Billingsastraea yandelli Coral

Very neat coral called Billingsastraea yandelli from the Devonian Period.  It was found in the Jeffersonville Limestone of Jefferson County, Kentucky.

The holotype for this fossil is stored at The University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology which Erwin Stumm listed in 1964 as specimen #13877.  I checked and it has not been cataloged in their on-line database yet.

Thanks to my cousin for loaning it to me so it could be photographed.

Syringothyris Brachiopod

Internal cast fossil of maybe a Syringothyris sp. brachiopod found in Washington County, Indiana.  It might be from the Spickert Knob Formation (Borden Group) of the Mississippian Period.  According to the Indiana Geological Survey, this formation is wedged between the Edwardsville Formation (above) and New Providence Shale (below). The formation this fossil was found correlates to the Keokuk Limestone. Thanks to my cousin for this fossil specimen.

Identification resource used is the Indiana State Museum collections database.  In particular specimens  71.1.7234, 71.1.11021, and 71.1.11022.were used as similar fossils. Note two of the specimens were identified down to the species as Syringothyris texta.

Waldron Shale Dalmanites

This Dalmanites sp. trilobite cephalon fossil was found in the Waldron Shale of Clark County, Indiana. This trilobite existed in the Silurian Period. The fossil was prepped with sand abrasive cleaning. Unfortunately, I got too aggressive with cleaning and part of the shell was removed. The fossil is upside down and crushed.  It could be a molt.  The cleaning did reveal the eye and its lens.  Thanks to my cousin Kenny for cleaning the lens area allowing a lot more detail to be seen.

The picture below is of the fossil before prepping.  The eye on the right is covered in matrix and the left one is filled with rock.

Next picture of an intact Dalmanites limulurus trilobite of the Rochester Shale Formation of New York.

Image courtesy of the Virtual Fossil Museum

www.fossilmuseum.net

Fossil with ruler to give viewer an idea of trilobite size.

These last two pictures are closeups of the eyes and one can see the lens details.

More Waldron Shale trilobite fossils can be found in the Indiana State Museum collection database.  Specimen 71.1.11160 is a nice find.

Bob Schacht's website has two very, very nice Dalmanites halli fossils from the Waldron Shale of Shelby County, Indiana.  As described on the site, "simply stated, maybe the best Dalmanites ever to be found in the Waldron Shale Formation."  Judge for yourself by seeing the page here.

Want an intact Dalmanites fossil for yourself?  As of this writing, one can buy one for about $175 US at the Indiana9Fossils site: Dalmanites Trilobites page.