Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Heterophrentis prolifica coral from the Onondoga formation

One of the more common rugose corals I found in the Edgecliff member of the Onondoga Formation (Devonian, Eifelian stage), in rocks exposed in a quarry south of Syracuse, are the specimens below that I think are Heterophrentis prolifica. They are relatively small and highly curved which indicates to me that they were near the wave base and could easily get knocked over. Considering that the Edgecliff member is considered a Biostrome (an area that surrounds a reef but is not the reef itself) this is not too surprising.

Specimen #1





Specimen #2







I used the paper - STRATIGRAPHY OF THE ONONDAGA LIMESTONE (DEVONIAN) IN CENTRAL NEW YORK By William A. Oliver, Jr (Bulletin of the Geological Society of America VOL. 66. PP. 621-662. JULY 1954). to ID these fossils.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Platystoma gastropod from the Onondoga formation

I didn't find too many gastropod fossils in the quarry, south of Syracuse, NY that exposed the Onondoga formation, except for this specimen. It's been weathered quite a bit but still looks pretty good. It's a Platystoma sp. gastropod and was found in the Edgecliff member of the Onondoga formation (Devonian, Eifelian stage).






The specimen above looks similar to some Platysoma sp. Gastropods that I have from the Haragan formation in Oklahoma (Devonian, Lockhovian stage).

I looked through the paper STRATIGRAPHY OF THE ONONDAGA LIMESTONE (DEVONIAN) IN CENTRAL NEW YORK By William A. Oliver, Jr (Bulletin of the Geological Society of America VOL. 66. PP. 621-662. JULY 1954) but I could not find anything that could help me ID this fossil beyond the generic level.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Leptaena rhomboidalis and Levenea lenticularis brachiopods from the Onondoga formation

Two more brachiopods that I found in a quarry near Syracuse this past May are this Leptaena rhomboidalis....




...and what I think is a Levenea lenticularis



Both specimens come from the Edgecliff member of the Onondoga Formation (Devonian, Eifelian stage) and were ID'ed using the paper "STRATIGRAPHY OF THE ONONDAGA LIMESTONE (DEVONIAN) IN CENTRAL NEW YORK By William A. Oliver, Jr (Bulletin of the Geological Society of America VOL. 66. PP. 621-662. JULY 1954)."

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Meristella arcuata & Kozlowskiella raricesta brachiopods from the Onondoga formation

I found these two types of brachiopod on the floor of a old quarry near Syracuse, NY. They come from the Edgecliff member of the Onondoga formation (Devonian, Eifelian stage). They are fairly weathered but based on the paper "STRATIGRAPHY OF THE ONONDAGA LIMESTONE (DEVONIAN) IN CENTRAL NEW YORK By William A. Oliver, Jr (Bulletin of the Geological Society of America VOL. 66. PP. 621-662. JULY 1954)." I have some tentative ID's.

I think these are Meristella arcuata brachiopods Not enough detail for me to determine the pedicle vs. the brachial valve.

Specimen #1


Specimen #2






Then there is this Kozlowskiella raricesta valve (I think it's the pedicle valve)



Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Large Crinoid stems from the Onondoga Formation

This past May I visited an old quarry south of Syracuse, NY that exposed part of the Onondoga formation (middle Devonian, Eifelian stage). The floor of the quarry exposed part of a Biostrome (an area that surrounds a reef but is not the reef itself) that is contained within the Edgecliff member. One particular layer was chock full of large diameter, stoloniferous crinoid stems.

Specimen #1 (reassembled)




Specimen #2 (reassembled)




In places the stems seemed to be the substrate upon which everything else resided. For example, this Fistuliporid bryozoan....



.... and the base of fenestellid type bryozoan.

There is a paper called "STRATIGRAPHY OF THE ONONDAGA LIMESTONE (DEVONIAN) IN CENTRAL NEW YORK By William A. Oliver, Jr (Bulletin of the Geological Society of America VOL. 66. PP. 621-662. JULY 1954)" that has been helpful in identifying some of the fossils I found, but there is not much info for Bryozoans.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Mucrospirifer thedfordensis brachiopod from the Widder Formation

I'm very late to be posting about Mucrospirifer thedfordensis which is one of the most common fossils found in the Widder formation at Arkona. It is similar to M. mucronatus but does not have as much ornamentation on the shell surface and is "plumper". The specimens below are still missing a part of the hinge line which would have extended out another centimeter or two beyond the shell on either side.

Brachial valve
Anterior
Pedicle valve
Posterior
Profile

This next specimen has a number of epibionts attached to it's surface. Brachial valve
Anterior
Pedicle valve
Posterior
Profile

Looks like we have some Spirorbis worm tubes....
... and Hederella bryozoans

The Widder formation is middle Devonian in age (Givetian stage) and roughly corresponds to the Ledyard mbr. of the Ludlowville formation in New York.