Cycloconcha milleri pelecypod from the Marble Hill Bed

I've only found one Pelecypod in the "Marble Hill Bed" and it called Cycloconcha milleri.  I knew in a previous post that the genus was Cycloconcha but could not find anything to nail down the species. I finally came across a research report, by PM Novack-Gottshall and A. Miller, that listed Cycloconcha milleri as being found in the "Marble Hill Bed".

Part of the reason I could not settle on a species name is the lack of good photos of the species.  The Atlas of Ordovician Life only had this nondescript picture, and the UGA Stratigraphy Lab did not have much more. These are two of the online resources I use to help ID fossils from the Cincinnati region but I can't blame them for the lack of information. Pelecypods don't always preserve well and are not easily studied as the more common and well preserved Brachiopods in the Ordovician.  Also the "Marble Hill Bed" is a very limited geologic feature and not as paleontologically or economically important as other formations.

Onto the fossils!

Specimen #1 - right valve exterior

 Right valve interior, note the hinge teeth

Specimen #2  - Left valve exterior

 Left valve interior

 Left valve profile looking at the anterior end towards the posterior

The "Marble Hill Bed" is part of the Rowland Member of the Drakes formation (equivalent the Whitewater formation in Ohio and Indiana). It is upper Ordovician in age, Katian stage (450-445 mya) and located near Carrollton, KY. I collected these fossils in July of 2016.

Clathrospira subconica gastropod from the Marble Hill Bed.

Clathrospira subconica is another common gastropod fossil that is found in the Marble Hill Bed. It is not nearly as common as Paupospira bowdeni but good examples are not hard to find.  This is another high spired, conispiraled gastropod but it is shorter and fatter than Paupospira bowdeni. The shell opening is triangular in shape and this results in a somewhat sharp edge to each spiral.

Specimen #1

Specimen #2

The "Marble Hill Bed" is part of the Rowland Member of the Drakes formation (equivalent the Whitewater formation in Ohio and Indiana). It is upper Ordovician in age, Katian (Richmondian) stage (450-445 mya) and located near Carrollton, KY. I collected these fossils in July of 2016.

Paupospira bowdeni gastropod from the Marble Hill Bed

I made a post a while back about some fossils that friends of mine had sent me from a curious locality called the "Marble Hill Bed". This post is part of a series meant to focus on the individual specimens that come from that location. Today we are looking at Paupospira bowdeni, a high turrented conispiral gastropod. This is the most common fossil found in the "Marble Hill Bed" with hundreds of individuals to be found in matrix or eroded free. The often preserve the majority of their 3D shape but generally show some compression in one axis. The opening and living chamber are tube shaped.

Specimen #1

Specimen #2

Here are some as they lie exposed on the ground, weathered free from the rock.

The "Marble Hill Bed" is part of the Rowland Member of the Drakes formation (equivalent the Whitewater formation in Ohio and Indiana). It is upper Ordovician in age, Katian (Richmondian) stage (450-445 mya) and located near Carrollton, KY. I collected these fossils in July of 2016.