Cyclocystoids from the Brechin, Ontario area

[crinus]

Next week is NAPC and a formal introduction to this topic, so I thought I would give the fossil forum a heads up and tell you the story.

 

 

This story started a few years back with the discovery of a cyclocystoid in the St. Louis area and the subsequent publication on that specimen and other specimens from the midwest. (note: I had nothing to do with that discovery or publication.)

Kolata, D.R., Frank, T., Kaplan, A., and Guensburg, T.E., 2023, New specimens of  Cyclocystoides scammaphoris (Echinodermata) from the Upper Ordovician rocks of the  American midcontinent with implications for cyclocystoid functional  morphology: Journal of Paleontology, v. 97, no. 3, p. 639–651 .

As is typical these publications go through a review process and one of the reviewers asked why they did not include this specimen in their publication. http://www.crinus.info/echinoderm/data/cyclo3.htm  This specimen is from my web page. 

 

Sometime in late 2022 I got a call from T. Guensburg regarding that specimen and whether I would be willing to have IT studied and possibly published.  We set up a meeting at the Field Museum with D. Kolata and T. Guensburg and me.  They were stunned at the number of specimens I brought with me from the Brechin quarries.  The total number of individuals was probably around 75.  Dennis (lead author) just couldn’t get over the number and quality of individuals.  I left all the specimens with Dennis who took them back to the University of Illinois.  And thus began a project to describe the cyclocystoids from the Brechin area but in addition they were going to define the morphology of a cyclocystoid.  Dennis was convinced that with the quality of these specimens that a definitive description of the morphology could be accomplished.

 

Four different genera were described from the Brechin area.  Three are established genera and one new.  The new genus was the one that was the most exciting.  Unfortunately, all the specimens of the new genus were showing only one side.  Dennis wanted to take one of the specimens apart.  I had a hard time with this decision but eventually I did give him permission to take one of them apart and show the other side. This specimen would become the holotype.

 

While this is going on, I am in the process of moving the fossil collection of my friend Stan Hyne to my home.  Stan is a hoarder of fossils and has a very extensive collection of unprepared fossils including specimens from the Brechin area.  During this process, I discovered a specimen of the new cyclocystoid in his junk.  It was so bad that is all probability I would not have picked it up. But Stan picked up everything. Turns out to be a good thing. I sent the specimen to Dennis who asked for permission to cut the specimen up to see the cross section.  So much new information came from this piece of junk. You just don’t know what will become important. Thank you, Stan.  And thus, I take pleasure in introducing you to Brechincycloides stanhynei.

 

This publication has been submitted to the Journal of Paleontology but will not be part of the regular publication because of its length.  It will be published as one of the Journal’s Memoir series. As submitted, the manuscript is over 80 pages. Much too long for its regular series.

 

During this process, Dennis invited Richard Mooi to join the authors. Dr. Mooi is an expert on living echinoderms. He has made significant contributions to the publication.

 

The title of the manuscript:

Cyclocystoids (Echinodermata) from the Upper Ordovician (early  Katian) Brechin Lagerstätte of Ontario, Canada: implications for  cyclocystoid skeletal homologies, anatomy, functional morphology,  life mode, and systematics.

 Dennis R. Kolata, Rich Mooi, Thomas E. Guensburg, and Joseph M. Koniecki

 

There is a poster session at the 2024 North American Paleontological Convention to introduce this project. 

The manuscript is currently in the review process, and we don’t expect the publication till late 2024 or even 2025.

 

All the specimens have been donated to the University of Michigan, Museum of Paleontology and will not be coming home.

 

Examples of all the genera can be found on my webpage: http://www.crinus.info/echinoderm.html or directly with these links.

http://www.crinus.info/echinoderm/data/cyclo.htm

http://www.crinus.info/echinoderm/data/cyclo2.htm

http://www.crinus.info/echinoderm/data/cyclo5.htm

http://www.crinus.info/echinoderm/data/cyclo7.htm

http://www.crinus.info/echinoderm/data/cyclo4.htm

http://www.crinus.info/echinoderm/data/cyclo3.htm

 

Dennis considers this publication to be the pinnacle of his career and I am so grateful to be a part of this project.

[piranha]

Joe: Your legacy and numerous contributions to invertebrate paleontology are amazing....Congrats!

[Mochaccino]

Amazing, and a great gesture to honor Stan's name in the new species!

[FossilDAWG]

Joe, it's great to see this project moving towards completion.  75 specimens?  Wow! I have maybe 6 or 7 from the Ottawa area.  I'm looking forward to the monograph!  Cyclocystoids are such enigmatic organisms, it will be great to get some clarity on their actual nature.

 

Don

[FossilDAWG]

On 6/13/2024 at 3:04 PM, piranha said:

Joe: Your legacy and numerous contributions to invertebrate paleontology are amazing....Congrats!

 

 

I don't think this has been mentioned before, so I want to let our community know that ...

