Brachiopod Fossils for Sale

Pictured are 8 brachiopod fossils from the Paleozoic Era for sale. All were collected, cleaned and labeled by me. The fossils span about 140 million years of geological history representing the Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian periods.  The fossils were found in the United States in the states of Indiana and Kentucky.

UPDATE: This auction is over but some more are available that expire November 2, 2011.

Ordovician Orthorhynchula linneyi Brachiopod Kentucky

Ordovician Platystrophia Brachiopod Kentucky

Devonian Spirifera vericosa Indiana

Devonian Orthospirifer Indiana

Silurian Eospirifer eudora Indiana

Ordovician Sowerbyella brachiopods Kentucky

Ordovician Platystrophia Brachiopod Kentucky

Devonian Mucrospirifer Canada

Invertrypa Devonian Fossil Indiana

Devonian Athryis spiriferoides New York

The star of this collection is the Platystrophia ponderosa which has been cleaned and has great growth lines visible. This is one of the best I have found.

The Ordovician period is rounded out with small but detailed Dalmanella multisecta and Sowerbyella fossils found in the Kope Formation.

A well preserved Atrypa newsomensis and a small heart shaped Stegerhynchus brachiopods represent the Waldron Shale of the Silurian period.

Some of the larger brachiopods are found in the Devonian period which is represented by the Orthospirifer and Pseudoatrypa.  The last Devonian period brachiopod is the Athyris fultonensis which sort of has the oil lamp shell look.

I have tried to identify these fossils the best I could.  Hopefully, there are no mistakes.  All the fossils will be in individual bags with an identification label.  Ruler not included with fossils. The package with fossils weighs approximately 5 ounces.

Check out this eBay auction for this brachiopod collection with a bidding price starting at $2.99 with shipping to a location in the United States at $4.  Good luck to all bidders and I hope the winner appreciates these fossils as I have.

PALEOpalooza 2011 - get your fossil on!

The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is hosting a fossil festival February 19 & 20, 2011 from 10 AM till 5 PM EST.  Meet Dr. Scott Sampson and Buddy the T. Rex of PBS's Dinosaur Train.

Academy of Natural Sciences

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Image by Mblumber/team youcanlookitup on Wikipedia

Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

See work being done on the titanosaur fossils.

Examine the Dryptosaurus, a fossilized tyrannosaur skeleton found in New Jersey.  Staff paleontologists will be available to talk about the Academy's collection plus tour the Dinosaur Hall.  The Delaware Valley Paleontological Society will have fossils and displays to show as well.

Watch trilobite races, see floating dinosaur balloons, or create a dinosaur sculpture or fossil CD cover.

Learn more at the web page for this event.

Mosasaur at Academy of Natural Sciences - Philadelphia

Photo by Jon Voltaire B. Aquino

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 from Wikipedia

March 19, 2011 Ned Gilmore, collection manager of the Vertebrate Paleontology Department will host an adult field trip to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.  Participants get to keep the fossils they find. Limited to 20 people with trip fee of $40 for non-members or $35 for members.  Call 215-299-1060 to register.  Learn more at this web page.

The Academy of Natural Sciences has been around since 1812 helping people connect to nature.  So next year is their 200th anniversary!  One of their founders and first president has ties to Louisville, Kentucky.   Dr. Gerard Troost whose 200 year old mineral collection (1811) is housed at the Louisville Science Center.  Learn more about Dr. Troost and his accomplishments at this blog posting.

Determining Specific Gravity of Minerals

I have been working on a procedure that visitors to the Louisville Science Center can use to learn about calculating specific gravity of select minerals.  If you have any corrections or suggestions for improvement, I would appreciate it.  Thanks! Below is the procedure:

There is a famous story involving the Greek mathematician/scientist Archimedes and whether a crown was solid gold. The king was trying to determine if a gold crown was pure or if the goldsmith had substituted cheaper silver in the construction of it. Archimedes has his “Eureka” moment when determining gold being denser metal displaces less water than silver thus allowing him to show the crown is not pure gold. Whether this story is true or not, it helps introduce the topic of specific gravity of objects.

The measurement of the specific gravity is useful in helping identify minerals. Specific gravity is the ratio of density of material to the density of water. An easier way to think of it might consider two equal size containers. One holds water and the other contains a mineral like galena (lead). If one weighs both, the galena would be approximately 7 times heavier than the water.

Use the table below to see some characteristics of common minerals found in Kentucky and Indiana.

Equipment Needed

• Metric Scale to measure in grams
• Graduated Cylinder 100 mL
• Pencil and Paper
• Pitcher of Water
• Waste Water Container
• Minerals to test

 

 

Procedure

1. Weigh the mineral on the digital scale. Note the weight in grams.

2. Pour water in 100 mL graduated cylinder to a mL mark.
3. Place mineral specimen in cylinder and read the mark where the water has risen to.
4. Drain the water and mineral into the tub.
5. Subtract the water mark value with the starting water mark value.
6. Take that value and divide it in to the mineral’s weight.
7. The value is the specific gravity of the mineral.
8. Use the specific gravity and appearance to study the table to find the closest match to a mineral name.

  

Example

Water is placed in graduated cylinder and measures 56.1 mL.  A specimen is placed in cylinder and water level rises to 58.5 mL.  The difference is 2.4 mL.

The specimen weighs in at 10.3 g.  So 10.3 / 2.4 = 4.29.  Since specimen is black it matches the mineral a sphalerite (3.9-4.2).

Another example

Water in graduated cylinder measured 46.5 mL and with specimen water raises to 50.5 mL.  The difference in water level is 4.0 mL.

The weight of the specimen is 17.41 g.  Using the displacement from the earlier value 17.41 / 4.0 = 4.35.  The specimen is white and fits in the 4.3-5.0 which matches barite.