Taxocrinus whitfieldi Crinoid

A prepped crinoid calyx fossil called Taxocrinus whitfieldi. I think this fossil is from Indiana and probably from the Mississippian Period. It just had a name label with it. Apologies for the image color has I had the camera set to the wrong lighting, the fossil it not that blue in tint. Thanks to Mark for letting me photograph it. Units on scale are in inches.

Moroccan Cone Fossil

 These fossils were recently brought back from the Tucson Fossil Show. They are some sort of cone fossil that no one seems to know the name of. The time period others seem to be settling on is it is from the Eocene. Fossils were found in western Sahara, Morocco.

Thanks to Mark for letting me photograph them. Scale in picture is in inches.

Chain Coral

This fossil might be a Halysites louisvillensis? found in the Louisville Limestone of Jefferson County, Kentucky. Corals grew on the seafloor in the Middle Silurian Period. Fossil needs to be sectioned to get an accurate identification.

Calymene Trilobite in Dolomite

Fossil mold of a Calymene celebra? trilobite found in the Laurel Member of the Salamonie Dolomite of Nelson County, Kentucky. This animal scurried along the seafloor in the Silurian Period. Learn more at the Kentucky Paleontological Society web site. Thanks to Kenny for this specimen.

Inoceramus Mega-Blister Pearl Fossil

Inoceramus sp. mega-blister pearl fossil found in the Niobrara formation of Gove County, Kansas. The extinct oyster that produced this beauty lived in the upper Cretaceous Period (about 89 million years ago). Thanks to Mark Palatas for letting me photograph it.

Entelophyllum Museum Grade Coral

This series of pictures shows an Entelophyllum (Wedekind, 1927) coral found in the Louisville Limestone of Jefferson County, Kentucky. Using large amounts of muriatic acid and patience, this coral was revealed from its limestone matrix. It is almost 20 cm long. These first two pictures show evidence of the corallites budding from a parent.

The two images after that show the talons that connected the corallites together. Three species of Entelophyllum are found in the Louisville area: E. eruciforme (Davis), E. rugosum, and E. strictum. This coral is from the Middle Silurian but can sometimes be confused with the Devonian Eridophyllum found in the Jeffersonville Limestone. The genus has also been known in the past by the name Diphyphyllum or Xylodes.

Thanks to Kenny for letting me photograph this specimen and good job on its preparation.

Close ups of the corallites side view.

Close up of some of the coral septas in the colonial mass.

Plant Fossils at State Park

Last week, I visited the interpretive center at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, Indiana located across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. They have two temporary fossil displays that have nice specimens to observe. One on paleoecology and the second on plants from the fossil collection of Herb Miracle. These pictures represent just a small sample of the specimens on display so if you get a chance visit and check out all the fossils.

The first fossil shown is of a long (30+ cm) section of Calamites from the Pennsylvanian Period layers of eastern Kentucky. The next image if a Lepidodendron aculeatum imprint found the Carboniferous of France.

Next is another French plant fossil called Syringodendron.

The following image is an eastern Kentucky plant fossil identified as Lescuropteris.

The next pictures shows two segments of a Stigmaria fucoides from eastern Kentucky.

Last picture is of another eastern Kentucky Pennsylvanian Period plant fossil Neuropteris.

Arucaria mirabilis Fossil Lignotubers

Arucaria mirabilis fossil "seedlings" (lignotubers) found in the petrified forest formation of Cerro Madre Ehija, Santa Cruz province, Argentina. Fossil dates to the Middle Jurassic Period (Callovian) or about 160 million years old. Learn more about this fossil at The Virtual Fossil Museum web site and Wikipedia.

UPDATED: Thanks to Dave at Views of the Mahantango for pointing out that these fossils were once considered "seedlings" are now thought to be lignotubers. According to Wikipedia, lignotubers are "starchy swellings of the root crown".

Thanks to Mark Palatas for letting me photograph these specimens.

Araucaria mirabilis Cone Fossil

Araucaria mirabilis (Spegazzini/Windhausen, 1924) sliced and polished "pine" cone fossil found in the petrified forest formation of Santa Cruz province, Argentina. Fossil dates to the Middle Jurassic Period (Callovian) or about 160 million years old. Learn more about this fossil at The Virtual Fossil Museum web site and Wikipedia.

Thanks to Mark Palatas for letting me photograph this specimen.

Visit Falls of the Ohio State Park

Recently, I visited the interpretive center at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, Indiana located across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. They have two temporary fossil displays that have nice specimens to observe. The first image is of an enrolled Flexicalymene meeki trilobite from the Ordovican found in Hamilton County, Ohio.

This next image is of the Eocene fish fossil Knightea sp. found in the famous locality of Green River Formation (Kemmerer, Wyoming).

Followed by an imprint of snail in a stromatoporoid of the Jeffersonville Limestone (Middle Devonian) Oldham County, Kentucky.

Above are images of Baculites cephalopod fossils of Upper Cretaceous of South Dakota.

Pelecypod fossil embedded in an ironstone nodule of the Upper Pennsylvanian Period found in Grundy County, Illinois.

Calamites plant fossil found in the Pennsylvanian Period layers of Vigo County, Indiana. Plant is similar to the modern horsetail rush (Equisetum hyemele).

Creatures Frozen in Stone

Decided to try and create some promotional images for the blog. Here is one attempt based on the skull of a Dracorex hogwartsia. The pictures were taken by me and shown in this older posting: http://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2009/11/dracorex-hogwartsia.html

The real fossil plus professional artwork featuring it can be found in Indianapolis at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.

Adobe Illustrator was used to create image. Did not seem to work, so pursuing other designs now.

Lophophyllidium proliferum Horn Coral

Lophophyllidium proliferum horn coral fossil found in the Kewitz Shale (Stanton Formation) of Cass County, Nebraska. Fossil dates to the Pennsylvanian period. Thanks to Mark for the fossil.

Neochonetes granulifer Brachiopod

Neochonetes granulifer brachiopod fossil found in the Kewitz Shale (Stanton Formation) of Cass County, Nebraska. Fossil dates to the Pennsylvanian period. Thanks to Mark for the fossil.