Byssonichia radiata

Silurian Period clam fossil found in Waynesville, Ohio stored in Muséum National D'Historie Naturelle Jardin Des Plantes Paléontologie et Anatomie Comparée, Paris, France.  The clam is called Byssonichia radiata.
UPDATE: Solius Symbiosus of Swimming the Ordovician Seas blog left a comment that this pelecypod should be called Byssonychia radiata.  After looking it up I find that is has a new name Ambonychia radiata Hall, 1847 see this for more. Also it appears to be an Ordovician Period fossil and not a Silurian one. Thanks for the clarification.

Past references I have made to the Ambonychia:

http://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2009/03/ordovician-pelecypod-ambonychia.html

http://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2010/01/kope-formation-fossils.html

http://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2008/07/ordovician-pelecypod.html

http://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2010/05/fossils-of-bullitt-county.html

Cladoselache Shark Fossil

Okay, I am going out on a limb (or should I say fin) with this fossil identification.  This fossil imprint appears (to me) to be a fragment of a pectoral fin of an Upper Devonian Period Cladoselache shark.  Now I have shown this fossil to a number of people and the Cincinnati & Cleveland museums mostly to met with silence or skepticism.  As an aid to readers, I have created a graphic using Adobe Illustrator with diagram representing the shark with where the fossil might fit on its body.

It looks to me to somewhat match the Cleveland Shale shark fossils.  This fossil was found in the New Albany Shale of Bullitt County which is synonymous.

Cladoselache Shark Fossil with New Fossil Overlay

Original Image from The Jesse Earl Hyde Collection

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU)

Department of Geological Sciences

Posted with Permission (Usage Agreement)

UPDATE (March 2020): Updated web links for The Jesse Earl Hyde Lantern Slide Collection and Case Western Reserve University.

Devonian-Silurian Paraconformity

Recently, a friend gave me a copy of a book written by some local professors entitled Ancient Animals Locked in Louisville's Rocks: A Guide for Fossil Hunters.  The book was published by University of Louisville Printing Services in 1995.  It is out of print now but one can find it for sale used on the Internet at times.

The book is written is a nice style for amateur geologist/paleontologist. It covers the four periods of Louisville's exposed geology: Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, and Mississippian.  Each section discusses the period, fossils found there, formations and a road trip guide.  The Silurian section takes about a place in Louisville one can view a paraconformity.  Described in the book as place in the rock which appears to be seamless boundary between two time periods but on closer study sections of geological layers are missing.  In this case the boundary is between Silurian and Devonian rock.  The Upper Silurian and Lower Devonian Periods are missing (25 million year gap -- 422 to 397 million years ago).
The layers shown are Louisville Limestone covered by Jeffersonville Limestone.  Image below is of Halysites coral colony which is the index fossil for Silurian Period.

The location to see the paraconformity is off the sidewalk coming from Grinstead Drive and going up the hill on Lexington Road.  I found the Silurian Period fossils but was having trouble seeing the Devonian layer.

Some sort of coral layer.

This last image has a number of branching corals and one brachiopod.  The one branching coral reminds me of a Devonian Thamnoptychia.  The brachiopod does not look familiar though.