Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A colonial scleractinian coral from the Pliocene of Cyprus

Cladocora_585This week’s fossil is another from the collection made in 1996 on a Keck Geology Consortium expedition to Cyprus with Steve Dornbos as a Wooster student. Steve and I found a spectacular undescribed coral reef in the Nicosia Formation (Pliocene) near the village of Meniko (N 35° 5.767′, E 33° 8.925′). Finding a reef was a surprise because the unit is mostly quartz silt, which is not a sediment you usually associate with coral reefs. It was an advantage, though, because the silt was poorly lithified and could be easily removed from the fossils. The significance of this reef was that it represents the early recovery of marine faunas following the Messinian Salinity Crisis and the later refilling of the Mediterranean basin (the Zanclean Flood). Steve and I published our observations and analyses of this reef community in 1999.

The coral is a species of the genus Cladocora Ehrenberg, 1834. This genus, a member of the Family Caryophylliidae, ranges from the Late Cretaceous to today, so it is a hardy group. This may be because it is unusually diverse in its habits, ranging from the shallow subtidal down to at least 480 meters, and including both zooxanthellate (containing symbiotic photosynthesizing organisms called zooxanthellae) and azooxanthellate (with no such symbionts) species. Since our fossils lived in shallow water, they were almost certainly zooxanthellate.

(Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user Esculapio)

(Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user Esculapio)

Cladocora is still found today in the Mediterranean (see the above Cladocora caespitosa). Like all zooxanthellate scleractinian corals, these shallow species of Cladocora obtain their nutrition from the byproducts of their photosynthetic symbionts and a diet of small animals (mostly arthropods and larvae) they collect with their tentacles. These tentacles are lined with “stinging cells” called nematocysts.
CladocoraSpondylus_585Our Pliocene Cladocora formed the framework of a reef at least six meters high and 50 meters wide. It had many shelled organisms living entwined in the branches of the coral, like the bivalve Spondylus pictured above. You can see the corallites (individual tubes) embedded in the shell.
EhrenbergChristianGottfried_585Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (1795-1876) named the genus Cladocora from specimens in the Red Sea. He was a German naturalist and explorer who is often credited with founding the field of micropaleontology (the study of microfossils such as foraminiferans, ostracodes and diatoms). He earned an M.D. at the University of Berlin and remained on the university staff for his entire career. He was no homebody, though, traveling as a scientist throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East, Central Asia and Siberia. (His first expedition to the Middle East was an adventure, as you can read at the link.) He was the first to prove that fungi reproduce via spores, to describe the anatomy of corals, and to identify plankton as the source for marine phosphorescence. Ehrenberg was also the first to discover microfossils in rocks, noting that some rocks (like chalk) are made almost entirely of them. His best known books include Reisen in Aegypten, Libyen, Nubien und Dongola (1828; “Travels in Egypt, Libya, Nubia and Dongola”) and Die Infusionsthierchen als volkommene Organismen (1838; “The Infusoria as Complete Organisms”). That last concept (“volkommene Organismen” or “complete organisms”) was his idea that even the smallest organisms had all the working organs of the largest. That one didn’t go so well!

References:

Cowper Reed, F.R. 1935. Notes on the Neogene faunas of Cyprus, III: the Pliocene faunas. Annual Magazine of Natural History 10 (95): 489-524.

Cowper Reed, F.R. 1940. Some additional Pliocene fossils from Cyprus. Annual Magazine of Natural History 11 (6): 293-297.

Dornbos, S.Q. and Wilson, M.A. 1999. Paleoecology of a Pliocene coral reef in Cyprus: Recovery of a marine community from the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 213: 103-118.

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Citizen scientist to the rescue (in more ways than one)

StephLizzie110913NEW LONDON, OHIO–The Wooster paleontologists spent a pleasant afternoon with our favorite amateur fossil collector Brian Bade. Brian has been mentioned in this blog previously for the many important fossils he has found and donated. He is a spectacular citizen scientist with a deep love (some would say obsession) with fossils of all kinds. He has a tremendous collection of fossils from the region and elsewhere carefully cataloged as to formations and localities. He knows what specimens may have scientific importance, and he has always been most generous with his time and fossils.

Today Steph Bosch (’14), Lizzie Reinthal (’14) and I visited Brian to examine specimens he recently collected from the Waldron Shale (Silurian) exposed in the St. Paul Stone Quarry in St. Paul, Indiana. My colleagues and I need to examine Silurian microconchids from North America and, sure enough, Brian came to the rescue with his collections and eagle eyes. Not only did he have his cleaned and sorted Waldron material laid out for us, he also had segregated specimens that had encrusting microconchids on them. The fossils were fantastic. Check out this webpage to get an idea of the paleontological diversity at this site.

