Chiquita Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 This was found at Lake Champlain Vermont. From information that I found these are Brachiopods due to the distinct ridges running down the center? Is that correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Some brachiopods are smooth so ridges do not equal brachiopod. But the telling feature is that they are symmetrical from left to right, or if you will, along the middle. But they are indeed brachiopods. They look very "Ordovician" to me… But you will need to determine the formation to figure out the age. Pretty sure there is some nice early Paleozoic stuff up that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Yes, and no. They are indeed brachiopods. They belong to a large group of brachiopods called orthids. There are several genera that look like yours from the outside; examples include Resserella, Paucicrura, Onniella, Dalmanella, and Cincinnetina amongst others. These genera are told apart by the structures on the inside of the shell, which cannot be seen on your specimen. The "no" part is, they are not brachiopods because of the ridges. As erose just beat me to saying, it is the symmetry around the left/right plane that distinguishes brachiopods. Basically the left side is a mirror image of the right, and the two valves of the shell are not identical to each other. This contrasts with clams (bivalves) in which the shells are mirrir images, and the plane of symmetry goes between the two valves of the shell. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 They do look like Ordovician brachiopods "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiggieCie Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Nice find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 This brings to mind Benjimen Burger's video on brachiopods from u tube. You might want to check out some of his stuff. It's very informative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiquita Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 Nice! Thanks all for the discussion and information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiquita Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 Rockwood, thanks for the great tip on the Benjamin Burger video on youtube, it's very informative. He's also here in Utah, which is cool. I think I'll also check out taking a class through the geology Department at Utah State University where he teaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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