Ru's Palaeo Galleries http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/ 32 rows en-gb 60 Flowering Plants http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1697575.html The third of the great ages of plants, the Cenophytic (beginning about 100 million years ago) saw the rise to prominence of the angiosperms (flowering seed plants), examples of which are shown here. Thursday 14 May 2009: The third of the great ages of plants, the Cenophytic (beginning about 100 million years ago) saw the rise to prominence of the angiosperms (flowering seed plants), examples of which are shown here.

Nipa burtini (Brogniart), 45 mm fruit of a stemless palm. Ypresian, Lower Eocene, Sheppey, Kent. Sycamore seed, 16 mm long. Muddy Creek Formation. Oligocene. Beaverhead County, Montana, USA. Fruit of plane tree (family Platanaceae), 20 mm. Green River Formation. Eocene. Bonanza, Uinta County, Utah, USA. Beipiaoa spinosa, complete 14 mm spiny fruit of a possible aquatic angiosperm. Early Cretaceous. Yixian, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, China. 3 mm partially opened Cretaceous flower. Main Khun, Tanai Township, Kachin State, Burma (Myanmar). Cenomanian-Albian, ca 100 Ma. Oak flower, 4 mm. Eocene, Baltic. 11 mm Baltic amber with 6 mm flower and three collembolans. Seeds, 4 mm to 16 mm. Eocene London Clay. Includes Anonaspermum rotundatum Reid & Chandler and small ovoid Brasenia ovula (Brongiart). Persea leaf with flower. Green River Formation. Uinta County, Utah, USA. 7 mm flower showing petals and stamens. Green River Formation. Uinta County, Utah, USA. Persea coriacea (Red bay, family Lauraceae) leaf (30 mm) with flower showing stamens (8 mm). Green River Formation. Uinta County, Utah, USA. Early Eocene seagrass (50 mm) with prawn, from Monte Bolca, Italy.

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]]> Thu May 14 2009 Seed Plants http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1697574.html Seed plants (gymnosperms such as seed ferns) date from the Late Devonian, but the second great age of plants, the Mesophytic (Triassic to Early Cretaceous) was their time of dominance. Examples of Palaeozoic seed ferns and early conifer relatives are shown here together with Mesozoic and younger bennettitales, ginkgos, gnetales and conifers. Thursday 14 May 2009: Seed plants (gymnosperms such as seed ferns) date from the Late Devonian, but the second great age of plants, the Mesophytic (Triassic to Early Cretaceous) was their time of dominance. Examples of Palaeozoic seed ferns and early conifer relatives are shown here together with Mesozoic and younger bennettitales, ginkgos, gnetales and conifers.

Artisia, pith cast of the Cordaites plant, Westphalian D, Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA. Ginkgo huttonii (Sternberg) Heer. Scalby Ness, near Scarborough, Yorkshire. Lower Long Nab Member, Scalby Formation, Bathonian, Middle Jurassic. Neuropteris and Alethopteris with coiled Spiropteris sp and Cyclopteris fimbriatus (at extreme right). Field of view is 130 mm high. Upper Sharp Mt Member, Pottsville Formation, underclay of Buck Mountain #5 Coal. Pennsylvanian-Allegheny Series, Upper Carboniferous. St. Clair, Pennsylvania. Whittleseya sp. , 30 mm sporangial cluster. Upper Sharp Mt Member, Pottsville Formation, underclay of Buck Mountain #5 Coal. Pennsylvanian-Allegheny Series, Upper Carboniferous. St. Clair, Pennsylvania, USA. Crossotheca sagittata fertile pinnules of a filicopsid fern, 34 mm concretion. This view shows the lower surfaces of the pinnules with large elongate synangia (spore cases). Westphalian D, Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA. Carpolithus areolatus 12 mm seed, Mazon Creek. Cornucarpus acutus. 18 mm seed of a Cordaite plant. Late Carboniferous, Manning Canyon, Utah, USA. Cordaianthus sp. cone of a Cordaite plant (an early conifer relative), 54 mm. Westphalian D, Piesberg, Germany. Baltic amber with 9 mm Thuja cypress sprig. 32 mm Trigonocarpus on 11 cm matrix packed with pteridosperm and fern leaves. Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri, a giant, 104 mm, single pinnule of a seed fern, Morris, Illinois. Rhabdocarpus multistriatum, a 40 mm pteridosperm ovule. Tonganoxie Sandstone Member, Stranger Formation, Upper Carboniferous. Franklin County, Kansas. USA. Zamites gigas, 30 cm on large slab. Saltwick Formation. Whitby, Yorkshire. Williamsonia bella, complete 40 mm bennetitale Gurvanella liangii, complete 8 mm fruiting structure of a gnetale. Lowest Cretaceous. Yixian, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, China. Elatocladus sp. (or Moresnetia cupules. Moresnetia stem with cupule. Moresnetia, seed-bearing cupules. Moresnetia, bifurcating stems with fructifications. Late Devonian, Dinant, Belgium. Many thanks to Hans Steur for this specimen.

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]]> Thu May 14 2009 Spore Plants http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1697538.html The first great age of plants, the Palaeophytic (Ordovician to Permian) saw the initial development of land floras and a dominance of spore plants such as clubmosses, horsetails and ferns. Thursday 14 May 2009: The first great age of plants, the Palaeophytic (Ordovician to Permian) saw the initial development of land floras and a dominance of spore plants such as clubmosses, horsetails and ferns.

Fertile Pecopteris pinnule, width 19 mm. Each white spot is a cluster of sporangia (spore cases), known as a synangium. Westphalian D, Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA. Calamites suckowii, 26 cm, Crock Hey Opencast, Langsettian (Westphalian A), Lancashire. Detail of Lobatopteris miltoni. 30 cm Stimaria, clubmoss root with rootlets. Crock Hey Opencast, Langsettian (Westphalian A), Lancashire. Cone of a horsetail, 60 mm long Calamostachys ramosa, part and counterpart. Langsettian. Westhoughton, Lancashire. Aglaophyton major, 4mm sporangium with spores. Note thick sporangial wall. Rhynie Chert, Early Devonian. Rhynie, Scotland. Aglaophyton major, detail of spores in sporangium. Aglaophyton major, 4mm sporangium with spores. Note thick sporangial wall. Rhynie Chert, Early Devonian. Rhynie, Scotland. Aglaophyton major, 11 mm branching stem. Rhynie Chert, Early Devonian. Rhynie, Scotland. Lepidodendron loricatum, each leaf cushion measuring 30 mm, bark of a clubmoss from Pella, Iowa, USA. Cluster of Cyperites sp leaves, 125 mm, at a Lepidodendron clubmoss branch tip. Mazon Creek. Lycopsid clubmoss cone, 15 cm in concretion, part and counterpart. Langsettian, Upper Carboniferous. Roof Shales above Wigan 4 Foot Coal Seam, Crock Hey Open Cast, Wigan, Lancashire, England. Found August 30/2004. Large Annularia radiata, 50 mm. Mazon Creek. Asterophyllites equisetiformis, 120 mm tall foliage element of a horsetail, Carbondale Formation, Braidwood, Illinois, USA. 108 mm leaf scar from the stem of a tree fern, megaphyton, Mazon Creek. Lobatopteris miltoni (Artis) Wagner, 1958, frond, 225 mm long, Westphalian D, Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA.

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]]> Thu May 14 2009 "Nautiloids" http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1670803.html This collection contains various Palaeozoic non-ammonoid cephalopods and some Carboniferous to Paleogene nautilids. These have often been grouped together as "nautiloids", but Gabbott (1999), describing Ordovician orthocones with preserved radulae says "Orthocone radula configuration is more similar to that of ammonoids and coleoids than to that of nautiloids." Sunday 22 March 2009: This collection contains various Palaeozoic non-ammonoid cephalopods and some Carboniferous to Paleogene nautilids. These have often been grouped together as "nautiloids", but Gabbott (1999), describing Ordovician orthocones with preserved radulae says "Orthocone radula configuration is more similar to that of ammonoids and coleoids than to that of nautiloids."

Orthocone, 128 mm, with traces of soft part preservation, in micrite. Taylor Formation, Bear Gulch, Fergus County, Montana, USA. Endoceras, 14 cm orthocone cephalopod showing exposed siphuncle. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Blackriverian, Ordovician, Dunn Quarry, Criner Hills, Carter County, Oklahoma, USA. 90 mm nautilid, Lower Chalk, Shepwick Quarry, Uplyme, Dorset, UK. Treptoceras sp, 24 cm orthocone. Waynesville Formation, Cincinnatian Series, Upper Ordovician. Warren County, Ohio, USA. Nanno sp. 47 mm. Decorah Shale, Middle Ordovician. Rochester, Minnesota, USA. 25 mm nautilid. Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Strandoceras sp. 32 mm cyrtocone cephalopod with very fine ornamentation, Llanvirn Series, Hope Shales, Leigh, Shropshire, UK. Pyritized orthocone cephalopod, 59 mm long. Utica Shale Group, near Martinburg, New York State, USA. Tarphyceras sp, a rare nautiloid, 35mm, from the Llandeilo, teretiusculus Shales of Shropshire, UK. 30 mm nautilid with shell preserved. Norian, Triassic. Pardonet Hill, British Columbia, Canada. Dawsonoceras americanum, 15 cm orthocone. Rochester Shale, Middle Silurian. Caleb’s Quarry, New York, USA. Paraphragmites ibex, 37 mm cephalopod with complete mouth border. Lower Leintwardine Formation, Late Silurian. Near Leintwardine, Herefordshire, England. 21 cm complete pyritized orthocone. Hunsruckschiefer, Early Devonian. Bundenbach, Germany. 70 mm Rayonnoceras solidiforme showing complex siphuncle. Carboniferous, Arkansas. Paracenoceras hexagonum, 36 mm. Lower Bathonian, Middle Jurassic. St Benin d'Azy, Nieve, France. Orthocone (90 mm long) with Barrandia parabolica (40 mm long) and Didymograptus artus. Llanvirn Series, Hope Shales, Minsterley, Shropshire, UK. Cimomia imperialis, 4 cm, London Clay. Isle of Sheppey, Kent, UK. 75 mm nautilid. Jafnayn Formation. Muscat, Oman. 27 mm nautilid (?Tylonautilus), Early Permian, Actubinskaya region, Kazakhstan. 38 mm nautilid, Early Permian, Actubinskaya region, Kazakhstan.

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]]> Sun Mar 22 2009 Coleoids http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1657612.html Here's a group of fossil coleoids (dibranchiate cephalopods) from Carboniferous hematitids (Carboniferous belemnoids are discussed by Doguzhaeva et al. 2003) to Mesozoic and Paleogene belemnitids and Mesozoic teuthids. Several of these show soft part preservation, including tentacles and ink sacks. Sunday 22 February 2009: Here's a group of fossil coleoids (dibranchiate cephalopods) from Carboniferous hematitids (Carboniferous belemnoids are discussed by Doguzhaeva et al. 2003) to Mesozoic and Paleogene belemnitids and Mesozoic teuthids. Several of these show soft part preservation, including tentacles and ink sacks.

Acrocoelites sp., belemnite, 10 cm, Upper Lias, Early Jurassic. Whitby, North Yorkshire. Complete 24 mm coleoid, 3D in pyrite. Early Callovian, Middle Jurassic, Ravin des Mines at La Boissine, to the west of the town of La Voulte-sur-Rhône in Ardèche in Southern France. Length to width ratio of the body is a little over 2. Head and arms make up 37% of total length and the arms seem to be webbed. Proportions are most similar to Gramadella. Hematites barbarae, 93 mm coleoid. Fayetteville Shale, Upper Mississippian. Washington County, AR, USA. One of three coleoid genera known from the Mississippian. The order Hematitida (Doguzhaeva, Mapes and Mutvei, 2002), family Hematitidae (Gustomesov, 1976). Formerly classified in order Aulacocerida or Aulacoceratida. Cuspiteuthis tabularis (Youngibelus tubularis), 25.5 cm belemnite, Upper Lias, Whitby, North Yorkshire. Jeletzkyteuthis agassizi (DESLONGCHAMPS, 1835), very rare 17 cm teuthid cephalopod in pyritic concretion. Upper Lias, falcifer zone, exaratum subzone, Jet Rock. Hawsker, N Yorkshire. (see Doyle 1990). According to Doyle this species can be distinguished from the similar Loligosepia by its Duvalia sp, 54 mm, Late Jurassic, France. This has an unusual highly laterally compressed guard. Height is 17 mm whereas width reaches 5 mm. Hematites barbarae, 29 mm coleoid. Fayetteville Shale, Upper Mississippian. Washington County, AR, USA. Belemnite, Passaloteuthis paxillosus (63mm) with ammonite (Garantiana cf garantiana 14mm) and brachiopod (Lobothyris punctata 30mm x 30mm). Inferior Oolite, Garantiana Zone, Middle Jurassic. Burton Bradstock, Dorset, UK. 7 cm Trachyteuthis, complete with soft part preservation. Cenomanian Stage, Cretaceous. Hjoula Lebanon. A possible vampyromorph (Fuchs and Schultze 2008). Slender 43 mm gladius with L/W > 8. 6 cm complete teuthoid. Cenomanian Stage, Cretaceous. Hjoula Lebanon. This one has a much broader gladius than the Trachyteuthis (L/W about 5). Detail showing ink sack. Belemnitella mucronata, 8 cm, chalk, Late Maastrichtian. Eben empel, Vise, Belgium. 40 mm coleoid Styracoteuthis orientalis Crick 1905 from the Paleogene Jafnayn Formation of Oman. Belemnitella mucronata, 8 cm. Chalk, Late Maastrichtian. Eben empel, Vise, Belgium. Hibolites jaculoides, 53 mm individual. Speeton Clay, Hauterivian, Early Cretaceous. Speeton, Yorkshire. Belemnella lanceolata lanceolata (Schlottheim) , 8 cm in chalk. Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous. Nasilow, Poland. 66 mm coleoid Styracoteuthis orientalis Crick 1905 from the Paleogene Jafnayn Formation of Oman. Belosaepia blainvillei Deshayes, 14 mm, terminal prong of an Eocene squid. nr Ghent, Belgium. The spine and corona at the tip of modern Sepia from the local beaches here look very similar. Spirula spirula, 15 mm internal shell. Recent, Madagascar. A tiny (9 mm) belemnite, Suebibelus pressulus of the Late Jurassic, Sengenthal, Germany.

