My Mazon Creek Finds

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I think this next find is my nicest flora from Chowder Flats so far, a Pecopteris-type fern. It's also rather large for concretions from this site. 

 

 

This next plant is more typical of the flora from here- faint, incomplete and heavily mineralized. This one is Annularia sphenophylloides.

 

 

[bigred97]

Very nice fern! I don't think I've ever found one that nice from anywhere other than Mazon Creek itself. Chris

[deutscheben]

11 hours ago, bigred97 said:

Very nice fern! I don't think I've ever found one that nice from anywhere other than Mazon Creek itself. Chris

Thanks! 

 

This Essexella is preserved in very subtle relief.

 

 

I only found half of the next concretion, but it's an usual one. It contains a jumble of highly fragmented shell pieces.  Other crushed or partial bivalves I have found generally consist of large recognizable pieces, but these are totally crushed.

 

 

Finally, here is another small polychaete worm. I can't see any details of teeth or bristles under magnification, so I don't know if it is really identifiable. 

 

[bigred97]

You are finding lots of variety! The shell pieces are interesting, I haven't seen that before. 

[Mark Kmiecik]

Nice finds.

[deutscheben]

My Chowder Flats concretions are starting to split very regularly and the containers are emptying out. Before too long it will be time to start the freeze-thaw process with my finds from this March at Pit 11. 

 

I will begin with my largest concretion from this site. Based on the size and shape, I figured it would be an Essexella and when it split it was indeed! 

 

 

Next is another large Essexella - this one has lots of deep texture. These two show the wide range of preservation possible for this genus. 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Love that textured Essexella. 

[deutscheben]

Thanks, @Tidgy's Dad!

 

Up next are some more bivalves- here are examples of the two most common genera. First is a fairly large Mazonomya. 

 

 

And second, another Aviculopecten mazonensis. This is a pretty decent one and also my second one to split in this unusual fashion- vertically through the concretion, perpendicular to the usual plane of splitting. 

 

[bigred97]

It really is interesting how different those Essexella specimens are. I've noticed that in my finds as well, and it really makes you wonder if they are all the same creatures or not. Different preservations or different creatures? Whichever way, there are groupings you can find - have some I call traditional and some I call cylinders and some, like yours above, that are "textured". Interesting to think about, thanks for sharing two really nice examples.

The bivalves are wonderful. Really nice preservation on the Mazonomya. For the pecten, when it opens that way I always wonder if there is more to be found. Is there another one, or something else, on the other side? If that specimen weren't so nice, I might think about continuing to freeze/thaw, or maybe tapping it a bit.

[deutscheben]

I agree, @bigred97, it really is remarkable how differently the specimens referred to Essexella can appear. 

 

Next is an exciting find, a complete and definite Coprinoscolex ellogimus spoon worm. The worm's outline is clear and under magnification the shape of the typical gut pellets can be seen. 

 

 

I have found some crushed and partial examples, so this is by far my best one. 

[bigred97]

Awesome! It's too bad it's so hard to get good closeups, I would like to see what the gut pellets look like. I have one specimen, I'll have to look at it under my 10x loupe again to see if I can discern anything like that. 

I get so frustrated with trying to get closeup pictures, I think i need to get a better digital microscope. I have one by Plugable but I just can't get good pictures from it. They aren't cheap and the thought of buying another one causes me some distress, but I might eventually break down and do it.

[stats]

5 hours ago, bigred97 said:

Awesome! It's too bad it's so hard to get good closeups, I would like to see what the gut pellets look like. I have one specimen, I'll have to look at it under my 10x loupe again to see if I can discern anything like that. 

I get so frustrated with trying to get closeup pictures, I think i need to get a better digital microscope. I have one by Plugable but I just can't get good pictures from it. They aren't cheap and the thought of buying another one causes me some distress, but I might eventually break down and do it.

I have this one.  https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-Handheld-Digital-Microscope-Pro/dp/B00CMJ1I08  I bought it on sale for less that $100.  It works pretty well.

 

I like that the stand is fixed.  It makes it easier than a handheld model.

 

Cheers,

Rich

[bigred97]

Thanks for the recommendation, Rich! I think I'll see if this can be my Father's Day present this year haha.

[deutscheben]

10 hours ago, bigred97 said:

Awesome! It's too bad it's so hard to get good closeups, I would like to see what the gut pellets look like. I have one specimen, I'll have to look at it under my 10x loupe again to see if I can discern anything like that. 

I get so frustrated with trying to get closeup pictures, I think i need to get a better digital microscope. I have one by Plugable but I just can't get good pictures from it. They aren't cheap and the thought of buying another one causes me some distress, but I might eventually break down and do it.

