Indiana University Southeast Geoscience Department

Here are some pictures of samples from the Indiana University Southeast (IUS) Geoscience Department. I was there the other evening inquiring about how to donate some fossils. There is a Halysites chain coral that might look good in their display case with Silurian period fossils.

Dr. Glenn Mason gave me a quick tour of their labs and displays. He was a friendly and enthusiastic professor with degrees from Purdue University, IUS, and University of Wyoming.

He allowed me to take some pictures of some sample in their cutting/polishing lab. Here are some polished corallites of possibly an Ordovician colonial coral.

This is a picture of the outside of that coral. I liked that it still had intact septa showing, this can aid in its identification.
Here is a polished Devonian coral.

Here is a polished cross section of another Devonian coral. I have adjusted the contrast to make the fossils stand out better.

Another polished cut slab of Devonian rock with a lot of corals in it.

There are a number of display cases outside in the hallway with minerals, gemstones, fossils, rocks and bones. Dr. Mason is looking for donations of more display cases so a larger portion of IUS collection can be displayed. He seemed especially interested in showing off more of the local corals and fossils that existed in the southern Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky area.

Just a note that residents of Louisville, Kentucky and Jefferson County, Kentucky and attend IUS put only pay Indiana in-state rates due to an agreement with Louisville schools (University of Louisville).

If there is enough interest, he offered to give KYANA Geological Society members a tour on some weekend.

Fossils Found in Crawford County, Indiana - March 2008

Here are some pictures I found from a trip in March 2008 to a road cut in Crawford County, Indiana. It is a fun place to hunt for fossils from the Mississippian or Lower Carboniferous period. You will need to do some climbing though.

Unknown trilobite pygidium found in the Indian Springs Shale of the Big Clifty Formation in Crawford County, Indiana.
UPDATE (2020/02/15): Maybe a Kaskia chesteriensis or Paladin chesteriensis.

Unknown horn corals from the Mississippian period.
UPDATE (2020/02/15): Maybe a Zaphrentites spinulosa or Amplexi zaphrentis?

Unknown crinoid stem with a number of branch stubs.

Unknown crinoid calyx pieces. UPDATE (2020): Maybe Phanocrinus or Bicidiocrinus?

Archimedes sp. from the Upper Mississippian period found in the Indian Springs shale.

Cymbiocrinus (Kirk, 1944) crinoid calyx in plate with crinoid stem pieces.

Blastoids that are probably Pentremites sp. (Say) found in the Indian Springs shale in Crawford County, Indiana.

Ordovician Clam: Caritodens demissa

The following pictures show an Ordovician period clam called Caritodens demissa (Conrad, 1842). This clam was found in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky (just outside of Louisville, Kentucky). It was found in the Grant Lake Formation. Part of clam is still embedded in the rock matrix. The fossil is about 4 cm wide and 3.5 cm long. The Fossils of Ohio book says on page 139 this clam is common. It describes it as "a large species distinguished by auricles (large winglike extensions of the hinge), strongly developed comarginal ridges, and the lack of any radial ornamentation." A picture can be found in the book at Figure 12-1.1. Here is a link to another fossil found on the KYANA Geological Society website. This might be one at this link at the Kentucky Paleontological Society website. This link on the Dry Dredgers website shows a number of Caritoden pelecypods they have found. Learn more about this pelecypod fossil at one of my other postings.