Thursday, November 19, 2009
Craterophyllum Horn Coral
Pictures of horn coral specimens found in the Jeffersonville Limestone, Clark County, Indiana. This horn coral is called Craterophyllum. It existed in the Devonian Period.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Halysites louisvillensis Coral
The Halysites louisvillensis chain coral fossil prized by local fossil collectors for its interesting patterns and detail. These fossils were found in the Louisville Limestone layer located in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The coral existed in the Middle Silurian Period and is an index fossil for that period.
This species described in E.C. Stumm's book Silurian and Devonian Corals of the Falls of the Ohio on page 79, "Autocorallites broadly elliptical, a little less than 1 mm in maximum diameter, about 0.8 mm in minimum diameter. Twelve very short, indistinct septal spines in well-preserved corallites. Mesocorallites quadrilateral, very small, averaging about 0.1 mm in diameter."
He goes on to say this species is similar to Catenipora microporus.
I am beginning to wonder if the Coenites coral was the doormat of the Silurian coral bed. You can see an eroded one fused on the bottom of this Halysites chain coral. The Coenites seems to topple over a lot and you will usually find a sponge growing on top of it. I pick up sponge fossils and look for to see if they grew on top of the branching Coenites coral frame.
This species described in E.C. Stumm's book Silurian and Devonian Corals of the Falls of the Ohio on page 79, "Autocorallites broadly elliptical, a little less than 1 mm in maximum diameter, about 0.8 mm in minimum diameter. Twelve very short, indistinct septal spines in well-preserved corallites. Mesocorallites quadrilateral, very small, averaging about 0.1 mm in diameter."
He goes on to say this species is similar to Catenipora microporus.
I am beginning to wonder if the Coenites coral was the doormat of the Silurian coral bed. You can see an eroded one fused on the bottom of this Halysites chain coral. The Coenites seems to topple over a lot and you will usually find a sponge growing on top of it. I pick up sponge fossils and look for to see if they grew on top of the branching Coenites coral frame.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Dracorex hogwartsia
The curator at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis took the glass case of the plastic mold of this Dracorex hogwartsia so it could be boxed for travel back to the museum. He let me take some pictures while he got its packing crate. It was on display at the local rock show.
One neat side effect from studying fossils is you begin to learn some of the Latin that goes into naming these creatures. Even though I read the Harry Potter books, I did not realize that Draco was Latin for dragon. So when combined with Latin rex (meaning king), this dinosaur was the "dragon king". All the spikes on it make it quite the prickly beast though it apparently ate plants. This type of pachycephalosaur was found in South Dakota and from the Cretaceous Period.
UPDATE: Here is a picture of a casting of the entire fossil and its display at the museum taken 03/13/2010.
One neat side effect from studying fossils is you begin to learn some of the Latin that goes into naming these creatures. Even though I read the Harry Potter books, I did not realize that Draco was Latin for dragon. So when combined with Latin rex (meaning king), this dinosaur was the "dragon king". All the spikes on it make it quite the prickly beast though it apparently ate plants. This type of pachycephalosaur was found in South Dakota and from the Cretaceous Period.
UPDATE: Here is a picture of a casting of the entire fossil and its display at the museum taken 03/13/2010.
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