Biodiversity on a Devonian Brachiopod

Here is a brachiopod found in the Devonian layer in Clark County, Indiana. I am guessing the brachiopod could be Mediospirifer sp. with some sort of encrusting bryozoan and Aulocystis coral on one side. The other side of the brachiopod are more Aulocystis corals and an inarticulate brachiopod that could be Philhedra crenistriata or Crania multistriata. Researching all the fossils on this specimen I used a couple of resources. The brachiopod brochure found on the Falls of the Ohio State Park website gives a list of fossil brachiopods found in Clark County near the river. A new source I just found was the Friends of the UMMP (University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology) database with over 1000 images for fossil images. They have an image similar to this one with Mediospirifer brachiopod, Petrocrania hamiltoniae inarticulate brachiopods, and Aulopora corals.

Close up of the inarticulate brachiopod. Notice the lines radiating out from the center.

Encrusting bryozoans over part of the shell.

This corals are pointing up so all of these creatures may have been attach while the brachiopod was still alive.

Atrypa Brachiopod Plate

Here are some Atrypa brachiopods from the Devonian period found in Clark County, Indiana.

Fossil Fern Pecopteris or Alethopteris

Here is another plant fossil that Shamalama found that is very nice. It is taking me a while to read the section on vascular plants in the Fossil of Ohio book. I am guessing this might be a Pecopteris or Alethopteris from the Late Carboniferous or Pennsylvanian period. It was found in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania in the Llewellyn Formation.

This frond was preserved in a swamp like environment that allowed its organic parts to be replaced by sulphides (pyrite) over time. Later the pyrite was replaced by aluminum silicate (pyrophyllite) giving it a white like look.

I attached a picture of a modern day fern I took for comparison.