Merry Fossil Christmas

Here is my Christmas image for 2013 created with fossils found in the Waldron Shale of Indiana. They date back about 420 million years (Silurian Period).

The body of the tree is a Trimerus trilobite with the trunk created with the stem of Eucalyptocrinus crinoid stem fossil. The ornaments are either the Caryocrinites cystoid or Astylospongia sponge fossils. The star at the top is a group of Stegerhynchus brachiopods. All the fossil images were recolored in Photoshop for a more Christmas like theme.

Hope everyone has a safe holiday season and a productive 2014 new year!

Thanks to Kenny for the idea about using the Waldron fossils for this year theme. I usually select a horn coral fossil for the tree body but a trilobite has a nice tree shape to it.

Scalarituba missouriensis Worm Burrow Fossils

Here is a picture of fossil burrows of the Scalarituba missouriensis worm. They were found in the Rosewood Shale of Floyd County, Indiana, USA. The fossils date to the Mississippian Period.

Thanks to Kenny for the picture.

Trace Fossils from Carboniferous

Here is a picture of worm burrows. It was found in Mississippian Period rock in Floyd County, Indiana, USA.

Thanks to Kenny for the picture.

Platyceras dumosum pileum Snail Fossil

Picture of what appears to be a Platyceras dumosum pileum gastropod fossil. It was found in the Devonian limestone of Jefferson County, Kentucky, USA. This fossil is some sort of spiny snail.

Thanks to my cousins Kenny and Chris for the pictures of this fossil!

Ambonychia Pelecypod Fossil with Bryozoan

This fossil appears to be an Ambonychia clam fossil with both valves. It is has quite a bit of matrix covering detailed parts. The clam fossil has a colony of cyclostome bryozoan (see this web site image or called ctenostome type on this web site).

The fossil still needs to be cleaned to see if more shell and bryozoan detail can be revealed. It is rare for me to find clams with both valves intact so this was a happy discovery.

The fossil was found in the Kope Formation of Carroll County, Kentucky, USA. These creatures existed in the Ordovician Period.

Michigan's State Stone - Petoskey

Here are some pictures of Michigan's state stone Hexagonaria polished coral (aka Petoskey stone). It was named their state stone in 1965 by Govenor George Romney while their state fossil is the mastondon (Mammut americanum).

The Hexagonaria coral is from the Devonian Period and quite attractive when polished. According to Wikipedia.org they are found in Gravel Point Formation of the Traverse Group of Michigan, USA. The stones are named after an Ottawa Chief Pet-O-Sega (Petosegay) whose land the stones were found on.

Thanks to Vic for the fossil specimens.

Learn more at the Wikipedia.org entry on Petoskey stones.

Smithsonian X 3D Beta Web Site

I am excited to see this web site created by the United States premier museum. Museum collections tend to be vast and hard to show to the general public. So many specimens are kept in storage and probably hardly seen even by researchers and curators.  3D technology and the Internet have a way of unlocking these collections for a large segment of the population to share in the wonders of all these artifacts. Go to their web site at http://3d.si.edu/ to check it out! As of this writing they have 20 models to view including 3 whale fossils and a mammoth.

In order to view the Smithsonian X 3D Beta site your browser needs to support WebGL. As of this writing Google Chrome (version 30+) and Firefox (version 24+) can be used. Internet Explorer 11 when released should work. Apple Safari needs to have its default setting change to Enable WebGL. Apple iOS does not support WebGL right now.

The interface is smooth and rotation allowed with 3 axis rotation. It says powered by Autodesk and the software reminds me of using the Autodesk Maya program.

Below are some links to their YouTube videos describing the system.

500,000 Page View for Blog

Blogger.com, a web service that is part of Google, showed me a message today that my blog had passed over the half a million page view mark. For a fossil blog, that seems to be a pretty good accomplishment. Other metrics like the one I get from Google Analytics show a much lower number but I am not sure when I activated that service to track Internet activity. I do not think it can track if the viewer who does not have Javascript active so that makes the count smaller.

