Merry Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 Hi All! I discovered a long-forgotten box of rocks in our science storeroom and would appreciate some id help with them. A previous teacher had moved out all of the fossils except a handful they used . I'm sure these only escaped because no one knew they were there. The box was filled with rocks, plus a few masking tape labels, all of which seem to be from the Black Hills, South Dakota area. Rockerville, Tin Mountain Mine, Hill City, and Spearfish are all named. Also in the box was a 1955 Random House book called All About Our Changing Rocks. Thanks in advance for any help with these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 (edited) #1 - This one is shown in the center left of the rock box above. It's showing up as several tones in my photos here, but the grey is accurate. There are some areas that look like something was separated and an opalescent layer was left behind. Edited March 31, 2019 by Merry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 Another view of #1: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 Another angle of #1: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 #2 One small fish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 (edited) #3 Opalescent, similar to the first rock. It doesn't fit into any of the spaces of #1. Edited March 31, 2019 by Merry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 #3 End view. (Sorry, the image inserted upside down and I've had no luck righting it.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 #4 and last for now. This one is a really pretty piece. Coral? Plant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 And the other side of #4. That's all that I set aside as potential fossils, but when I can get the others photographed, maybe I'll run them by you expert eyes so nothing gets missed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 The fish looks like it is a Gosiutichthys parvus, from the Green River Formation in Wyoming. 3 to 3.5 cm (1.3 inches) is about right size for that. Also, hard to say for sure, but I think I counted 36 vertebrae. 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 #1 appears to me to be a Pierre Shale nodule that contained a Baculite. #3 does appear to be a portion of a baculite. If in fact that what these are they are Late Cretaceous in age. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 2 hours ago, Fossildude19 said: The fish looks like it is a Gosiutichthys parvus, from the Green River Formation in Wyoming. 3 to 3.5 cm (1.3 inches) is about right size for that. Also, hard to say for sure, but I think I counted 36 vertebrae. Thanks for this! There are more rocks than labels and there's always the possibility the box was added to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted April 6, 2019 Share Posted April 6, 2019 On 3/30/2019 at 9:06 PM, Fossildude19 said: The fish looks like it is a Gosiutichthys parvus, from the Green River Formation in Wyoming. 3 to 3.5 cm (1.3 inches) is about right size for that. Also, hard to say for sure, but I think I counted 36 vertebrae. It may be Knightia Alta. The dorsal fin looks a bit far forward to be G. Parvus. We'd have to check details that won't be visible in these photos to distinguish between the two. K. Alta is in the correct size range. 1 Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merry Posted April 13, 2019 Author Share Posted April 13, 2019 Thanks to all for your time and help! Any ideas on #4 above? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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