Pennsylvanian Fossils from the Glenshaw Formation

[Petalodus12]

32 minutes ago, cngodles said:

Pennsylvanian Trilobites from the Pine Creek and Brush Creek Limestones.

 

I haven’t identified these yet, and I’ve only found the pygidium (tail).

 

These are either Ameura missouriensis or Ditomopyge scitula

 

Pine Creek specimen.

This is still Glenshaw Formation. Several hundred thousand years after the sea that laid down the Brush Creek left, the sea that built up the Pine Creek showed up. I haven’t found it yet locally, but there is an excellent outcrop 15 miles due South from where I dig that is easy to access and has several Gastropods and corals. The limestone is very fissile, so pieces I bring home are easy to split.

 

 

Brush Creek Specimen

 

 

More about my local trilobites here.

Awesome finds!

[connorp]

Great finds so far. I spent some time on your website last night, it's quite enjoyable and well put together.

[jdp]

13 hours ago, cngodles said:

Pennsylvanian Trilobites from the Pine Creek and Brush Creek Limestones.

 

I haven’t identified these yet, and I’ve only found the pygidium (tail).

 

These are either Ameura missouriensis or Ditomopyge scitula

 

Pine Creek specimen.

This is still Glenshaw Formation. Several hundred thousand years after the sea that laid down the Brush Creek left, the sea that built up the Pine Creek showed up. I haven’t found it yet locally, but there is an excellent outcrop 15 miles due South from where I dig that is easy to access and has several Gastropods and corals. The limestone is very fissile, so pieces I bring home are easy to split.

 

 

Brush Creek Specimen

 

 

More about my local trilobites here.

 

Very nice. I think I've found only one trilobite in the Glenshaw in the many years I collected aggressively in the Pittsburgh area. It's really hard to emphasize how hard these are to find in comparison with trilobites in rocks of Devonian age or earlier.

[cngodles]

Update on the Solenochilus

 

Photo of the void after I exposed it. Outside shell material is still cemented to the limestone.

 

 

Specimen freed, photographed on a grid of 1inch squares:

 

 

Underside of specimen showing 3 different bisected septal chambers and the largest, likely the body chamber.

 

Polished the septal chambers. Several individual chambers can be seen.

 

Quick mock-up what this would look like complete The bisected plane was the outside of the limestone boulder.

 

1 - smallest circle

2 - medium

3 - large

4 - body chamber

 

 

Full write-up here.

[cngodles]

On 6/6/2020 at 12:24 PM, connorp said:

Great finds so far. I spent some time on your website last night, it's quite enjoyable and well put together.

Ah, thank you so much. I try to put a good deal of time into it and try to be as accurate as possible. Since I don't have a formal background, I try to write in a bridge style, helping people understand local fossil fauna without getting too technical. It helps that I don't know many of the really hard to understand geology and biology words.

[cngodles]

A mostly complete Metacoceras

 

This isn't fully complete. I don't have the final body chamber margin. The top and sides of the fossil shell material are eroded and missing. I found this face down in a local creek. As luck would have it, I was able to separate it from the larger rock and use a combination grinder and air-scribe to get it to where it's at now. These are a super common genus locally.

 

Shortly after finding:

 

A mostly prepped specimen:

 

A lower angle:

 

Closer:

 

Full Write-Up Here

 

[cngodles]

Metacoceras, Solenochilus and Pseudorthoceras from the Glenshaw Formation.

 

I had these three specimens close by, so I figured I would take a group photo of these three local cephalopods. Maybe next time I'll add Mooreoceras and Brachycycloceras.

 

[cngodles]

Pennsylvanian Cephalopod Group Photos

 

Ok, was really happy to take these photos. I've been wanting to do larger group Cephalopod photos for quite a while.

• Metacoceras (Bottom Right)
• Solenochilus (Top Left)
• Pseudorthoceras (Bottom Left)
• Mooreoceras (Bottom Center)
• Brachycycloceras (Top Center)

 

 

I only have single good examples of both Mooreoceras and Brachycycloceras. The rest, I have several examples of each. Here are three different groups. You can tell the difference between Mooreoceras and Pseudorthoceras by the position of the siphuncle position. In Mooreoceras, the opening is near the edge. In Pseudorthoceras it is directly in the center. There is discussion about them possibly being the same genus.

 

Metacoceras

 

One of the most common cephalopods locally. Here are eight excellent specimens from my collection. I have at least two dozen additional ones, most not quite as nice as these.

 

 

Solenochilus

 

These are quite rare. I have only found five for sure. Each one has a small interesting fact around it.

 

Top Center: The Largest one I've found. There is a Metacoceras above it as well.

Right: This one includes the lateral spine. It may be an immature example as well, with a short spine.

Bottom Right: First one with a detailed bottom. Three cross sections of the chamber are visible. Also the best shell example.

Bottom Left: Has three puncture holes that an expert told me were likely a shark bite.

Left: The first one I found. Is mostly the body chamber.

 

 

Pseudorthoceras

 

These are very common, perhaps the most common. You'll break open a limestone boulder and see a cross-section of a chamber. I have never found a complete one.

 

 

Here are three different pseudorthoceras specimens lined up to give a simulation of what a complete specimen would look like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cngodles]

A unique find, but not impossible to duplicate.

 

A Brachiopod and a Petalodus Tooth chip. Not sure on the genus of Brachiopod, I've found a ton of them, but I still am never sure on ID. I want to do a large detailed group photo of them soon, and send them out for identification. I like the red color on this one.

 

I'm told it might be a Echinaria semipunctata

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

These are lovely finds. 

I wouldn't bet any cheese on it, but I think your brachiopod may possibly be Dictyoclostus sp. 

[cngodles]

31 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

These are lovely finds. 

