pleecan Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 (edited) This fossil is from Queenston Quarry.... believe early Silurian Matrix is Dolostone. Anyone have a clue? I first thought it was Cooksonia but it is not Cooksonia... it is something else.... A Silurian 'marrellomorph' arthropod??? I do not have a clue... size 15mm x 10mm Could it be a seed pod ? Peter Edited October 28, 2010 by pleecan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Edonihce Posted October 25, 2010 Share Posted October 25, 2010 I have no idea, but I'm just plugging in here to get notified of any other posts. Personally, I would think there isn't enough there to even say. However, I know some fossils well enough that, even if there were very little of one left, I'd still recognize it right off the bat. Here's to hoping this is like that for someone on here. . ____________________ scale in avatar is millimeters ____________________ Come visit Sandi, the 'Fossil Journey Cruiser' ____________________ WIPS (the Western Interior Paleontological Society - http://www.westernpaleo.org) ____________________ "Being genetically cursed with an almost inhuman sense of curiosity and wonder, I'm hard-wired to investigate even the most unlikely, uninteresting (to others anyway) and irrelevant details; often asking hypothetical questions from many angles in an attempt to understand something more thoroughly." -- Mr. Edonihce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted October 25, 2010 Author Share Posted October 25, 2010 I have no idea, but I'm just plugging in here to get notified of any other posts. Personally, I would think there isn't enough there to even say. However, I know some fossils well enough that, even if there were very little of one left, I'd still recognize it right off the bat. Here's to hoping this is like that for someone on here. I like exploring the Silurian right after a major extinction event at the end of the Ordovician... there are chapters still to be written up by others as the biota has not been fully described yet.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted October 27, 2010 Author Share Posted October 27, 2010 (edited) Clean up the fossil in an ultrasonic bath.... Here are some shots of my mystery fossil... taken with a microscope objective direct coupled to a Foveon camera... I think it could be some sort of Larval 2 eyes and bilateral symmetry.... could it be a fish? scale = mm second photo Edited October 27, 2010 by pleecan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Peter.... I know we are fishing for idea's here so I noticed 'Dimensionally' it resembles a cyclus type creature... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted October 27, 2010 Author Share Posted October 27, 2010 (edited) Peter.... I know we are fishing for idea's here so I noticed 'Dimensionally' it resembles a cyclus type creature... Hi Steve: Thanks for the reply ... cyclus creature I know appeared in the Carboniferous era.... but did they extend down to the mid to early Silurian??? More Pics are posted here.... http://oldasthehills.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Interaction&action=display&thread=135 PL Edited October 27, 2010 by pleecan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ordovician_Odyssey Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 (edited) could it possibly be a cross section of a gastropod? or just a cross section from something? this is hard to ID.. Edited October 27, 2010 by trilobite guy -Shamus The Ordovician enthusiast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted October 27, 2010 Author Share Posted October 27, 2010 ... not sure... the dolostone is generally blank generally devoid of fossilized material... have not seen any gastropods in this layer... this fossil is something out of the ordinary..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Peter, I suppose you've considered that it might not be organic in origin at all... Like you said, the dolostone is generally devoid of fossils, so would it more likely be just a feature of the erosion and decomposition of the rock? If it is a fossil, it may have been sheared by the look of the fractures in the stone. As usual, it probably looks very different in your hand. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted October 27, 2010 Author Share Posted October 27, 2010 (edited) Peter, I suppose you've considered that it might not be organic in origin at all... Like you said, the dolostone is generally devoid of fossils, so would it more likely be just a feature of the erosion and decomposition of the rock? If it is a fossil, it may have been sheared by the look of the fractures in the stone. As usual, it probably looks very different in your hand. Yes John... It is a fossil of some sort... I am quite familar with fossils in dolostone ie Bertie formation is only 45min drive to the south of this quarry where on finds eurypterids, horseshoe crabs, Cooksonia etc... the peripheral of the fossil is a carbonized residue.... The ROM also think that is also some sort of fossil.... I sent images taken with microscope objective for better resolution after sonicating the fossil to clear it of silt or loose debris and sent the pics to the ROM last night to DR and JW for their thoughts.... we will see. Edited October 27, 2010 by pleecan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted October 27, 2010 Share Posted October 27, 2010 Hi Steve: Thanks for the reply ... cyclus creature I know appeared in the Carboniferous era.... but did they extend down to the mid to early Silurian??? More Pics are posted here.... http://oldasthehills.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Interaction&action=display&thread=135 PL Peter.... Im just going off 'shaped like' a cyclus, Silurian yours could be the first ! Theres nothing random about it to be anything but a fossil... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted October 27, 2010 Author Share Posted October 27, 2010 (edited) Dolostone fossils tend... often the fossil is finely preserved in high detail due to the fine grain structures of dolostone. This particular fossil has been weathered thus has lost some fine details. PL Edited October 27, 2010 by pleecan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 Could this fossil be a rare " A Silurian 'marrellomorph' arthropod" see attached link: Marrellomorph.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Peter.... There are some similarities.... why dont you google the geezer and send him a couple of pics.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 I will let the ROM get back to me first ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 Peter.... There are some similarities.... why dont you google the geezer and send him a couple of pics.... Thanks for the suggestion Steve: Just got an email from ROM "There simply isn't enough preserved here for me to make any kind of positive ID, Peter. The very few known examples of marrellomorphs in the fossil record come from highly unusual "lagerstatten" deposits (Burgess Shale, Fezouata, Herefordshire, Hunsruck). It would be wonderful to see something comparable in the Niagara Peninsula, but none of the local mid-Silurian units feature anything remotely like those styles of preservation. " Well my search stops here. PL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Well, it's a neat piece anyways. Keep it around as you might find something else like it in the future. -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted October 28, 2010 Author Share Posted October 28, 2010 (edited) Hi Shamalama: Definately will keep the fossil as a reference point.... it is something unique from the Silurian. Peter Edited October 29, 2010 by pleecan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 (edited) JB from the UK suggested the following comments: "The final one looks very interesting, and although I'm really not sure, it reminds me of a skaniid arthropod. They're really primitive things that have been turning up in teh Fezouata Biota, for example (undescribed as yet)." http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/05/cambrian-survivors-weird-critters-which-temporarily-cheated-extinction/ PL Edited February 7, 2011 by pleecan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I can't help you with this one but it looks like something from the Ediacaran! (like Parvancorina - an early trilo or Marellomorph?) BTW you say you are cleaning these with an ultrasonic cleaner? Are you sure that doesnt eat away small amounts of sediment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 I can't help you with this one but it looks like something from the Ediacaran! (like Parvancorina - an early trilo or Marellomorph?) BTW you say you are cleaning these with an ultrasonic cleaner? Are you sure that doesnt eat away small amounts of sediment? The fossil was exposed and weathered.... ultrasonic cleaning is a judgement call... ultra rare or fragile fossil one would never sonicate. ie .... I would never sonicate mudstone unless I was looking for ostracods or micro teeth etc... Silurian fossil is in Dolostone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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