Hederelloids: Pulled from obscurity! (Well, maybe …)

PARMA, OHIO–This afternoon I gave a talk at a meeting of the North Coast Fossil Club in this suburb of Cleveland. I chose the poorly-known fossil group called hederelloids as my topic because I knew that many people in that enthusiastic group had likely seen and collected them without knowing. They are very common encrusters on Devonian fossils, especially brachiopods, corals and bryozoans from the Middle Devonian of northwestern Ohio. I was not disappointed as several keen members brought me specimens from their collections or told me about large numbers of hederelloids they can send to me for study. Paul Taylor and I have been studying hederelloids for the past five years (as far as I know we are the only paleontologists in this little subfield!) and believe they may hold a key to some curious events in the Devonian and may expand what we know about lophophorate evolution. We need many more specimens, though, for our systematic work. The hard-working, knowledgeable amateur paleontologists in the North Coast Fossil Club are now going to help! Here is a link to the PowerPoint slides of my hederelloid talk. If you just have to know more, here’s a 2008 Taylor and Wilson hederelloid paper as a pdf.

I very much enjoyed talking with members of this club. They love fossils for their beauty, complexity, and historical wonder. To be able to contribute to science is a bonus.