Favosites turbinatus from the Jeffersonville limestone

While visiting my friend Mike in Louisville he took me over to a site that has an exposure of the Jeffersonville limestone. The exposure is right about at the Coral Bed level so you can find a large variety of coral species preserved with "Beekite" quartz.

One of the specimens I found was this Favosites turbinatus that was hidden in amongst some old brush and weeds. The classic shape of a rounded base that curved off to one side and the mounded top gave it away. These first four views are of the specimen from all sides.

This is a view of the bottom.

The small hole gives a window into the interior structure which shows the hexagonal shapes of the individual corallites and shows them radiating out along with the rest of the structure. Note the round "Beekite" that covers the exterior of the base.

This is a view of the very top of the specimen where the mound would have been exposed to the open water. You can again see the radial nature of the growth.

This is a side view of the upper portion of the specimen that shows off the honeycomb like structure that is so typical of Favosites species.

A final look at the "Beekite" replaced base where it meets the honeycomb like corallites.

Here is another specimen that is a little smaller than the previous one. It's not as completely preserved but the overall structure and shape is well represented.

The sides of the base are preserved very well on this specimen and you can see how the individual corallites lined up along side each other pointing inwards and upwards.

I've also blogged about these same corals (and formation) in this post and again about a specimen I found in Arkona in this post.