Tornoceras uniangulare goniatite from the Moscow formation

Goniatites are primitive Cephalopods that had coiled shells and lived prior to the more well known Ammonites during the Paleozoic. They had chambered shells and can be identified by the suture pattern, as in Ammonites, however the patterns are far simpler than their younger cousins.

Below is a decently sized example of the goniatite Tornoceras uniangulare from the Moscow formation of New York. It is a partial example with a large section of the living chamber missing. I believe it has also been compressed at a slight angle. I'm not sure if it is pareidolia or not but it seems like you can see some of the sutures along the leading edge of the largest chamber (upper left side of the fossil) just before it cuts off.

Specimen #1

A couple of smaller specimens

Specimen #2

Specimen #3

 Sometimes you only find partial sections...

Other times the fossil is warped due to how it was laying in the sediment prior to compression.

These specimens were 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.)

Erbenoceras solitarium goniatite from Morocco

The Goniatite I am writing about today also comes from Morocco and have a very simple suture pattern. I used a webpage in Japan, hosted by Gifu University, to help identify it as Erbenoceras solitarium  This specimen has tall whorls that are subrectangular in shape and do not overlap prior whorls much.  The suture pattern is a very gentle curve and appears to be very simple. I don't know what part of Morocco this comes from but I believe it's Devonian (Famennian stage) in age. The central whorls are missing in this specimen but much of the living chamber is present.

Right side

Keel

Left side with some extra, granular pyrite crystals growing over much of the fossil.

Keel with the living chamber cross section.

Kosmoclymenia sp. goniatite from Morocco

Here is another pyritized Goniatite from Morocco that I was able to identify using a webpage in Japan, hosted by Gifu University, that has a very comprehensive and illustrated page of Goniatites that appear to be from Morocco.  It's called Kosmoclymenia sp. and has narrow, rounded whorls with a very simple suture pattern that kind of looks like Harry Potters forehead scar. I don't know what part of Morocco this comes from but I believe it's Devonian (Famennian stage) in age.

Left side

Keel

Right side (with some matrix still to be removed)

Keel with the last suture chamber (possibly the living chamber?).

Cymaclymenia sp. goniatite from Morocco

Here is another pyritized Goniatite from Morocco that I am calling Cymaclymenia sp.  This is based on the same Facebook lead that helped me ID the Prionoceras lentis specimen in the previous post.

There are a number of pictures on the internet of specimens with a similar suture pattern to the specimen shown below and most are called Cymaclymenia.  The suture pattern is very distinctive with a square notch like shape located a little more than halfway towards the keel. I am not sure of the species as I don't have any good locality information but I believe this comes from the upper Devonian (Famennian stage).

Left side

Keel

Right side

Keel with last suture chamber visible.

In the course of my research I found a webpage in Japan that has a very comprehensive and illustrated page of Goniatites that appear to be from Morocco. It is hosted on the Gifu University site and the link above is to a page that shows an illustrated list of genera from the lower Devonian through the upper Devonian. I can't find any information on who created or maintains the site but I certainly appreciate it's presence.

Prionoceras lentis goniatite from Morocco

I recently got a lead on identifying some of the pyritized fossil Goniatites from Morocco that I have. I purchased some of these fossils from a dealer but they did not come with any labels or locality information. All they gave me was "Mrakib". So they have languished in a corner for a year or so while I put searching for information on the back burner. Thanks to a comment on a thread on  Facebook though, I was re-inspired. The commenter posted a picture of several different fossils and had them labelled with names. One, named  Prionoceras, appeared to match a specimen that I had and so I punched the name into Google Scholar to see what came up. Lucky for me a paper was listed that was available to the public via Researchgate.net (you can view and download .pdf documents as long as the author allows the public, though you have to sign up with the site):

"Middle Famennian (Late Devonian) ammonoids from the Anti-Atlas of Morocco. 1. Prionoceras", Korn, D. & Bockwinkel J., Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen, 272/2, May 2014, pgs. 167-204


From that paper I found this figure (Fig. 21) which appears to match my fossil and is called Prionoceras lentis.