So I hope to keep plodding along posting fossil images and interesting geology information to the Internet using this blog.

Cheers!

Fossils at The Dallas Arboretum

In March 2012, I was contacted by the landscape architectural firm MKW + Associates, LLC (Rutherford, New Jersey) about using some the fossil images on my blog to be used for new educational exhibit at The Dallas Arboretum in Texas. This new area would be called Rory Meyers Children's Adventure Garden. It sounded like a great educational use for some of the fossil images for this non-profit organization so I granted them permission to use the pictures for free.

The pictures images are engraved on granite slabs representing 12 geographic times. The fossils they requested to use are a Waldron Shale Fardenia brachiopod to represent the Silurian, St. Clair, Pennsylvania fern fossil to represent the Carboniferous, and a Green River Wyoming fish fossil to represent Tertiary.

On September 21, 2013, the new 8 acre garden was opened to the general public. It has 150 displays contained in 17 inside and outside galleries. As you can see in the following pictures, the fossils where placed on the walkway. Hopefully it will have many visitors to learn and marvel at the ancient beauty of these creatures images. Quite a few people visit The Dallas Arboretum with attendance over 660,000 visitors a year (according to a 2011 economic study).

Thanks to MKW + Associates, LLC for letting me use their pictures of the Dallas site for this blog posting.
They can be reached at: http://www.mkwla.com/

Fossil images used in the sidewalk can be seen at this postings:
http://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2009/11/green-river-fossil-fish.html
http://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2011/03/fardenia-subplana-brachiopod.html
http://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2010/04/st-clair-pennsylvania-fern-fossils.html

Thanks to Dave at http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ blog for the fern fossil.
Thanks to my cousin Kenny for the photograph of the fish fossil he painstakingly prepared.

Isotelus Trilobite Hypostome Fossil

This picture shows the feeding scoop or hypostome of an Isotelus sp. trilobite fossil (not complete). It was found in the Kope Formation (Eden Group) of Carroll County, Kentucky, USA. It dates to the Ordovician Period.

Thanks to Vic for the pictures.

Sinuites cancellatus Gastropod Fossil

This picture shows what appears to be a mold of a Sinuites cancellatus gastropod fossil. It was found in the Kope Formation (Eden Group) of Carroll County, Kentucky, USA. It dates to the Upper Ordovician Period.

Cryptolithus tessellates Trilobite Head Plate

This picture shows what appears to be an upside down Cryptolithus tessellates trilobite head plate fossil. It was found in the Kope Formation (Eden Group) of Carroll County, Kentucky, USA. It dates to the Ordovician Period. Thanks to Kenny for cleaning out the inverted head plate section with a dental tool.

Fossil Preparation Videos of Crinoids and Trilobites

Here are two YouTube videos showing trilobite preparation lab back in 2005. That is an amazing plate they quarried so many crinoids and the other plate showing so many intact trilobites and a starfish. The location is Erfoud, Morocco. The trilobites shown in the video are Selenopeltis bucci, Asaphus, Onnia and Bornstrella.

The second shows more of the lab. They have quite a fossil inventory there!



Videos from YouTube user ajmiller82 and their web site is http://www.ancientearthtradingco.com/

Flexicalymene granulosa Trilobite

This picture shows what appears to be a Flexicalymene granulosa trilobite fossil. It was found in the Kope Formation (Eden Group) of Carroll County, Kentucky, USA. It dates to the Ordovician Period. This trilobite differs from the Flexicalymene meeki in that has a smooth surface on the cephalon while the F. granulosa has a gritty surface texture.

Darwin's Treasure Chest Kickstarter Campaign

Here is an interesting Kickstarter campaign that has do with a hot new technology and ancient creatures that existed before the dinosaurs. Two art related individuals, Chris Sloan and Ricky Lim have teamed up to create the Darwin's Treasure Chest project. The project is teach people about creature that lived before the dinosaurs by allowing them to create a replica of a selected group with a low cost 3D printers. Their focus is helping teachers create these models for their classrooms.

