First Ceph?

[Bev]

I believe this is my first cephalopod, what do you think?

Ordorvician Era

Gelens/Stewartville formation

Collected in a gravel pit in Fillmore County, MN 10.6.12

[Bev]

Hey guys, is this a ceph? Or????

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for looking and commenting.

[Fossildude19]

Bev,

Hard to tell with lack of detail - Probably why you haven't seen too much in the way of comments on this.

I'll take a few guesses though.

I have no reputation to ruin, have been wrong many times before... so.

The lack of uniform narrowing of the specimen would lead me away from cephalopod.

I would lean more towards either an in-filled burrow, or an internal mold of a gastropod, due to the staggered uneven-ness of the different sections - the first pic the top section looks a bit off center?

Really couldn't say more than that without the sample in hand.

Hope this is helpful. Even if only for the bump.

Regards,

Edited October 9, 2012 by Fossildude19

[Bev]

Thanks so much Tim!

I thought the detail was real clear, if you click on the pic it blows up, but maybe not clear enough.

The more I learn the less I know! I can now see what you are saying about a gastropod. When I think of gastropods I think of all my snails! I was just looking at collections on the internet of gastropods found in Minnesota and yes, there are a variety!

Again, thanks for offering up your ideas!

[Rockin' Chica]

It looks like segments of one! But it is hard to tell! Take a pic with a dark back ground, maybe in the sun light! That always helps me. (sometimes i will wet them as I am photographing, depending on the fossil)

[Fossildude19]

Bev,

Your photos are fine. I see the details of the "photo".

I meant more along the lines of lack of detail/ornamentation on the specimen itself.

I do not see any kind of ornamentation, ...whorls, patterns, original shell material, uniform indentations,siphuncle, or sutures, that would give a clear indication of ID.

The fact that one section looks off center could just mean that it isn't a straight cephalopod, or it may have suffered somehow during the fossilization/diagenesis processes.

Is it a cephalopod ??? - maybe, ...it is not totally out of the realm of possibility.

I just think there is not really enough to go on to make a solid determination, one way or another. Very common with fossils.

What needs to happen is for you to become ultra familiar with the fossils in your area, ...how they are preserved, what they look like from every angle, and what can happen to it during it's slow progression to fossil form,... so that you can make an edjucated guess on ID.

There is no substitute for personal experience, and someone at a local museum may be able to say more with the specimen in hand.

To me, with 17 years of general fossil hunting experience, it kinda looks like an infilled burrow or gastropod part.

But again, these are just my guesses as to what it may be - I have no direct experience with fossils from your area. Could also be a sponge or stromatolite of some sort.

Check with a local museum, and see if perhaps they can ID it for you.

Regards,

[Caleb]

I'm leaning away from a cephalopod and more towards a burrow, but it's hard to tell. Generally the cephalopods that are preserved in this formation are larger than the specimen photographed. The preservation in the Stewartville member of the Galena fm. is not the greatest for smaller items such as this one. The rock is heavily dolomatized which destroys the surface texture/exoskeleton during the process leaving only internal molds. Keep looking though, you will find one!

[Bev]

Thank ALL you guys! Wonderful learning posts!

Dark background and wet them! I have noticed that wet you can see a lot more, but I haven't seen any "wet" photos so I thought that was taboo

The more research I do and the more fossils I view the more confused I become! It is a huge, fascinating field! I just bought another fossil book on fossils of IA off the internet today.

The hunt is fascinating though! I was at the rock outcrop just south of Fillmore and there was flowstone (like you see in a cave) right out on the face of the outcrop! And the next outcrop on the west side of the road (#5) gave me three stones I am totally clueless about!? Fossils? Corals? Algea? So I have been trolling the various fossil sites to see if I can find something that looks like them!

Anyway, THANK YOU ALL FOR LOOKING AND GIVING ME SOME INSIGHT!

Bev

[Herb]

I'm leaning toward a burrow also.

[Auspex]

The photo details are fine, just not distinctive. The degree of "hour glassing" is not a normal feature of a cephalopod, though, but a circumstantial case can be made, as mentioned, for an in-filled burrow.