Posts treating: "colony"
Friday, 10 June 2016
I found a few specimens of a colonial rugose coral with some really deep corallites in the Martin formation north of Payson, AZ. At first I thought they might be Hexagonaria sp. but the cup depth is much greater than that genera. So, after researching a bit more, I think I have Spongophyllum sp. specimens. Here is the description for the genera that Ermin C. Stumm wrote in his paper "Upper Devonian Compound Tetracorals from the Martin Limestone", Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 22, No. [...]
One one of my regular trips up to Arkona, Canada I found this small scrap of fossil and hung onto to it as it reminded me of something. Well that something turns out to be a piece of a Bryozoan called Ptilopora striata (sometimes spelled Ptylipora). This bryozoan is typified by a single, strong, central "mast" with branches angling off at 45 degrees along the length. The individual branches sometimes have cross supports with neighboring branches as well. Overall the fossil has a herringbone [...]
Graptolites are a colonial organism similar to Corals and Bryozoans and they are also important index fossils used to help date the rocks they are found in. In the Verulam formation (middle Ordovician, Katian/Mohawkian stage) of Ontario, Canada they are found as black carbon films on the grey limestone rock. Below is Diplograptus amplexicaulis, one of two species that is known from the formation. It formed straight, needle like colonies with edges that look like a saw tooth. Each of the "teeth" [...]
You know that you have been soaking in the hot spring for too long when you look up and notice that you have regressed into a colony of thermophillic
...on the beach at Butt Valley Reservoir, also seen here and here.
Probably dog.
Deer?
Sasquatch — I mean, human.
Crawdad.
Small crawdad pinchers. Finger is red from blackberries.
Corbicula fluminea or Asian clam, not zebra mussel.
Jelly blob, probably Pectinatella magnifica, a type of freshwater bryozoan.
Enlargement of the same photo. This is a colony, and each of
Here is a nice palm sized colony of Favosites hamiltoniae that I found in the Centerfield mbr. of the Ludlowville formation near East Bethany. It is partially replaced by Quartz which is why it has a sort of patchy look on the dorsal surface. Some of the corallites are missing while others have some nice detail preserved of the septal spines.Dorsal surface Ventral surface... the epitheca is very well preserved with just a few missing pieces.Side profilesClose up of the dorsal surface where you [...]
Graptolites are extinct creatures that were similar to coral or bryozoans in that they filtered the water for food particles and lived colonially. Below are some Graptolites from the Devonian aged Windom Shale (part of the Moscow Formation and Givetian stage) of New York that I recently found. I've only found graptolites before in Ordovician aged rocks and was very surprised when I was splitting shale and found these. They are a species called Dictyonema hamiltoniae and were found in the same [...]
The Shipping Forecast on BBC Radio 4 this week used a word for the sea-state it has never used before – PHENOMENAL. It’s been that bad, with storm after storm and the worst flooding on record (Records of flooding go back to the time when the Virginia was a colony!). The storms have given archeologists a priceless gift though, because they uncovered footprints in the sand that have been dated
Here is a partial specimen from a larger coral head of Favosites hamiltoniae. It's from the Tichenor Limestone member of the Moscow formation and was recovered from the Penn Dixie site at Blasdell, NY. It's not too uncommon to find these at the site as they are regularly turned up when they excavate drainage trenches on the site. The coral heads can reach several feet in size and indicated that the water they grew in was clear and relatively free of sediment (otherwise they would be buried by [...]
I recently found a couple of coral specimens in the Windom shale that I've only recently come to recognize. It's Favosites arbuscula and is recognizable by the elongated style of colony that often forms "fingers" or bush like shapes (arbuscula comes from Latin and one definition is of "bush").Specimen #1Specimen #2This specimen is narrow in cross section and has broken to show how the individual corralites grew in life.Both specimens were found along the shore line of Lake Erie and likely came [...]
This fossil appears to be an Ambonychia clam fossil with both valves. It is has quite a bit of matrix covering detailed parts. The clam fossil has a colony of cyclostome bryozoan (see this web site image or called ctenostome type on this web site).The fossil still needs to be cleaned to see if more shell and bryozoan detail can be revealed. It is rare for me to find clams with both valves intact so this was a happy discovery.The fossil was found in the Kope Formation of Carroll County, [...]
Here is a fossil from the Centerfield member of the Ludlowville formation (Devonian, Givetian stage) with an interesting Aulopora growth pattern. It's a section of a rugose coral (possibly Eridophyllum sp.), herein referred to as "substrate", that was colonized by an Aulopora polyp. The Aulopora wraps around the substrate in one predominant direction which indicates to me that it was adapting to the substrate turning as the results of currents or storms.Here is the presumptive "bottom of the [...]
A mining operation in Connecticut is building a hibernaculum with the hope that they can use it to attract a colony of bats which currently occupies an abandon
Another trace fossil of a sort this week. Above you see the dorsal valve exterior of a strophomenid brachiopod from the Upper Ordovician of southeastern Indiana. Across the surface is a network of grooves looking a bit like a spider web. This is a feature formed when a soft-bodied ctenostome bryozoan colony etched its way
"Our analysis shows that the Norse in Greenland ate lots of food from the sea, especially seals," says Jan Heinemeier, Institute of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University.
"Even though the Norse are traditionally thought of as farmers, they adapted quickly to the Arctic environment and the unique hunting opportunities. During the period they were in Greenland, the Norse ate gradually
“A colony of voracious flesh eating beetles at the University of Texas at Austin are busy every night turning roadkill into one of the spookiest collections on campus. Tour the Skeletal Preparation Laboratory and learn how this centuries old technique continues to yield new information for paleontologists and biologists.” Quoted from The University of Texas
Syringopora hisingeri coral fossil from the Devonian Period Jeffersonville Limestone. The fossil was found in Jefferson County (Louisville), Kentucky, USA. The fossils sort of remind me in appearance of on angel hair pasta. Very fine tube like structures clustered together in a colony makes this fossil stand out. Named by Billings in 1858. It can also be noted that corals like this are also found in the Onondaga Limestone of Ontario Canada and Michigan USA. The holotype for this species can be [...]
A BBC article explains how elderly workers in a species of termites found in French Guiana accumulate toxic fluids within their body which can be released when their colony is under
Among the most common fossils that I've collected from the eroded remains of the Louisville Limestone are Stromatoporoids, a type of calcareous sponge. They generally have two forms, the first is a mound shape:Specimen 1Specimen 2 Sometimes the many layers can look a bit like an onion when eroded or brokenThe other predominant form is encrusting, often on coral or other Stromatoporoids.Specimen 3 Note the piece of Coenites coral that formed the nucleating point for the colony.Specimen [...]
This is Dyer Island, off Gansbaai, southern South Africa, a little west of Cape Agulhas: Those are seals, a huge, crazy crowded colony of Cape fur seals. They are loud. They create a God-awful stink with all their fishy excrement. It was like being in a BBC nature program to see this firsthand. I could hear David Attenborough’s voice in my head, raspy and accented: “Dyer Island, South Africa. Home
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