Astraeospongium meniscus

Astraeospongium meniscus sponge (Porifera) fossil found in the Brownsport Formation of Hardin County, Tennessee.  This Silurian period fossil as the distinction of being included on the 2011 Science Olympiad fossil list.  This Astraeospongium (class Calcarea) existed in the Silurian through Devonian periods.

See this nice write up on the web page of the The Virtual Petrified Wood Museum.

Thanks to Herb for the fossil and new insight on Silurian sponges.  Next picture shows under side of the fossil.

As of this writing two of these sponges were for sale on eBay in an estate collection auction.  The fossils are from Decatur County, Tennessee and the auction ends March 20, 2011.

Exogyra Oyster Fossil

The Exogyra sp. was found in the upper Cretaceous of McNairy County, Tennessee.  Decided to post a fossilized oyster to match a recent theme of my fellow blogger at Views of the Mahantango.  Dave recently covered the Llymatogyra arietina, Texigryphaea navia, and Texigryphaea macoui oysters, so go check out his pictures and descriptions!

Thanks to Herb for this rather large fossil.  It might be the largest fossil I have excluding colonial corals in my small collection.

Silurian Graptolite - Ptiograptus percorrugatus?

Originally I thought this was a branching dendrite but after studying it, appears to be a graptolite fossil.  It might be a Desmograptus, Dictyonema, or unidentified graptolite.  I do not have much literature on these creatures to make a good guess.

This fossil has great contrast in relation to the limestone!

Fossil found in the Louisville Limestone (Middle Silurian Period) Jeffersonville Limestone (Middle Devonian Period) of Jefferson County, Kentucky, USA.

UPDATE (2020): I was contacted by Dr. Jörg Maletz of the Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften at Freie Universität Berlin and he would like to study this specimen to see if it is a Ptiograptus percorrugatus. Now I just have to find out where I put it.

UPDATE (2025): I found the fossil and a new posting has been made: https://louisvillefossils.blogspot.com/2025/03/ptiograptus-percorrugatus-graptolite.html