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]]> Sun Feb 22 2009 Ammonoids http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1657567.html A selection of ammonoids, from Devonian anarcestids through clymeniids, goniatites and ceratitids to ammonites and their heteromorph representatives. Sunday 22 February 2009: A selection of ammonoids, from Devonian anarcestids through clymeniids, goniatites and ceratitids to ammonites and their heteromorph representatives.

Goniatite, very lightly pyritized, 25 mm across, with perfect mouth border and the siphuncle visible in the inner whorls. Early Devonian, Bundenbach, Germany. The Lytoceratida arose from the Phylloceratida at around the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. This is Lytoceras cornucopia, 60 mm, from the Upper Lias, Early Jurassic. Ravenscar, North Yorkshire, UK. Psiloceras planorbis, 35 mm. Lower Lias, Early Jurassic. Redcar, North Yorkshire. Cheiloceras sp. Lower Famennian, Devonian, Kowala Fm, S Holy Cross Mountains, Poland. Goniatite (Tornoceratatina), Pseudoclymenia sp. Lower Famennian, Devonian, Kowala Fm, S Holy Cross Mountains, Poland. Anahoplites planus, 57 mm. Gault Clay, Albian, Lower Cretaceous, Westerham, Nr. Folkestone, Kent, UK. Polonoceras sp, Lower Famennian, Devonian, Kowala Fm, S Holy Cross Mountains, Poland. Clymeniid (Cyrtoclymeniina), Praeflexiclymenia tenuis. Lower Famennian, Devonian, Kowala Fm, S Holy Cross Mountains, Poland. Goniatites sp, 25 mm. Visean, Cracoe, Yorkshire, UK. Muensteroceras aff truncatum, 27 mm. Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Goniatite, ?Nomismoceras sp, 52 mm. Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Schloenbachia varians, 39 mm ammonite. Lower Chalk, Lower Cenomanian, Cretaceous, Evershot, Dorset. Anetoceras sp, 44 mm, one of the earliest ammonoids and an important zone fossil for the Hunsrück Slate. Early Devonian, Bundenbach, Germany. Anthracoceras sp, 32 mm showing preservation of mandibles. Heath Shale Formation. Bear Gulch Limestone. Bear Gulch, Fergus County, Montana, USA. Large (8 cm) three-dimensionally preserved goniatite Cancelloceras (Gastrioceras) listeri from the Phylloceras heterophyllum, 220 mm, Upper Lias, Lower Jurassic. Saltwick Bay near Whitby, North Yorkshire. Harpoceras falcifer, 115 mm. Sandsend Whitby, N,Yorks England. Upper Lias, Bituminous shale 180 million years old. Aegasteroceras sagittarium, 10 cm, polished to show pyritized sutures and calcite fill of chambers. Lower Lias, Frodingham Ironstone, Early Jurassic. Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, UK. Beyrichoceras sp., 33 mm. Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Arcestes sp, 35 mm. Reitzi Zone, Mid Triassic. Epidavros, Greece. The aperture is strongly constricted. Lewy (1996) interpreted body chambers with such apertures in terms of a floating egg case with the young hatched from tiny eggs feeding on the corpse of the mother (as in modern Argonauta octopods). Halorites macer, 78 mm. Norian, Columbianus Zone, Late Triassic. Bihati, Timor, Indonesia. Leptosphinctes cf davidsoni, 9 cm, with lappet. Middle Jurassic, Freshwater, Dorset, UK. Cadomites dorni, 33 mm, with elaborate lappet. Bajocian, Middle Jurassic. Sengenthal, Germany.Microconch, thought to be male. Pseudogarantiana minima, 36 mm with lappet. Bajocian, Middle Jurassic. Sengenthal, Germany. Oecotraustes cf. fuscus , 27 mm with elaborate lappet. Microconch, thought to be male. Glochiceras (Coryceras) microdomus, 30 mm with fine lappet. Malm Gamma. Drügendorf, Germany. Scaphites equalis, 27 mm long. Chalk, Middle Cenomanian, Upper Cretaceous. Uplyme, Dorset, UK. Hyphantoceras reussianum, 35 mm. Turonian, Cretaceous. Foerth/Halle,Germany. Ammonitella and first straight section of Polyptychoceras, 3 mm. Late Cretaceous. Hokkaido, Japan. Manticoceras sp., 27 mm goniatite. Hatch Formation, Late Devonian. Ontario County, New York, USA. Cymaclymenia sp., 35 mm. Lower Famennian, Devonian, Kowala Fm, S Holy Cross Mountains, Poland. Two phylloceratid ammonites (Sturia, 35 mm and Flexoptychites, 28 mm) from the Mid Triassic Hallstat Limestone facies of the Greek Triassic. Phylloceratida is the order that gave rise to all post-Triassic ammonoids. Late Jurassic ammonite with Lamellaptychus, 3 cm. Solnhofen, Germany. A 5 cm heteromorph ammonite from the Early Cretaceous of Walsh River, Queensland, Australia. Oecoptychius refractus, a bizarre-looking 20 mm ammonite with an elaborate aperture featuring a scoop and two lappets. Callovian, Mid Jurassic. Deux Sevres, France. Microconch, thought to be male. Uraloceras sp. 45 mm. Early Permian. Actubinskaya region, Kazakhstan. Popanoceras sp. 38 mm. Early Permian. Actubinskaya region, Kazakhstan. Polyptychoceras obstrictum, 107 mm. Late Cretaceous. Hokkaido, Japan. Plesioturrilites brazoensis (Roemer), 65 mm. Grayson Formation. Late Cretaceous. Bryan County, Oklahoma, USA. A sinistrally coiled example. Muramotoceras sp. 60 mm. Late Cretaceous. Hokkaido, Japan. A dextrally coiled example. Gyroceratites gracilis, 11 mm showing finely preserved protoconch. Early Devonian, Morocco. Dimorphic pair of Taramelliceras and Creniceras from the French Jurassic. Detail of protoconch in a Devonian clymeniid, 10 mm across, from Budesheim, Germany. Bochianites neocomiensis, 46 mm orthoconic ammonite showing constriction near mouth border. Upper Valanginian, Early Cretaceous. Drome, France. Bactrites gracilis (Sandberger), 16 mm excellent pyritized example. Frasnian, U. Devonian. Wallersheim, Büdesheim, Eifel, Germany.

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]]> Sun Feb 22 2009 Cretaceous Amber http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1613615.html The oldest ambers with included animal fossils date back to the Cretaceous, with the best known occurrences being those from Lebanon, France, Burma and New Jersey (USA). This small collection consists of examples from Burma and New Jersey. The New Jersey examples come from the Raritan Formation (Turonian, ca 90 Ma), excavated (from lignite occurring 6 to 10 feet below the surface) by Jon Stanislawczyk, at a locality near Sayreville, New Jersey, USA. The amber was produced by a forest of Cupressaceae in a warm temperate or sub-tropical environment (Grimaldi et al. 2000). The burmite examples are of Cenomanian-Albian (ca 100 Ma) age and come from Main Khun, Tanai Township, Kachin State, Burma (Myanmar). Burmese amber was formed by a conifer, perhaps Metasequoia, in a tropical palaeoenvironment (Grimaldi 2003). There are some fine illustrations of the flow of low viscosity resin in these specimens. See the multi-flow pendulous "stalactite" from New Jersey (upon which a wasp landed only to be engulfed by the next flow) and the longitudinally stretched wasp from Burma. One of the Burmese dipterans also shows both wings swept forwards against the head. Wednesday 19 November 2008: The oldest ambers with included animal fossils date back to the Cretaceous, with the best known occurrences being those from Lebanon, France, Burma and New Jersey (USA). This small collection consists of examples from Burma and New Jersey. The New Jersey examples come from the Raritan Formation (Turonian, ca 90 Ma), excavated (from lignite occurring 6 to 10 feet below the surface) by Jon Stanislawczyk, at a locality near Sayreville, New Jersey, USA. The amber was produced by a forest of Cupressaceae in a warm temperate or sub-tropical environment (Grimaldi et al. 2000). The burmite examples are of Cenomanian-Albian (ca 100 Ma) age and come from Main Khun, Tanai Township, Kachin State, Burma (Myanmar). Burmese amber was formed by a conifer, perhaps Metasequoia, in a tropical palaeoenvironment (Grimaldi 2003). There are some fine illustrations of the flow of low viscosity resin in these specimens. See the multi-flow pendulous "stalactite" from New Jersey (upon which a wasp landed only to be engulfed by the next flow) and the longitudinally stretched wasp from Burma. One of the Burmese dipterans also shows both wings swept forwards against the head.

Here is a great rarity, a 7mm mantid from the Cretaceous amber of Sayreville, New Jersey, USA. The front legs are 8 mm long, one extended to the left, the other folded double in classic mantid pose. Another view of the New Jersey Cretaceous mantid. See Grimaldi (2003) for a revision of the Cretaceous mantids and illustrations of the other two known New Jersey mantid specimens. A 1mm parasitic wasp lying beneath the 7mm mantid (whose antennae are visible in this image), from the Cretaceous of Sayreville, New Jersey, USA. Drawing of the New Jersey mantid. A 12 mm amber “stalactite” with 3 mm hymenopteran. Raritan formation, Sayreville, New Jersey, USA. Several successive flows of a very low viscosity resin can be seen here. The wasp landed on the surface of the pendulous stalactite and was trapped by the following flow. The projecting portions of the wings were then flattened by the next flow. Hit full size to see this better. Drawing (in progress) of the New Jersey wasp on resin Spectacular thysanopteran in New Jersey amber, a little less than 2 mm. Detail of thysanopteran wing. Female scale insect, 3 mm, with smaller individual. New Jersey amber. Female scale insect, 3 mm, with smaller individual. New Jersey amber. 6 mm winged insect in New Jersey amber. Photographed under water. view of limbs on right hand side. Detail of head and eye. Detail of head and thorax. A 1 mm wasp in burmite. 2mm parasitic wasp in burmite. Dipteran (gnat), 2.5 mm in burmite with wings swept forwards around its head and a 0.5 mm mite. Note the spines on the tibiae of the gnat. A 1 mm mite in burmite. A tiny mite in burmite. A tiny mite in burmite. Nematocera, 3 mm in burmite. Nematoceran detail. Barklouse, ca. 3 mm, in burmite. Worm in burmite, perhaps an oligochaete, see Poinar Jr., G.O. 2007. Annelids in amber (Oligochaeta: Enchytraeidae). 3 mm partially opened flower, Burma. Detail of 3 mm partially opened flower, Burma. A beautifully delicate curved petal or small leaf in burmite. Female biting midge in burmite, 3 mm, with spectacular mouthparts. Borkent (1996) says Brachyceran fly, about 1.5 mm, Burma. Polyxenid millipede, 2 mm, in burmite. Polyxenid millipede, 4 mm, caught in the process of moulting. 3 mm spider in burmite. Detail of small wasp associated with the New Jersey mantid. Eye lenses and hairy clubbed antennae are well seen. Datail of small wasp associated with the New Jersey mantid. Another view of the stalactite and wasp with just back lighting. Hit full size to see this better. The wasp looks very like a bethylid, but also the scolebythid Boreobythus turonius Engel & Grimaldi 2007. Unfortunately a thin layer of microscopic bubbles obscures the prosternum and propleuron. A 4mm spider in New Jersey amber. Detail of 4 mm spider in New Jersey amber showing fangs. The pedipalps are curved under the head. A 1 mm mite in burmite. There is a red bulbous object attached to the underside of this mite and it looks like the body of an even smaller mite, such as a tortoise mite. These little guys (Uropodidae) attach themselves to a carrier animal with a rigid stalk. Insect larva, ca 1.5 mm. Raritan formation, Sayreville, New Jersey, USA. A small ( 2mm) wasp in burmite dismembered by longitudinal stretching in flowing resin. Plant debris is also aligned into parallelism with the direction of flow. Dipteran, Nematocera, Chironomidae (midge) with hairy antennae and slender wings nicely shown (1.5 mm) in Burmese amber. Sternorrhynchan (Coccoidea) in New Jersey amber. Small wasp in New Jersey amber (note bubble beneath abdomen). Detail of head and antennae showing two ocelli between large eyes on the side of the head. Burmite coleopteran, 2 mm. Face to face! Burmite with ?fungal fruiting body, slightly longer than 1 mm. and here's one in our garden.

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]]> Wed Nov 19 2008 The Yorkshire Jurassic http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1612366.html The Yorkshire Jurassic contains both beautiful marine fossils and terrestrial deposits with finely preserved plants and dinosaur footprints. A small selection is shown here, from the coast between Whitby and Scarborough. Sunday 16 November 2008: The Yorkshire Jurassic contains both beautiful marine fossils and terrestrial deposits with finely preserved plants and dinosaur footprints. A small selection is shown here, from the coast between Whitby and Scarborough.

