SEWis-Fossils Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 Hi there all of you brilliant fossil folks! My daughter found this at the beach north of Milwaukee, and I think it's a contender for our local fossil hunting competition (best coral category). We tucked this and others fossils away earlier this summer, and I just realized that turn in is tomorrow! Any help would be greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 Looks like bryozoans and possibly a brachiopod from the first pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 +1 bryozoans. 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...
caldigger Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 Still a neat piece! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEWis-Fossils Posted August 28, 2019 Author Share Posted August 28, 2019 Yeah, I know there's a brachiopod cast in there as well. Thanks for the ID on the bryozoans! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEWis-Fossils Posted August 28, 2019 Author Share Posted August 28, 2019 This community is fantastic! I'll try to be more involved. Strangely enough, I'm more versed in fossils from the Dakotas even though I live in Wisconsin. It comes from many fossil hunting trips to that area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 Can we see a photo with a ruler for scale? Although one should examine internal structures to tell bryozoans from corals, you can also use the diameter of the individual "pores" (the openings made by individual bryozoans or coral animals in the colony). As a rule, these "pores" are a fraction of a millimeter in bryozoans, as opposed to a mm or larger (up to a cm or more) in corals. Your specimens might be bryozoans, but I see a resemblance to the branching tabulate coral Thamnopora. Some sense of size of your fossil would help choose between the possibilities. Don 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEWis-Fossils Posted August 29, 2019 Author Share Posted August 29, 2019 Don, after looking at some pictures, I see what you mean by the branching tabulate similarities, and that could be it. Unfortunately, we turned the fossil in yesterday morning before I saw your note. Thanks to you and everyone else for chiming in though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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