Tag Archives: fossils

Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A terebratulid brachiopod from the Middle Triassic of southern Israel

mwilson April 14, 2013 1:19 am

Sure, I could have picked a pristine shell from our collection, but I like the rugged character of this one. It is the terebratulid brachiopod Coenothyris oweni Feldman, 2002, from the lower Saharonim Formation (Middle Triassic) of Har Devanim, southern … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A camerate crinoid from the Lower Carboniferous of north-central Ohio

mwilson April 7, 2013 1:57 am

Visitors often bring rocks and fossils to the Geology Department for identification. We love to solve the puzzles (or at least make the attempt), and our new friends appreciate names and ages for their treasures. (Usually. We’ve disappointed more than … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A pretty little fish from the Eocene of Wyoming

mwilson March 31, 2013 1:10 am

Most people have seen this fossil fish type. Geologists, in fact, have probably seen Knightia eocaena Jordan, 1907, thousands of times. It is present in nearly every gift shop that sells fossils, usually as small plaques or glued to refrigerator … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A grazed oyster from the Middle Jurassic of Gloucestershire, England

mwilson March 24, 2013 1:46 am

This small oyster is not in itself unusual. In fact, it is one of the most common fossils in the Jurassic of western Europe: Praeexogyra acuminata (Sowerby, 1816). It may be better known by its older name: Ostrea acuminata. Local … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: Cast of a lower jawbone of the largest ape ever (Pleistocene, southern China)

mwilson March 17, 2013 1:42 am

The above is one of my favorite “fossils”, a commercially-available cast of the lower jawbone of Gigantopithecus blacki, a giant extinct ape. It was produced from an actual Pleistocene fossil found in a cave near Liucheng, Guangxi, in southern China. … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A brittle star from the Upper Jurassic of Germany

mwilson March 10, 2013 1:38 am

Wooster geologists have again greatly benefited from the donation of a collection by an alumnus. George Chambers (’79), a successful professional photographer, sent us several boxes of minerals, rocks and fossils he had acquired in his lifelong passion for geology. … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossils of the Week: More bryozoan etchings and an African slug surprise

mwilson March 3, 2013 1:45 am

This is the inside of a modern cockle shell (Dinocardium vanhyningi) found on a beach in Wilmington, North Carolina. Across the surface is a radiating series of pits, each of which was formed under a zooid of an encrusting cheilostome … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: A bryozoan etching (Upper Ordovician of Indiana)

mwilson February 24, 2013 1:27 am

Another trace fossil of a sort this week. Above you see the dorsal valve exterior of a strophomenid brachiopod from the Upper Ordovician of southeastern Indiana. Across the surface is a network of grooves looking a bit like a spider … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: Encrusting tubes from the Devonian of Michigan

mwilson February 17, 2013 1:52 am

The scanning electron microscope (SEM) image above shows the tubes of the encrusting group known as hederelloids. They are among my favorite fossils. I was reminded of them recently while reading this advertisement for a novel in which, to my … Continue reading →

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Wooster’s Fossil of the Week: Sea urchin bites from the Upper Cretaceous of southern Israel

mwilson February 10, 2013 1:16 am

What you see above is a bit of oyster shell with some curious small gouges in it. The oyster is Ilymatogyra (Afrogyra) africana (Lamarck, 1801) from the En Yorqe’am Formation (Cenomanian) exposed in Hamakhtesh Hagadol, southern Israel. The deep scratches … Continue reading →

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