Brian also brought out other trays and boxes of fossils from the Silurian and Early Devonian that had encrusters. Lizzie and Steph proved adept at picking out the tiny microconchids with their bare, young eyes as I struggled with my usual handlens. (This was the typical situation during our fieldwork in Israel this summer as well.) We accumulated several excellent specimens for later study under a Scanning Electron Microscope. Brian once again came through with critical fossils collected with all the right information for scientific analysis.

And the other rescue by Brian? You can see the situation in the image below. After all the driving I did in exotic places this summer, I managed to burrow into deep mud in Brian’s front yard. My little car was completely mired. (Note the smirking students in the background getting ready to tweet photos.) Brian has a tractor, fortunately enough, and a long chain. I left behind two deep trenches in his grass, and a little bit of my pride.
CarStuck110913

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: Very common orthocerid nautiloids from the Siluro-Devonian of Morocco

Nautiloids585_092313If you’ve been to a rock shop, or even googled “fossil”, you’ve seen these beautiful and ubiquitous objects. They are polished sections through a nautiloid known as “Orthoceras“. We put quotes around the genus name because with these views it is nearly impossible to identify the actual genus, so “Orthoceras” becomes the go-to term for unknown orthoconic (straight) nautiloids. We also do not know exactly where in Morocco these fossils come from, but chances are they were dug out of the Orthoceras Limestone (Siluro-Devonian) exposed near Erfoud in the Ziz Valley near the edge of the Sahara Desert. They are easily excavated, take a nice polish, and look good from almost any angle of cut. People bring these to me often to ask about their origin, so let’s do a Fossil of the Week about the critters.

These fossil nautiloids consisted in life of a long, straight conical shell with internal chambers pierced by a long tube. The shells were originally made of aragonite, but almost all have been replaced and recrystallized with calcite. A squid-like animal produced the shell. Most of its body was in the large body chamber at the open end of the cone. They were effective nektic (swimming) predators during the Paleozoic Era around the world. In some places (like Morocco) nautiloids were so common that their dead shells carpeted shallow seafloors. Nautilus is a living descendant.
SingleNautiloid092313 annotatedIn this closer cross-sectional view of a Moroccan “Orthoceras“, we can identify the critical parts. A = a chamber (or camera); B = the siphuncle (tube running through the center of the shell); C = a septum that divides one chamber from another; D = an orthochoanitic (straight) septal neck of shell that runs briefly along the siphuncle. The white to gray material is crystalline (“sparry”) calcite that filled the empty shell after death and burial.

By the way, you can buy “Orthoceras healing stones“. A quote from that site: “Fossils are believed to increase life span, reduce toxins, anxiety, stress, balance the emotions, make one more confident. Containing supernatural and physical healing powers. They promote a sense of pride and success in business. Healers use fossils to enhance telepathy and stimulate the mind. Traditionally, fossils have been used to aid in  reducing tiredness, fatigue, digestive disorders, and rheumatism.” No wonder paleontologists are always the very image of health and wealth!
BRUGIEREThe genus Orthoceras was named in 1789 by the French zoologist (and physician) Jean Guillaume Bruguière (1749–1798). The only image I could find of him is the small one above. Bruguière earned a medical degree from the University of Montpellier in 1770, but like many aspiring naturalists, he never practiced. He traveled very widely for an 18th Century scientist, usually to pursue living and fossil mollusks on various expeditions. That he was a Republican in revolutionary France probably saved his head, but he lost his income in the turmoil. Most of his descriptions of fossil taxa appeared in print decades after he died on a voyage back from Persia. Of all his taxonomic contributions, the genus Orthoceras is the most widely known.

References:

Histon, K. 2012. Paleoenvironmental and temporal significance of variably colored Paleozoic orthoconic nautiloid cephalopod accumulations. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 367–368: 193–208.

Kröger B. 2008. Nautiloids before and during the origin of ammonoids in a Siluro-Devonian section in the Tafilalt, Anti-Atlas, Morocco. Special Papers in Palaeontology 79, 110 pp.

Lubeseder, S. 2008. Palaeozoic low-oxygen, high-latitude carbonates: Silurian and Lower Devonian nautiloid and scyphocrinoid limestones of the Anti-Atlas (Morocco). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 264: 195-209.

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Wooster Geologists at GSA 2013: Last one standing

And that would be me. This morning I gave a talk about a project Paul Taylor and I have been working on for about two years. In fact, it was about a year ago that I was in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History tracking down specimens for this study. (Thanks again, Kathy Hollis!) Our paper’s title:

Title103013Here is the link to our GSA abstract. It was a fun topic to talk about, and goodness knows I obsessed over the slides for a long time. I’m always pleased to showcase the Scanning Electron Microscopy skills of Paul Taylor:

Slide103013Now I have just a couple brief meetings, then a red-eye flight back to Ohio and home. I’ve now finished my 35th GSA meeting. I think I’m getting the system down.

