Trigonia pelecypod and Loboidothyris brachiopod from France

Today features a couple more fossils from the region around Caen in France. Some of the local rocks have a characteristic tan color with small red Hematite concretions scattered within. This gets translated to the fossils as well giving them a distinctive look.

Here is a Trigonia sp. pelecypod. It is complete but the left valve is not in good shape so I didn't take a picture of it.

Right valve

Anterior

Left profile

Posterior

Right profile

Next is the brachiopod Loboidothyris ingens. This specimen is very large, close to 5cm in length.

Brachial valve

Anterior

Pedicle valve (with some kind of bryozoan or coral epibont on the right side).

Posterior

Profile

Thanks to Gery for sending me these fossils!

A pair of Pleurotomaria sp. Gastropods from France

Here are a pair of Pleurotomaria sp. gastropods that come from a quarry near Evrecy (southwest of Caen), France that excavates rock from the Bajocian stage of the Jurassic. The rock is very distinctive with a tan color that is speckled with small red hematite nodules.

The first fossil is Pleurotomaria textilis still attached to the matrix.

Then we have Pleurotomaria granulosa. The shell is not as tall as P. textilis but it still has that distinctive decoration along the whorls.

Thanks to my friend Gery who sent me these fossils.

Ammonites from Caen, France

A number of Ammonite species are found in the region around Caen France. The rocks are Jurassic (Toarcian to Callovian) in age and between quarries and farm fields, quite a few specimens can be found.

Parkinsonia parkinsoni Bajocian stage (169 mya)

Hildoceras bifrons Toarcian stage (180 mya)

Perisphictes sp. Bajocian stage (169 mya) - This specimen has Quartz crystals that formed within the voids between chambers.

Oppelia subradiata Bajocian stage (169 mya)

Stephanoceras sp. Bajocian stage (169 mya) Like the Perisphictes above, this specimen has Quartz crystals that formed within the voids between chambers also.

A second, smaller specimen.

My thanks to Gery for sending me all of the above specimens.

Nautilus from Caen, France

Nautilus are cephalopods related to the Ammonites and look similar but their shells have less complex chambers. Whereas in Ammonites the walls that separate the chambers can be very complex and intrcate (sometimes resembling fractal patterns), Nautilus generally are plain and simple. Kind of like the Amish of the Cephalopod world. The specimen below is from Caen, France and is from the lower Jurassic (Toarcian stage). You can see that some of the replaced shell is still in place.

Thanks to Gery for this fine specimen.