Shale pit - Hamilton Formation Finds

[Faraday108]

Afternoon esteemed FF community. I'm new here and was hoping for assistance in identification to aid building interest in fossils for myself and my young kids. My 5yo son has been fascinated with fossils and I'm hoping to learn more myself so I can help shepherd his interest. 

 

We went to a nearby shale pit in central Pennsylvania that according to the geological map from the area seems to expose the Hamilton Group of the Devonian Period. My son had a great time scrambling around and we came home with some interesting finds that my limited fossil knowledge can't identify beyond "brachiopod" or "crinoid". Any help would be greatly appreciated and if more pictures are needed let me know; I was hesitant to upload too many. Also, as an amateur I'm finding it difficult to know what diagnostic features to pick out to aid in identification so any tips would be greatly appreciated as I learn more. 

 

The scale for all the following images is in Inches (sorry I didn't have a metric ruler I could find at the grandparent's house). 

Thanks!

 

Item 1: 

 

 

Item 2: 

 

Item 3: 

 

Item 4: 

 

Item 5: a rock that I split on site, my amateur work left an unfortunate scratch on one side. My eye picks out crinoid? and brachiopod?

 

Item 5 bottom closeup 1: 

 

Item 5 bottom closeup 2: 

 

Item 5 bottom closeup 3: 

 

Item 5 top closeup 1: 

 

Item 5 top closeup 2: 

 

Item 6: Crinoid stem? 

 

Item 7: Crinoid stem impression?

 

[Fossildude19]

These look like Mahantango Formation, part of the Hamilton Group.

 

First item is a fenetsrate bryozoan.

 

I see several Spiriferid brachiopods, maybe Mucrospirifer mucronatus.  (Or Mediospirifer audaculus. Larger ones might be Spinocyrtia granulosus. )

 

I see Tropidoleptus carinatus. (rounder shaped brachiopod)

 

The gastropod might be Bembexia. Other views would be helpful.

I see crinoid stems, and a possible partial crinoid calyx  in the second to last photo. Can't help with genus or species there. Sorry.

 

A lot of these are internal molds, so identification is a bit more difficult.

 

 

[val horn]

This looks like a very successful trip.  I think the next stop might be your local libaryfor a kid friendly book.

[Fossildude19]

[Fossildude19]

You can't go wrong with Karl Wilson's  Field Guide to Devonian Fossils of New York.

 

Or, David M. Linsley's Devonian Paleontology of New York.

 

Also, Index Fossils of North America.

 

[EMP]

There’s a website called Fossil Guy you can look up that has a pretty good run down of some of the more common things in the Mahantango Formation/Hamilton Group.

 

Overall it looks like you had a good hunt! 

Item 1 looks like a bivalve. 
 

Items 2-4 are spiriferid brachiopods, including Mucrospirifer mucronatus. 
 

Item 5 is what’s called a hash plate, which is a bunch of fossils all clumped together on one rock and is pretty typical of the Hamilton Group in central PA. Lots of Mucrospirifer mucronatus on that as well, plus some bits from other brachiopods and crinoids like Devonochonetes. 
 

Item 6 looks like a crinoid stem. 
 

Item 7 is the impression of a crinoid columnal, basically one of the individual rings in a crinoid. 

 

Theres a coiled fossil that looks like a snail below 7. Pics from different angles/closer to it might be able to show if it’s an ammonoid or not. Can’t tell if there’s sutures or not on it to confirm. 

[Fossildude19]

6 minutes ago, EMP said:

Item 1 looks like a bivalve. 

 

I respectfully disagree - it is a fenestrate bryozoan. 

 

[ScottBlooded]

Check out Jasper Burns Fossil Collecting in the Mid Atlantic States. Has a bunch of places in your neck of the woods to dig. If your kid is into these very nice brachiopod, bryozoan and crinoid finds, they should love finding a trilobite which that book can definitely help you do. Worked for me anyway!

[FossilDAWG]

Karl Wilson used to have an excellent web site about Devonian localities across New York, but I haven't been able to find it in the last few years.  Does anybody know what happened to it?

 

Don

[Fossildude19]

5 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

Karl Wilson used to have an excellent web site about Devonian localities across New York, but I haven't been able to find it in the last few years.  Does anybody know what happened to it?

 

Don

 

It seems to be defunct at this point.      There are some copies of it in the Wayback Machine, but I don't think it is all collected there,  most unfortunately. 

[Faraday108]

Thank you all for your replies, this is very helpful information. I'll see if I can pick up copies of those books that you pointed out @Fossildude19 so I can work on learning more.

 

@EMP I was wondering what that was called, I knew I had come across a term for the grouping!

 

Also @ScottBlooded I appreciate the book recommendation, I'd personally love to find a trilobite to add to the collection. I'll see if I can find a copy of that as well. We drove to the Montour Fossil Pit the next day to try our luck and found some more brachiopods but no trilobites. The most interesting find was a mold that had small crystals inside reminiscent of a geode that has proven to be quite fragile.