Mid-America Paleontology Society Fossil Expo - April 3-5, 2009

If you like fossils then you should check out the Mid-America Paleontology Society (MAPS) Fossil Expo held on the campus of Western Illinois University at Macomb, Illinois.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. William Ausich of Ohio State Univerity speaking about "These are not the Crinoids Your Granddaddy Knew".

http://www.geology.ohio-state.edu/faculty_bios.php?id=2

See their link for all the information about how to get there and contact information:
http://midamericapaleo.org/content/expo31.php

EXPO HOURS:

• Friday, April 3 - Show Floor Hours 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Keynote presentation at 7pm (see above).
• Saturday, April 4 - Show Floor Hours 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., MAPS regular business meeting 6pm, Live Auction at 7pm.
• Sunday, April 5 - Show Floor Hours 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon.

Cymbiocrinus Crinoid Calyx

Here is a very small (5 mm in diameter) crinoid calyx from Crawford County, Indiana. Using University of Kentucky Dr. Chesnut's webpage I believe it is called Cymbiocrinus (Kirk, 1944) and is from the Mississippian period. It has a nice brownish-tan tint which gives it move visual depth. This is the bottom of the calyx where it attached to the stem and on the other side only small fragments of its arms remain. It is still embedded in a rock fragment with a lot stem pieces.

Blue Brachiopods of Lake Cumberland, Kentucky

The last visit KYANA Geological Society made to the Lake Cumberland, members came across blue brachiopods. This creature must be from the Mississippian or Lower Carboniferous time period. The fossils appear to be in the Fort Payne formation.

It also appears some beekite patterns are on parts of the shell imprint




Dr. Don Chesnut has a number of fossil images from this time period in Kentucky's history. See his site here: http://www.donchesnut.com/travels/geology/geologypictures.html#fossils