Ostracod fossils are of the class Ostracoda, belonging to the subphylum Crustacea. As far as I understand it, they are typically a microfossil in my area. Ostracods have been found as far back as 450 million years ago and are still an extant class today. They are also known as seed shrimp. This stems from their seed like appearance.

I lost this specimen while trying to dig it our further. The small size made it very difficult to keep track of while trying to remove the matrix around it. I found this near a specimen which I believe is a Trilobite. Trilobites, or Trilobita, are a class of extinct creatures that exist in my area but I have yet to find.

Around 70,000 species of Ostracod have been identified, with 13,000 of them being extant today.

  • Ostracod
  • Ostracod with scale

Extant Ostracod

Photo of a modern Ostracod.
By Anna33 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, Link

More on Ostracods Online

  • Collecting and Processing Fossil Ostracods – Journal of Crustacean Biology, Vol. 36, Issue 6, 1 November 2016, Pages 841–848
  • Taxonomy and significance of the nonmarine ostracoda from the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian Appalachian Basin, United States – N. E. Tibert, C. P. Dewey and V. Skema – Micropaleontology – Vol. 57, No. 6 (2011), pp. 469-481