Ginkgo huttonii (Sternberg) Heer. Scalby Ness Plant Bed, Long Nab Member, Scalby Formation, Bathonian, Scalby Ness, near Scarborough, Yorkshire. Representative of the deciduous maidenhair tree. See van Konijnenburg-van Cittert & Morgans (1999). Lytoceras cornucopia, 60 mm, Upper Lias, Lower Jurassic. Ravenscar, North Yorkshire. Dactylioceras commune, 75 mm diameter, complete with peristome. Commune Zone, near Whitby, North Yorkshire, UK. Hildoceras sublevisoni, 115 mm. Kettleness, North Yorkshire. Caloceras johnstoni, 50 mm, Holderness Coast, North Yorkshire. Mike Marshall preparation. Androgynoceras maculatum, 55 mm. with bivalves and brachiopod. Lower Lias, Robin Hoods Bay. Mike Marshall preparation. Arnioceras semicostatum, 35 mm, Lower Lias, Robin Hoods Bay, North Yorkshire. Mike Marshall preparation. Grammoceras thouarsense, specimen with 14 ammonites ranging from 60 to 15 mm, Upper Lias, Ravenscar, North Yorkshire. Mike Marshall preparation. Spectacular sauropod print cf Brontopodus ichnosp., cast in sandstone, 37 cm, Scalby Formation, Middle Jurassic, Burniston Bay, North Yorkshire. Acrocoelites sp., belemnite, 100 mm, Upper Lias, Whitby, North Yorkshire. Hyspidocrinus scalaris, 90 mm x 70 mm. Lower Lias, Robin Hoods Bay near Whitby, North Yorkshire. Mike Marshall preparation. Whitby jet with encrusting serpulid worms. 80 mm long. Unio sp, 8 cm complete freshwater bivalve, Saltwick Formation, Aalenian, Middle Jurassic, Whitby, North Yorkshire. Crocodile skull, Steneosaurus bollensis, 135 mm juvenile. Whitby. North Yorkshire. View from above. Crocodile Steneosaurus vertebrae, each is 5 cm long. Upper lias, Bituminous shales, 180 Million Years Old, Sandsend Nr Whitby, N Yorks England. Phylloceras heterophyllum, a spectacular 22 cm ammonite, Upper Lias, Lower Jurassic. Portmulgrave, North Yorkshire. Mike Marshall preparation. Harpoceras falciferum, 115 mm. Upper Lias, Bituminous Shale, Sandsend, Whitby. Mike Marshall preparation. Very rare 17 cm teuthid cephalopod in pyritic concretion. Upper Lias, falcifer zone, exaratum subzone, Jet Rock. Hawsker, N Yorkshire. Doyle 1990. Cuspiteuthis tabularis, 25.5 cm excellent belemnite, Upper Lias, Whitby, North Yorkshire. Drawing of a crinoid, Pentacrinites dichotomus, detail of 145 x 70 mm specimen (now in Andy Tenny collection), Upper Lias, Whitby, North Yorkshire. The stem, covered by numerous grasping cirri is visible at the base and terminates in the calyx. The arms show four orders of branching and fine pinnules at the top of the image.

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]]> Sun Nov 16 2008 Corals through Time http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1604834.html The rock pools down the hill from our house contain a variety of species of living corals (more than a hundred species in fourteen families have been documented in these coastal communities, Claereboudt 2006). The house is built on Eocene limestones that also contain corals, some of them beautifully silicifed. In the Hajar mountains behind us corals can also be found in Permian limestones and other reef building forms also occur, such as rudist bivalves in the Cretaceous and algal stromatolites and thrombolites in the Ediacaran. Here are some images of corals, ranging in age from the Ordovician to the present. They come from North America, Germany, the United Kingdom and Oman. Subclasses Tabulata, Rugosa and Zoantharia are all represented. Sunday 2 November 2008: The rock pools down the hill from our house contain a variety of species of living corals (more than a hundred species in fourteen families have been documented in these coastal communities, Claereboudt 2006). The house is built on Eocene limestones that also contain corals, some of them beautifully silicifed. In the Hajar mountains behind us corals can also be found in Permian limestones and other reef building forms also occur, such as rudist bivalves in the Cretaceous and algal stromatolites and thrombolites in the Ediacaran. Here are some images of corals, ranging in age from the Ordovician to the present. They come from North America, Germany, the United Kingdom and Oman. Subclasses Tabulata, Rugosa and Zoantharia are all represented.

Zaphrentis sp., a solitary coral, 45 mm long. Hunsruckschiefer, Early Devonian, Bundenbach, Germany. Pleurodictyum sp, a 12 mm juvenile compound coral, Order Favositida, Family Micheliniidae. Hunsruckschiefer, Early Devonian, Bundenbach, Germany. Tetradium cellulosum, complete 16 cm tabulate coral (Order Tetradiida) head with associated bryozoans, ostracods, crinoids, brachiopods, bivalves, gastropods and trilobite parts. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry, Oklahoma, USA. Lonsdaleia floriformis (Fleming), 9 cm colony, Family Axophyllidae. Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, UK. Michelinia tenuisepta, 55 mm coral, Order Favositida, Family Micheliniidae. Visean, Lower Carboniferous, Avon, UK. Michelinia tenuisepta, 55 mm coral, Order Favositida, Family Micheliniidae. Visean, Lower Carboniferous, Avon, UK. Lithostrotion portlocki (Bronn), 85 mm polished colonial coral, Family Lithostrotionidae. Visean, Ribblehead, Yorkshire, UK. Goniopora websteri, Family Poritidae. Marsh Farm Formation at Bracklesam Bay, West Sussex, England. Seven species of this genus can be found living in the coastal waters near Muscat. Favosites venustum (Order Favositida) 6.5 cm colonial coral with encrusting bryozoans. Rochester Shale, Middle Silurian, Caleb’s Quarry, New York, USA. Favosites favosus (Order Favositida) 3 cm colonial coral. Rochester Shale, Middle Silurian, Caleb’s Quarry, New York, USA. Enterolasma calcuium, 3.5 cm and Favosites venustum 1.5 cm colonial coral. Rochester Shale, Middle Silurian, Caleb’s Quarry, New York, USA. 10 cm silicified coral, Pseudodiplocoenia oblonga from the Portlandian Jurassic Portland Beds. Tisbury, Wiltshire, UK. Isastrea limitata, 9 cm. Great Oolite. Gloucestershire, UK. Balanophyllia caliculus, Red Crag. From the long infilled Upper Pliocene Newbournian Red Crag pits near Ipswich, Suffolk, England. Thecosmilia annularis (Fleming), 7 cm coral. Corallian Beds, Oxfordian, Upper Jurassic. Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire, England. Sphenotrochus intermedius, 6 mm. Red Crag. From the long infilled Upper Pliocene Newbournian Red Crag pits at Waldringfield, near Ipswich, Suffolk, England. Dendrophyllia sp. 6 cm coral colony. Eocene (Lutetian), Seeb Formation. Ras Al Hamra, near Muscat, Oman. Porites sp. coral, detail of 9 cm colony. Corallites are 1 mm or less in diameter. Eocene (Lutetian), Seeb Formation. Ras Al Hamra, near Muscat, Oman. Qurm rockpools, Muscat, Oman. Charactophyllum nanum, 78 mm. Lime Creek Formation Rockford, Iowa, USA. Pachyphyllum crassicostatum, 47 mm. Lime Creek Formation Rockford, Iowa, USA. Hexagonaria occidens, 46 mm. Martin Formation, Jerome Member Pine, Arizona, USA. Halysites catenularius (Order Halysitida) , 70 mm. Devonian. Muscatine, Iowa, USA. Parasmilia fittoni, 27 mm coral. Upper Chalk, Campanian. East Harnham, Wiltshire, UK. Detail of spectacular flabello-meandroid colonial coral, 23 cm. Eocene (Lutetian), Seeb Formation. Ras Al Hamra, near Muscat, Oman. The only modern flabello-meandroid coral in Oman is Euphyllia divisa (Claereboudt 2006). ?Flabellum sp (e.g. F. Clarki known from the Eocene of California). Habellum woodii, 35 mm. Red Crag. Early Pliocene, Zanclean Stage. Sudbourne, Suffolk, England. Calceola sandalina 25 mm. Mid Devonian. Skaly, Eifel, Poland. View of operculum. Flabellum roisyanum Milne-Edwards et Haime. 25 mm coral. Miocene, Lower Tortonian. Korytnica, Poland. Eocene coral, 40 mm, Ras Al Hamra, Muscat, Oman. Eocene coral, 45 mm, Ras Al Hamra, Muscat, Oman. Isastrea sp, 4.6 cm polished specimen. Fault-scarp boulder beds. Oxfordian, Upper Jurassic. Helmsdale,Scotland.

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]]> Sun Nov 2 2008 Cenozoic Amber http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1578747.html Amber is in some ways the best preserving medium of fossil plants and animals known. The fossils are preserved in three dimensions, with great surface detail, and allow snapshots of interactions between animals - such as an ectoparasitic mite sucking the haemolymph of its victim, a swarm of nematodes parasitizing a beetle, acts of mating and an ant queen carrying her domesticated honeydew provider. No other style of exceptional fossil preservation can compare. This small collection of Baltic amber illustrates the fantastic diversity of plants and small animals preserved in fossilized resin from the Eocene Baltic forest. I have also added a few Dominican amber specimens (Miocene, tropical palaeoenvironment), including a fabulously rare vignette of ant-homopteran symbiosis (two other alate females with mealybugs are known) and an example of parasitic nematodes infesting a platypodid beetle. Sunday 14 September 2008: Amber is in some ways the best preserving medium of fossil plants and animals known. The fossils are preserved in three dimensions, with great surface detail, and allow snapshots of interactions between animals - such as an ectoparasitic mite sucking the haemolymph of its victim, a swarm of nematodes parasitizing a beetle, acts of mating and an ant queen carrying her domesticated honeydew provider. No other style of exceptional fossil preservation can compare. This small collection of Baltic amber illustrates the fantastic diversity of plants and small animals preserved in fossilized resin from the Eocene Baltic forest. I have also added a few Dominican amber specimens (Miocene, tropical palaeoenvironment), including a fabulously rare vignette of ant-homopteran symbiosis (two other alate females with mealybugs are known) and an example of parasitic nematodes infesting a platypodid beetle.

Baltic amber, fruticose lichen, 23 mm in 47 mm amber. Poland. Baltic amber, 4 mm oak flower. Lithuania. Baltic amber, 6 mm long-petaled flower with three collembolans. Russia. Baltic amber, 3.5 mm pseudoscorpion.Lithuania. Baltic amber, 7 mm spider with superbly preserved web. Lithuania. Baltic amber, detail of spider web. Baltic amber with a parasitic mite sucking the haemolymph from the head of a gnat. Lithuania. Baltic amber with 16 mm harvestman (Opiliones). Lithuania. Baltic amber with 16 mm harvestman (Opiliones), detail. Baltic amber with 8mm scolopendrid centipede. Lithuania. Baltic amber (Lithuania) with a beautiful wasp. Baltic amber with 4 mm ant. Lithuania. Baltic amber with 4 mm ant. Lithuania. Baltic amber with ant and ant larva. Poland. Just yesterday (27/12/08) I watched ants carrying larvae as one of those very rare floods in Oman threatened their nest. Drawing of the ant bound for the feast. Baltic amber, 6 mm click beetle. Lithuania. Baltic amber (Lithuania) with a beautiful 2 mm beetle. Baltic amber with 2 mm aphid showing proboscis. Poland. Baltic amber with a pair of mating flies, 5 mm. Lithuania. Baltic amber with a 4 mm moth fly egg laying in a final reflexive action. Lithuania. Baltic amber with 6 mm insect larva. Lithuania. Baltic amber with 3mm dipteran showing the humped thorax. The rounded wings and long beaded antennae suggest Cecidomyiidae (gall midge). Baltic amber, with biting midge, ca. 1 mm. Lithuania. Baltic amber with 3 mm empidid dance fly showing the distinctive antennae and proboscis. Lithuania. Baltic amber with a 3 mm moth. Lithuania. 1 mm thysanopteran in Baltic amber. Poland. Baltic amber (Lithuania) with 13 mm cockroach. Baltic amber, 5 mm isopod in ventral view, Lithuania. Fabulous winged Acropyga sp ant (3 mm) in Dominican amber carrying a scale insect (mealybug) in her jaws on her nuptial flight to provide honeydew in her new nest (see Johnson e al. 2001). A delightful example of the earliest definitive record of symbiosis between ants and homopterans. with side lighting. Another view. with side lighting. Detail of the mealybug ventral side. with side lighting. This is Electromyrmococcus inclusus Williams & Agosti 2001. Sweet! 10 mm bee in Baltic amber. Poland. Baltic amber Thuja. Poland. Baltic amber Thuja. Poland. Baltic amber with 1 mm mite. Lithuania. Baltic amber (Poland) with a 3 mm ant of the family Leptanillinae. The wonderful thing about this specimen is that the ant has been wrapped for the feast in spider web. Face to face with an Eocene ant (formicinae), Baltic amber, Poland. Baltic amber, 5 mm isopod in dorsal view, Lithuania. Dominican amber, Miocene, pupa (?ant). Dominican amber, Miocene, a sweet platypodid (3 mm), one of a couple in this piece of amber. Dominican amber, Miocene, two 3mm winged ants. Slender 7 mm ant in Dominican amber. 3mm ant in Dominican amber. Detail showing swarm of nematodes noted by the sharp eyes of George Poinar (who is currently studying this specimen).

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]]> Sun Sep 14 2008 Chalk Seas http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1557068.html Chalks were widely deposited during the Cretaceous. They represent the accumulation of marine algae (coccoliths) in marine environments that received very little clastic input from the continents. I remember collecting urchins and corals from the chalk at Dover whilst waiting for the ferry to France. Prepared with a toothbrush and water these revealed amazingly fine details. Here is a small collection of fossils from Cretaceous chalk, mainly from the UK, but with others from Kansas and Lebanon (in a laminated sub-lithographic limestone). Wednesday 6 August 2008: Chalks were widely deposited during the Cretaceous. They represent the accumulation of marine algae (coccoliths) in marine environments that received very little clastic input from the continents. I remember collecting urchins and corals from the chalk at Dover whilst waiting for the ferry to France. Prepared with a toothbrush and water these revealed amazingly fine details. Here is a small collection of fossils from Cretaceous chalk, mainly from the UK, but with others from Kansas and Lebanon (in a laminated sub-lithographic limestone).