 

Joe was recognized with the Strimple Award by the Paleontological Society!!  

 

 

This award is given to avocational paleontologists who have made an especially outstanding contribution to paleontology.  This award is the highest recognition possible given by the profession to avocational paleontologists, and I think Joe is an especially deserving recipient.  His interactions with specialists in echinoderm paleontology, and exemplary generosity with his collection and prep skills, have enormously helped the careers of multiple graduate students, and done an amazing amount to move the understanding and recognition of the Ordovician echinoderms of Southern Ontario far beyond where it has stood since Springer worked on them in the very early 1900s.

 

The award was given in 2022, but the text of the award notice and Joe's response were published in the January 2024 issue of the Journal of Paleontology. 

The links are to the journal so not everyone will be able to open them, but I'm not sure about the legality of copying/pasting the documents here.

 

Don

[Collector9658]

Spectacular explanation, work, and dedication. Yet just another great reason I will continue to look up to you, congratulations Joe!

 

[pefty]

Well done, Joe, as always. Can't wait to see the talk—and the paper whenever the world is finally ready for it

[JohnJ]

Another amazing contribution to the knowledge base of invertebrate paleontology.  Thank you for giving us the background story!

[Coco]

Hi,

 

Impressive both by the number of finds and by this study. Bravo ! I wait to see the result of the work !

 

Coco

[digit]

Bravo!

 

Another wonderful example of cooperation. Thanks for the great backstory.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[crinus]

18 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

I don't think this has been mentioned before, so I want to let our community know that Joe was recognized with the Strimple Award by the Paleontological Society!!   This award is given to avocational paleontologists who have made an especially outstanding contribution to paleontology.  This award is the highest recognition possible given by the profession to avocational paleontologists, and I think Joe is an especially deserving recipient.  His interactions with specialists in echinoderm paleontology, and exemplary generosity with his collection and prep skills, have enormously helped the careers of multiple graduate students, and done an amazing amount to move the understanding and recognition of the Ordovician echinoderms of Southern Ontario far beyond where it has stood since Springer worked on them in the very early 1900s.

 

The award was given in 2022, but the text of the award notice and Joe's response were published in the January 2024 issue of the Journal of Paleontology. 

The links are to the journal so not everyone will be able to open them, but I'm not sure about the legality of copying/pasting the documents here.

 

Don

Don,

There is no issue if you want to post Forest's introduction or my response here.  

 What I would like to do is post the cyclocystoid poster here but it is a VERY large file and I haven't figured out how to do it and not lose all the resolution.

Joe

[FossilDAWG]

Hi all,  here are the links to the Strimple Award introduction by Forest Gahn, and to Joe's response.

 

Don

 

 

 

 

 

[FossilDAWG]

Hi Joe,

 

How large is the file?

 

Don

[pefty]

Joe, maybe try uploading the poster at full resolution on researchgate or elsewhere and then posting a thumbnail here with a link to the full-resolution file?

[crinus]

5 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

Hi Joe,

 

How large is the file?

 

Don

103MB

[crinus]

This link may work for the cyclocystoid poster.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RQO6ASYlC5xSLlOuhKfKiAe76DzBnEgu/view?usp=gmail

 

[pefty]

Nice. Successfully downloaded on my end (via desktop browser). Gorgeous images there.

[Fin Lover]

Congratulations @crinus for both the publication and the award!  I don't know much about some of the forum members' backgrounds, so it was great reading the award commentary!  

[digit]

I too am constantly amazed (though I shouldn't be) at all of the excellent cooperation our members manage with a diverse range of scientific publications on fossils.

 

I vicariously puff out my chest every time I read about one of these wonderful collaborations. As they say down under--Good on ya!

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Wrangellian]

Interesting stuff, and nice work.    It's fun when a specialist sees your collection and their eyes bug out, isn't it?

[Northern Sharks]

Congrats Joe!!!! Very much deserved

[Fossildude19]

Congratulations, and thank you, Joe!

You are an example of what all citizen scientists should aspire to!

Well done, sir!

 

[NickG]

Congratulations! It was a pleasure meeting you and absentmindedly following you all around the museum on Wednesday as a brain break (though I fear I was so tired I might have walked with you to Kalamazoo without realizing it)! I made sure when I went back with my shark friends to introduce the first section as the Koniecki wing!
 

You’ve done a great service for paleo!

[crinus]

10 hours ago, NickG said:

Congratulations! It was a pleasure meeting you and absentmindedly following you all around the museum on Wednesday as a brain break (though I fear I was so tired I might have walked with you to Kalamazoo without realizing it)! I made sure when I went back with my shark friends to introduce the first section as the Koniecki wing!
 

You’ve done a great service for paleo!

Thanks. Nice meeting you also.  I am still exhausted. I don't think I will be doing anything for the next one at the University of Tennessee.  Way too much work.

[Jeffrey P]

A wonderful honor, much deserved for your contributions to paleontology. Big congratulations.