Possible Atrypidae type brachiopod from the Louisville formation

The single specimen below is the only one I have found from the sediments near Louisville. I believe that it is an member of the family Atrypidae and may in fact be a member of the genera Atrypa. It looks very similar with a rounded outline to the shell, a more deeply curved brachial valve than pedicle valve, and has radial ribs that look typical. However the anterior margin has a sulcus that is confined to the forward 1/3 of the two valves. It does not continue all the way to the beak on the pedicle valve.  I have seen examples of Atrypa with a similar feature but generally the pedicle valve is much flatter than in this specimen.

Brachial Valve

Anterior

Pedicle valve (the broken section does not help with the ID)

Posterior

Left profile

Right profile

This specimen was found in an area that had mixed residual soils from the Jeffersonville limestone (Devonian) and Louisville limestone (Silurian) formations near Louisville, KY.  Based on my experience with the preservation styles of the two formations, I think this came from the Lousiville limestone (Homerian to Gorstian stage of the Silurian).

Schlotheimophyllum sp. coral from the Lousiville Limestone

I had some help with the ID of these next two specimens. They are both the coral Schlotheimophyllum sp.  from the Louisville limestone near Louisville, Kentucky.  The first specimen came to me from Mike P. who runs the excellent "Louisville Fossils and Beyond" blog.

Specimen #1 - top view of calice

Angled view of the calice

Side views of the corallum with each subsequent picture showing the side rotated 90 degrees from the prior picture.

Bottom of the corallum

The second specimen shown below I found myself in the field near Louisville, KY.  I wanted to make sure it was the same genera as the above specimen from Mike P. so I referred to the book by Erwin Charles Stumm; "Silurian and Devonian Corals of the Falls of the Ohio". to help ID and found a possible match on page 25, plate 25, fig. 1-8. Stumm has several species listed but they all have a somewhat flat to funnel shaped calice with thick septa. The specimen below appears similar to that description and to the specimen above, so I am comfortable labeling it as Schlotheimophyllum sp. as well.

Specimen #2 - view of the top of the calice

Angled view of the calcie (I don't know what the foreign attachment is as there is little detail preserved. Perhaps a brachiopod or another coral established itself prior to buiral?)

Side views of the corallum with each subsequent picture showing the side rotated 90 degrees from the prior picture.

A view of the bottom of the corallum

These specimens come from the Lousiville Limestone near Louisville, KY and are dated to the Silurian period (Homerian to Gorstian stage).

References: Stumm, E. C. (1964). Silurian and Devonian corals of the falls of the Ohio. New York: Geological Society of America.

Tryplasma prava from the Lousiville Limestone

This next coral comes from the Lousiville Limestone near Louisville, KY. It was found at a site of mixed eroded material from both the aforementioned formation and the Jeffersonville Limestone. It's a small coral with a distinct looking calice that is flat near the edge but very straight and deep.

I used the book by Erwin Charles Stumm; "Silurian and Devonian Corals of the Falls of the Ohio". to help ID and found a possible match with Tryplasma prava on page 51, plate 6, fig. 1, 3, 7-8.  In his description Stumm says "Exterior typically very closely annulated with superposed former (calice) margins 0.5-3mm apart." and "(Calice) walls steeply sloping to vertical with shallowly inwardly sloping margin in some specimens."

Those descriptions match this specimen very well as it does have what appear to be multiple calice growths (perhaps a sign of rejuvenation or just the growth habit of the coral) as well as having steep walls in the calice itself.

This and the next two pictures are the sides of the specimen as seen rotated 120 degrees from the prior picture.

A view of the calice at an angle to show the steep walls.

Top view of the calice showing how the walls are straight to slightly sloping inward.

I believe this specimen comes from the Lousiville Limestone near Louisville, KY and is dated to the Silurian period (Homerian to Gorstian stage).

References: Stumm, E. C. (1964). Silurian and Devonian corals of the falls of the Ohio. New York: Geological Society of America.

Strombodes shumari coral from the Louisville Limestone

Below are two specimens that look similar but have some differences which could mean they are not the same species. I am working from partial pieces of larger corals so the best I have been able to ID these specimens is that they are Strombodes shumari from the Louisville Limestone.  I found them at a site near Louisville, KY a number of years ago and only got around to identifying them now.  I used the book by Erwin Charles Stumm; "Silurian and Devonian Corals of the Falls of the Ohio". to help ID and found a possible match on page 47, plate 22, fig. 1-8.

The preservation of the specimens is incomplete and so I can't find all the diagnostic details to truly confirm the ID. What makes me think I may be correct that these are Strombodes shumari is the pattern of rejuvenation of the calice. This is seen in the specimens as a reduction of the calice diameter via continuous growth over a short horizontal and vertical distance, only to renew vertical growth. The repeated growth pattern is the key to identify this species.

Specimen #1 - This and the next three pictures are the sides of the specimen as seen rotated 90 degrees from the prior picture.

Specimen #1 - A closer view of the calice where the rejuvenation surface is shown.

Specimen #2 - This and the next photo are of the side of the specimen and then turned 90 degrees. Note that this specimen only has one cycle of regrowth and has evidence of a more significant calcie size difference than the prior specimen. Perhaps this is a different genus or species, or perhaps similar evidence was not preserved as well in the prior specimen?

Specimen #2 - A closer view of the calice where the rejuvenation surface is shown.

A view of the partially preserved cross section of the calice.

I believe these specimens come from the Lousiville Limestone near Louisville, KY and are dated to the Silurian period (Homerian to Gorstian stage).

References: Stumm, E. C. (1964). Silurian and Devonian corals of the falls of the Ohio. New York: Geological Society of America.

Eridophyllum or entellophyllum coral from Louisville, KY

Here are several pieces of fossil coral from Louisville, KY. I collected them while visiting Mike, of Louisville Fossils blog, in Louisville. The area we collected from was a mix of Jeffersonville Limestone (Lockhovian stage of the Devonian) and possibly Louisville Limestone (Homerian to Gorstian stage of the Silurian). As a result I don't know specifically which formation these came out of. The specimens could be Entelophyllum (if from the Louisville Limestone) or Eridophyllum (if from the Jeffersonville Limestone) but they look very similar. This could be a lumping vs. splitting thing too, in the sense that they could be the same genera that lasted for an extended time period. Whatever the case, here are the fossils:

Specimen #1 is a dense colony with lots of lateral struts between corallites that were used to stabilize the animal. These are classified as Rugose (horn) corals but they form colonies like this.

Specimen #2 is a small chunk with three corallites that show some detail along the sides and have quite a few bracing struts. It also has large diameter corallites.

Specimen #3 has tubular corallites that are of a smaller diameter.

A couple of brachiopods from Kentucky

My friend Mike, over at his Louisville Fossils blog, sent me a couple of brachiopods from Kentucky that I didn't have in my collection.

The first one is a huge Syringothyris Pedicle valve from the Mississippian aged Muldraugh formation. It's just the single valve and he had to cut it out of the hard limestone, but it's pretty cool! Mike has a more complete one on his blog here.

Anterior

Posterior

The other brachiopod is Pentamerus nysius from the Louisville Limestone of Kentucky which is Silurian in age (Homerian to Gorstian stage). Again it's just a single valve (in this case the Brachial) but you can see the outline of the Pedicle valve just above the tip. Mike has one posted on his blog here.

Thanks to Mike for sending me these cool fossils!