Nautilus sp, 90 mm complete nautiloid, Lower Chalk, Shepwick Quarry, Uplyme, Dorset, UK. Ptychodus sp. crushing tooth of a shark or ray, 24 mm. Chalk, Dover, Kent, England. Schloenbachia varians, 39 mm ammonite. Lower Chalk, Lower Cenomanian, Cretaceous, Evershot, Dorset. Hoploparia longimana. Upper Greensand, Aptian, Lower Cretaceous. Charmouth, near Lyme Regis, Dorset, England. 15 cm excellent with limbs preserved. Neohibolites minimus. 3 cm and 2 cm individuals. Gault Clay, Albian, Lower Cretaceous. Heath and Reach, Bedforshire. 10.5 cm Antedon pinnulata comatulid crinoid. Cenomanian, Cretaceous. Hjoula Lebanon. Teuthid, 6 cm from the Cenomanian of Lebanon. Juvenile shark, 14 cm from the Cenomanian of Lebanon. Fabulously rare Galatheoid decapod “squat lobster”. Mid Cenomanian, Hajoula, Lebanon. Slab is 11 cm tall. Micraster cortestudinarium 4 cm Chalk, Turonian. Charnage Quarry, Mere, Wiltshire. Offaster pilula, 3 cm complete echinoid. Campanian, O. Pilula Zone, Hursley, Hampshire, UK. Holaster subglobosus. 38 mm. Cenomanian. Shakespear cliff, West of Dover, Kent, UK. Gautheria radiata 24 mm, White Chalk of Beachy Head, Kent, UK. Scaphites equalis, 27 mm long. Chalk, Middle Cenomanian, Upper Cretaceous. Uplyme, Dorset, UK. Gibbithyris cf media, 37 mm shell. Upper Albian, Hunstanton, Norfolk. Terebratula sp. 25 mm. Lower Chalk. Capel-le-Ferne, Folkestone, Kent. Porosphaera globularis. 10 to 15 mm. Upper Chalk. Pegwell Bay, Ramsgate, Kent, UK. Parasmilia fittoni, 27 mm coral. Upper Chalk, Campanian. East Harnham, Wiltshire. Mantis shrimp, Pseudosculda, 35 mm from the Cenomanian of Lebanon. Cyclobatis major, 17 cm long. Mid Cretaceous, Mid Cenomanian (~93 mya). Hajoula, Lebanon. Crinoid, Uintacrinus socialis, 6cm, Niobrara Chalk, Kansas, USA. Bourgueticrinus hureae. Upper Chalk, Turonian, Upper Cretaceous. Pegwell Bay, Kent, England. 14 mm calyx and stem. Crab, Geryon, 3 cm from the Cenomanian of Lebanon. Teuthid, 7 cm from the Cenomanian of Lebanon.

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]]> Wed Aug 6 2008 Mazon Creek http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1503134.html The Late Carboniferous fauna and flora of the Mazon Creek area of Illinois, USA are slightly younger (Westphalian D) and, in part, more marine-influenced than those of the English Pennine Basin (illustrated elsewhere in these pages). The Mazon Creek assemblages are exceptional in that they contain the fossilized record of truly soft-bodied forms such as worms, jellyfish, hydroids and lampreys, in addition to beautifully preserved arthropods, molluscs and vertebrates (Nitecki 1979, Shabica & Hayes 1997). Many more Mazon Creek fossils can be seen in the crustaceans, xiphosurans, worms and chordates galleries. Friday 2 May 2008: The Late Carboniferous fauna and flora of the Mazon Creek area of Illinois, USA are slightly younger (Westphalian D) and, in part, more marine-influenced than those of the English Pennine Basin (illustrated elsewhere in these pages). The Mazon Creek assemblages are exceptional in that they contain the fossilized record of truly soft-bodied forms such as worms, jellyfish, hydroids and lampreys, in addition to beautifully preserved arthropods, molluscs and vertebrates (Nitecki 1979, Shabica & Hayes 1997). Many more Mazon Creek fossils can be seen in the crustaceans, xiphosurans, worms and chordates galleries.

25 mm winged neopteran insect from Pit 11, Mazon Creek. Complete articulated 8 mm bivalve (?Myalinella) at end of 35 mm burrow, Mazon Creek. Tullymonstrum gregarium. Francis Creek Shale, Pennsylvanian-Desmoinesian, Upper Carboniferous. Pit 11, Peabody Coal Mine, Braidwood, Illinois. Excellent complete in 11 cm concretion. Complete proboscis and tail preserved. Probable heteropod. Tullymonstrum gregarium. Francis Creek Shale, Pennsylvanian-Desmoinesian, Upper Carboniferous. Pit 11, Peabody Coal Mine, Braidwood, Illinois. Excellent complete in 11 cm concretion. Complete proboscis and tail preserved. Probable heteropod. Glaphurochiton concinnus (Richardson). Francis Creek Shale, Pennsylvanian, Desmoinesian. Pit 11, Braidwood, Illinois. 20 mm complete chiton. 169. Myalinella meeki, 12 mm. Mazon Creek. Lingula sp, 7 mm specimen, Pit 11, Mazon Creek. Strobeus, 7 mm gastropod on 65 mm Essexella. Mazon Creek. Dunbarella sp. 14 mm. Pit 11, Mazon Creek. Drawing of the Adelophthalmus specimen. 15 mm blattodean nymph, Pit 11, Mazon Creek. A complete specimen of the rare eurypterid Adelophthalmus mazonensis 60 mm long with Annularia leaf whorl, from Mazon Creek. This specimen has an exceptionally long telson. A large neopteran (Order Protorthoptera) insect, 5 cm long. Anthracomedusa turnbulli. 85 mm exceptionally complete cubomedusan. Chowder Flats. Anthracomedusa turnbulli, a large complete individual, drawing. Octomedusa pieckorum, 15 mm complete in 25 mm concretion, mouth visible. Francis Creek Shale, Desmoinesian, Pennsylvanian, Upper Carboniferous. Pit 11, Peabody Coal Mine, Braidwood, Illinois. Reticulomedusa greeni, 35 mm excellent, part and counterpart. Francis Creek Shale, Desmoinesian, Pennsylvanian, Upper Carboniferous. Chowder Flats, Morris, Illinois, USA. Drevotella proteana Fine 55 mm hydrozoan in concretion. Etacystis communis, 40 mm excellent. Francis Creek Shale, Pennsylvanian-Desmoinesian, Upper Carboniferous. Pit 11, Peabody Coal Mine, Braidwood, Illinois. Escumasia roryi Fine 60 mm, Mazon Creek, part and counterpart. Probable tunicate. A Tullymonstrum gregarium, 8 cm complete. Francis Creek Shale, Pennsylvanian-Desmoinesian, Upper Carboniferous. Pit 11, Peabody Coal Mine, Braidwood, Illinois. 8 cm excellent in concretion. Complete proboscis and tail preserved. One eye bar visible. Probable a heteropod. 25 mm archaeognathan apterygote insect from Pit 11, Mazon Creek. A terrestrial myriapod, Euphoberia tracta, Approximately 90 mm around the curve, from Mazon Creek. Latzelia primordialis 27 mm complete centipede, Mazon Creek.

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]]> Fri May 2 2008 Early Ordovician Fauna of Morocco http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1492716.html This Early Ordovician fauna from Morocco is reminiscent of Chengjiang in preservational style. The fossils were once pyritized, but are now oxidized to iron oxy-hydroxides and small oxidized pyrite framboids can be observed scattered in the mudstone matrix. Arthropods and echinoderms are commonly preserved in an articulated state. Limbs of arthropods are well preserved and soft-part preservation has been seen in specimens of machaeridian worms and graptolites. Some of the faunal elements are reminiscent of the preceding Cambrian (for example the sponges and marrelamorph arthropods) whereas others record the growing importance of echinoderms in the Ordovician and the appearance of horseshoe crabs. Sunday 13 April 2008: This Early Ordovician fauna from Morocco is reminiscent of Chengjiang in preservational style. The fossils were once pyritized, but are now oxidized to iron oxy-hydroxides and small oxidized pyrite framboids can be observed scattered in the mudstone matrix. Arthropods and echinoderms are commonly preserved in an articulated state. Limbs of arthropods are well preserved and soft-part preservation has been seen in specimens of machaeridian worms and graptolites. Some of the faunal elements are reminiscent of the preceding Cambrian (for example the sponges and marrelamorph arthropods) whereas others record the growing importance of echinoderms in the Ordovician and the appearance of horseshoe crabs.

Detail of counterpart. An Early Ordovician xiphosurid, 45 mm long exhibiting preservation of limbs. Basal Upper Fezouata Formation (lower Arenig, or lower Floian), north of Zagora, SE Morocco. This form is currently being studied by Peter van Roy of UCD. Undescribed synziphosuran arthropod, 6 mm long. Basal Upper Fezouata Formation (lower Arenig, or lower Floian), north of Zagora, SE Morocco. Hyolithids, 10 mm. Basal Upper Fezouata Formation (lower Arenig, or lower Floian), north of Zagora, SE Morocco. Pirania auraeum, a complete 13 mm non-lithistid demosponge. Basal Upper Fezouata Formation (lower Arenig, or lower Floian), north of Zagora, SE Morocco. 22 mm asaphid trilobite with a 5mm juvenile and a bivalve. Basal Upper Fezouata Formation (lower Arenig, or lower Floian), north of Zagora, SE Morocco. Drawing of Early Ordovician xiphosurid, 45 mm long exhibiting preservation of chelicera, chelate limb and pushing limb. A primitive asteroid, 2 cm. Basal Upper Fezouata Formation (lower Arenig, or lower Floian), north of Zagora, SE Morocco. Possible tube feet are preserved. Cothurnocystis sp. carpoid, 2 cm. Basal Upper Fezouata Formation (lower Arenig, or lower Floian), north of Zagora, SE Morocco. Cothurnocystis sp. carpoid, 2 cm. Basal Upper Fezouata Formation (lower Arenig, or lower Floian), north of Zagora, SE Morocco. Rhopalocystis destombesi , 5 cm crown of an eocrinoid in part and counterpart. Upper Tremadoc, Zagora region, SE Morocco. Furca sp (short spine form), 25 mm. Ca 480 Million years old. Basal Upper Fezouata Formation (lower Arenig, or lower Floian), north of Zagora, southeastern Morocco. Pustulose trilobite and a number of well-preserved limbs, 10 mm with graptolite. Basal Upper Fezouata Formation (lower Arenig, or lower Floian), north of Zagora, SE Morocco. A primitive asteroid, 2 cm. Basal Upper Fezouata Formation (lower Arenig, or lower Floian), north of Zagora, SE Morocco. Possible tube feet are preserved. A carpoid, 2 cm around the curve. Basal Upper Fezouata Formation (lower Arenig, or lower Floian), north of Zagora, SE Morocco. Rhopalocystis destombesi , 5 cm crown of an eocrinoid in part and counterpart. Upper Tremadoc, Zagora region, SE Morocco. Pustulose trilobite and a number of well-preserved limbs, 10 mm with graptolite. Basal Upper Fezouata Formation (lower Arenig, or lower Floian), north of Zagora, SE Morocco.

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]]> Sun Apr 13 2008 Palaeozoic Chordates http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1479097.html Here is a small selection of Palaeozoic chordate specimens, with the fishes amongst them representing Superclass Agnatha (jawless fish) and Superclass Gnathostomata (fish with jaws). They range in age from Early Cambrian to Late Carboniferous. Amongst the jawless fishes we have here representatives of the Cephalaspidomorphi (order Petromyzontiformes) and Heterostraci. Amongst the jawed fishes we have representatives of the Placodermi, Chondrichthyes, Acanthodii, Sarcopterygii and Actinopterygii. The Mazon Creek amphibian, is a great rarity, showing soft-part preservation, but the Linton animal shows even more detail. Saturday 22 March 2008: Here is a small selection of Palaeozoic chordate specimens, with the fishes amongst them representing Superclass Agnatha (jawless fish) and Superclass Gnathostomata (fish with jaws). They range in age from Early Cambrian to Late Carboniferous. Amongst the jawless fishes we have here representatives of the Cephalaspidomorphi (order Petromyzontiformes) and Heterostraci. Amongst the jawed fishes we have representatives of the Placodermi, Chondrichthyes, Acanthodii, Sarcopterygii and Actinopterygii. The Mazon Creek amphibian, is a great rarity, showing soft-part preservation, but the Linton animal shows even more detail.

Class Cephalaspidimorphi (order Petromyzontiformes). Mayomyzon pieckoensis a 45 mm complete lamprey. Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA. Class Placodermi. Gemuendina stuertzi. Ray-like placoderm fish, 20 cm wide. Wingertshell Member, Kaub Formation. Haikouella lanceolata, a craniate-like chordate, 35 mm in length. Ercai Village, Haikou, Kunming; Lower Cambrian Maotianshan Shale. Chengjiang County, Yunnan Province, China. Haikouella lanceolata, a craniate-like chordate, 35 mm in length. Ercai Village, Haikou, Kunming; Lower Cambrian Maotianshan Shale. Chengjiang County, Yunnan Province, China. Class Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fishes). Rhabdoderma exiguum, 45 mm coelacanth. Pit 11, Peabody Coal Mine, Braidwood, Illinois. Coelacanths were relatively abundant in Carboniferous times. Haikouella lanceolata, a craniate-like chordate, 35 mm in length. Ercai Village, Haikou, Kunming; Lower Cambrian Maotianshan Shale. Chengjiang County, Yunnan Province, China. Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes). Elonichthys peltigurus, complete 38 mm, palaeoniscoid fish. Near Morris, Illinois, USA. Class Acanthodii. Acanthodian (spiny shark) Acanthodes sp, 40 mm long, with well-preserved eyes, spines and tail. Near Morris, Illinois, USA. This is clearly not a fish, but it is a possible tunicate. Vetulicolia cuneata, an excellent complete 7 cm example from the Lower Cambrian of Chengjiang, China (see Aldridge et al. 2007 for a review). Class Heterostraci. Cyathaspis banksi, 42 mm headshield of an early heterostracan fish. Downton Castle Sandstone Formation. Downton Castle, Herefordshire. Gilpichthys greeni, an agnathan fish, 65 mm long. Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA. Esconichthys apopyris. An agnathan vertebrate of uncertain affinities, 60 mm long. Note the clearly preserved eyes. Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA. Class chondrichthyes. A beautiful Palaeoxyris shark eggcase fromMazon Creek, Illinois, USA. Acantonescus cracens, 142 mm palaeoniscoid fish. Heath Shale Formation. Bear Gulch Limestone. Bear Gulch, Montana. Phlegethontia longissima, an extremely scarce 45 mm snakelike amphibian from Pit 11, Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA. The specimen shows a body impression, as illustrated in another specimen by Anderson (2002). A beautifully preserved Ptyonius nectridian from Linton, Ohio, USA.

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]]> Sat Mar 22 2008 Bacterial Beginnings http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1475384.html The first three gigayears of life on the planet ......................... Sunday 16 March 2008: The first three gigayears of life on the planet .........................

