Proaster Brittle Star Fossil

 

My September 2021 trip to Alpena, Michigan USA included a visit to local paleontologist Paleo Joe (aka  Joseph Kchodl). 

This picture is of one of his brittle star fossils from Middleport, New York USA. This fossil is known as Protaster sp. (Forbes, 1849). It was found in the Rochester Shale and existed in the Silurian Period.

Genus was named by Edward Forbes (1815-1854) in Figures and descriptions illustrative of British Organic Remains. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom (1849).

Chilotrypa ostiolata Bryozoan Fossil

 

My September 2021 trip to Alpena, Michigan USA with several amateur paleontologists from Louisville and Chicago, we visited a local paleontologist Paleo Joe (aka  Joseph Kchodl). 

This picture is of one of his bryozoan fossils from Middleport, New York USA. This fossil is known as Chilotrypa ostiolata (Hall, 1852). It was found in the Rochester Shale and existed in the Silurian Period.

Aulopora conferta Coral Fossil

 

This fossil is really nice with Aulopora conferta? (Winchell) coral growing on what might be Hexagonaria.(Gürich, 1896). It was found in the Bell Shale of the Traverse Group at Carmeuse Quarry, Rogers City, Michigan, USA. The fossil dates to the middle Devonian Period (Givetian Stage).

Phareodus testis Fish Fossil

My trip earlier this month to Alpena, Michigan USA with several amateur paleontologists from Louisville and Chicago, we visited a local paleontologist Paleo Joe (aka  Joseph Kchodl). This picture is of one of his fish fossils from Kemmerer, Wyoming USA. This fossil is known as Phareodus testis (Cope, 1877). It was found in the Green River Formation and existed in the Eocene Epoch Paleogene Period.

Desmograptus micronematodes Graptolite Fossil

My trip earlier this month to Alpena, Michigan USA with several amateur paleontologists from Louisville and Chicago, we visited a local paleontologist Paleo Joe (aka  Joseph Kchodl). This picture is of one of his graptolite fossils from Middleport, New York USA. This fossil is known as Desmograptus micronematodes (Spencer, 1884). It was found in the Rochester Shale and existed in the Silurian Period.

 

Species was named by Joseph Winthorp Spencer (1851-1921) in Graptolites of the upper Silurian System (Niagara fossils). Bulletin of the University of Missouri Museum, 1, pages 555–610 published 1884.

Dr. Spencer is buried at Grove Cemetery in Dundas, Ontario, Canada.

Fossils at Mich-E-Ke-Wis Park

 Mich-E-Ke-Wis Park overlooks Lake Huron in Alpena, Michigan USA. Huge boulders line the waterline are a good place to explore to see so many fossils. So many death ensembles of a lot of brachiopod fossils as shown in first 2 pictures. My foot as reference shows how big an area the fossils are spread. Below shows Atrypa (Hall, 1862) brachiopods in close up.

 

 

This next picture shows a panoramic of coastline to explore.

The following picture shows the marks made by glacier movement thousands of years ago.

Last picture is of a large Hexagonaria (Whitefield, 1882) fossil.

Great place to visit. They have a nice playground and nice restaurants next to the park with great lake side views.

Crinoid Stem Wampum

 

This month I paid a brief visit to the Besser Museum at Alpena, Michigan, USA. They had a large exhibit on Native American artifacts found in Michigan. While it was not identified as the above pictures are wampum that had threaded sting of crinoid columnals according to the 2018 book 101 American Fossil Sites you've gotta see by Albert Binkley Dickas (pages 98-99). It makes sense as while fossil hunting in Alpena I found quite a few crinoid stems. Though I am not sure since the exhibit was labeled "Various Shell Beads". It is looks like the shells where cut in circles and then a hole drilled in the middle. So they look like crinoid stems.

The Besser Museum for Northwest Michigan was named for Jesse Besser (1882-1970) who perfected and produced machines that create these famous concrete blocks. Out in the yard is a huge boulder sized Hexagonaria (Gürich, 1896) coral fossil (see my foot for size reference). They also have areas where you can search for and keep fossils from material dumped there from local quarry.

Predation on Atrypa Brachiopod Fossil

 

Here is a cool picture of an Atrypa (Hall, 1862) brachiopod fossil (note the circle in the top left corner probably made by a gastropod). The fossil was found in the Genshaw Formation at Carmeuse Quarry, Rogers City, Michigan USA. The creature lived Middle Devonian Period (Erian Stage).

Cyrtina alpenensis Brachiopod Fossil

 

Earlier this month, I found this brachiopod fossil in the Genshaw Formation of Alpena, Michigan, USA. It appears to be a Cyrtina alpenensis (Hall & Clarke, 1895). This creature lived in middle Devonian Period (Erian Stage).

