Solenochilus VII

Catalog Number: CG-0100

This Solenochilus, an extinct genus of paleozoic cephalopod, was found today (Late August 2020) after splitting a piece of float limestone half-buried in the mud at creek level upstream in Guffy Run. The rock was three inches thick and had a long rectangular shape. A heavy blow to the center of the rock revealed roughly a third of the Solenochilus specimen, as its steinkern separated from the shell.

The plan is to prep this further. Hopefully, I will have more to write about it at that time.

Mid-prep photos

I’ve put a couple of hours into this. The shell is chipping away slowly. At times I get larger areas of shell, but it’s very dry and brittle and eventually shatters. The steinkern will likely be very good-looking, so I’m aiming to expose that fully. I am using a combination of the CP-9361 air scribe and a grinder with a concrete wheel to remove the matrix.

Near final prep photos

After lots of work, this is where I landed a few days later. The back still needs to be worked on. There is still shell material that can be worked on and more of the body chamber can be exposed. I’m not sure about the underside of the specimen, I may give it a shot. These seem to end up on the seafloor and get ground down, perhaps with water motion. You can tell that the shell itself has tilted perhaps 10 degrees off-center compared to the layers within the limestone.

Solenochilus specimens collected locally

ID	Post	Unique Feature
CG-0019	Solenochilus	First found.
CG-0025	Solenochilus, probably	Largest found.
CG-0043	Solenochilus II, with bite marks	Shark bite marks.
CG-0046	Solenochilus III, with lateral spine	Preserved lateral spine.
CG-0056	Solenochilus IV	Large with several other specimens.
CG-0066	Solenochilus V	Clear inner whorl preservation.
CG-0081	Small Solenochilus	Smallest found.
CG-0100	Solenochilus VII	Large mostly complete shell.
CG-0159	Solenochilus with body chamber peristome	First preserved body chamber edge.