Baicalia sp. Stromatolite. Mesoproterozoic Era, ca. 1.5 – 1.2 billion years. Wumishan Formation, near Beijing, China. Banded ironstone Formation, Palaeoproterozoic Era, Siderian Period (ca. 2.4 to 2.3 billion years old). Port Handford, Western Australia, 20 x 7 cm polished specimen. The fine-scale alternation of iron-rich and silica-rich bands is clearly visible in this specimen, interpreted to be a record of seasonal fluctuations in photosynthetic activity. Oxygen produced reacted with dissolved iron to precipitate iron oxides. The Siderian Period is named for the abundance of Banded Iron Formations, which peaked just after the Archaean-Proterozoic boundary. Domal stromatolite, 25 cm, viewed in an inverted position. Khufai Formation (Early Ediacaran Period, Neoproterozoic Era). from Domal stromatolite, 25 cm, viewed in an inverted position. Khufai Formation (Early Ediacaran). from Stromatolite, 15 cm, Khufai Formation (Early Ediacaran). from Hadrophycus immanus. Archaean (ca 2.6 billion years old), 148 x 100 mm, an early example of a stromatolite. Libby Supergroup, Nash Fork Shear Zone, Libby Flats, Medicine Bow Range, Wyoming, USA. Late Archean (Neoarchean Era) stromatolites are about as common as in Proterozoic strata. Hadrophycus immanus. Archaean (ca 2.6 billion years old), detail, an early example of a stromatolite. Libby Supergroup, Nash Fork Shear Zone, Libby Flats, Medicine Bow Range, Wyoming, USA. Goblet shaped macrofossils with approximately hexagonal symmetry occur nestled among the algal thrombolites of the late Ediacaran. Namacalathus in silicified thrombolite, Ediacaran, Fara Formation, Oman. Google Earth image of the Zaris sub-basin, Namibia, looking west towards the Namib Desert. Google Earth image of Oman showing Ediacaran fossil localities: Khufai Formation (Camp 2, Huqf area) and Wadi Bani Awf in the north. Khufai Formation stromatolite localities, Huqf area, Oman. Google Earth view showing Wadi Bani Kharus, Wadi al Hijayr and Wadi Bani Awf Ediacaran sites. 20/3/2008. Wadi Bani Kharus. Permian on Ediacaran. 20/3/2008. Wadi al Hijayr. Permian on Ediacaran. Cloudina, Ara Formation, Ediacaran, Oman. Cloudina, Driedoornvlagte thrombolite bioherm (approximately, Omkyk Member, Kuibis subgroup, Ediacaran, Nama Group (Zaris sub-basin), Namibia. Individual Cloudinas range up to 13 mm long and 5 mm in diameter.

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]]> Sun Mar 16 2008 A Carboniferous Reef http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1474537.html The small collection illustrated here is a representative sample of the early Carboniferous reef (and associated) limestone fauna of England. Many of these are from limestones (Visean, Asbian) near Castleton in Derbyshire. I have added a few additional specimens from the USA, with the echinoderms being good examples of complete animals that are more usually found in a less articulated state in England. Friday 14 March 2008: The small collection illustrated here is a representative sample of the early Carboniferous reef (and associated) limestone fauna of England. Many of these are from limestones (Visean, Asbian) near Castleton in Derbyshire. I have added a few additional specimens from the USA, with the echinoderms being good examples of complete animals that are more usually found in a less articulated state in England.

Taxocrinus and Lepidocidaris shumardiana (echinoid) on 9 x 8 cm slab. Lower Carboniferous, Warsaw Formation, Adams County, Illinois, USA. Pentremites godoni. Lower Carboniferous. St Clair County, Illinois, USA. 2 cm fine blastoid with stem and pinnules. Lonsdaleia floriformis (Fleming), 9 cm colony, Coalbrookdale, Shropshire. Michelinia tenuisepta, 55 mm coral. Visean, Lower Carboniferous, Avon. Straparollus pentangulatus (J. Sowerby), 60 mm gastropod. Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Dictyoclostus semireticulatus (Martin), 45 mm, Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Brachythyris pinguis (J. Sowerby), 3 cm, Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Pleuropugnoides aff pleurodon, 22 mm, Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Pentremitid. Lower Carboniferous. Derbyshire, England. 15 mm blastoid. Ellipticoblastus sp, Lower Carboniferous. Derbyshire, England. 10 and 13 mm calyces. Codaster acutus. Lower Carboniferous.Settle, Yorkshire, England. 13 mm. Clear food grooves, hydrospire folds and anus in adoral view. Goniatites sp, 25 mm. Visean, Cracoe, Yorkshire, UK. Pugnax acuminatus, 55 mm, Visean, Cracoe, Yorkshire, UK. Euconospira conica (?), 38 mm complete gastropod with some preserved colour banding. Parkhouse Hill, Derbyshire, UK. Detail of relic colour banding. Posidoniella vetusta, 7 cm, Visean, Cracoe, Yorkshire, UK. Schizophoria resupinata, Visean, 72 mm complete. Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Spirifer sp, 53 mm, Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Beecheria sp, 30 mm terebratulid. Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Rhynchonellid, 15 mm, Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Lithostrotion portlocki (Bronn), 85 mm polished coral, Visean, Ribblehead, Yorkshire. Streblopteria sublobata bivalve, 21 mm, with preserved colour banding. Parkhouse Hill, Derbyshire, UK. Straparollus rotundatus, 13 mm gastropod. Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Goniatite, 52 mm. Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Four Stalticodiscus milleri (Sharman & Newton) edrioasteroids, 8 to 10 mm diameter. Early Asbian, Lower Carboniferous, Pendruddock, near Penrith, Cumbria, UK. Overtonia 20 mm with spines and bryozoan. Visean B2, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. View of Treak cliff fore-reef slope (28/7/2006). View of Treak cliff fore-reef slope from Mam Tor (28/7/2006). The apron reef itself was an algal reef. Corals are almost absent in the reef, but occur in places in the shelf limestone. Small nautiloid, 25 mm. Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire. Pentremites godoni (Defrance), 22 mm, showing preservation of original colour banding. Lower Chesterian Elwren Formation, Kentucky, USA. Brachioles are well preserved in this specimen. Type 2 colour pattern of Beaver & Fabian (1998). Pholidocidaris irregularis (Meek & Worthen, 1869), 11.5 cm. Lower Mississippian Osagean Stage. Crawfordsville, Indiana, USA. Beyrichoceras sp., 33 mm. Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Muensteroceras aff truncatum, 27 mm. Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Spirifer striatus, 49 mm, Visean, Treak Cliff, Castleton, Derbyshire, UK. Amphoracrinus gigas calyces and stem. Visean. Clitheroe, Lancashire. Weberides, Weardale. Peripristis semicircularis, 10 mm. Carboniferous, Visean, Monsale Dale Limestone. Sheldon, Derbyshire, UK. Petalorhynchus sp, 15 mm. Carboniferous, Visean, Monsale Dale Limestone. Sheldon, Derbyshire, UK. “Cladodus”, excellent tooth with two crushing teeth. Burlington Limestone, Middle Mississippian. Biggsville, Henderson County, Illinois, USA. Orodus sp. 15 mm excellent tooth of a hybodont shark. Burlington Limestone, Middle Mississippian. Biggsville, Illinois, USA. Onychaster flexilis, 4 cm. Lower Mississippian Osagean Stage. Crawfordsville, Indiana, USA.

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]]> Fri Mar 14 2008 Eocene Emergence of Modern Reef Communities http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1471457.html Here in the warm sea of Oman a great variety of reef-associated fish and invertebrates can be observed. Fossils of remarkably similar forms can be found in the Eocene limestones exposed along the coast near Muscat. These include a diversity of corals, echinoids, molluscs and forams. The most celebrated exceptionally preserved marine fauna of this age is that of Monte Bolca in northern Italy (Middle Cuisian, Early Eocene, Trevisani et al. 2005). The spectacular fish fauna found here has been described as the earliest clearly defined coral reef assemblage (Bellwood 2005). The fish fossils are associated with crustaceans, worms, and plants. The fossils represent mass kills resulting from algal blooms and the associated toxicity. We see this in Omani coastal waters every summer during upwelling events and sometimes later in the year (such as yesterday, 12/11/08). Saturday 8 March 2008: Here in the warm sea of Oman a great variety of reef-associated fish and invertebrates can be observed. Fossils of remarkably similar forms can be found in the Eocene limestones exposed along the coast near Muscat. These include a diversity of corals, echinoids, molluscs and forams. The most celebrated exceptionally preserved marine fauna of this age is that of Monte Bolca in northern Italy (Middle Cuisian, Early Eocene, Trevisani et al. 2005). The spectacular fish fauna found here has been described as the earliest clearly defined coral reef assemblage (Bellwood 2005). The fish fossils are associated with crustaceans, worms, and plants. The fossils represent mass kills resulting from algal blooms and the associated toxicity. We see this in Omani coastal waters every summer during upwelling events and sometimes later in the year (such as yesterday, 12/11/08).

Similar to seamoths, robust ghostpipefish and short dragonfish in the modern seas, these are opportunistic feeders that collect mainly epifaunal and interstitial invertebrate prey such as crustaceans and worms from the sediment-water interface. This is Ramphosus aculeatus, a fabulously rare teleost fish fossil (Order: Syngnathiformes; Family: Ramphosidae), 58 mm long from the Early Eocene of Monte Bolca, northern Italy. Barracudas are at the top of the coral reef food pyramid. This is Sphyraena bolcensis, a 15 cm juvenile barracuda from the Early Eocene of Monte Bolca, northern Italy. Annelids like this are commonly predated upon by corals in modern reefs. This one is roughly 200 mm along its axis. Early Eocene. Monte Bolca, northern Italy. Associated with leaves up to 140 mm long. Goniopora websteri, 65 mm, Marsh Farm Formation, Eocene, at Bracklesam Bay, West Sussex, England. Seagrass (Cymodocea sp) encrusted with epibionts in the form of tiny gastropods. Early Eocene. Monte Bolca, northern Italy. Nautilus, gastropods and echinoids from the Middle Eocene Seeb Formation, near Muscat, Oman. The large echinoid at the back measures approximately 10 cm. Coral (Dendrophyliidae), 6 cm, from the Middle Eocene Seeb Formation, near Muscat, Oman. Moonfish, Mene rhombeata Volta (1796), an Actinopterygian fish (Order: Perciformes; Family: Menidae), length 12.5 cm. Early Eocene. Monte Bolca, northern Italy. This is the iconic symbol of the Monte Bolca fish beds. Mene is known to school (Lee et al., 1988) and is often found near the bottom, where it feeds primarily on copepods, shrimp, and fish larvae (Luo, 1982).” Here in Oman we have Mene maculata. A cardinalfish, Apogon spinosus, 33 mm long with seagrass on 10 x 9 cm matrix. Early Eocene. Monte Bolca, northern Italy. Cardinalfishes are nocturnal. During the day they mostly hide in crevasses and under ledges whereas at night they feed on zooplankton. Most cardinalfish species are mouth brooders, this role being performed by the male. Squilla antiqua, 25 mm mantis shrimp. Early Eocene. Monte Bolca, northern Italy. Small prawn, Penaeus bolcensis, 24 mm long with seagrass blades. Early Eocene. Monte Bolca, northern Italy. An imagined Eocene marine scene with cast of characters from Monte Bolca and Oman (my first and only attempt at an oil painting!).

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]]> Sat Mar 8 2008 Wales and the Welsh Borderland http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1467015.html Wales and the Welsh Borderlands have been famous as a rich source of trilobites and other Palaeozoic fossils since the 17th Century. Edward Lhuyd sent a letter in 1698 to Professor Rivinum in Leipzig in which he described trilobites from the Llandeilo district of Dyfed, Wales. Over a century later Murchison (1839) illustrated many more. Later still, in 1863, Salter described the giant trilobite Paradoxides from Porth-y-Rhaw in southwest Wales. Apart from being a key area in the historical development of sedimentology and palaeontology, this was also one of my forming grounds in the geosciences. Here is a small selection of palaeontological images from the Welsh basin and adjacent Midland Platform. Friday 29 February 2008: Wales and the Welsh Borderlands have been famous as a rich source of trilobites and other Palaeozoic fossils since the 17th Century. Edward Lhuyd sent a letter in 1698 to Professor Rivinum in Leipzig in which he described trilobites from the Llandeilo district of Dyfed, Wales. Over a century later Murchison (1839) illustrated many more. Later still, in 1863, Salter described the giant trilobite Paradoxides from Porth-y-Rhaw in southwest Wales. Apart from being a key area in the historical development of sedimentology and palaeontology, this was also one of my forming grounds in the geosciences. Here is a small selection of palaeontological images from the Welsh basin and adjacent Midland Platform.

