Silurian Brachiopod Pentamerus

Images of the Silurian Period brachiopod Pentamerus. It was found in Jefferson County, Kentucky.

Thanks to Herb for the specimen.

UPDATE (01/16/2011):

Display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History 2010 showing how the colonies of these brachiopods may have looked on the seafloor.  Their specimen was found in the state of Ohio.

Future Work Needed on Kope Formation Fossils

The following pictures show rocks that will need future preparation work to reveal more of the remains of the ancient sea creatures they contain. The fossils were found in the Kope Formation, Carroll County, Kentucky. They are from the Ordovician Period.

This first rock shows a Cryptolithus trilobite fragment with an exposed spine. I have overlaid the trilobite image to show what it might have looked like intact.

Another Cryptolithus trilobite fragment that after some work might show more of the cephalon portion.

It might be hard to expose the rest of this Cryptolithus trilobite fragment because is appears to be surround by other hard fossil fragments.  It sort of reminds me of a horseshoe.

This piece has potential but has quite a bit of hard fossil debris in between to the two cephalon sides. 

The arrow marks an unidentified fossil that needs more cleaning to reveal details and surface area.

 

This fossil could be a Tentaculites or maybe some sort of worm tube.  Hopefully more of it will be embedded in the matrix.

 

Serpula Worm Tube Fossil

This worm tube fossil was found in the Eagleford Group, Kamp Ranch Formation in Dallas County, Texas. It is called Serpula and existed in the Cretaceous Period. The tubes are attached to part of an Inoceramus oyster shell.

Thanks to Herb for the images.