Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Bellerophon pelops? gastropod from the Moscow formation

This crushed gastropod fossil looks similar to Retispira leda but the central rib is not decorated and there is no cross hatching on the rest of the shell. I could not find anything that matched this fossil in Karl Wilson's "Field Guide to the Devonian Fossils of New York" book so I went back to the bible for New York Devonian fossils, James Hall's "Palaeontology of New York".  There I found a description and plate for a species call Bellerophon pelops that looked like the fossil below.  R. leda is in the same family and B. pelpos (Bellerophontoidea) so it's no surprise the two look similar.


Ventral view - The only part of the shell this fossil is missing is the wide "skirt" that Bellerophontoidea have around the apeture. The specimen likely was found loose and had broken out of the rock.
Left profile
You can see the rest of the shell as it curves back and coils.
Anterior view
Right profile

This specimen was found at a borrow pit on Deep Springs Road in Madison County, NY which exposes the Windom shale member of the Moscow formation (middle Devonian in age, Givetian stage.) 

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