Salterolithus caractaci, 25 mm, Caradoc Series, Burrelian sub-stage, Upper Ordovician. Harnage Shales Formation. Trilobite Dingle, Welshpool, Powys, Wales. Stapeleyella inconstans (Whittard), Middle Ordovician, Llanvirn Series, Stapeley volcanic group, Linley, Shropshire. 14 mm. Trinucleus acutofinalis, triple 12 and 13 mm complete on 8 x 6 cm matrix. Upper Llanvirn; murchisoni Biozone of Rorrington, Shropshire, UK. Ectillaenus perovalis (Murchison 1839), 35 mm. Llanvirn Series, Abereiddian sub-stage, Shelve Formation, Stapeley Volcanic Member. Minsterley, Shropshire, England. Paradoxides davidis 170 mm. Porth-y-Rhaw, Middle Cambrian, St. David’s, Dyfed, SW Wales. Trinucleus fimbriatus, 24 mm complete fully mature adult. Caradoc (Llandeilo) Series, gracilis Zone, Llanfaur Quarry, Llandrindod Wells, Mid Wales. Lloydolithus lloydi, complete 16 mm wide trilobite, Caradoc (Llandeilo) Series, Meadowtown, Shropshire. Asaphellus homfrayi (Salter), Lower Ordovician, Tremadoc Stage, Shineton Shales, Shineton, Shropshire. 60 mm. Whitardolithus instabilis Hughes, 1971, 15 mm wide complete trinucleid. Lower Ordovician, Llanvirn Series, Llandeillian Sub-stage, Llanfawr Mudstones Formation, teretiusculus Biozone. Maesgwynn, near Builth Wells, Powys, Wales. Calymene blumenbachi, 28 mm complete, Wenlock Series, Lower Silurian. Shadwell, Shropshire. Merlinia selwynii, 5 cm. Henllan Ash Member of the Carnedd Iago Formation, Arenig Series, Lower Ordovician. Wales, UK. The Henllan Ash Member of the. Carnedd Iago Formation contains. Merlinia selwynii, Neseuretus murchisoni and Ampyx sestarum. Named after a myth about Merlin being sealed in a cave with butterflies. Neseuretus parvifrons, 17 mm long. Arenig series, Henllan Ash, Cynwedd, Wales. Degamella gladiata, 1 cm fine, Arenig Series, Ordovician, Mathry, South Wales. Olenus micrurus (Salter 1849), 14 mm. Merioneth Series, Cambrian. Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd,Wales, UK. Barrandia homfrayi, 32 mm. Llanvirn Series, Hope Shales, Minsterley, Shropshire, UK. A rare example with librigenae preserved. Peltura scaraboides, 25 mm. Upper Cambrian, Tremadoc, North Wales. Seleneceme acuticaudata, 24 mm, Llanvirn Series, Hope Shales, Leigh, Shropshire, UK. Salterolithus caractaci, 25 mm, Caradoc Series, Burrelian sub-stage, Upper Ordovician. Harnage Shales Formation. Trilobite Dingle, Welshpool, Powys, Wales. Asaphellus homfrayi (Salter), Lower Ordovician, Tremadoc Series, Migneintian sub-stage, Lower Ordovician, Garth Hill Formation, Y Garth, Gwynned, Porthmadog, North Wales. Glyptagnostus reticulatus, 11 mm. Olenus Zone, Merioneth Series, Upper Cambrian, Outwoods Shales Formation, Mancetter Quarries, Nuneaton district, Warwickshire. See Rushton (1983). Tomagnostus fissus, 5 mm, from the Middle Cambrian, St Davids Series; Plutonites hicksii Biozone of Nine Wells, Pembrokeshire. Raphiophorus Parvulus, Complete 20 mm individual with complete genal and nasal spines preserved, associated with current-aligned monograptid. Bishops Castle, Shropshire, UK. Porterfieldia punctata, 14 mm excellent, Arenig Series, Lower Ordovician, Mathry, South Wales. Shumardia pusilla. 2.5 mm, Tremadoc Series, Basal Ordovician. Arenig, Near Bala, North Wales, UK. Parabolinites Williamsonii, excellent 10 mm specimen in part and counterpart. Upper Cambrian, Dolgellau Series of Trawsfynned, North Wales. Ogygiocarella debuchii. 67 mm long. Ordovician, Uppermost Llanvirn Series, gracilis biozone. Maesgwynne, Powys, Wales, UK. Healed predator damage to front right pygidium can be seen. Ogyginus corndensis (Murchison 1839). Llanvirn Series, Abereiddian sub-stage, artus biozone, Ordovician. Gilwern, Builth Wells, Powys, Wales. A beautiful large and complete specimen, 90 mm long. Barrandia parabolica (40 mm long), Orthoceras sp (90 mm long) and Didymograptus artus, part and counterpart. Llanvirn Series, Hope Shales, Minsterley, Shropshire, UK. Platycalymene tasgarensis tasgarensis. 15 mm. Llanvirn Series, Hope Shales, Minsterley, Shropshire, UK. Barrandia homfrayi, 21 mm complete with librigenae. Llanvirn series, Lower Ordovician, Hope Shales, Minsterley, Shropshire, UK. Degamella nuda (20 mm long), Llanvirn Series, Hope Shales, Minsterley, Shropshire, UK. Selenopeltis inermis inermis , Llanvirn Series, Hope Shales, Minsterley, Shropshire, UK. 28 mm.

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]]> Fri Feb 29 2008 Palaeozoic Fossil Worms http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1462649.html Soft part preservation of fossil worms is known from a number of exceptionally preserved faunas. These include the Early Cambrian of Sirius Passet (which contains the oldest known polychaetes) and Chengjiang; the Mid Cambrian Burgess Shale; the Moroccan Early Ordovician; the Leintwardine Silurian; the Devonian Hunsruck Slate of Germany and the Arkona Shale of Ontario; the Carboniferous of Bear Gulch and Mazon Creek; the Gres de Voltzia and a number of Mesozoic and Tertiary sites. Here is a selection of examples, from Early Cambrian (and just possibly Ediacaran) to Late Carboniferous occurrences. Thursday 21 February 2008: Soft part preservation of fossil worms is known from a number of exceptionally preserved faunas. These include the Early Cambrian of Sirius Passet (which contains the oldest known polychaetes) and Chengjiang; the Mid Cambrian Burgess Shale; the Moroccan Early Ordovician; the Leintwardine Silurian; the Devonian Hunsruck Slate of Germany and the Arkona Shale of Ontario; the Carboniferous of Bear Gulch and Mazon Creek; the Gres de Voltzia and a number of Mesozoic and Tertiary sites. Here is a selection of examples, from Early Cambrian (and just possibly Ediacaran) to Late Carboniferous occurrences.

Esconites zelus. A 40 mm polychaete worm, Pit 11, Braidwood, Illinois. Coprinoscolex elligimus. 40 mm. Francis Creek Shale, Desmoinesian, Pennsylvanian. Pit 11, Braidwood, Illinois. View from beneath concretion. Fastuoscolex, a rare polychaete worm from Pit 11, Mazon Creek. Coprinoscolex elligimus and plant, Mazon Creek. Bundenbachochaeta eschenbachensis 23 mm polychaete worm with the ophiuroid (60 mm) Furcaster palaeozoicus, Wingertshell Member, Kaub Formation, Eschenbach-Bocksburg. Bundenbach, Germany. Priapulid worm, Selkirkia willoughbyi, 31 mm, showing gut trace and proboscis. Marjum Formation. Utah, USA. Filamentous algae with two nematode worms. Algal assemblage. Nematode worm. Bear Gulch, Montana. Maotianshania cylindrica. 55 mm long (if straightened). Early Cambrian, Chengjiang. Priapulites konecniorum a priapulid worm. Trace of gut is visible. See Conway Morris (1977, pg. 65). Paucijaculum samamithion, an unusual 30 mm chaetognath arrow worm. Pit 11, Mazon Creek. Myoscolex ateles Glaessner, 1979, a worm (Dzik 2004) or an opabiniid arthropod showing preservation of muscle bundles in apatite and calcite, 4 cm long. Cape D’Estaing Formation, Emu Bay, South Australia. Myoscolex ateles Glaessner, 1979, a worm (Dzik 2004) or an opabiniid arthropod showing preservation of muscle bundles in apatite and calcite, 4 cm long. Cape D’Estaing Formation, Emu Bay, South Australia. Fastuoscolex, a rare polychaete worm from Pit 11, Mazon Creek. Protoscolex latus Bather 1920, a rare worm, 18 mm long, once thought to be an oligochaete, from the Ludlow Series, Lower Leintwardine Formation, Church Hill, Leintwardine, Herefordshire, UK. Cricocosmia jinningensis. 60 mm long (if straightened) palaeosoclecidan worm on a 28 mm by 25 mm matrix. The spine-covered proboscis is very well preserved and the body sclerites are preserved in relief. Unknown vermiform soft-bodied animal with a jaw apparatus at one end with individual pointed elements reaching 4 mm, 32 mm long. Upper Middle Cambrian, Weeks Formation. Millard County, Utah. Cricocosmia jinningensis. 38 mm outstretched worm. See Han et al. (2007). A wonderful 45 mm Dickinsonia from the White Sea, Russia. Dickinsonia has been compared with spintherid polychaetes, but the similarity may represent convergence. There are some excellent recent images of giant scale worms in the deep Antarctic that help with imagining live dickinsoniids. A lovely flawless 10 cm priapulid from the Middle Cambrian of Millard County, Utah, USA. Lepidocoleus sarlei Clarke 1896,Machaeridian armoured worm, 15 mm. Rochester Shale, Middle Silurian, Caleb’s Quarry, New York, USA. Rhaphidiophorus jistrix, a superbly preserved specimen, 40 mm long in a 60 mm concretion. Francis Creek Shale (Carbondale Formation), Desmoinesian, Pennsylvanian, Upper Carboniferous. Pit 11, Braidwood, Illinois. Didontogaster cordylina. 45 mm. Francis Creek Shale, Chowder Flats, Morris, Illinois. Dryptoscolex matthiesae. 60 mm polychaete worm, Chowder Flats, Morris, Illinois. Esconites zelus. A 75 mm polychaete worm, Pit 11, Braidwood, Illinois. Astreptoscolex anasillosus. Pit 11, Braidwood, Illinois. 45 mm. This is the most abundant annelid in the fauna. Fossundecima konecniorum, 30 mm annelid worm. Francis Creek Shale (Carbondale Formation), Desmoinesian, Pennsylvanian, Upper Carboniferous. Pit 11, Braidwood, Illinois. Hystriciola delicatula. 30 mm. Francis Creek Shale, Desmoinesian, Pennsylvanian, Upper Carboniferous. Pit 11, Braidwood, Illinois. Priapulites konecniorum a priapulid worm. Trace of gut is visible. See Conway Morris (1977, pg. 65). Coprinoscolex elligimus. 40 mm. Francis Creek Shale, Desmoinesian, Pennsylvanian. Pit 11, Braidwood, Illinois. Mazoglossus ramsdelli, a hemichordate animal from Mazon Creek. Paucijaculum samamithion, an unusual 30 mm chaetognath arrow worm. Pit 11, Mazon Creek. Archisymplectites rhothon, a nemertean worm, Chowder Flats, Morris, Illinois. Pieckonia helenae, 65 mm excellent. Francis Creek Shale (Carbondale Formation), Desmoinesian, Pennsylvanian, Upper Carboniferous. Pit 11, Braidwood, Illinois. 95 mm Dryptoscolex matthiesae, Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA. 95 mm Dryptoscolex matthiesae, Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA.

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]]> Thu Feb 21 2008 Fauna of a Silurian Canyon-fill http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1460203.html The laminated siltstone fills of Silurian canyon heads in the Leintwardine district (Herefordshire, UK) have been famous since Victorian times for their diverse echinoderm and arthropod faunas. Here I show some examples of the fauna, together with stratigraphic and palaeogeographic context and 3D model visualizations of the depositional setting (Smith, R.D.A. 2003. Slope-related depositional systems of the Welsh Basin and Welsh Borderland: A field excursion, 30th April to 2nd May 2003. International conference on submarine slopes, Liverpool.) Sunday 17 February 2008: The laminated siltstone fills of Silurian canyon heads in the Leintwardine district (Herefordshire, UK) have been famous since Victorian times for their diverse echinoderm and arthropod faunas. Here I show some examples of the fauna, together with stratigraphic and palaeogeographic context and 3D model visualizations of the depositional setting (Smith, R.D.A. 2003. Slope-related depositional systems of the Welsh Basin and Welsh Borderland: A field excursion, 30th April to 2nd May 2003. International conference on submarine slopes, Liverpool.)

Bdellacoma vermiformis. Paraphragmites ibex, 37 mm cephalopod with complete mouth border. Ceratiocaris. Brandon Hill. Current-aligned Saetograptus leintwardinensis graptolites with crinoid arm from the fill of a submarine canyon. Lower Leintwardine Formation. Ludlow Series, Upper Silurian. Leintwardine, Herefordshire, UK. Current-aligned Saetograptus leintwardinensis graptolites with brachiopod from the fill of a submarine canyon. Lower Leintwardine Formation. Ludlow Series, Upper Silurian. Leintwardine, Herefordshire, UK. In situ current aligned orthoconic cephalopods with Sphaerirynchia brachiopods and a Ceratiocaris telson. Brandon Hill, near Leintwardine. The tapered ends of the orthocones point up-palaeocurrent towards ENE. The phyllocarid telson has adopted an approximately flow-transverse orientation. A series of Current aligned lingulids and rhynchonellid brachiopods. Church Hill. Limuloides limuloides, the prosoma of a primitive horseshoe crab. Church Hill, Leintwardine. Collected April 1983. Protoscolex latus Bather 1920, an extremely rare worm, 18 mm long, once thought to be an oligochaete, from the Ludlow Series, Lower Leintwardine Formation, Church Hill, Leintwardine, Herefordshire, UK. Finely laminated calcareous siltstones with ripple cross-laminated coarse siltstones. Isopach and palaeogeographic map showing Ludlow Series basin and adjacent shelf for the basal Ludfordian Stage, Ludlow Series. Notice the embayment in the Leintwardine to Wigmore area, produced by submarine erosion. Note the steep gradient in isochores across the trace of the Church Stretton Fault. Eastward migration of the shelf-slope break in the Silurian Welsh Basin (Smith 2003). 3D computer model of the shelf edge erosion in the Leintwardine to Wigmore area. From Smith (2003). 3D view of the composite lower Leintwardine shelf edge erosion surface showing the shelfal stratigraphy preserved beneath. The Wigmore Rolls Formation, in grey, is of Wenlock Series Age. Depth of erosion reaches approximately 250 m. From Smith (2003). Current aligned ophiuroid and graptolites. Church Hill. Specimen donated to Ludlow Museum.

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]]> Sun Feb 17 2008 Fossil Crustaceans http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1458949.html I've long had an interest in fossil crustaceans since collecting phyllocarids in the Welsh Borders and Lesmahagow as a teenager. Here's a selection of examples, from Cambrian to Eocene in age. Friday 15 February 2008: I've long had an interest in fossil crustaceans since collecting phyllocarids in the Welsh Borders and Lesmahagow as a teenager. Here's a selection of examples, from Cambrian to Eocene in age.

