Sea Pen No. 3

Catalog Number: CG-0010

Update:
This specimen is Allopinna godleskya Yancey 2024. When I found it, I was not aware of members of the pinnidae and thought it was an odd cephalopod. The “tube” I described below is a steinkern of the empty space left by the hinge on this large upright bivalve. I was correct in being confused, this genus and species literally did not have a name until August 2024.
-Clint August 2024

This specimen is a Sea Pen. Originally, I was classifying local Sea Pen fossils as Pteronites, however over the past 50 years, the naming has started to change. The type species Pteronites was originally named for species found in England (McCoy 1842).

In 1978, a new branch named Meekopinna (Yancey 1978) was created.

At first, maybe Bactrites

At first, I thought this was possibly Bactrites, but the identification did not hold up. The specimen has been worked with the air chisel for a good amount of time, but it was getting more difficult to separate shell material from matrix. Another possible identification was a species of sea pen, such as Pteronites. The specimen appeared to have chambers at first. Later, research determined these were not cephalopod chambers.