And here is the specimen that I am now calling Prionoceras lentis

Right side (note that the constrictions are curved on this side but are straight on the left side)

View of the keel, note the curved constriction from the right side becoming straight on the left.

Left side

Another view of the keel with the front of the shell at the top of the picture. The living chamber is not preserved in this specimen.

In addition, the aforementioned paper indicates that this particular species comes from the "Platyclymenia beds, Madène el Mrakib" which are Upper Devonian (Famennian stage) in age.

Goniatite fossil from the Moscow formation

This smooth, round snail like fossil is actually a cephalopod called a Gonaitite from the Moscow formation (Devonian, Givetian stage) that I found at a quarry off Deep Springs Rd. in Madison County, NY. They were precursors to ammonites and evolved from primitive bactritid type nautiloids. This specimen is a good size but does not preserve the sutures which would help to identify it. Tornoceras sp. is the most common genera in the Moscow formation and this could be a specimen of one. You can't see it in the pictures but there are a couple of thin cracks in the fossil that are filled with golden pyrite. It shows best when the rock is wet.

Cheiloceras sp. Goniatite from Germany

Among the specimens that I received from my friend Nils, during our recent fossil exchange, are these Goniatites named Cheiloceras sp.  They come from the Nehnden Formation near Brilon, Germany. The Nehnden Formation is Fammenian in age which puts it at the very end of the Devonian.

Specimen #1

Specimen #2

From what I can find, there are about 4 different species of Cheiloceras found in the region around Brilon with seven subspecies. This is based on a search of the Goniat online site.

Thank you, Nils, for the specimens!

Goniatites from the upper Devonian of New York

On a recent trip up to the Buffalo area I chanced across a recent fall along the Lake Erie cliffs. It was rock from the upper Devonian layers that lie above the Moscow formation. The geology is well documented in this area but when you have a random jumble of rock at the base of a cliff it becomes a little more difficult to figure out. As I was exploring the rock fall I found a number of good examples of Goniatites.

Specimen #1

Specimen #2

Specimen #3

Sadly they are not detailed enough to determine species but I did find this passage while reading "Geology and Paleontology of Eighteen Mile Creek", by A.W.Grabau, Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, Pg. 7,8

 The Gray Naples Shales (Cashaqua shales).-These shales are greenish gray in color, much less fissile than the preceding, and prone to weather into a tenacious clay..... The upper fifteen feet of these shales, while rich in concretions, seem to be very poor in organic remains, no fossils having been noted in them. ... (the beds) forming a prominent band in the main section, is a layer of calcareous concretions, or better a concretionary bed of impure limestone, eight inches in thickness. This probably corresponds to J. M. Clarke's "Goniatite concretionary layer, " in as much as specimens of Goniatites are of common occurrence in it, usually forming the nucleus of the concretion. Several species of Goniatites occur, but they are seldom found in a good state of preservation. They are commonly found in a very much compressed condition, frequently perfectly flattened, and from having been replaced by iron pyrites which subsequently oxidized, much, if not all of the structure is obliterated. The external form and amount of involution therefore become the only characters by which to identify the species, and this, at best, can be but an unsatisfactory identification. In a few cases, in the specimens collected, the septal sutures are shown, allowing a more precise determination. The most abundant and characteristic species of Goniatites in these concretions are Goniatites intumescens (Beyr.) and G.lutheri (Clarke). The non-umbilicated species are rare, a single doubtful specimen having been noted.

Previously I'd thought these to be Gastropods but after reading that passage I am convinced these are Cephalopods. The Cashaqua shale's position in the cliff is above the Moscow formation and so is likely dated to the Fransian stage of the Devonian.

More Mahantango Goniatites

At one particular site that the Mahantango Formation is exposed at I have good luck finding Goniatites. These Cephalopods were animals related to the modern Squid and Octopus that had coiled shells like Ammonites but preceded them in the evolutionary timeline.

This is a large, fairly inflated piece of a shell from an unknown genera.





Here is a smaller Goniatite called Tornoceras sp. I profiled a couple of other specimens that I'd previously found in this post. I asked William Kochanov, one of the staff members from the PA Geological Survey, about my tentative ID of those fossils and he agreed with my assessment so I'm fairly confident that this specimen is also Tornoceras.