Friday, December 30, 2011

Heliophyllum ingens Coral

I believe this fossil would be classified as a colonial coral or maybe a cluster of horn corals attached together. The Stumm book on Devonian and Silurian Corals of the Falls of the Ohio (1964) identifies it as a Billingsastraea ingens.  The Falls of the Ohio State Park web site lists as a Heliophyllum ingens (LINK). It was found in the Middle Devonian Boyle Limestone of Nelson County, Kentucky. The fossil can be yours: eBay LINK



Thursday, December 29, 2011

Brevispirifer gregarius Textbook Specimen




This Brevispirifer gregarius (Clapp, 1857) is almost a textbook example of a fossil specimen. Included with this posts are the illustrations from Henry Nettelroth's Fossil Shells of the Silurian and Devonian of Kentucky from 1889. That book referred to this fossil as a Spirifera gregaria (Clapp, 1857).  These fossils are used as identification markers for the stratigraphic layers in the Jeffersonville Limestone. Devonian fossil was found in Jefferson County, Kentucky, USA. 








Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Mississippian Spiny Brachiopod


This fossil brachiopod is one of the larger ones I have found from the Mississippian Period. It was found in Indiana and shows evidence of once having been covered in spines. It might be a Dictyoclostus or Productella. Other pictures in this posting show magnified views of the spines.