Eunema speciosum Gastropod Fossil

While collecting in Alpena Michigan USA earlier this month, I found something that I could not immediately identify. It was gastropod fossil found in the Potters Farm Formation of the Traverse Group. The fossil dates to the middle Devonian Period (Givetian Stage). After consulting with Paleo Joe he told me it was a Longstaffia speciosa (Whiteaves, 1892) snail fossil as identified in Devonian Strata of Alpena and Presque Isle Counties, Michigan by G. M. Ehlers and R. V. Kesling (1970) [LINK]. For some reason the species name was altered in this document from its original name which ended in the letters "um" which were replaced with the letter "a". In Latin, words that end in "um" are genitive plural and plural words end in "a".

This species was named by Joseph Frederick Whiteaves (1835-1909) as Eunema speciosum in 1892's The Fossils of the Devonian Rocks of the Islands, Shores or Immediate Vicinity of Lakes Manitoba and Winnipegosis [LINK]. The genus Eunema was named by Salter in 1859 and then renamed in 1908 by Cossmann to Longstaffia.

According to Fossilworks the new name for this fossil is Kitikamispira speciosum (Wagner, 2020).

Huntonia huntonensis Trilobite Fossil

On a recent trip to Alpena, Michigan USA with several amateur paleontologists from Louisville and one from Chicago, we visited a local paleontologist Paleo Joe (aka  Joseph Kchodl). This picture is of one of his trilobite fossils from Oklahoma. This fossil is known as Huntonia huntonensis (Ulrich & Delo, 1940). It was found in the Haragan Formation and existed in the Devonian Period.

 Learn more about this trilobite in the Oklahoma Geological Survey Bulletin 123 Trilobites of the Haragan, Bois D'Arc and Frisco Formations (Early Devonian) Arbuckle Mountains Region, Oklahoma by K. S. W. Campbell (1977). Paper can be found at this LINK.

Favosites mammillatus Coral Fossil

Last week I visited Alpena, Michigan USA with several amateur paleontologists from Louisville and one from Chicago. We were luck to have a local paleontologist Paleo Joe (aka  Joseph Kchodl) as our guide. This picture is of one of his finds from Alpena. A common coral known as Favosites mammillatus (Stumm & Tyler, 1964). It was found in the Potter Farm Formation and lived in the middle Devonian Period.

Cyathophyllum helianthoides Coral Fossil

Here is a picture of a Cyathophyllum helianthoides coral fossil at the Museo di Paleontologia at Sapienza University of Rome Italy. Fossil was found in Gerolstein Eifel Germany. It dates to the Devonian Period
Image taken in June 2014.

Cyathophyllum hexagonum Coral Fossil

Here is a picture of a Cyathophyllum hexagonum coral fossil at the Museo di Paleontologia at Sapienza University of Rome Italy. Fossil was found in Gerolstein Eifel Germany. It dates to the Devonian Period
Image taken in June 2014.

Agathiphyllia gregaria Coral Fossil

Here is a picture of an Agathiphyllia gregaria coral fossil at the Museo di Paleontologia at Sapienza University of Rome Italy. Fossil was found in Belforte Monferrato Alessandris Piemonte Italy. It dates to the Oligocene Epoch.

Image taken in June 2014.

Dendrophillia america Coral Fossil

Here is a picture of a Dendrophillia america coral fossil at the Museo di Paleontologia at Sapienza University of Rome Italy. Fossil was found in Siena, Tuscany Italy.

Image taken in June 2014.

Chama placentina Fossil

Here is a picture of a Chama placentina (Defrance, 1817) bivalve fossil at the Museo di Paleontologia at Sapienza University of Rome Italy. Creatures like this existed in the ocean at the time of the Pleistocene Epoch. Fossil was found in Italy.

Image taken in June 2014.

Placenticeras meeki Ammonite Fossil

Here is a picture of a Placenticeras meeki ammonite fossil at the Museo di Paleontologia at Sapienza University of Rome Italy. Creatures like this existed in the western interior seaway at the time of the upper/late Cretaceous Period (ICS geological timescale: Maastrichtian; 70 million years ago). Fossil was found in Cheyenne River of South Dakota USA.

Image taken in June 2014.

Tinca tarsiger Fish Fossil

 

This fish fossil was on display at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City in July 2018. The specimen was named Tinca tarsiger (Garsault, 1764). This fish belongs to the minnow or carp family. It was found at Rott, Germany and dates to the Late Oligocene Epoch (25 million years ago). Accession number is AMNH 778.

Learn more about the museum at https://www.amnh.org/

Tharrhias Fish Fossil

 

This fish fossil was on display at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City in July 2018. The specimen was named Tharrhias sp. (Jordan & Branner, 1908). The name means "bold one" and is related to a modern milkfish (Chanos). It was found at Chapada do Araripe, Ceará, Brazil and dates to the middle Cretaceous Period (110 million years ago). Accession number is AMNH 12618R.

Genus was named for American geologist John Casper Branner (1850-1922). David Starr Jordan (1851-1931).

Learn more about the museum at https://www.amnh.org/

Helicoprion Teeth Fossil

 

The image of teeth arranged in a spiral of lower jaw was on display at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City in July 2018. This animal is called Helicoprion. The name means "spiral jaw". It was found at Waterloo Phosphate Mine near Montpelier, Idaho,USA. The fossil dates to the early Permian Period (280 million years ago). Specimen number is AMNH 8250.