Ron E. Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 This turned up among the nodules I've been finding in a Fayetteville, Arkansas creek. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 a burrow constructed by an anal-retentive crustacean? it's kind of cool, and looks a bit too engineered to be random geology at work. it also has the lines and all in places where there are depressions, etc., that seem to make it more likely to be an infilling of a burrow than any of the other stuff i can think of... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron E. Posted October 11, 2009 Author Share Posted October 11, 2009 I dunno, T. Those ridges look produced-on-a-shell-or-stalk to me. Here's a (sorry, crappy) pic of a concretion that featured a similarly shaped thing. It surface was washed away by simply cleaning the mud off, it's very soft. But I can reshoot for greater deatil if necessary. Does it provide a hint? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron E. Posted October 13, 2009 Author Share Posted October 13, 2009 Sorry for the bump (I really don't make a habit of it) but come on, folks, how about some rampant speculation here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 what other kinds of fossils are in the same area? are there any paleo people around who've collected the same formation for a while and might have seen/researched such fossils? are there plant fossils around there? the shape seems like an infilled burrow, but the very regular little rings around it don't really fit that concept. what do the "ends" of it look like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron E. Posted October 13, 2009 Author Share Posted October 13, 2009 what other kinds of fossils are in the same area? are there any paleo people around who've collected the same formation for a while and might have seen/researched such fossils? are there plant fossils around there? the shape seems like an infilled burrow, but the very regular little rings around it don't really fit that concept. what do the "ends" of it look like? I've been hunting fossils here for a long time, but have only encountered these particular preservations quite recently. A bit of an anomaly, locally speaking. The guy who turned me on to these (and not a paleontologist, but a very educated geologist nonetheless) said that he had found calamites in those concretions. Puzzling to me, since I found a sure-as-heck ammonite from a concretion found within feet of this one. So think possible plants. We'll work out the details later :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roz Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Ron I haven't seen anything like it either. I noticed on AR Geology Survey they have some fossils and an email address if you need help having one identified.. bill.prior@arkansas.gov If you find out, please post what it is.. Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenixflood Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Sorry for the bump (I really don't make a habit of it) but come on, folks, how about some rampant speculation here? No clue But rampant speculation Hmmmm.... Could be the backfill into an ammonite shell, that or an elephant foot The soul of a Fossil Hunter is one that is seeking, always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron E. Posted October 13, 2009 Author Share Posted October 13, 2009 Ron I haven't seen anything like it either. I noticed on AR Geology Survey they have some fossils and an email address if you need help having one identified.. bill.prior@arkansas.gov If you find out, please post what it is.. Heehee, thanks, Roz. I forgot that I have a buddy that works for the state of Arkansas geology department. It's just that I've had such great results here that I haven't bugged her in months! I'll email her some pics and details and post the reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron E. Posted October 14, 2009 Author Share Posted October 14, 2009 (edited) Heehee, thanks, Roz. I forgot that I have a buddy that works for the state of Arkansas geology department. It's just that I've had such great results here that I haven't bugged her in months! I'll email her some pics and details and post the reply. My inquiry: Hi, Angela. I've found an amazing little creek in Fayetteville which has lots of concretions embedded in the flaky shale banks. The bed has many dozens of these nodules. They have lots of gastropods in them and one has yielded an ammonite! Amazing for the time period. Anyhow, I found this strange critter, and my buddies over at thefossilforum.com are stumped. Do you have any ideas what it might be? I'm attaching a picture of another nodule that has similar cylindrical structures in it. Thanks-- Ron E. And the survey SAYS: Wouldn't happen to be Town Branch would it? You are in the Fayetteville Formation named from the town of Fayetteville. It is very fossiliferous especially in northwest Arkansas. Looks like you have found nautiloids. They are straight or cylindrical animals as compared to the ammonoid which is coiled. They are both cephalopods. The first pictures could be either a mashed nautiloid or the end of a coiled nautiloids, hard to tell from pictures. There are many concretions and a lot of the time you will find fossils associated with the concretions, either inside the concretions or just scattered on them. Angela Cool stuff indeed! And I thought we only had crinoids and bryos around here! The Fayetteville shale is upper Mississippian, making for some uber-cool later fossils. Guess I know where I'LL be spending some time... Edited October 14, 2009 by Ron E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleoPutz Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 After looking at the photos again, your specimen kinda looks like Phragmoceras. I thought they had a compressed shell though. I am probably way off as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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