Trading Places in a Devonian Sea

 

My cousin Kenny sent me some pictures of some fossils he screened from micro material I brought back from Alpena Michigan USA. What I found interesting was two specimens show the interactions between bryozoan and coral fossils. One specimen shows a coral growing on a bryozoan and another shows the reverse. First picture shows an Aulopora (Goldfuss, 1829) coral growing on what appears to be a Fistulipora (McCoy, 1849) bryozoan. The next image shows an Aulocystis ramosa with a matting Fistulipora bryozoan growing on top of it.

The next image shows the same type of coral fossil with a matting bryozoan. Field of view (FOV) in these images is about 12-15 mm.

It was found in the Potter Farm Formation and dates to Middle Devonian Period (Erian Age). Thanks to Kenny for image and screen material to find fossil.

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.