ID required for shelled organism (possibly ammonite)

[Jeffrey P]

I seriously doubt that specimen is from Long Island. Long Island is almost entirely a glacial moraine with no bedrock exposed. Fossils are very rarely found in chunks of rock that make up the moraine, but these are extremely rare and very weathered. I know of one well known site on the North Shore where some Cretaceous plants have been found, but that's it. Your goniatite specimen looks very similar to ones I've seen from Morocco. 

[Kaiju Slayer333]

You can be surprised of what you find. After all paleontology is all about exploring and discovering. Especially since those Cretaceous plants shouldn’t be there since the glaciers likely took them away. But anyway, what’s the name of this spot. Maybe I could check it out. Add some self discovered fossils to my collection

[Douvilleiceras]

4 hours ago, abyssunder said:

Your specimen looks close to these ones (borrowed from the internet), including the mineralization.

 

The original example's state of preservation and mineralization on the matrix also matches that of a Moroccan Goniatite from my collection.

[BobWill]

I agree with goniatite but I'm wondering if what we're seeing on there are constrictions instead of sutures. This fossil may be an external cast instead of an internal mold which would make the sutures invisible.

[FossilDAWG]

Although I agree the fossil has the appearance of a goniatite, there are no suture lines visible.  I suspect what people are calling suture lines are constrictions on the shell.  If you look at the photo of the Moroccan goniatites you can clearly see that the constrictions are distinct from the suture lines.

 

It seems mysterious to me that this was found on Long Island (note: I'm not saying that it wasn't, just that it's a conundrum). Little bedrock is exposed on Long Island, and none of it is Devonian, Mississippian, or any other age that might produce goniatites.  Some Paleozoic fossils have been found in gravel/till beds, having been transported down the Hudson or other rivers and/or possibly by glaciers.  Devonian rocks (but not Mississippian or younger rocks) are found around the head of the Hudson and in areas crossed by the glaciers.  However I am not aware of any known New York Devonian goniatites that resemble the fossil (which is not to say there aren't any).  Also the matrix around the aperture looks like phosphate, and that sort of preservation is not typical of the New York Devonian formations.  Very rare Upper Cretaceous fossils in concretions, and more commonly plant fossils in shale have also been found on Long Island, but again the fossil does not fit with that age.  

 

Don

[Kaiju Slayer333]

Well again if it isn’t from here. It must be from a Morocco or some other place. 

[FossilDAWG]

I'm confused.  In the first post you wrote "I found this in Long Island...".  A few posts later you wrote "If I can find the place where this was found...".  Why would you be unable to find the place if you found the fossil?  Later in the thread you seem open to the idea that the fossil is actually from Morocco.  Morocco is not located in Long Island.

 

What is going on here?  Did you find this fossil on Long Island or not?

 

Don

[Kaiju Slayer333]

I don't know I somehow accidentally said that. Most of my fossils I did not get myself. The reason I think it's from Lomg Island is because the place I got that. It was a small shop so I thought that since it was quite small, they probably didn't buy it. I don't know. Again if it's not from here it's from Morocco. Sorry about the confusion. Again for most of my fossils, I don't know exactly where they're from. 

[Kaiju Slayer333]

Everyone just to clarify since some seem to have thought I got the fossil myself. I'm not positive it's from LI. The little shop I got it from because of how small it is and because the guy said he found it himself, I assumed that it probably was from here. Again if it wasn't from LI, it's likely in Morocco. Got it? My apologies for any confusion I caused.

[caldigger]

The shop owner likely found it himself at one of the booths on Oracal Street in Tucson.

[Kaiju Slayer333]

You never know

[Kaiju Slayer333]

Also I was looking at the Moderators comment and I didn't realize that he said "Morocco isn't in Long Island". Of course it isn't, I literally live in LI. No offense.

[ynot]

23 minutes ago, Dude who wants Dino fossil said:

Again for most of my fossils, I don't know exactly where they're from. 

When making an ID request it is best to state that the location is "unknown" rather than guessing that it came from where it was purchased.

[Kaiju Slayer333]

You know what that's a far better idea then what I do. Thanks really.

[Kaiju Slayer333]

I just wanna say for anyone reading who have gave me tips about showing fossils and just this forum in general. Thank you

[ynot]

On behalf of all here, Thank You!

Good luck with Your collecting!

 

Tony

[FossilDAWG]

I'm glad we got that sorted out.  It's a good idea to do your best to get some documentation of the source whenever you buy a fossil.  If you don't know where a fossil came from (age, geological formation, and (ideally) country, province/state, and nearest town) it is just an interesting curio without scientific value, unfortunately.  Sometimes a purchased fossil can be recognized as belonging to a particular species, and if that species is found only at a particular site you can reasonably infer the fossil came from that site.  An example could be a Green River fish.  However this would be the exception, more often the fossil cannot be confidently identified without knowing at least the age and source geological formation.

 

Don

[jpc]

This whole tale is an excellent example of why we keep location records with our fossils.  I agree with others that LI is primarily a glacial moraine, with no Paleozozic deposits anywhere too close. A Paleozoic fossil like this should not be found here.  So when one does show up, it might be important... or it might be from Morocco.  

 

As the real estate people say...Location, Location, Location.  

 

It is all a learning experience.  I work in a museum and when people want to donate fossils, we are hesitant to accept fossils with no locality info.  

 

By the way, that is a cool little goniatite.