Concavicaris georgiorum Schram 1990, 1.5 cm, a Thylacocephalan or “flea shrimp” from Pit 11, Mazon Creek. Large eye can be seen to the right. Cyclus sp. A cycloid crustacean, 1.8 cm, uppermost Westphalian A, Cranberry Lea Farm, near Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire, England. Ceratiocaris sp. with curved orthocone. Lower Leintwardine Formation,Upper Silurian Brandon Hill (SO47 40727230), near Leintwardine, Herefordshire, England. 90 mm complete, beautifully preserved fine ornament. Halicyne max. A rare cycloid crustacean. Mazon Creek. Hoploparia longimana, 15 cm complete idividual. Upper Greensand, Inflatum zone, Aptian, Lower Cretaceous. Charmouth, near Lyme Regis, Dorset, England. Group of very rare cycloid crustaceans, 7 to 11 mm diameter, Halicyne montanaensis Schram et al. 2005. Detail of Halicyne montanaensis Schram et al. 2005 individual, 11 mm. Bairdops beargulchensis Schram & Horner, 50 mm complete in micrite. Heath Shale Formation. Bear Gulch Limestone. Bear Gulch, Fergus County, Montana, USA. An 80 mm complete Silurian Ceratiocaris papilio from Lesmahagow, Scotland. Cyclus ?obesus 17 mm wide, showing rare preservation of limbs and antennae. Cyclus ?obesus 17 mm wide, showing rare preservation of limbs and antennae. Cyclus A very rare Kellibrooksia macrogaster, 55 mm, scarce phyllocarid (apparently the best one known) Pit 11, Mazon Creek, Will-Grundy-Kankakee Counties, Mazon Creek, Illinois. Thin leaf-like limbs are preserved in this specimen, apparently unknown in published specimens. Dithyrocaris sp. Three phyllocarid carapaces, 20-28 mm, Mazon Creek. Pygocephalus cooperi. 17 mm moulted abdomen of a freshwater shrimp, uppermost Westphalian A, Cranberry Lea Farm, near Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire, England. Ililepas damrowi, a rare barnacle attached to plant debris, 25 mm. Mazon Creek. Hymenocaris vermicauda Salter 1853, complete phyllocarid crustacean, 40 mm around curve. Tremadoc Series, Lower Ordovician, Borth-y-Gest, Porthmadog, North Wales. Tealliocaris woodwardi. 30 mm, complete shrimp. Wardie Shale, Oil Shale Group (Upper Border Group), Calciferous Sandstone Measures, Mississippian, Lower Carboniferous. Cheese Bay (NT4985), near Gullane and Archerfield, East Lothian, Scotland. Glyphithyreus wetherellli, 25 x 17 mm. London Clay, Eocene. Isle of Sheppey, Kent. Plate from Woodward (1874) showing Silurian Ceratiocaris papilio from lesmahagow, Scotland. Plate from Woodward (1874) showing specimens of Hymenocaris vermicauda Salter 1853 from North Wales. Nahecaris stuertzi, 125 mm long phyllocarid crustacean. Lower devonian. Hunsruckschiefer. Bundenbach, Germany. Canadaspis perfecta, 50 mm phyllocarid crustacean showing excellent preservation of abdomen and limbs. Burgess Shale, Middle Cambrian. British Columbia, Canada. Aenigmacaris cornigerum, a complete 10 cm eumalacostracan shrimp. Heath Shale Formation. Bear Gulch Limestone. Bear Gulch, Fergus County, Montana, USA. Tyrannophontes theridion, 38 mm. Bear Gulch. Montana, USA. Peachocaris strongi. 35 mm. Mazon Creek, Illinois. Peachocaris strongi. 40 mm showing excellent preservation of fine detail. Palaeocaris typus , a syncarid shrimp. 42 mm. Mazon Creek. Palaeocaris typus, a syncarid shrimp. 44 mm. Mazon Creek. Acanthotelson stimpsoni. 50 mm, showing very fine preservation of limbs, Mazon Creek. Tyrannophontes theridion, 38 mm, precursor of the modern mantis shrimp. Belotelson magister, 42 mm. Westphalian D, Mazon Creek. Kallidecthes richardsoni. 55 mm showing tail fan. Pit 11, Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA. Kallidecthes richardsoni. 60 mm. Morris, Illinois, USA. Paraparchites mazonensis ostracods, Pit 11, Mazon Creek. Mamyocaris jaskowski (or gracili ) complete individual with finely preserved antennae and limbs. Length 37 mm. A rare Triops notostracan crustacean (12 mm) from the German Triassic. These are also known as Complete Triops sp (similar to T. numidicus), 65 mm long, in finely laminated matrix. Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota. Yixian,Liaoning, China. Excellent complete 33mm mantis shrimp Pseudosculda with 32mm fish perfectly centered on 82mm slab. Middle Cretaceous, Middle Cenomanian Stage (~93 mya). Hajoula, Lebanon. Dromilites lamarcki, 35 x 30 mm. London Clay, Eocene. Isle of Sheppey, Kent. Dromilites lamarcki, 35 x 30 mm. London Clay, Eocene. Isle of Sheppey, Kent. Zanthopsis leachi, 55 x 37 mm. London Clay, Eocene. Isle of Sheppey, Kent. Small prawn, Penaeus bolcensis, 24 mm long with seagrass blades. Early Eocene. Monte Bolca, northern Italy. Dithyrocaris rolfei Schram & Horner 1978, a complete 7 cm phyllocarid. Heath Shale Formation. Bear Gulch Limestone. Bear Gulch, Fergus County, Montana, USA.

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]]> Fri Feb 15 2008 Bear Gulch http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1450391.html A famous deposit in Montana containing an exceptionally preserved early Carboniferous biota in micritic limestone. The fish assemblage is very diverse, including common coelacanths, but there are also many arthropods, molluscs, sponges and worms. Wednesday 30 January 2008: A famous deposit in Montana containing an exceptionally preserved early Carboniferous biota in micritic limestone. The fish assemblage is very diverse, including common coelacanths, but there are also many arthropods, molluscs, sponges and worms.

Perimecturus rapax, 64 mm crustacean. Nematode worm with filamentous algae. Algal assemblage. Arborispongia with Leptadesma sp. bivalve. Large specimen of Arborispongia with algae and Leptadesma sp. bivalves. Benthic assemblage. Extensive bioherms of this arborescent sponge occur at the Bear Gulch bay mouth (Rigby 1985). Orbiculoid brachiopod, 13 mm. A finely preserved 11 mm Halicyne montanaensis, one of a group of five. Orthocone cephalopod, 128 mm long. Traces of soft parts are visible in the body chamber. Sponge, 100 mm across. Paraconularia sp., 65 mm. Bairdops beargulchensis Schram & Horner, 50 mm complete in micrite. Anthracoceras sp, 32 mm showing preservation of mandibles. Paleolimulus longispinus, 60 mm, with well preserved limbs in micrite. Aenigmacaris cornigerum, a complete 10 cm eumalacostracan shrimp. Tyrannophontes theridion, 38 mm. Acantonescus cracens, 142 mm palaeoniscoid fish. Dithyrocaris rolfei Schram & Horner 1978, a complete 7 cm phyllocarid. Heath Shale Formation. Bear Gulch Limestone. Bear Gulch, Fergus County, Montana, USA.

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]]> Wed Jan 30 2008 Chengjiang and the Cambrian Explosion http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1449730.html The spectacularly diverse early Cambrian biota of Chengjiang (Yunnan, China) provides by far the most vivid illustration of the "Cambrian Explosion" available. A selection of beautifully preserved specimens is shown here. Tuesday 29 January 2008: The spectacularly diverse early Cambrian biota of Chengjiang (Yunnan, China) provides by far the most vivid illustration of the "Cambrian Explosion" available. A selection of beautifully preserved specimens is shown here.

Haikouella lanceolata. detail of one in a group of 6 examples of this craniate-like chordate, reaching 35 mm in length. Ercai Village, Haikou, Kunming; Lower Cambrian Maotianshan Shale. Chengjiang County, Yunnan Province, China. Heliomedusa orienta, 14 mm craniopsid brachiopod, showing schizolophous lophophore (see Zhang et al. 2003) and fringe of setae. Kunmingella douvillei, 3- 5 mm bradoriid carapaces. Brachiopod Diandongia pista 9 mm by 7 mm and Hyolith (Ambrolievitus) or Selkirkia?, 12 mm long (or Selkirkia?). The brachiopod has extremely fine surface ornament. Eldonia eumorpha, a probable holothurian, 80 mm across. Early Cambrian Qiongzhusi Section, Yu'anshan Member, Heilinpu Formation (~525 million years ago). Maotianshan Hill, Yuxi, Chengjiang County, Yunnan Province, China. Onychodictyon ferox. 45 mm long on a 75 mm by 38 mm matrix. Jianfengia multisegmentalis Hou 1987, 25 mm rare opabiniid, part and counterpart. Yunnanocephalus yunnanensis. 15 mm long on a 50 mm by 75 mm matrix. The faint left antenna is seen extending from the front of the cephalon. Ercaicunia multinodosa Luo & Hu 1999. 8 mm specimen showing rare preservation of antennae and limbs. Fuxianhuia protensa Hou 1987, 6 cm complete with eyes visible. It has a wide ‘head shield’ and broad, anterior part to its trunk, succeeded by a narrower abdomen. The pair of grasping appendages in the head indicates that it may have been carnivorous. The species is known only from the Chengjiang biota. Hazelia sp. 32 mm demosponge. Waptia (Chuandianella) ovata. 18 mm long. Tuzoia, 65 mm long. Mafang Village. Vetulicolia cuneata. Excellent complete 70 mm example of this probable tunicate (see Aldridge et al. 2007 for a review). Burithes yunnanensis Hou et al. 1999, 28 mm hyolithid. Alalcomeneus illecebrosa, 23 mm long on a 50 mm by 70 mm matrix. The long frontal appendages are folded under the head. The telson is preserved in an uplifted posture. Fine exopod setae preservation is seen in this specimen. Lingulella with preserved pedicle, 12 mm. Phlogites longus Luo & Hu (=Cheungkongella). Originally interpreted as a possible tunicate, but redescribed as a lophophorate and assigned to a new phylum Dendrobrachia (Hou Xian-Guang, Jan Bergström, Ma Xiao-Ya and Zhao Jie (2006). Articulated pair of Anomalocaris grasping appendages, 80 mm long, from Chengjiang. Primicaris lavaformis Zhang et al. 2003. 4 mm individual. Notice the well-preserved anchor-shaped anteromedial ridge, a feature which links this form with the Ediacaran Parvancorina. Gungweicaris spinatus Luo, Fu et Hu 2007, 5 cm complete individual. Guanshan Fauna (a soft-bodied fauna dominated by arthropods, including trilobites, Tuzoia, Isoxys, and bradorids, in association with priapulids, brachiopods, anomalocaridids, vetulicoliids, sponges, chancellorids, and echinoderms. This new arthropod comes from the yellowish claystone in the lower part of the Wulongqing Formation, Canglangpuan Stage, Lower Cambrian. Kunming, Yunnan, China. Acta Geologica Sinica, Vol 81, No 1 (Feb 2007) pp 1-7 Redlichia noetlingi (Redlich). 43 mm long complete trilobite from the Guanshan fauna. Cricocosmia jinningensis. 60 mm long (if straightened) worm on a 28 mm by 25 mm matrix. The spine-covered proboscis is very well preserved and the body sclerites are preserved in relief. Sinoascus, a sharply preserved ctenophore.

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]]> Tue Jan 29 2008 "Tropical World" and the Geology of Roundhay Park http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1447849.html The fun thing about Roundhay Park in Leeds is that there is a small "zoo" there called "Tropical World" - and a little over 300 million years ago this really was a tropical world, lying in equatorial latitudes! The Late Carboniferous rocks exposed in Roundhay Park range from about 317 to 315 million years in age. They tell the story of a tropical low-lying coastal area which was from time to time submerged by rising sea-level. Rivers draining from highlands in the North and West built swampy deltaic coastal plains which repeatedly advanced towards the South and East. The central area (now Lancashire and Yorkshire) towards which the rivers drained is known as the Pennine Basin. Two main kinds of rock can be seen in the park, being a) mudstones and b) sandstones. The mudstones were deposited in lakes and seas. The sandstones were deposited in river channels and in coastal deltas where river mouths built out into standing bodies of water. The mudstones can be seen in The Gorge at the northern end of the park whereas the sandstones are exposed in the higher ground of the golf course, the falls near the Upper Lake and the old quarries to the east of Waterloo Lake. The geology of the park is separated into two areas by an East-West fault, the Roundhay Park Fault. The rocks on the southern side of this fault have moved downwards, by a vertical distance of 200 m or more relative to the rocks on the northern side. These down-thrown rocks are the Elland Flags, consisting of fine-grained sandstones, rich in mica, with some thin mudstone and siltstone intercalations. They commonly exhibit cross-lamination, recording the passage of ancient ripples. The Elland Flags have been widely used as building stone in the area, as for example in the Mansion. The older succession on the northern side of the fault begins with mudstones at the base (seen in The Gorge) which are overlain by a unit of coarse pebbly sandstones called the Rough Rock. The thickness of these sandstones ranges from about 8 to 25 m across the Leeds area. The top of the Rough Rock runs along the southern margin of the Upper Lake and represents an important geological horizon. This is the boundary between two major subdivisions of the Late Carboniferous, with the Namurian Series below and the Westphalian above. Above this boundary are dark mudstones with bands containing marine fossils and thin coals. Coals are not seen at the surface in Roundhay Park, but the Soft Bed Coal (a metre or less in thickness), the first coal in the Coal Measures, is present just beneath the surface between Tropical World and the Mansion. Several other coal seams have been worked in the Leeds area. Roundhay Park is situated at the northern limit of the Yorkshire Coalfield. Saturday 26 January 2008: The fun thing about Roundhay Park in Leeds is that there is a small "zoo" there called "Tropical World" - and a little over 300 million years ago this really was a tropical world, lying in equatorial latitudes! The Late Carboniferous rocks exposed in Roundhay Park range from about 317 to 315 million years in age. They tell the story of a tropical low-lying coastal area which was from time to time submerged by rising sea-level. Rivers draining from highlands in the North and West built swampy deltaic coastal plains which repeatedly advanced towards the South and East. The central area (now Lancashire and Yorkshire) towards which the rivers drained is known as the Pennine Basin. Two main kinds of rock can be seen in the park, being a) mudstones and b) sandstones. The mudstones were deposited in lakes and seas. The sandstones were deposited in river channels and in coastal deltas where river mouths built out into standing bodies of water. The mudstones can be seen in The Gorge at the northern end of the park whereas the sandstones are exposed in the higher ground of the golf course, the falls near the Upper Lake and the old quarries to the east of Waterloo Lake. The geology of the park is separated into two areas by an East-West fault, the Roundhay Park Fault. The rocks on the southern side of this fault have moved downwards, by a vertical distance of 200 m or more relative to the rocks on the northern side. These down-thrown rocks are the Elland Flags, consisting of fine-grained sandstones, rich in mica, with some thin mudstone and siltstone intercalations. They commonly exhibit cross-lamination, recording the passage of ancient ripples. The Elland Flags have been widely used as building stone in the area, as for example in the Mansion. The older succession on the northern side of the fault begins with mudstones at the base (seen in The Gorge) which are overlain by a unit of coarse pebbly sandstones called the Rough Rock. The thickness of these sandstones ranges from about 8 to 25 m across the Leeds area. The top of the Rough Rock runs along the southern margin of the Upper Lake and represents an important geological horizon. This is the boundary between two major subdivisions of the Late Carboniferous, with the Namurian Series below and the Westphalian above. Above this boundary are dark mudstones with bands containing marine fossils and thin coals. Coals are not seen at the surface in Roundhay Park, but the Soft Bed Coal (a metre or less in thickness), the first coal in the Coal Measures, is present just beneath the surface between Tropical World and the Mansion. Several other coal seams have been worked in the Leeds area. Roundhay Park is situated at the northern limit of the Yorkshire Coalfield.

