Pyrite Bellerophon Fossil

This pyrite gastropod fossil has well defined ridges that make it easier to identify. It appears to be a Bellerophon. It was found in a coal mine at a depth of 60-250 meters.

My identification source is Fossils of Ohio (Bulletin 70, Rodney M. Feldmann Editor, State of Ohio, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey, Columbus Ohio 1986) pages 162-173, figures 15-16 of specimen from Cambridge shale (Conemaugh Group, Pennsylvanian) New Concord, Guernsey County Ohio, OSU 46696.

The fossil was situated above the coal seam so it might be from the Pennsylvanian Period (late Carboniferous). It was found in Webster County Kentucky USA. The mines there are part of the Eastern Interior Basin. The formations found there are Sturgis, Carbondale, and Tradewater. The limestone layers are Carthage, Madisonville, Providence, Yeargiss?, and Lead Creek.

Learn more about the geology of this area at the United States Geological Survey:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1151h/penn.html

Iereopsis Sponge Fossil with Bioclaustration?

The picture displayed is of an Iereopsis polystoma sponge fossil at the Museo di Paleontologia at Sapienza University of Rome Italy. Creatures like this existed at the time of the Upper Cretaceous Period (Campanian). The fossil was found in Misburg, Hannover, Germany.

There appears to be a trace fossil on this sponge that I have seen something like before. We find these marks sometimes on Ordovician bryozoan fossils in Kentucky and Indiana. I believe it is called bioclaustration where creatures grow around each other. The trace fossil we find is called Catellocaula vallata and whether this is something similar that survived into the Cretaceous Period... I do not know.  See that blog post here: http://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2011/03/catellocaula-vallata-borings.html

Image taken in June 2014.

Read further:
http://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2012/04/29/woosters-fossil-of-the-week-the-classic-bioclaustration-upper-ordovician-of-ohio/

http://eurekamag.com/research/021/841/021841064.php

Pyrite Trepospira Gastropod Fossil

This gastropod fossil is interesting as it pyrite embedded in a dark shale. It appears to be a Trepospira. It was found in a coal mine at a depth of 60-250 meters.

My identification source is Fossils of Ohio (Bulletin 70, Rodney M. Feldmann Editor, State of Ohio, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey, Columbus Ohio 1986) pages 162-173, figures 13-14 of specimen from Putnam Hill shale (Allegheny Group, Pennsylvanian) south of New Philadelphia, Tuscarawas County Ohio, OSU 46720.

The fossil was situated above the coal seam so it might be from the Pennsylvanian Period (late Carboniferous). It was found in Webster County Kentucky USA. The mines there are part of the Eastern Interior Basin. The formations found there are Sturgis, Carbondale, and Tradewater. The limestone layers are Carthage, Madisonville, Providence, Yeargiss?, and Lead Creek.

Learn more about the geology of this area at the United States Geological Survey:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1151h/penn.html