Some Devonian finds

[bbbaldie]

I'm stuck in the lower Mississippian section of the Carboniferous in my area. Lots of good fossils, but after a while the elusive search for crinoid heads gets tiring. (found one in 1974). Recently, I took a road trip to Pickwick Lake in extreme NE Mississippi, and found some cool fossils. They draw the lake down 3 or 4 feet in the winter, lots of unexplored ground is suddenly exposed. The strata is mostly claystone, with some sandstone (containing fossils!) thrown in. The exposed fossils wear down fast, but lots of treasures contained within matrix. Here are some pics. BTW, if anyone can identify species, that would be much appreciated.

[ohio]

They appear to be cephalons and pygidiums from Dalmanites sp..

Chuck

[bbbaldie]

Thanks, Chuck!

Any ideas on the honeycomb-looking mass? It's the size of a quarter. I've broken open a ton of Mississippian claystone, never seen anything like it in that era.

[ohio]

I think what you are referring to is a sponge......

Maybe somebody else can weigh in. Do you have any complete bugs from that site??

[bbbaldie]

Maybe somebody else can weigh in. Do you have any complete bugs from that site??

Sure hope so, ohio. I have about 75 more pounds of matrix rock to break open. If I find one, it'll be posted here posthaste.

Sponge. That's seriously cool. Never found one in Carbiniferous rock. It's a blast seeing strange fossils. Thanks again for the insight.

[maipenrai]

what is the third photo down? I have one just like it, in limeston, and from Estonia. I didnt really know what I was picking up, but they just looked good!

[NorCal Gal]

That first one is REALLY cool!

It almost looks like a "ram's head". I actually found a photo of a more complete fossil of the same kind here:

http://geotripper.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html

I also find cool fossils here in Northern California...

Great finds!

NorCal Gal

[bbbaldie]

what is the third photo down? I have one just like it, in limeston, and from Estonia. I didnt really know what I was picking up, but they just looked good!

That's a pygidium, or tail, from a Dalmanites species of trilobite.

I've broken open my whole stach of rocks, no complete specimens of trilos. :-(

Oh well, still a thrill to find so many, when they are so scarce in the Mississippian rocks I have in my local area. Here's a pick of the most perfect pygidium I've found, complete with a nice long tail spine:

[bbbaldie]

That first one is REALLY cool!

It almost looks like a "ram's head". I actually found a photo of a more complete fossil of the same kind here:

http://geotripper.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html

I also find cool fossils here in Northern California...

Great finds!

NorCal Gal

Thanks. i looked at your site, definitely a trilo head there. I can't believe the detail, each compound eye clearly visible! Fossilization is a wonderful thing.