Eocene Flower Fossil

This image shows a unidentified flower fossil found in the Florissant Formation of Teller County, Colorado, USA. It dates to the Eocene Epoch of the Paleogene Period. Thanks to Kenny for the microscope image. Field of view on image is 2 mm.

Midge Insect Fossil

This images shows a non-biting midge Diptera insect fossil found in the Florissant Formation of Teller County, Colorado, USA. It dates to the Eocene Epoch of the Paleogene Period. Thanks to Kenny for the microscope image. Field of view on image is 5 mm.

Diptera Fossil

This images shows a Diptera insect fossil found in the Florissant Formation of Teller County, Colorado, USA. It dates to the Eocene Epoch of the Paleogene Period. Thanks to Kenny for the microscope image. Field of view on image is 4 mm.

Learn more about this order of insect here:
http://www.fossilmuseum.net/Fossil_Galleries/Insect_Galleries_by_Order/Diptera/Diptera.htm

Fly Fossil

This images shows a fly fossil found in the Florissant Formation of Teller County, Colorado, USA. The second image is a close up of its leg. It dates to the Eocene Epoch of the Paleogene Period. Thanks to Kenny for the microscope images.

Grass Seed Fossils

These grass seed fossils were found in the Florissant Formation of Teller County, Colorado, USA. They date to the Eocene Epoch of the Paleogene Period. Thanks to Kenny for the microscope images.

Fossils Embedded in Column at Speed Art Museum

If you ever visit the Speed Art Museum in downtown Louisville next to the campus of the University of Louisville, check out the polished columns leading the Grand Staircase. The arrow in the image points to an area of the column with interesting fossils. It is next to the entrance to the Ancient art rooms.

The image above shows crinoid stem sections. The one shaped it a star pattern is particularly nice. The next image appears to be fenestrate bryozoan fossil. The polishing of the slab has made its details standout quite nicely.

On a future visit, I might ask the staff if they have any information about where rock columns were quarried at.

Also in the first picture you can see (in between column and statue) in the distance an Egyptian sarcophagus lid made of limestone. It has quite a few fossils embedded in it. Unfortunately, it is on loan from another museum and is not allowed to be photographed so I cannot make a specific post about it. :( So if you visit the museum check it out up close in its display case and see if you can find the fossils! 

Productus wortheni Brachiopod Fossil with Spines!

Wow, another special image similar to a posting 2 days ago. The Mississippian Period brachiopod fossil Productus wortheni found in the Knobstone Formation of Clark County, Indiana, USA shown in image. The special item about this image is the spines preserved in the sandstone matrix. They are so delicate yet survived the fossilization process and here they are hundreds of millions a years later.

Kenny, thanks for the image of this very sweet find.

Productus wortheni Brachiopod Fossil

The Mississippian Period brachiopod fossils Productus wortheni found in the Knobstone Formation of Clark County, Indiana, USA. What is nice is the cast and its negative still in the matrix. Note the small divots in the negative marking where spines were.

Thanks for the image Kenny.

Syringothyrus Brachiopod Lophophore Fossil

Here is a fossil I do not think I have seen before. The Mississippian Period brachiopod Syringothyrus texta found in the Knobstone Formation of Clark County, Indiana, USA. What is special about this is the feeding tube (lophophore) is shown.

Nice find Kenny!

Fenestrate Bryozoan Fossil

Images of fenestrate bryozoan fossils found in Knobstone Formation of Clark County, Indiana USA. The fossil dates to the Mississippian Period. Thanks to Kenny for the images.

Fossils at the Speed Art Museum

I visited the Speed Art Museum in downtown Louisville next to the campus of the University of Louisville. The museum opened on January 15, 1927 as the J.B. Speed Memorial Museum. It features artworks by Rembrandt, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso, and Rockwell. My visit I was interested in the Ancient Art area. After visiting the MET in New York City, I thought looking at Egyptian limestone might yield more fossil finds. This hunch proved right.

The museum has a limestone relief of Thoth, Egyptian god of wisdom, writing, magic, and the moon. This image was probably depicting a burial ceremony where Thoth is listing the vices and virtues of the deceased as they move to the afterlife. Near the back of the head in the stone is a dark area. This appears to me to be a cross-section of a brachiopod fossil. The inner part might be filled with calcite crystals.

The artwork is from the Late Period (about 1000 B.C.). The museum acquired the piece in the 1970s.

Fossil Plant Presentation at Falls of the Ohio State Park

Here is a picture of plant fossil called Sigillaria elegans. It is from the Pennsylvanian Period and was found in Hazard, Kentucky, USA.

Herb Miracle showed this fossil at a presentation he gave today at the Falls of the Ohio State Park at Clarksville, Indiana, USA. Thanks to Kenny for image.