Their plan is to create 15 models from the time before the dinosaurs. The Proterozoic Era (Dickinsonia and fosssil tracks), Paleozoic: Cambrian (Anomalocaris, Pikaia, and conodonts), Ordovician (Jaekelopterus and Orthoceras), Silurian (Hemicyclaspsis and Nostolepis), Devonian (Coelacanth and Titaalik), Carboniferous (Hylonomus and Gerrothorax), and Permian (Dimetrodon and Youngina).

Later they will produce dinosaur and mammal models.

People who donate money at certain levels can get pledge rewards. See the Kickstarter site for details: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/920123593/darwins-treasure-chest-3d-printable-learning-model

Here is a link to their press release: http://sciencevisualization.org/?page_id=235

Seems like a great idea and wish them well on this venture.  If you want to donate, act soon as the funding period is from October 31, 2013 to November 28, 2013.

Petrocrania Inarticulate Brachiopod

This fossil appears to be a Petrocrania inarticulate brachiopod fossil. It was found in the Silica Shale of Sylvania, Ohio, USA. The fossil dates to the Middle Devonian Period.

Learn more at the Views of the Mahantango Internet blog.

Thanks to Vic for the fossil.

Baby Ectenocrinus Crinoid Calyx and Stem

This fossil appears to be a baby Ectenocrinus crinoid calyx and stem fossil. It is in matrix with group of other creatures found in the Kope Formation (Eden Group) of Carroll County, Kentucky, USA. When it was found part of the stem was covered. It is quite small with the entire fossil about 1 cm in length. How I spotted it is sorta of a mystery, lucky I guess. Fossil dates to the Ordovician Period.

Thanks to Kenny for cleaning the matrix so the entire fossil is visible.

Pseudoatrypa Brachiopod of Silica Shale

This fossil appears to be a Pseudoatrypa sp. brachiopod fossil. It was found in the Silica Shale of Sylvania, Ohio, USA. The fossil dates to the Middle Devonian Period.

Learn more at the Views of the Mahantango Internet blog.

Thanks to Vic for the fossil.

Pholidostrophia Brachiopod Fossil

This fossil appears to be a Pholidostrophia geniculata? brachiopod fossil. It was found in the Silica Shale of Sylvania, Ohio, USA. The fossil dates to the Middle Devonian Period.

Learn more at the Views of the Mahantango Internet blog.

Thanks to Vic for the fossil.

Rusophycus Trilobite Burrow

This picture shows a trace fossil or ichnofossil I have not found before. It is a trilobite burrow also referred to as a Rusophycus. It was found in the Kope Formation (Eden Group) of Carroll County, Kentucky, USA. The trace fossil dates to the Ordovician Period.

Maybe it was made by a Flexicalymene trilobite. The three main trilobite remains found in that area are Cryptolithus, Flexicalymene, and Isotelus. I originally picked up this rock because there was a branching bryozoan on the other side that was partially covered by matrix. I thought if it could be prepped out it would make a nice display specimen. Thanks to my cousin Kenny, he recognized the trace fossil on the back which was even cooler!

Homilodonta filistriata Clam Fossil

This picture shows what appears to be a Homilodonta filistriata clam or pelecypod fossil. It was found in the Kope Formation (Eden Group) of Carroll County, Kentucky, USA. It dates to the Ordovician Period. According to the fossilworks web site, it is also known as Ctenodonta filistriata and Deceptrix filistriata.

It is still in matrix and appears to have both valves.

Largest American Horn Coral

The Siphonophrentis elongata (Rafenesque & Clifford, 1820) horn coral fossil is one of the largest found in the United States. This picture shows a small fragment of the original specimen. It was well over 30 cm in length when it was alive during the Middle Devonian Period. This segment is about 5 cm long and almost 8 cm in diameter.

What is nice is the center on one end is full of crystals (maybe quartz or calcite) and smooth mineral layer at the other end. The septa divisions are still visible along the outer circumference of the horn coral fossil.

It was found in the Jeffersonville Limestone of Jefferson County, Kentucky, USA.

Notice the beekite patterns on the outer surface of the fossil in this next picture.