William Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 Working to make an ATV path this past weekend in Worthington, IN, I found several plant fossils. I was only moving rocks out of the way in a creek bed to allow the ATV's to pass through. I had to make myself stop looking for fossils else I wouldn't have finished the path. I found so many, I got to the point I became picky about what I was going to take home. My question is where in the heck are the animal fossils? I was excited to see so many examples of plant fossils, but was hoping to find something like a trilobite. Shouldn't/wouldn't there be examples of animal fossils among the plants? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted September 16, 2013 Author Share Posted September 16, 2013 The image quality is poor, but I'm not asking anyone to ID a fossil here. Just take a look at the topography. Behind me in this picture are outcrops that are 10-15 feet high with bands of coal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgrilusHunter Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 Hi William,Were these were nodule fossils? If so, animal fossils will be there but they will be very rare. At the best Indiana location I know of you can find the most common shrimp, Acanthotelson, about once every 200 nodules. That isn't an estimate for a nice shrimp either, just a partial shrimp. You usually need to spend some time at a location and collect a large sample before you start finding the animal fossils. Best of luck! "They ... savoured the strange warm glow of being much more ignorant than ordinary people, who were only ignorant of ordinary things." -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 (edited) If coal is present, I'd check the shale just above for plant fossils in the shale and in any concretions if they happen to be there. If leaves are found, there is the (very slim) possibility of land arthropods being present as well. Edited September 16, 2013 by Missourian Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 A whole lot more plant matter is produced, and goes unscavenged, than animal matter "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted September 16, 2013 Author Share Posted September 16, 2013 Hi William, Were these were nodule fossils? If so, animal fossils will be there but they will be very rare. At the best Indiana location I know of you can find the most common shrimp, Acanthotelson, about once every 200 nodules. That isn't an estimate for a nice shrimp either, just a partial shrimp. You usually need to spend some time at a location and collect a large sample before you start finding the animal fossils. Best of luck! Hi William, Were these were nodule fossils? If so, animal fossils will be there but they will be very rare. At the best Indiana location I know of you can find the most common shrimp, Acanthotelson, about once every 200 nodules. That isn't an estimate for a nice shrimp either, just a partial shrimp. You usually need to spend some time at a location and collect a large sample before you start finding the animal fossils. Best of luck! Thanks for the response. They were all surface fossils (just laying on top of the ground). How do I spot a nodule? I Googled fossil nodule and what I saw looked like round rocks for the most part. I suppose that's what I nodule looks like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted September 16, 2013 Author Share Posted September 16, 2013 Thank you, Auspex and Missourian for your responses too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 Most fossil sites have either plants or animal fossils. Only a few have both so I think you have stumbled upon a plant fossil site. There may be the rare arthropod, but like the others have said, you may find hundreds of leaves before you find an insect wing, or a shrimp tail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 How do I spot a nodule? I Googled fossil nodule and what I saw looked like round rocks for the most part. I suppose that's what I nodule looks like? They would look something like these: These are from Mazon Creek. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted September 16, 2013 Share Posted September 16, 2013 Plants are usually with plants and animals with animals. In your area swamp vs. sea. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted September 16, 2013 Author Share Posted September 16, 2013 They would look something like these: concretions.jpg These are from Mazon Creek. Thank you. There's a lot to look for when hunting for fossils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted September 16, 2013 Author Share Posted September 16, 2013 I'd be okay with finding a cool dragonfly instead of a trilobite. In the interim, I suppose I'll look at a lot of vegetation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 Most fossil sites have either plants or animal fossils. Only a few have both so I think you have stumbled upon a plant fossil site. There may be the rare arthropod, but like the others have said, you may find hundreds of leaves before you find an insect wing, or a shrimp tail. To touch on this and Herb's comment, this is nearly 200 acres of land. There are ravines/creeks similar to this in a several areas. Might I find a site within the 200 acres that has more animals than plants (say, on the other side of the 200 acres in another creek/ravine)? Or, like Herb said, am I likely to find more plants as Worthington, IN was mostly swampy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 I'd be okay with finding a cool dragonfly instead of a trilobite. In the interim, I suppose I'll look at a lot of vegetation. I'd be okay with finding a cool dragonfly instead of 100 trilobites. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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