New Members missouriherpetology Posted May 30, 2009 New Members Share Posted May 30, 2009 Hey, I'm new to collecting fossils and I found a few recently, the first seems to have multiple things in the rock kind of looking like some kind of animal, then I found what appears to be fossilized snake skin and the last one I don't know what it is, any help would be great! : Skin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 It looks like the first, second, third and seventh pictures are Cephalopods (relatives of the Squids). The fourth and fifth pics look like a coral or bryozoan. Can't tell what the third pic is. Oh, and Welcome to the Forum! -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...
Northern Sharks Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 The first few are cephalopods, imagine a straight shelled squid. Not sure about the others, but someone here should know, and I'm curious myself as to what they are. Here's a cephalopod I found from the Ordovician in Ontario There's no limit to what you can accomplish when you're supposed to be doing something else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 That is some really old rock you're working with, much older than snakes. The sea floor you are walking on was full of strange life 400 or 500 million years ago! Ain't fossils cool? "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...
mommabetts Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Very cool finds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossil_femme Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 It looks like the first, second, third and seventh pictures are Cephalopods (relatives of the Squids). The fourth and fifth pics look like a coral or bryozoan. Can't tell what the third pic is. agree with shamalama, cephalopods and probably bryozoa "don’t you lock up something that you wanted to see fly..." chris cornell / soundgarden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barefootgirl Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 A pretty piece to be sure. Good job! In formal logic, a contradiction is the signal of defeat: but in the evolution of real knowledge, it marks the first step in progress toward victory. Alfred North Whithead 'Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia!' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geodan03 Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Hi! i am also from St. Louis and am familiar with greensfelder park. I have found bryozoans, cephalopods, and brachiopods there. I have also found arrowheads there in some of the creeks. It has been years since i collected there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worthy 55 Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Very cool ! It's my bone!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreekCrawler Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Hey bud, welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Google orthoceras, for info on the cephalopods, these were the apex predator of their time. Some have been reported to reach 20 feet in length, I have seen 5-6 footers in Perry county, about 90 miles south of St. Louis. I would guess that the rock formation you are in in the Plattin, which would make it Ordovician in age. but I am not real familiar with you Northerner's material. Brent Ashcraft ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitviper Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Another herper... nice I suppose it's a natural progression that those of us that grow up learning about dinosaurs as kids become obsessed with living reptiles, and then "circle of life", right back to fossils. Nice finds! "Nothing happens in contradiction to nature, only to what we know of it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Your "skin" specimens (pictures 4 and 5) are cross-sections of Recepticulites. Most of the others are straight-shelled cephalopods, you can see the chambers (camerae) clearly. The first picture is an actinocerid nautiloid, possibly either Armenoceras or Actinoceras. Hope this helps, Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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