UPDATE: This is not Strobeus, but Leptoptygma. Cleaning out the aperture makes this clear. April 2023. This tiny late Paleozoic gastropod is most likely identified as Strobeus brevis. Measuring somewhere between four and five millimeters, this snail would be challenging to spot if you were not looking for it. ThisRead More →

In writing the most recent research article, Aviculopinna, I set up an area to photograph specimens. While having this setup available, I went ahead and re-photographed the first seven specimens in the fossil catalog. Specimen CG-0001 John Harper identified this specimen as possibly being Orthotetes, a brachiopod. The preservation isRead More →

Eomarginifera longispinus brachial valve underside

Yet again, I need to reverse the identification of the specimens below. I will be altering the article, but the specimen referenced found in the Brush Creek limestone is not E. longispinus, but Kozlowskia splendens. L. longispinus is found in the late Mississippian of European and U.K. rocks. Eomarginifera longispinusRead More →

Kozlowskia splendens is a species of brachiopod described in the Brachiopods of Ohio book. The species is reported from the Brush Creek limestone. I originally wrote this post about specimen CG-0008, but it turned out to be Eomarginifera longispinus. The difference? The so-called ears of the shell. This is theRead More →

Crinoid Calyx plate with scale

Crinoid Calyx specimens are well known in the world of paleontology. I personally have not found one that I could identify as such. Crinoid columns are very common in local rocks. However, Crinoid Calyx pieces seem to be rare locally. I found several columns just yesterday, when collecting limestone thatRead More →

Pulchratia is a genus of brachiopod known from the Late Carboniferous through the end of the Permian. After doing some visual research with local fossil plates, I settled on the genus Pulchratia. I considered Juresania, which is a sister genus within the Echinoconchidae family, but Pulchratia fit better. This isRead More →

The Carboniferous clam species, Astartella concentrica Conrad 1842, has been found in rocks dated from 318.1 million to 298.9 million years ago [1]. This is a range of 20 million years. The genus, Astarella, is found in a much more extensive range, 326.4 to 247.2, or 79.2 million years. TwoRead More →