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Pennsylvanian brachiopod and ammonite


gturner333

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I found these ammonites and brachiopods at Jacksboro, Texas, which is Pennsylvanian - Graham Formation. The brachs look like Punctospirifer, but with more detail on the folds. I really don't know about the ammonites with their ribs so close together. Any ideas?

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Gary,

Nice brachs and ammonites. Jacksboro is amazing. The brachiopods are Punctospirifer kentuckyensis. See this website: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/2012/12/punctospirifer-kentuckeyensis-from-texas.html

Cheers,

John

My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned.   

See my Arizona Paleontology Guide    link  The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere.       

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Polaricyclus

"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

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Gary,

Can you take a photo of the sutures to help with an ID. On the top part of the lower right one it looks like sutures are visible.

My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned.   

See my Arizona Paleontology Guide    link  The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere.       

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I'll try, but the computer i use with my microscope is flaky.

These do look like the Polaricyclus, but they seem to be associated with Mississippian period more than Pennsylvanian. Did they extend into the Pennsylvanian?

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Thanks. I was soooo close.

Now, hopefully someone can help with the ammonite.

Nice specimens. Thanks for sharing.

If it is Upper Carboniferous it is a goniatite and not an ammonite

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P. kentuckyensis is indeed found at Jaxbro. It would be an addition to the faunal list if those ammonoids were Polaricyculus though, as well as a 45.3 million year extension of their known age range. I think John's suggestion is your only hope. If you can find a spot where some of an internal mold is showing through for a look at the sutures since that's what's shown in most references.

Lance Hall has the bottom one on his website but he labels it unknown. See the second image on his Pennsylvanian ammonoids page.

Did you place them like that to look like two ducks having a chat? :P

Edited by BobWill
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I had to replace my computer, but seem to be back into business now.

In looking at these ducks - I mean fossils - it seems that there may be two different species here (earlier fossil placement in the picture was entirely accidental). They both have close ribbing and the same type of sutures, but the overall body shapes are a little different. Could one be a Polaricyculus and the other something else?

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The second one appears to be Imitoceras sp. but I haven't found the first one yet. It's not Polaricyclus though. Not only are they older they also have constrictions we don't see here. Seeing the ventral view it has the same shape as both Eoasianites sp. and Vidrioceras sp. but the sutures don't match either one so the search is still on.

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Bob, I was looking in the "DPS Pennsylvanian Fossils of North Texas" book and it said that Imitoceras lacked ribbing. Maybe they were just talking about the example in the book. But the one above definitely has very detailed ribbing. Do you have some other info that identifies this as a Imitoceras? I appreciate your help on this.

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If these are ribs that are barely visible on mine then they could be described as "faint" and could be easily missed. The treatise doesn't mention their absence or presence. If you're right then we're still looking for both.

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the 3rd one looks like Eoasianites sp.

Maybe some new species here?

"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

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the 3rd one looks like Eoasianites sp.

Maybe some new species here?

Now wouldn't that be something a new species...

Nice finds and thanks for the scale info.

That was my first question that I did not get to before it was answered.

The coloring is beautiful.

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Eoasianites sp. is too globular for the second one but for that reason I considered it for the first one except that yours is a little more involute and there aren't enough saddles and lobes on the sutures. We help from someone with more than a just couple of rusty old books :)

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I wonder if this article might help. Anyone have a copy? Miller's "Ammonoids of the Pennsylvanian Finis shale of Texas", Journal of Paleontology, March 1950, v. 24, p. 185-218

Edited by DPS Ammonite

My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned.   

See my Arizona Paleontology Guide    link  The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere.       

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Well, after a search that led me to TFF, California, Oxford, then Ohio University, I think I have found an answer. Dr. Royal Mapes of Ohio University was kind enough to look at these and here is what he wrote back:

"Hi Gary,

On the two larger specimens in one photo. The only ribbed goniatite in the Finis (which I have collected numerous times) with ribs that more-or-less cover the shell like these two specimens is Neodimorphoceras. The species is probably N. texanum, but it is too juvenile to tell for sure. The smaller specimen is almost certainly a juvenile Gonioloboceras. That goniatite genus has a lateral ribbed conch in diameters of less than about 5 mm. It loses the ribs as it grows and by about 10 mm it has lost them and the conch is becoming more discoidal. Also the genus at the diameter of your specimen has very shallow ventral lobed suture at the marginal siphuncle. Neodimorphoceras is moderately rare in the Finis (and elsewhere) and is easily confused with Gonioloboceras which is very common in the Finis. The way you tell the difference in the mature forms is that the ventral lobe is subdivided in the Neodimorphoceras and it is not in the Gonioloboceras; both at maturity have smooth discoidal conchs.

Hope this helps,

Royal"

Dr. Mapes' bio can be found on the web. I think I will go with this as the identification.

  • I found this Informative 1
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This is strange, I just posted something on this topic, TFF accepted it, but I do not see it in the thread. I'll try again.

After a search that took me from TFF, to California, Oxford, then Ohio University, I think I have found an answer. Dr. Royal Mapes of Ohio University (bio is online) was kind enough to look over my pictures and this is what he had to say:

"Hi Gary,

On the two larger specimens in one photo. The only ribbed goniatite in the Finis (which I have collected numerous times) with ribs that more-or-less cover the shell like these two specimens is Neodimorphoceras. The species is probably N. texanum, but it is too juvenile to tell for sure. The smaller specimen is almost certainly a juvenile Gonioloboceras. That goniatite genus has a lateral ribbed conch in diameters of less than about 5 mm. It loses the ribs as it grows and by about 10 mm it has lost them and the conch is becoming more discoidal. Also the genus at the diameter of your specimen has very shallow ventral lobed suture at the marginal siphuncle. Neodimorphoceras is moderately rare in the Finis (and elsewhere) and is easily confused with Gonioloboceras which is very common in the Finis. The way you tell the difference in the mature forms is that the ventral lobe is subdivided in the Neodimorphoceras and it is not in the Gonioloboceras; both at maturity have smooth discoidal conchs.

Hope this helps,

Royal"

I think I will go with this for an ID.

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DPS Ammonite,

You can find a copy of Miller and Down's "Ammonoids of the Pennsylvanian Finis shale of Texas", Journal of Paleontology, March 1950, v. 24, p. 185-218 on jstor.org. And yes, it shows a perfect example of my fossil above as being Neodimorphoceras texanum at one of its stages of growth. Check it out. And your contact for help didn't directly pan out, but he gave me Dr. Mapes' name. So it all worked out in the long run.

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Thanks Gary,

A good reference from a professional to help ID a fossil is a valuable thing. I tell my paleontologist contacts to look at The Fossil Forum if they want to do some pro bono work.

My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned.   

See my Arizona Paleontology Guide    link  The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere.       

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