Schizophoria schnuri brachiopod from Poland

As a comparison piece, this Schizophoria schnuri looks identical to the S. iowaensis I posted earlier. This specimen comes from the Skaly beds near Kielce in the Holy Cross Mountains of Poland. I'm not sure of the rock formation that it came from but they are dated to the Eifelian to Givetian stages of the middle Devonian.

Brachial valve

Anterior

Pedicle valve

Posterior

Profile

Here is the inside of the pedicle valve of a S. schnuri. Note the cardinal process scars which once held the muscles that opened and closed the shell.

Xystostrophia umbraculum brachiopod from Poland

I have a number of fossils from the Devonian of Poland that I purchased from E-bay (specifically this seller: 2010cidaris). I'd like to share some of these fossils and compare them to those found in the US and Canada. Considering that the area that would one day become the Holy Cross Mountains of Poland was on the opposite side of the proto Appalachian mountains (as part of the Baltica landmass), there is quite a bit of similarity.

These first specimens remind me of Strophodonta sp. brachiopods but they are classified as Xystostrophia umbraculum (Schellwienella umbraculum). They come from the Skaly beds (Devonian, Eifelian to Givetian stages) of Poland.

Specimen #1
Brachial valve

Anterior

Pedicle valve

Posterior - Note how the interarea extends down from the hinge line whereas in Strophodonta sp. there is no obvious interarea.

Profile

Specimen #2 - Possibly another species because the radial ribs are coarser on this specimen?
Pedicle valve

Anterior

Pedicle valve

Posterior

Profile

The Skaly beds are found near Kielce, in the Holy Cross Mountains of Poland.

Diceras arietinum pelcypod from France

I have a fascination with the group of Pelecypods known as Rudists. These were clams that had really robust shells and could form reef like clusters. Some had one valve cemented to the sea floor with the other being merely an operculum while others have coiled shells like Gastropods or Ammonites. Diceras arietinum is the latter type of rudist. It had two valves that were about equal in size and shape but they had a slight spiral twist to them. In older specimens the umbo or beak portion (this is usually the rounded area at the top of a clam valve) look like snail shells.

A quick search of Google Images yields many good examples both real and artistic.

Recently my friend Christian sent me a specimen from the Jurassic (Upper Kimmeridgian stage) near Plagne, France. It's a little rough but you can see some of the anatomical features that help to ID it.

This is a shot looking at the meet point between the valves. I think the line that is present is the actual edge of the valves.

In this series of pictures I'm rotating the specimen along the valve meet line about 120 degrees each time.

Now you are looking at one of the valves from the umbo. It's a little weathered but you can see the spiral nature.

And here is the other valve.

Viewing the valves from the umbo perspective reminds me of the oyster Exogyra as in this specimen or this one.

I've written about other rudists like Laperousia crateriformis and Radiolites trigeri before. If you can read French there is a nice paper here that discusses Rudists, more specifically the genera Hippurites.

Pterinea brisa from the Osgood shale

While going through some boxes of findings from the Osgood shale I came across this Pelecypod on a large chunk of matrix. After a bit of trimming I got the piece down to a more manageable size. I think it's a Pterinea brisa based on similar specimens that Mike Popp posted on his blog at Louisville Fossils here and here.

The specimen came from the New Point Stone Co. quarry near Napoleon, IN. The Osgood shale is Silurian aged (Rhuddanian  to Aeronian).

Dasciocrinus spinosus crinoid from Alabama

Here is a pretty decent calyx of a Dasciocrinus spinosus crinoid from the Bangor Limestone of Alabama. It looks like the whole calyx is present with a good portion of the arms intact as well. There are even some pinnules showing on the left most arm.

I purchased this specimen from a seller on E-bay names Larrysfossils. The Bangor Limestone is Mississippian in age and can be found across the south east United States.