Looking For Id For Oceanic Fossils

[Kyleontheweb]

These are probably ordovician, some sort of oceanic fossils. I am not sure what any of these are, and am looking for an ID from someone who knows! Thank you for any help you can provide.

1)Some sort of clam?

2)I have a whole bunch of these things, and never really knew what they are. We call them "squid tails". I posted just a few of them.

3)I'm not really even sure about the origin of this one, but it sure is odd looking

[kauffy]

1) appears to be a Brachiopod perhaps rhynchonellid

2) they all appear to be Cephalopods...i dont know the species sorry

3)No clue...looks like a rock to me

[Guest solius symbiosus]

The first one is some kind of Strophomenid Brachiopod

The last one is probably a Trepostomate Bryzoa colony.

[kauffy]

^^ i bow down in the company of the supream identifyer.....*bow down, bow down*

[Guest solius symbiosus]

Nah, I can recognize some Ord stuff, but that is pretty much it.

[Kyleontheweb]

Thanks very much to everyone for all the suggestions. The first one doesn't have the typical brachiopod shape or pattern that I am used to with other specimens I have, but it might be some kind of brachiopod that I am not familiar with. Here is a picture of the other side of the rock:

With regard to those cephalopods, I find them here in the Dayton, Ohio area a lot. I have no idea what they actually are, but they are pretty cool. I have seen them range from very small ones up to much larger than the ones I pictured. For some reason, whenever I look up Ohio fossils on the internet, I can't find anything about them.

The colony rock I had no clue on at all, bryozoa colony sounds good to me! LOL.

Thanks again for the help.

~Kyle

[Guest solius symbiosus]

The first one is definitely a Brach. I can't recall the genus, but I have seen it before. Cephalopods are difficult to ID without the siphuncle exposed.

HERE is a page on Cinncinnatian Cepholopada, but there is no description.

[geofossil]

The first one is definitely a Brach. I can't recall the genus, but I have seen it before. Cephalopods are difficult to ID without the siphuncle exposed.

HERE is a page on Cinncinnatian Cepholopada, but there is no description.

Yes its a brach. It's one of the many species of the genus Platystrophia. The angle of preservation distorts things but one can make out the characteristic sulcus. The real dagnostic feature is the pronounced plicate shell.

Those are nice cephalopods. It's interesting how 'orthocone type' specimens are relatively common in Ordovician deposits but then seem to diminish. Straight nautiloid finds in later paleozoic rocks are rare, but when they are found, are locally abundant.

As mentioned, orthocones are difficult to identify AND, even if identified, the research is spotty and controversial. Don't do this to your specimens but they can be cut down the middle, polished, etched and then acetate peels taken to study the chambers and siphuncle. I don't know if there is anyone around these days who is an authority on them.

[Guest solius symbiosus]

Yes its a brach. It's one of the many species of the genus Platystrophia.

The Platystrophia that I have seen around here are not that filate(?), and the sulcus is more pronounced.

[Kyleontheweb]

Thanks guys! This is all great information and helps me a lot. I've collected fossils for years, but I've never known a lot of other people that did it or had much other reference to go by. I've been adding a lot to my collection lately, and I'm trying to learn how to better identify some of the things in it.

Thanks for the link to the Cinncinnatian Cepholopada page too. There are some nice pictures there. Now I'm able to see some examples of at least the kind of thing I have, even if I can't identify them precisely.