Here's some pics of my most recent finds:
The first is what I believe is part of an Orthacanthus dorsal spine:
Here's a link on Orthacanthus:
http://prehistoricsillustrated.com/fs_orthacanthus.html
Unfortunately, I pretty near destroyed this specimen trying to clean it up with an air scribe?
The next series of pics are of two Echinoconchus semipunctatus specimens I found at two different sites (but both in the Oologah Limestone formation):
The specimen on the right is a complete pedicle valve that was nearly completely embedded in limonitic sandstone.? It took me about 3 hours working on it with an air scribe but the results were worth it I think.? Check out the beautiful coloration that appears to be the natural shell color.? Not bad for a specimen that's in excess of 300 million years old. It also appears to have been bitten by something (shark?) but it appears it recovered because the shell looks like it mended.? I'll know more when my micro-abrasion unit gets here (today!!!) and I can clean up the inside of the shell.
The next pic is a mystery fossil.? I found this at the same site.? It's pretty near round and shows no attachment points of any kind.? It's just a spherical collection of little coral-like protrusions.? I couldn't find it in any of my books, including the massive "Index Fossils of North America". Any ideas?
My wife also found another smaller version of this one being around a few mm in diameter.
The next three pics are from an adjacent site.? While exploring the Oologah Limestone formation cliffs, I found an interesting Skolithos fossil buried in the cliff under about 2 meters of limestone:
The first picture shows the context (center of the pic) and the second is a closeup of the Skolithos trace fossil.? The interesting thing about this is that the worms that formed the trace fossil normally live at the shore's edge and here they are buried under some 6 feet of limestone rock!
The last pic is of more spiriferids I've found at two of the sites:
All were embedded in matrix and I spent quite a few hours extracting them.? The one at the top right shows what appears to be the natural coloration.? Note the fine black specks and streaks.
I have more recent finds and pics to post but I'll save them for a new post.
Richard
The first is what I believe is part of an Orthacanthus dorsal spine:
Here's a link on Orthacanthus:
http://prehistoricsillustrated.com/fs_orthacanthus.html
Unfortunately, I pretty near destroyed this specimen trying to clean it up with an air scribe?
The next series of pics are of two Echinoconchus semipunctatus specimens I found at two different sites (but both in the Oologah Limestone formation):
The specimen on the right is a complete pedicle valve that was nearly completely embedded in limonitic sandstone.? It took me about 3 hours working on it with an air scribe but the results were worth it I think.? Check out the beautiful coloration that appears to be the natural shell color.? Not bad for a specimen that's in excess of 300 million years old. It also appears to have been bitten by something (shark?) but it appears it recovered because the shell looks like it mended.? I'll know more when my micro-abrasion unit gets here (today!!!) and I can clean up the inside of the shell.
The next pic is a mystery fossil.? I found this at the same site.? It's pretty near round and shows no attachment points of any kind.? It's just a spherical collection of little coral-like protrusions.? I couldn't find it in any of my books, including the massive "Index Fossils of North America". Any ideas?
My wife also found another smaller version of this one being around a few mm in diameter.
The next three pics are from an adjacent site.? While exploring the Oologah Limestone formation cliffs, I found an interesting Skolithos fossil buried in the cliff under about 2 meters of limestone:
The first picture shows the context (center of the pic) and the second is a closeup of the Skolithos trace fossil.? The interesting thing about this is that the worms that formed the trace fossil normally live at the shore's edge and here they are buried under some 6 feet of limestone rock!
The last pic is of more spiriferids I've found at two of the sites:
All were embedded in matrix and I spent quite a few hours extracting them.? The one at the top right shows what appears to be the natural coloration.? Note the fine black specks and streaks.
I have more recent finds and pics to post but I'll save them for a new post.
Richard
just a wild guess!
