Fossil of the Aran Isles

 

Vincent Coleman of Ireland recently sent me some pictures of a fossil he spotted in limestone on an Aran Islands beach (off the west coast of Ireland).  It appears to be an orthocone cephalopod fossil with the chambers and siphincle visible.  He noted it was appoximately 40 cm long.  Also his research shows the rock is probably dated to the Lower Carboniferous (approx. 330 million years ago).

This is a nice find especially for its size and the great constrast between matrix and fossil.  Who knows maybe Ireland's Galway coast can attract tourist the way the "Jurassic Coast" of southern England has for fossil hunters.

Ireland is a great place to visit and Aran Isles are known for their hand knitted wool sweaters.  Last two pictures are from my last trip there. The first picture are of some unidentified islands off Irelands southern coast and the last is a popular tourist destination, the Cliffs of Moher.

Pea Sized Waldron Shale Fossil

This post shows a series a pictures of a small pea sized (3-6 mm) fossil found in the Silurian Period Waldron Shale of southern Indiana.  Is this some sort of small calyx, blastoid, or something else?

The top has a small 5 petal flower like pattern that reminds me of crinoid calyx.  It sort of reminds me of a Pisocrinus crinoid but the base is circle enclosed in a triangle shape on these fossils.  The tops on some of the fossils have points the bend inward which seems more like a blastoid.

If anyone has some identification ideas on these fossils, let me know.  Thanks!

UPDATE (1/7/2011): After reading some great comments about these specimens, I e-mailed Dr. Colin Sumrall at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville for advice.  He identified it as a member of  the Coronoidea and it is called Stephanocrinus gemmiformis.  It is somewhat of a confusing crinoid and he pointed out it is "basically a blastoid with erect arms".

The Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) of Ithaca, New York has picture of an adult Stephanocrinus (PRI 42977) of the Rochester Shale on their web site.  They note it was thought to be a blastoid but "lacks the food grooves and central mouth that blastoids have".  While it is rare in the Waldron Shale of Indiana and maybe more common in Tennessee Silurian exposures, PRI lists it is common in the Rochester Shale of New York.  As of this writing Indiana9Fossils is selling at least one specimen here.

Kenny has found some of these fossils as well and sent me some images he took with a microscope.  One can see a line like pattern on parts of the fossil plus a magnified view of the triangle shape on the fossil bottom.

Paleontology and Dinosaur Hunting Radio Show

Louisville, Kentucky's news and talk public radio station WFPL (89.3 FM) local affairs program State of Affairs with host Julie Kredens will explore the topic of dinosaur fossil hunting on Thursday, January 6, 2011.

The radio show airs between 1-2 PM EST.  Thursday's show is entitled "Paleontology & Dinosaur Hunting" with guests Homer Hickam author of the novel The Dinosaur Hunter and Rocket Boys (book that inspired the movie October Sky) and paleontologist Jack Horner co-author of How to Build a Dinosaur: Extinction Doesn't Have to Be Forever and technical advisor on some of the Jurassic Park films.  Mr. Horner was recently interviewed for the CBS news show 60 Minutes, visit this web link.

If you are interested in dinosaurs, consider attending the free lecture on February 10, 2011 at 7:30 PM on the campus of the University of Kentucky in Lexington at the Singletary Center for the Arts building.  Jack Horner will be talking about his book on re-creating dinosaurs.  Learn more at this web link or view the PDF poster here.

UPDATE (7/8/2018): State of Affairs is no longer a program on WFPL. It ended its 14 year run in 2011. A recording of the show can be found on the WFPL News Archive Site at a link entitled Adventures in Paleontology by Laura Ellis.

Visit the WFPL web page for State of Affairs for a link to listen live if outside the Louisville, Kentucky broadcast area or the podcast once the show has aired.  E-mail questions to soa@wfpl.org or call in questions during the show at (502) 814-8255 or 877-814-8255.

The two life like dinosaur pictures were taken in 2010 at the Louisville Zoo's Dinosaurs Alive! exhibit and the dinosaur fossil casts picture was taken at the Museum of Natural History in Paris, France in 2009.