Crinoid calyx and stem still in matrix. Hopefully, some prep work will reveal much more of this fossil covered by rock matrix.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Kope Formation Crinoid Calyx
Finally I have found an Ordovician Period crinoid calyx. This calyx is from the Kope Formation of Carroll County, Kentucky. I am not sure on its identification, the Dry Dredgers of Cincinnati, Ohio have a good guide on Ordovician crinoids. Their site shows a number of fossils that look like it found in the Kope: Cincinnaticrinus varibrachialus, Merocrinus, and Ectenocrinus simplex.
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5 comments:
Congrats on your first!
It appears to be some kind of Ectinocrinus sp.
I don't think that Cincinnaticrinus has infrabasals, and the same with Merocrinus???
Cheers, Solius
Hi Solius,
Thanks, all the crinoid stems one finds in the Kope I started to wonder if a calyx would ever show up.
The texts I have do not give a good description of the crinoids I listed so Ectenocrinus appears to be a good identification. Do you know of any good books or papers on Ordovician crinoids from our state?
I do not see your name on the Fossil Forum anymore so it is good to see you are still on the Internet.
Do you know of any good books or papers on Ordovician crinoids from our state?
If you can find the USGS professional paper "Contributions to the Ordovician Paleontology of Kentucky and Nearby States", pick it up. It has about 10 sections of papers dealing with various phyla.
Unfortunately, it is now out of print, but it can still be found.
Too, some later sections were appended that are available for download from USGS. Here is a link.
http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/usgspubs/index.jsp?jboEventVo=PubResultView&jboEvent=Search&view=adv&pxfield_title=ordovician+kentucky&pxfield_year=&pxfield_year_start=&pxfield_year_end=&pxfield_auth_first=&pxfield_auth_last=&pxfield_series=PP&pxfield_rpt_year=&pxfield_rpt_seq=&pxorderby=0&performSearch=Search+Now
I think that I have a couple copies of the out of print paper, but they are in a wharhouse in Louisville. I will try to get to Louisville when the weather warms a bit. Then, I will try to find one for you if you haven't found one by then
Cheers, solius
Oh BTW, I attended a seminar the other day that featured Dr. Meyers; the guy that co-authored A Sea Without Fish.
He has published a new paper detailing escape structures associated with Rafinesquina. Interesting stuff!
The book has a brief mention, but as the paper hadn't been published, at that time, he didn't go into it in more detail
Solius,
Thanks for the leads on more literature to study.
I just recommended that book to someone who studies fossils near Lexington today.
I have read the paper, "Escape Traces Associated with Rafinesquina alternata, an Upper Ordovician Strophomenid Brachiopod from the Cincinnati Arch Region" by Benjamin F. Dattilo, David L. Meyer, Keith Dewing, and Matthew R. Gaynor in PALAIOS, 2009, v. 24, pp. 578-590. I have never thought to look for moats around the brachiopod shell for evidence of shell snapping. It also shows the need to understand brachiopod anatomy to help interpret structures seen in the limestone plates. The pictures in Figure 5 have some nice endioasteroids on the Rafinesquina fossils.
After reading the paper it made me aware to look for paleoecological pieces that might help in research like this.
Stay well.
Dattlio had described the "moats" before from Sowerbyella:
http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1669/0883-1351%282004%29019%3C0332%3AANAOSP%3E2.0.CO%3B2
But, I think that this is the first time that the rotational structures had been observed.
Dr. Meyer is interested in documenting this curious structure in other strophomenids, particularly Strophonema sp.
The rotational structures require sectioning to discern, but careful study of the acetates in the paper gives one an ideal of what to look for...
If you come across any, you might want to shoot him an email.
Cheers, Solius.
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