Onniella quadrata Brachiopod

These brachiopods are the Onniella (Dalmanella) quadrata of the Maquoketa Group of Eldorado, Iowa.  The animals lived in the Late Ordovician period.  These brachiopods are similar to the ones found east of Louisville, Kentucky in the Kope Formation.  See my posting about the Dalmanella multisecta: CLICK HERE

According to the write up on the Kope Formation on Wikipedia, it is part of the three formations that make up the Maquoketa Group. So the Iowa fossils appear to have some relationship with the Kentucky fossils.

These fossils were bought from eBay seller timfossil2001 who has some nice deals on Minnesota and Iowa fossils: http://www.ebay.com/sch/timfossil2001/m.html?item=370559137286&viewitem=&_trksid=p4340.l2562

Hormotoma Ordovician Snail

Snail fossils found in the Maquoketa formation of Eldorado, Iowa. This small snails crept the sea floor in the late Ordovician period.  The animals are of the genus Hormotoma.  Fossils are about 2 cm high. Two species found in the Maquoketa are H. trentonensis and H. major mentioned in Stratigraphy of Middle Ordovician Rocks in the Zinc-Lead District of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa by Allen F. Agnew, Allen V. Heyl, C.H. Behre, and E.J. Lyons, Geological Survey Professional Paper 274-K, 1956.

Since these are molds and no shell surface details are present, species identification would be difficult.

These fossils were bought from eBay seller timfossil2001 who has some nice deals on Minnesota and Iowa fossils: http://www.ebay.com/sch/timfossil2001/m.html?item=370559137286&viewitem=&_trksid=p4340.l2562

Fossils, Rocks, & Akiko Video

Fossils, Rocks & Akiko from The Field Museum on Vimeo.

The Field Museum of Chicago, Illinois has released a video (about 2 minutes in length) of a behind the scenes in the preparatory lab. This video highlights Chief Preparator in the Fossil Vertebrate section Akiko Shinya. She shows some of the work process of preparing a Psittacosaur from Mongolia.

After seeing the video, I should be wearing hearing protection along with my eye and airway gear during fossil prep. Maybe padded gloves might help as the engraver makes my hand tingle or numb after continuous prolonged use.

This dinosaur existed in the Cretaceous Period (130-100 million years ago).  Learn more at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psittacosaurus