safossils Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 This is from Pennsylvanian sediments in Southern Arizona (Horquilla Formation). I have it labled as coral (Phylum Cnidaria). Anyone have a better or more specific identification. Maybe it's not a fossil at all. Thanks in advance, Walt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bmorefossil Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 thats pretty cool Walt, im not really sure but I dont think its coral Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I don't know but it looks like mineral seepage to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 It is some kind of fenestrate bryozoan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safossils Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 I still think it's some type of coral. I looked through some picts from another trip to the area and found this photo of a horn coral eroding from the matrix. The pattern looks very similar. Although mineral seapage is also a possiblity, or maybe some combination that gave it the color. Thanks for the help, Walt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Is it rounded or flat? The end toward left in the photo appears to be part of the fossil that has weathered more than the other parts. If it were coral, this part would exhibit septa. I can't think of a mineral that would leave that pattern. Throw some magnification to it and see it it has remnants of zooecia along the trellis pattern(though that could have been destroyed in diagenesis). I am almost certain that it is a fenestrate-probably Fenestrellina sp. THIS is a link to a pic of a Fenestrellina sp that was collected in the Penn. of NM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 it's really interesting, particularly how the cellular structure seems random on the left side and oriented on the right side. if you'd just shown me the colors and the structure on the left i would have said it looked like a cross-section cut through agatized dino bone, but that doesn't work with the rest of the equation. my guess, then would have to be that, whatever organism(s) constructed the lattice, built from right to left, and got schnockered on their lunch break... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 it's really interesting, particularly how the cellular structure seems random on the left side and oriented on the right side. if you'd just shown me the colors and the structure on the left i would have said it looked like a cross-section cut through agatized dino bone, but that doesn't work with the rest of the equation. my guess, then would have to be that, whatever organism(s) constructed the lattice, built from right to left, and got schnockered on their lunch break... My best bet would be sometimes corals deteriorate as they fossilize, or there was a bit of decay. Sometimes it throws the structures off and makes things seem a little off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crinoid Queen Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 My best bet would be sometimes corals deteriorate as they fossilize, or there was a bit of decay. Sometimes it throws the structures off and makes things seem a little off. It looks like a sp. or horn coral Dibonophylum bipartium too me but very deteriarted. if it is i have a piece almost i denyicle to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Why do some think this is a coral? What characteristics do you see? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Why do some think this is a coral? What characteristics do you see? I am with you, I don't think it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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