Athyris Brachiopod

This post is about the Athyris brachiopod fossil.  The brachiopod existed in the Devonian Period (416-359 million years ago).  The picture of three brachiopods above are from Clark County, Indiana found in the Speed Member of the North Vernon Limestone.  The two brachiopods shown below are from the Glenshaw Formation of Alpena County, Michigan.

Next picture is of the Athyris vittata brachiopod from Michigan.

These last three pictures are of the Michigan and Indiana Athyris side by side.  It appears to me that the ones from Indiana might be molds or worn because they do not show the growth lines of the specimens from Michigan.  The difference in color is also of interest.  Why are the Michigan fossils black?  Were they in some sort of shale?

This last picture of the Indiana Athyris brachiopod (one on right) really shows the beekite patterns.

UPDATE: Jeepers! I forgot to thank Dave over at Views of the Mahantango for sending me the brachiopods from Michigan shown in this post.

Indiana University Press Spring SALE!

Thanks to the blog Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs for the notice about Indiana University Press spring/summer book sale with some books marked down 80% with free U.S. ground shipping for orders of $25 or more.  Enter code WWEZXX at checkout to receive discounts, quantities limited and sale ends 06/30/2010.

I like Echinoderm Paleobiology for $36 and Oceans of Kansas for $24.  If you like dinosaurs, they have quite a few books on sale.

Books of interest Limestone Lives - Voices from the Indiana Stone Belt by Katherine Ferrucci at $21 and This Place We Call Home - A History of Clark County, Indiana by Carl E. Kramer at $21.

Wasp Nest Coral

Devonian Period wasp nest coral found in the North Vernon Limestone of Clark County, Indiana.

It does resemble the wasp nest as shown by this actual wasp nest picture from April 2008.

Photo by Joaquim Alves Gaspar, Lisboa, Portugal

Found on Wikipedia using GNU License 1.2