I wouldn't bet any cheese on it, but I think your brachiopod may possibly be Dictyoclostus sp. 

I'd say it's highly likely. This convinces me: http://paleoportal.org/index.php?globalnav=fossil_gallery&sectionnav=detail&submission_id=549&taxon_id=53&state_id=&period_id=12&assemblage_id=&last_section=search

[cngodles]

Brachiopods! Here are several shots of one particular type. Might be more than one species here, but I'm not sure. Echinaria semipunctata and Dictyoclostus sp have been suggested.

 

Larger Group:

 

 

Some smaller groups:

 

 

 

Here is one with a Petalodus tooth bit attached to the matrix as well.

 

 

[connorp]

9 minutes ago, cngodles said:

Brachiopods! Here are several shots of one particular type. Might be more than one species here, but I'm not sure. Echinaria semipunctata and Dictyoclostus sp have been suggested.

Productids give me a big headache - they all look too similar. I have a lot of "Echinaria"-like productids among which there are definitely several different species. They could be any of the Echinaria species, maybe Echinoconchus, or perhaps one of the other closely related genera. I believe the most comprehensive text on productids is "Morphology, Classification and Life Habits of the Productoidea" (Muir-Wood and Cooper, 1960). You should be able to find a PDF online. It contains descriptions of all the possibilities, but it's 600 pages of super specific terminology that is way over my head.

[cngodles]

3 hours ago, connorp said:

Productids give me a big headache - they all look too similar. I have a lot of "Echinaria"-like productids among which there are definitely several different species. They could be any of the Echinaria species, maybe Echinoconchus, or perhaps one of the other closely related genera. I believe the most comprehensive text on productids is "Morphology, Classification and Life Habits of the Productoidea" (Muir-Wood and Cooper, 1960). You should be able to find a PDF online. It contains descriptions of all the possibilities, but it's 600 pages of super specific terminology that is way over my head.

Going to hunt that down now.  Thank you. I have a Brachiopods of Ohio book that has very good photos, and even looking through those I have a tough time matching any up.

 

They are very plentiful here. But in the solid limestone, so I usually break the corners trying to extract them. The ones in the Ohio book all have detailed shell insides, etc.

 

Edit: The PDF: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/88/Morphology-Classification-and-Life-Habits-of-the

[cngodles]

A second batch. These are different, with finer lines.

 

 

 

 

 

[connorp]

@cngodles Most of the second batch look like what I've at least been identifying as Linoproductus.

[cngodles]

Let’s leave the sea today and check out a couple common plants. These come from the shale, usually below the limestone. Not sure if there are any above limestone locally.

 

Pecopteris:

 

 

Calamites:

 

 

[cngodles]

On 6/19/2020 at 6:04 PM, cngodles said:

Brachycycloceras (Top Center)

I'm going to be correcting this identification here and in the future.

 

When I got my identification, it was based on a specimen that is in the Carnegie Museum, CM 29720.

 

I don't have permission yet to share the photo of this specimen, but certainly can in the future if I get a release. I shared a photo of CM 29720 with Royal Mapes, whom I consider a leading expert in local Cephalopods and has been involved in a very large number of journal articles and books on the topic. Oh yeah, he also donated 540,000 specimens to the Smithsonian recently (2016).

 

His opinion based on the photo was that it is defiantly not a Brachcycloceras. Since my specimen is based on that specimen, I'm going back with an earlier identification of Solenochilus, which Processor Mapes thinks it might be based on metrics.

 

Here is another example from Missouri which is similar, but doesn't have quite the same shape as my specimen and the Carnegie one:

https://pennsylvanianatlas.org/species/brachycycloceras-bransoni/

[cngodles]

A new Solenochilus group shot.

 

Originally named Nautilus (Cryptoceras) Springeri in 1867, Meek & Worthen changed the name 3 years later to Solenochilus due to some duplication in naming with other types of fossil specimens.

 

As a correction, I've included what I used to call Brachycycloceras in the group shot (Top right CG-0025). The specimen in the Carnegie Museum has had it's genus changed to Solenochilus based on R. Mapes's opinion on a good photo of the specimen. So for now, my assumed genus is Solenochilus for this specimen. Another addition is a small specimen (CG-0081) I found just this past June. It becomes the smallest specimen of this genus I have found to date. About 2/3 of the actual rock is the specimen, it needs further matrix removal.

 

 

Full article with my personal research on Solenochilus

 

#################################

 

[cngodles]

Simple microscopic view of a crinoid columinal with branches.

 

 

Really interesting close up structure

 

 

 

[cngodles]

Another quick post of a Solenochilus I found just yesterday. It should be the 2nd or  3rd largest I've found, and might be the most complete. Cracked the rock in half and there it was. Rock is 3in thick.

 

 

After spending a few hours prepping.

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

[Jeffrey P]

You're really building up quite the collection there. Congratulations. I have always had a fascination for Pennsylvanian marine fossils. Those cannot be found anywhere near where I live in Southeastern New York. I did have one experience collecting Pennsylvanian marine in PA and that was in the Ames Limestone near Mundy's Corner. Found a variety of gastropods, some rugose corals, and even a very tiny trilobite. The preservation isn't the best, but I was really psyched about them. Hope to get out your way some day and hunt in the Glenshaw. 

[cngodles]

Here is a group shot of the 13 Petalodus ohioensis specimens I’ve collected over the past 2 years.

 

[cngodles]

And a 14th tooth was picked up today. It broke free of the matrix, mostly. There is still about a quarter of the left labial side in a small piece of rock that likely won’t easily free. I am soaking it in water currently. I found the tooth whole and when cleaving the rock, one part freed completely, the other stayed behind.

 

Lingual side with scale:

 

Labial side:

 

Crop of the apex. Not sure if I have one this shape yet.