Ordovician Echinoid Spine?

My search for Ordovician Period microfossils led me to this little jewel. It appears to be the spine of an echinoid. The tube size is about 0.4 mm in diameter and 1.6 mm in length. The pores filled with a gray matrix are elliptical in shape and length wise rows that cover the cylindrical shape. If the pores were more round I might guess this is some sort of byrozoan.

Echinoids existed in the Ordovician Period but I do not have an identification for this fossil. Of course, I am just speculating this is what it is based on Jurassic spines I have seen.  The microscope is opening up another world of Kentucky fossils.

This fossil was found in Bullitt County, Kentucky and might be the Grant Lake Formation.

A Tale of Two Corals

Here is a closeup of a Foerstephyllum (Bassler, 1941) colonial coral fossil for the Upper Ordovician Period. It was found in Louisville, Kentucky. Notice the septa lines in individual coral cells.  These Kentucky fossils are quite beautiful and it is very nice when you can find them with exposed septa. The genus was named by Ray Bassler (1878-1961) to honor Ohio born Dr. August Foerste (1862-1936) Harvard educated paleontologist, geologist at United States Geological Survey (USGS) and high school science teacher.

These next two pictures are of another Upper Ordovician Period colonial coral fossil found with the previous fossil.  Its cell walls are in a different pattern.

UPDATE (3/1/2026): This coral appears to be a Calapoecia huronensis (Billings, 1865). See the Wooster Geologists blog for more information about it.

 

 

Blastoid Microfossil?

I am basing this identification off a picture on the KYANA Geological Society website (http://www.kyanageo.org/Fossils/mississippian/echinodermata/pentremites-conoideus.jpg). It is of a Pentremites conoideus blastoid in the Salem Limestone of Floyd County, Indiana. It is from the Middle Mississippian Period. The two pictures shown here are of a fossil from the Salem Limestone of Washington County, Indiana.