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Wooster’s Team Utah completes its presentations at the 2013 GSA meeting in Denver

Tricia102913DENVER, COLORADO–Tricia Hall (’14) stands before her 2013 Geological Society of America poster: “Petrologic and kinematic analysis of deformation bands in the Late Cretaceous Sixmile Canyon Formation, central Utah“. She worked hard this summer with Dr. Shelley Judge pounding away at deformation bands to use them as keys to sorting through complex structural events. Kyle Burden (’14) is below with his collaborative poster: “Reconstruction of eruption conditions based on crater rim stratigraphy at Miter Crater, Ice Springs Volcanic Field, Black Rock Desert, Utah“. Michael Williams (’16), Candy Thornton (’14) and Cam Matesich (’14) are also co-authors on this presentation of summer work in the Black Rock Desert with Dr. Judge and Dr. Pollock, along with students and faculty from Albion College.

Kyle102913Team Utah closed out the 2013 Wooster student presentations at the Geological Society of America annual meeting in Denver. The faculty is very pleased … and not a little exhausted!

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The Wooster Geologists of Team Alaska present at the 2013 Geological Society of America Meeting

AndyAbby102913DENVER, COLORADO–We last saw the dynamic tree-coring duo of Abby VanLeuven (’14) and Andy Nash (’14) in wet, muddy, glorious Alaska pursuing their Independent Study research with Dr. Greg Wiles. They cleaned up nicely and today presented two posters at the 2013 annual meeting of the GSA in Denver. Abby is the senior author on the poster above, entitled: “Case studies of divergence along the North Pacific Rim“. On the poster below Andy is the senior author, and it is titled: “Tree-ring dating the neoglacial ice advance of Wachusett Inlet, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, southeast Alaska, USA“.

AbbyAndy102913Well done, Team Alaska!

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Wooster Geologists Alumni Reception at the 2013 Geological Society Annual Meeting in Denver

1385503_699991804083_1509863553_nDENVER, COLORADO–It is a tradition at the annual GSA meeting to have a Wooster Geologists alumni gathering. Here is this evening’s happy crew of current students, faculty and alumni — or at least a snapshot of a continuum of people coming and going. We missed Dr. Greg Wiles, who could not be with us this year. Thirty people were present at some point.

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Team Utah’s first presentation at GSA 2013

Michael102813DENVER, COLORADO–Michael Williams (who chose a particularly impressive shirt and tie today) and Dr. Shelley Judge presented a poster at the Geological Society of America meeting entitled: “Evidence for inflation and deflation in lavas flows west of Miter Crater, Ice Springs Volcanic Field, Black Rock Desert, Utah.” This was the first offering from this year’s Team Utah. Michael proved to be an effective and animated communicator — and possibly the only sophomore presenting at the meeting!

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Geology Independent Study at Wooster highlighted at GSA meeting in Denver

Meagen102813DENVER, COLORADO–This afternoon Dr. Meagen Pollock presented a poster at the Geological Society of America entitled: “The history, current best practices, and future trajectory of the Independent Study (I.S.) program at The College of Wooster“. In this work, co-authored with the other Wooster geology faculty members, Dr. Pollock outlined the structure of I.S. in geology, emphasizing the philosophy behind what we do. It was well attended, from what I saw, and started many interesting conversations about undergraduate research. An advantage of presenting this poster here is that there were several Wooster I.S. students nearby showing their research results.

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Wooster paleontologists present at the Geological Society of America meeting in Denver

Lizzie102813DENVER, COLORADO–Yesterday Oscar Mmari (’14) gave the first presentation from Wooster’s Team Israel 2013 at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver. Today our two paleontologists on the team discussed their posters.

Above is Lizzie Reinthal (’14) cheerfully giving her poster entitled: “Taphonomic feedback and facilitated succession in a Middle Jurassic shallow marine crinoid community (Matmor Formation, southern Israel)“. Her work is co-authored with our friend Howie Feldman. Below Steph Bosch (’14) is ready to discuss her work: “First bryozoan fauna described from the Jurassic tropics: Specimens from the Matmor Formation (Middle Jurassic, Upper Callovian) in southern Israel“. Steph’s poster has the famous palaeontologist Paul Taylor as a co-author.

Steph102813It is great fun to see these students make the transition, both intellectually and physically, from the scorched desert floor of the Negev to such a professional setting. The faculty are very proud.

 

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