful when making a purchase. The Canadian stores will charge you at least $60.00 more than the American stores. Good luck!

[Kane]

11 minutes ago, Pseudogygites said:

That book is great for researching and identifying Trilobites! However, you have to be careful when making a purchase. The Canadian stores will charge you at least $60.00 more than the American stores. Good luck!

Well, let's guard against being misleading here. Amazon.ca lists it at CAD$38.25 + shipping. As it is a more niche item, it is unlikely to be shelved in a major brick and mortar store like Chapters. Used book stores * may * have a copy (and you are fortunate to be in a city that has a lot of used bookstores), so mark-ups will vary on their own respective criteria. But given how new it is, I wouldn't hold out much hope of seeing it there as most people who would have purchased it probably intend to keep it (for a while longer, at any rate!). 

 

Alternatively, for those who live in a Canadian city near a university, there is always the option of visiting the university library, sitting down and having a read. Although borrowing privileges are usually (but not always, pending if there is a borrowing fee for the public) restricted to faculty and students, it still is possible to peruse the book if it is available, at no cost. 

 

I know Carleton University has an online copy only, and it can only be accessed if one attends or teaches there. OttawaU does not appear to have a copy, but it is listed at the GSC on Booth St as QE821 I86 2015   (sadly, it is checked out and overdue  ). 

[Pseudogygites]

7 minutes ago, Kane said:

Well, let's guard against being misleading here. Amazon.ca lists it at CAD$38.25 + shipping. As it is a more niche item, it is unlikely to be shelved in a major brick and mortar store like Chapters. Used book stores * may * have a copy (and you are fortunate to be in a city that has a lot of used bookstores), so mark-ups will vary on their own respective criteria. But given how new it is, I wouldn't hold out much hope of seeing it there as most people who would have purchased it probably intend to keep it (for a while longer, at any rate!). 

 

Alternatively, for those who live in a Canadian city near a university, there is always the option of visiting the university library, sitting down and having a read. Although borrowing privileges are usually (but not always, pending if there is a borrowing fee for the public) restricted to faculty and students, it still is possible to peruse the book if it is available, at no cost. 

 

I know Carleton University has an online copy only, and it can only be accessed if one attends or teaches there. OttawaU does not appear to have a copy, but it is listed at the GSC on Booth St as QE821 I86 2015   (sadly, it is checked out and overdue  ). 

Wow! Sorry about that. The prices on Amazon.ca have dropped considerably since I last visited. Yay! Around a month ago the price was around $123.00 but is now $62.00. At the time the price was much lower on Amazon.com. I guess I should have stayed more up to date!

[Kane]

2 minutes ago, Pseudogygites said:

Wow! Sorry about that. The prices on Amazon.ca have dropped considerably since I last visited. Yay! Around a month ago the price was around $123.00 but is now $62.00. At the time the price was much lower on Amazon.com. I guess I should have stayed more up to date!

Not a problem ... I think with Amazon you'll occasionally see a wide variance on pricing pending if it is being sold by the publisher or a reseller (I've seen some of my own books sold by resellers going for nosebleed prices, and I just shake my head). 

 

As even many of the major publishers don't do traditional print runs, they tend to rely on outsourcing to print-on-demand services, so many of those resellers don't even have the book in stock; they simply advertise a copy of the book at a highly inflated price to cover the retail price + shipping + profit. I know it is my preference to buy through the publisher or the publisher's actual listing on sites like Amazon. Older, used and out of print books is another matter entirely, of course.

[Jeffrey P]

If you're interested in Ordovician fossils of NY I would check out Harvard University's website Biostratigraphy of the Trenton Group- lots of pictures of trilobites, brachiopods, gastropods, etc. Many are the same or similar to those found in Ontario. Good luck.