Lindstroemella sp. brachiopod from the Centerfield Mbr.

The partial shell below is likely from an inarticulate brachiopod called Lindstoemella sp.  It came from the Centerfield mbr. of the Ludlowville Fm. near Fayette, NY.  This would have been the top valve of the animal since the bottom valve was likely cemented to a hard surface.

It is interesting to note the differences in the rock type of the Centerfield member between two geographically distant locations. Normally I collect fossils from this rock unit that are eroding out of a grey limestone near East Bethany, NY. This fossil came from Fayette, NY, which is 66 miles due east, and is more argillaceous (has more clay minerals). This is significant in that it shows different depositional environments occurring at roughly the same time intervals which leads to thoughts of why that would happen.

The theory is that an ocean basin that existed in the Devonian over much of western and central New York, was slowly being filled in from the east by rivers eroding the rising Appalachian Mountains as continents were coming together to form Pangea.  Rocks with a higher clay content are generally found closer to shore while limestone is a clean, open water rock. So the open sea was in the western part of the state and the shoreline was progressively moving east to west as sediments were carried from the land.

Leiorhynchus multicostus brachiopods from the Levanna Shale

I came upon this plate of shale in a small quarry near the town of Fayette in New York. It comes from the Levanna Shale of the Skaneateles Formation and is covered with brachiopod fossils called Leiorhynchus multicostus (aka Eumetabolatoechia multicostatum). Leiorhynchonellid type brachiopods are often common in black shales which indicate that they were tolerant of conditions with lower oxygen content. In this case there must have been a period or time where the conditions were right and the L. multicostus proliferated. Some of the layers below the surface shown in the first picture also contain a profusion of this brachiopod such that the environment was somewhat stable for many years even during deposition of fresh sediment. Normally the Levanna shale is fairly barren of fossils with only a few scattered remains that may have been washed in by storms. Only occasionally do you find layers with such an abundance of fossils.

View of the shale piece with the top layer in place

Close up of top layer

This is a thin piece of the top surface layer flipped over to show more brachiopods underneath.

Closeup of the same piece

Yet another layer within the shale, again with many brachiopods.

I've posted an inflated specimen of the same species here that I found near Arkona, Ontario.

The Levanna Shale and Skaneateles Formation are middle Devonian in age (Givetian stage).

Eosyringothyris sp. brachiopod from Fayette, NY

This is one of the more unusual brachiopods that I've found in New York. It came from a small quarry near Fayette, NY that exposes a portion of the Centerfield member of the Ludlowville Formation. The fossil looks like a very large Cyrtina type brachiopod as it has a deep pedicle valve and a large interarea.

Brachial valve

Anterior

Pedicle valve

Posterior - Note the large delthyrium (upside down triangle shape) in the middle of the interarea

Profile

Via a posting on the Fossil Forum I was able to get an ID for this brachiopod from a member named Gerry. He identified it as an Eosyringothyris which is rare and undescribed in New York but is slightly more common at the location where I found my specimen. Another member sent me a paper from the Journal of Paleontology (Merrill A. Stainbrook, 1943, Spiriferacea of the Cedar Valley Limestone of Iowa: Vol 17, No. 5, pg. 417-450) which has specimens of Eosyringothyris illustrated. In that paper they have a species called E. triangularis that looks very similar to the specimen I found.

The rock of the Centerfield member at the Fayette town quarry is more argillaceous (shale like) than portions found father west and the fossils are not preserved by quartz as often. This is because the area the rocks were deposited in was closer to the shore and therefore the rivers that carried sediment off the mountains farther east. The Ludlowville formation is Devonian (Givetian stage) in age.