Charcoal Trace Fossil
Location: Hyner, PA
Catskill Formation
Sholesonian |
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FOS 128 Charcoal Trace Fossil Location: Hyner, PA Catskill Formation As I tackle the steep red sides of a crumbling roadcut in the far backwoods of Pennsylvania, my geological hammer pries out mounds of fossilized plant material. These remains of some of the earliest pre-forests scatter the ground, having never seen the sun since they were buried some 360 million years ago in the late Devonian. This was a time marked when vertebrates were just emerging onto dry land, when forests began to take root, and when large predatory fish ruled the seas. Despite the temporal distance, there is much we can learn from this preserved foliage.
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FOS 002
Mosasaur Tooth in Matrix Location: Unkown (Probably Morocco) Details: Acquired at the Royal Ontario Museum So I finally received my photo studio, to help with cataloging all of the collections. To start with I'm going to put up one piece from each of the collections, to give a little taste of what is here. To start off I'm going to be posting a newer specimen in the FOS collection. It's a Mosasaur tooth, theoretically that is. FOS 003
'Shark' Tooth Location: Unknown Details: animal unknown So I decided the past few posts weren't all that interesting so I decided to present this fossilized shark tooth today. I unfortunately don't know the details from this fossil, but it is still a nice addition to the museum. It was part of a gift from my aunt, along with an array of minerals. I'm sorry I can't give any more details on this one but that is the extent of my knowledge on this specimen. FOS 009
Orthoceras Chamber Location: Morocco Details: polished in matrix So just a quick post before I go insect collecting (I've already added 5 new specimens to the collection today NH 056-NH 060). I haven't had a fossil post in awhile so I present you guys with my Orthoceras. These are fairly easy to identify and most people enjoy them as pieces of art as they polish up nicely. I generally don't like polished up specimens but I had to make an exception for this one as they are usually only sold polished and needed one for my collection. I bought this one at the Rock, Mineral, and Gem Show in Syracuse, New York a few years back. FOS 011
Crinoid Segment Location: Hamburg, NY Details: part of the stalk Here's just another short post from the fossil collection. This one is a crinoid stem that I collected myself from the Penn Dixie Site in Hamburg, New York back in late-August 2009. Most of the fossils that I found there were trilobites and rugose corals (horn corals). But occasionally I found some crinoid pieces or the occasional brachiopod there (they're more common to Central New York). FOS 012
Pseudoatrypa Shell Location: Ovid, NY Family: Atrypidae Details: only fairly certain on ID I apologize for not posting anything in awhile, but I didn't have any of my materials/data over the extended Thanksgiving weekend (hope everyone had a happy one by the way), and this week is pretty busy for me so don't expect too many new posts in the coming few weeks. But I finally found out the family for one of my fossils, which is why I haven't posted too many fossils seeing as it takes a little bit of work to identify them. I've been working with bivalves recently at the PRI and in researching another genus I found a Fossil Site where I noticed a specimen that looked very similar to one in my collection. FOS 013
Trilobite Location: Morocco Family: Calymenidae Details: mounted Well it's getting nearer to Christmas so here is a nice large trilobite fossil just for you. Now I got this particular specimen at a yard sale, pre-mounted, and it does have a note label on the back of the wooden plaque. This trilobite belongs to the genus Diacalymene, and the label doesn't offer any species name but my research seems to point that there is only one species in this genus that being D. ouzergui. So I'm betting that it belongs to that one. However it should be noted that these particular fossils are often confused with the genus Flexicalymene, so it is possible that whoever typed up the label got the two mix-matched. FOS 018
Horn Coral Location: Hamburg, NY Family: Zaphrentidae Now I generally don't post up fossils because I want to be fairly certain with the label before I do so and don't have enough time or resources to do some appropriate research. However, while I am not completely positive on the identification I'm hoping I'm correct with the family name. These types of fossils are generally known as Horn Corals due to their horn like appearance (the smaller end was attached to the reef) but they also go as Rugose Corals. FOS 019
Goniatite Location: Unknown Family: Goniatitidae This is a very nice specimen that I received a few years back, but unfortunately I've seemed to misplaced the label so I have no idea where this particular fossil is from. However, I do remember the name of the creature: it's a goniatite. These things were very similar to the popularly known ammonites. While I'm not positive on the exact identification of the specimen I do know that it is at least in the Goniatite order and I'm taking a guess as to the family (Goniatitidae). FOS 021
Gastrolith Location: Utah Family: N/A (Trace Fossil) As I continue to procrastinate here is an interesting specimen that looks like nothing until you realize what it is. Heralding from the Morrison Formation out in Utah (meaning this is from the Upper Jurassic: 161-145 million years ago) this is a type of trace fossil, called a gastrolith, from a dinosaur. The term gastrolith comes from Greek meaning 'stomach stone' and with good reason. Much to how many modern day birds and other animals will require swallowing stones or pebbles in order to 'chew' their food (due to lack of teeth), so did the giant sauropods of the Jurassic/Cretaceous. While they did have teeth, their function was purely to grab a hold of leaves and other vegetation and not to chew (like our front teeth) and they would swallow their meal whole, along with some rocks. These rocks would grind up the food in their stomach (or rather gizzard which is a specialized stomach of sorts) preparing it for digestion. Afterwards the stones would easily pass; as you can see they would round out in the grinding process. |
CollectionsThe Sholesonian is an online museum databasing all the unique, scientific, and interesting things I've found over the years. Every week I'll be posting up at least one new item to the collection along with a little tidbit on what it is. Enjoy! Archives
October 2012
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