The brachiopod Isogramma Meek and Worthen (1870) is challenging to identify when found by inexperienced collectors. These fossils appear as a half circle of sharp, equal-spaced concentric growth lines. All specimens appear flattened, making them difficult to identify as dimensional brachiopod shells. The shells are concavo-convex in life, but dueRead More →
Update: This is not a monospecific/monotypic genus. Some additional species are recently described in the mid-continent. I will add the references when I get time. The monospecific genus Pennoceras has a limited range, the Brush Creek and Pine Creek limestones in Pennsylvania and Ohio. These curious members of the GoniatitidaRead More →
I’ve been busy writing elsewhere, so the posts portion of this website is starting to age. Nevertheless, I have discovered several new things over the past few months, and I wanted to share at least one. I found a large specimen of a member of the Bellerophontidae, but in theRead More →
In the past, this gastropod was known as Bellerophon (Pharkidonotus). The name in parenthesis is due to subgenera naming. In modern gastropod taxonomy, several sub and super-names are used, including unranked groups that don’t fall into a classic hierarchy. McCoy named the family Bellerophontidae in 1852 in the publication “DescriptionRead More →
Poterioceras curtum is a Pennsylvanian cephalopod first described by Meek & Worthen in 1860. I originally misidentified these as Ctenobactrites isogramma. This is not the first report of this species in Western Pennsylvania. A report from the Annals of the Carnegie Museum in 1947 features specimens from the Brush CreekRead More →
Crosswise cells or rays are typical but often hidden components of the vascular tissue in plans. Fossil plants occur in the shale layers below the Brush Creek limestone. These sometimes preserve incredible detail, including detailed carbon films from plants living over 300 million years ago. While shale plant fossils areRead More →
Finding specimens of the paleozoic cephalopod genus Domatoceras in local rocks is difficult. They exist, but the genera Metacoceras and Pseudorthoceras dominate the cephalopod fauna. They are large cephalopods with a narrow venter. The younger whorls are only slightly or not impressed into the umbilical walls. Big shells are hardRead More →
While extensively researching the Paleozoic shark genus Petalodus, I uncovered many holotype specimens. Yet, in searching, there are still a couple I have been unable to locate. Not finding some is not surprising; all the missing holotypes were described during the 19th century and the 1800s. I have spent theRead More →
Finding a fossilized Ammonoid in the Appalachian Basin is a rare occurrence. I’ve managed to find only a handful over a large number of trips. I have recovered a single one from the Brush Creek limestone and four from the Pine Creek limestone in four years of collecting. Mapes etRead More →
Parallelodon carbonarius (Cox 1857) is a bivalve with distribution from the older Pottsville Group to the younger Conemaugh Group in Ohio and Pennsylvania. This is the first specimen of this species that I have found in over three years of searching through the Brush Creek limestone and the Pine CreekRead More →