I will try to take a closer pic when I have a chance. To be honest, you already take some of the best macro shots of Mazon Creek fossils I have seen! 

[deutscheben]

Here are two more examples of the type of concretion containing crushed bivalve fragments that I have only found at this site. These two also have the reddish material with white cracks I associate with some kind of organic substance, including coprolites. Whether these are in fact coprolites or ejecta from a clam-eating animal, or just a collection of organic detritus, I am not sure. Some of the shell fragments are complete enough in the second one that they can be identified as Aviculopecten.

 

 

[bigred97]

Really interesting, these crushed shell etc specimens. It makes me think of a beach where there is wave action breaking up lots of littler shells. Or perhaps it was just a location that had many bivalves and the shells became broken during the fossilization process?

[bigred97]

9 hours ago, deutscheben said:

I will try to take a closer pic when I have a chance. To be honest, you already take some of the best macro shots of Mazon Creek fossils I have seen! 

Thanks, @deutscheben! I finally have a set-up that I think works pretty well consistently, but it still takes lots of patience. I take many photos that I end up deleting. I set up a mini studio in a bay window and when it's late afternoon the sun comes in and that is a good time to shoot. I also got 2 lights designed for macro photography so I can get as much light as I need. I take some photos with just the regular camera and using the zoom to get close. Then I take some using my macro lens that clips onto the iphone. I place the iphone on a pile of books looking down at the fossils, and I know the # of books to use for both the iphone camera on its own and the macro lens, although if the concretion is thicker I have to add a bit more height using post-it notes. And I have a shutter remote control so I don't have to touch the iphone when I take the picture, so I get no fuzziness from not being able to keep my hand steady. It's been a lot of trial and error to get to this point, for sure!

[deutscheben]

Very interesting, thanks! When I get a new phone, I plan to get one of those clip-on lens as well. 

 

Here is a close-up of my Coprinoscolex, including the visible gut pellets on the mid-left side of the animal. 

 

[connorp]

11 minutes ago, deutscheben said:

Very interesting, thanks! When I get a new phone, I plan to get one of those clip-on lens as well. 

 

Here is a close-up of my Coprinoscolex, including the visible gut pellets on the mid-left side of the animal. 

 

Ah, I definitely see it now. Interesting how so little is preserved in the classic calcite dessication crack style.

[bigred97]

Yes, I see it too! I went back and looked at mine more closely, and it looks very similar to this. Thanks!

[deutscheben]

You're welcome. I'm so glad we can all learn from each other here. 

 

Here is another mysterious one- this tiny concretion has a very faint something preserved primarily as a color difference along with a shallow impression. The most visible components are a black spot and a split tail-like structure, and there are also secondary paired structures extending out. The black spot and preservation are reminiscent of the larval fish Esconichthys, but I don't think those have ever been observed with a divided caudal fin. Could it be some other kind of doubled back tiny fish? Or something else entirely that fools the eye with a fish-like shape? Let me know what you think. 

 

 

 

[bigred97]

It sure is interesting but I'm not going to be much help on this one, I'm afraid. The "tail fin" doesn't quite look right for it to be a fish, but the preservation is very faint so there may be something I'm not seeing. It almost looks like 2 worms next to each other. I also thought about that "Y" creature but it doesn't look quite right to be that, either. But it sure looks like something! I would have to file it under Problematica, but maybe someone else will be able to help.

[RCFossils]

4 hours ago, deutscheben said:

You're welcome. I'm so glad we can all learn from each other here. 

 

Here is another mysterious one- this tiny concretion has a very faint something preserved primarily as a color difference along with a shallow impression. The most visible components are a black spot and a split tail-like structure, and there are also secondary paired structures extending out. The black spot and preservation are reminiscent of the larval fish Esconichthys, but I don't think those have ever been observed with a divided caudal fin. Could it be some other kind of doubled back tiny fish? Or something else entirely that fools the eye with a fish-like shape? Let me know what you think. 

 

  

 

Interesting specimen.

it is hard to say for certain but I believe this is the front end of a Didontogaster.

In some specimens the proboscis is preserved in an opened position allowing the jaws to thrust out.

i will attach a few pictures of one in my collection.

[deutscheben]

Very interesting, @RCFossils, thanks! Worms from this site are often preserved faintly like this one and the shape does indeed match your example.  

[deutscheben]

While we are on the subject, here is another faint worm of some sort- you can see some repeated projections coming from the bottom, as well as some texture within the body, but there is not enough there for me to ID it.