Aurelius Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Can anyone please help to ID the structure at the top of this phragmocone? Apologies that the photos aren't better, but hopefully they're good enough. I have seen this structure on other fossils from this location too, but have never been able to work out what it is. The phragmocone is 4 inches long, the unknown fossil is nearly an inch long. It's from the toarcian beacon limestone, in the UK. I'm also unsure what the phragmocone is from. I suspect this is too big for any of the belemnites from this location, so presumably a largeish squiddy thing. Most of the fossils found here are ammonites, with some nautiluses. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 I'm not at all sure what the odd structure is though it is the right shape for the apex of a loligosepiid! - I doubt that the preservation is suitable though. How large are the belemnites from there? There are plenty of Toarcian phragmocones from elsewhere that get to that size and larger - they're very roughly the same length as the rostra. Nice phragmocone anyway! 4 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 Yes, nice phragmocone. No idea what the other object could be. 2 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelius Posted March 7, 2019 Author Share Posted March 7, 2019 1 hour ago, TqB said: I'm not at all sure what the odd structure is though it is the right shape for the apex of a loligosepiid! - I doubt that the preservation is suitable though. How large are the belemnites from there? There are plenty of Toarcian phragmocones from elsewhere that get to that size and larger - they're very roughly the same length as the rostra. Nice phragmocone anyway! That's very interesting. I wouldn't want to discount anything at this stage, strange things are sometimes preserved in these rocks, and they haven't been very well studied (although a paper is due to be published any time now, I believe). You can find large belemnites in the very bottom layer of the sequence (the marlstone), but this phragmocone is from a much higher level (I think near the top, this one was found in a ploughed field). The rostrums tend not to be much bigger than a bookie's pencil in most of the higher levels, as far as I can see. This one is 2 inches in diameter, which I'm sure is a lot bigger than any belemnites I've seen there. I have seen a knowledgeable person ask whether they might be examples of Belemnotheutis? Just for fun, and because I like it, here's a smaller one (or perhaps a fragment of a big one, who knows) - along with a shark fine spine, and numerous other bits: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 It's an interesting fauna - belemnotheutids aren't (yet) recorded from as early as the Toarcian (though I might have one from Whitby). A phragmoteuthid is a possibility, stratigraphically speaking. We need to see one with an apex! 1 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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