Fossil goniatites from the gorge. a bedding plane in “paper shales” crowded with nautilus-like goniatites of the species Cancelloceras (Gastrioceras) cumbriense. Non-marine bivalve fossils from The Gorge, Roundhay Park. Geological map of Roundhay Park showing a suggested clockwise walk around the gorge and Waterloo Lake. Vertical succession of rock types and fossil content in Roundhay Park. (sketch). A spring in the Rough Rock. To the north of the Roundhay Park Fault. The sandstone here is very rich in mica and small plant fragments. An anticlinal fold in mudstones, perhaps related to movement on a nearby fault. Soft, easily eroded mudstones overlain by a unit of bedded sandstones, belonging to the Millstone Grit Group in The Gorge. Hammer for scale. Google Earth image of the northern part of Roundhay Park. Geological map of Roundhay Park. The thick red line at the northern end of Waterloo Lake represents the trace of a geological fault called the Roundhay Park Fault. Rocks to the South of this fault are younger than those to the North. The red-orange colour to the North of the fault represents the Rough Rock and the yellow colour to the South represents a younger body of sandstones known as the Elland Flags. An imagined marine scene in Roundhay Park 315 million years ago. Marine fossils from The Gorge, Roundhay Park. several examples of the thin-shelled scallop-like bivalve Dunbarella. A link between Leeds and the forests of equatorial Africa.

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]]> Sat Jan 26 2008 Cambrian of North America http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1445366.html This is a small selection of North American Cambrian fossils to complement those shown in the Cambrian echinoderm and soft-part preservation in trilobites galleries. Monday 21 January 2008: This is a small selection of North American Cambrian fossils to complement those shown in the Cambrian echinoderm and soft-part preservation in trilobites galleries.

Coosella sp. Type I, 32 mm, a rare Weeks Formation trilobite. Genevievella granulatus 25 mm long. Upper Middle Cambrian. Weeks Formation. Large mature Elrathia kingi, 44 mm, Middle Cambrian, Marjum Formation, Millard County, Utah. Thought to be diagnostic of an “exaerobic zone” environment (Gaines & Droser 2005). Pseudarctolepis sharpi, (Brooks & Caster 1956) 60 mm, Middle Cambrian, Marjum Formation, Millard County, Utah. Dresbachia amata, 17 mm. Rare Weeks Formation trilobite, Upper Middle Cambrian. Millard County, Utah. Olenellus chiefensis. Excellent 42 mm olenellid trilobite with spines, Early Cambrian Pioche Fm, Lincoln County, Nevada, USA. Margaretia dorus, 140 mm kelp-like brown alga, Middle Cambrian, Marjum Formation, Millard County, Utah. Choia carteri, three individuals, the largest measuring 45 mm, in association with a Portalia specimen. Wheeler Shale, Millard County, Utah. Marella splendens, 16 mm in ventral view, Burgess Shale, BC, Canada. The Taphonomy of the Greater Phyllopod Bed community has been analysed by Caron & Jackson (2006) who concluded that the animals were preserved within their habitat with only minor disturbance during burial. Crummillospongia a group of “purse sponges” from 13 to 25 mm. Wheeler Shale, Millard County, Utah. The Demosponge Crumillospongia belongs to the family Hazeliidae. Priapulid worm, Selkirkia willoughbyi, 31 mm, showing gut trace and proboscis. Marjum Formation. Tricrepicephalus coria. 55 mm, with a number of brachiopods. Upper Middle Cambrian. Weeks Formation. Utah, USA. Genevievella granulatus and Coosella with several Cedaria. Weeks Formation, Upper Middle Cambrian, Utah. Largest Genevievella is 25 mm. Unknown vermiform soft-bodied animal with a jaw apparatus at one end with individual pointed elements reaching 4 mm, 32 mm long. Upper Middle Cambrian, Weeks Formation. Millard County, Utah. Canadaspis perfecta, 50 mm long showing excellent preservation of abdomen and limbs. Burgess Shale, Middle Cambrian. British Columbia, Canada. Altioculus drumensis, 52 mm, Order Ptychopariida. Middle Cambrian, Marjum Formation, Drum Mountains, Millard County, Utah. Sidneyia inexpectans, 12 cm long showing excellent preservation. Burgess Shale, Middle Cambrian. British Columbia, Canada. Olenellus gilberti. Excellent 25 mm olenellid trilobite with spines, Early Cambrian. C- Shale, Combined Metals Member, Pioche Shale Formation, Lincoln County, Nevada, USA. Excellent 100 mm priapulid. Middle Cambrian. Millard County, Utah, USA. Excellent 9 mm paired ostracode valves. Middle Cambrian. Millard County, Utah, USA. Modocia typicalis, 36 mm trilobite. Marjum Formation, Millard County, Utah. Vauxia, 50 mm sponge, Burgess Shale, British Columbia, Canada. Bathyuriscus howelli. Middle Cambrian. Stephen Formation, Mount Stephen, British Columbia, Canada. 30 mm complete, excellent Chancelloria penctata, 60 mm at left, a coeloscleritophoran. Wheeler Shale, Millard County, Utah.

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]]> Mon Jan 21 2008 The Bromide Formation and the Ordovician Echinoderm Explosion http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1444707.html The Ordovician shallow marine fauna is very well represented in the Upper Ordovician (roughly 450 - 460 ma) Bromide Formation of Oklahoma, USA. This is thought to be the most diverse echinoderm fauna in Earth history. The small collection illustrated here brings together a representative selection. It mostly comes from the Poolville Member of the Bromide Formation exposed in the Dunn Quarry, Criner Hills, Carter County, Oklahoma. Descriptions of this exposure can be found in Sprinkle (1982, ed). The matrix in the exposed succession here consists of alternating light grey to tan biomicrite with shaly micrite in thin beds. Echinoderms occur in thin intervals or biostromes throughout the succession. The Bromide fauna is highly illustrative of the first major faunal diversity peak of the Palaeozoic (Raup & Sepkowski 1986, Sepkowski 1990), between an earlier Ordovician radiation and the end Ordovician extinction. It is also an excellent example of exceptional preservation of articulated echinoderms and arthropods beneath storm-deposited layers of sediment. An additional group of Ordovician echinoderms of similar (slightly older) age from the Bobcaygeon Formation of Ontario, Canada is shown. Sunday 20 January 2008: The Ordovician shallow marine fauna is very well represented in the Upper Ordovician (roughly 450 - 460 ma) Bromide Formation of Oklahoma, USA. This is thought to be the most diverse echinoderm fauna in Earth history. The small collection illustrated here brings together a representative selection. It mostly comes from the Poolville Member of the Bromide Formation exposed in the Dunn Quarry, Criner Hills, Carter County, Oklahoma. Descriptions of this exposure can be found in Sprinkle (1982, ed). The matrix in the exposed succession here consists of alternating light grey to tan biomicrite with shaly micrite in thin beds. Echinoderms occur in thin intervals or biostromes throughout the succession. The Bromide fauna is highly illustrative of the first major faunal diversity peak of the Palaeozoic (Raup & Sepkowski 1986, Sepkowski 1990), between an earlier Ordovician radiation and the end Ordovician extinction. It is also an excellent example of exceptional preservation of articulated echinoderms and arthropods beneath storm-deposited layers of sediment. An additional group of Ordovician echinoderms of similar (slightly older) age from the Bobcaygeon Formation of Ontario, Canada is shown.

Urasterella sp. 97 mm across. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Pararchaeocrinus decoratus Strimple & Watkins and Anthracocrinus primitivuus Strimple (with crown towards bottom of the image). 65 mm. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Crinoids at this location occurred in “gardens” about 1 m across and are found articulated at the bases of biomicrite beds. Praepleurocystites watkinsi Strimple. A 75 mm cystoid with Chaulistomella brachiopods. Three pectinirhombs are visible, typical of the Class Rhombifera. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Myeinocystites natus Strimple. 25 mm carpoid. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Peltacrinus sculptatus. 30 mm crinoid crown and stem. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Eoceraurus trapezoidalis Esker, 33 mm excellent enrolled specimen. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Quadrocystis graffhami Sprinkle, 26 mm. Some brachioles are preserved in this specimen. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Sinclairocystis praedicta Bassler, two calyces, 16 mm and 10 mm. Mountain Lake Member, the lower unit of the Bromide Formation, Murray County, Oklahoma. Tanaocystis watkinsi Sprinkle, 50 mm. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Bromidechinus rimaporus Smith & Savill 2002 (topotype), 35 mm. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Single large (70 mm) and fine “Homotelus” bromidensis. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Anatifopsis papillata, a “tunicate mitrate”. 29 mm long. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. This small stylophoran comprised about 12% of the fauna at this location. Drawing of above Bromidechinus, with interpretation of plates. A curved ambulacral zone (light blue) with central column of perradial plates (lilac) can be seen in the central part of the specimen. Interambulacral plates are coloured green. This specimen is an example of a topotype, which is a specimen collected from the same locality as the Holotype (in this case described by Smith & Savill 2002). Solenoides iowensis, a 25 mm chaetetid sponge (see Riding 2004). Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Lonchodomas mcgeehi, 18 mm complete trilobite. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Cyathocystis americanus Bassler, 8mm edrioasteroid. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Sublites regularis, 7 cm gastropod. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Monoplacophoran, 15 mm Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Calceocrinoid, Cremacrinus ramifer Brower, two individuals to about 15 mm. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. These form part of a group of five individuals associated with a bryozoan colony. Tetradium cellulosum, complete 16 cm tabulate coral head with associated bryozoans, ostracods, crinoids, brachiopods, bivalves, gastropods and trilobite parts. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Carabocrinus treadwelli Sinclair. 60 mm. Mountain Lake Member, Bromide Formation, Blackriverian, Ordovician, Johnston County, Oklahoma. Thaleops mobydicki Amati & Westrop (2004) , 25 mm. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. “Encrinuroides” capitonis. Complete, outstretched, 13 mm. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Praepleurocystites watkinsi Strimple. 68 mm long complete individual showing the full length of the stem. Pararchaeocrinus decoratus Strimple & Watkins, 9 cm. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Stenaster salteri 3 cm complete starfish. Middle Ordovician Bobcaygeon Formation of Simcoe County, Canada. Edriophus bigsbyi 3.8 cm complete edrioasteroid. Middle Ordovician Bobcaygeon Formation of Simcoe County, Canada. Archaeocrinus sp, 75 mm. Middle Ordovician Bobcaygeon Formation of Simcoe County, Canada. Pleurocystites squamosus, 50 mm. Middle Ordovician Bobcaygeon Formation of Simcoe County, Canada. Glyptocystites multiporous. Two excellent cystoids on a 14 x 15 cm slab, the most complete of which is 11 cm long. Middle Ordovician Bobcaygeon Formation of Simcoe County, Canada. Hybocrinus nitidus Sinclair 1945. Order HYBOCRINIDA Jaekel 1918. 22 mm crown on matrix. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Blackriverian, Ordovician, Dunn Quarry, Criner Hills, Carter County, Oklahoma. Comarocystites punctatus 35 mm paracrinoid with excellent periproct. Middle Ordovician Verulam Formation, Ontario, Canada. Comarocystites punctatus 35 mm paracrinoid with excellent periproct. Middle Ordovician Verulam Formation, Ontario, Canada. Pirocystella strimplei (Sprinkle), 50 mm. Mountain Lake Member. Bromide Formation. Johnston County, Oklahoma, USA. Globulocystites (Platycystites) levatus (Bassler), 16 mm. Mountain Lake Member. Bromide Formation. Johnston County, Oklahoma, USA. Glyptocystella loeblichi (Ulrich), 14 mm. Mountain Lake Member. Bromide Formation. Johnston County, Oklahoma, USA. A sketch reconstruction including all species represented in this collection. Bothriocidaris kolati Kier, 13 mm complete, free of matrix. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry. Two ambulacral zones and two interambulacral zones can be seen. 12 cm slab with multiple crinoids. Isotomocrinus tenuis two crowns with stems. Middle Ordovician Bobcaygeon Formation of Simcoe County, Canada. Detail of Isotomocrinus crown.

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]]> Sun Jan 20 2008 Cambrian Echinoderms of North America and Europe http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1444705.html Cambrian Echinoderms of North America and Europe Sunday 20 January 2008: Cambrian Echinoderms of North America and Europe

Gogia spiralis, 47 mm. Wheeler Formation, Middle Cambrian. House Range, Millard County, Utah, USA. Cothurnocystis bifida. 17 mm stylophoran, Wheeler Shale Formation, Middle Cambrian, Antelope Mountain, House Range, Millard County, Utah. Chancelloria penctata (32 mm) with two attached solutes, Coleicarpus sprinklei (largest is 25 mm). Middle Cambrian, Wheeler Shale, Millard County, Utah. Camptostroma roddyi, 25 mm (on slab with two others, one 28 mm, the other 22 mm), Lower Cambrian edrioasteroid, Kinzers Formation, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Discrete arms directed downwards are visible in the lower portion of the image and another arm extending upwards at the top right part of the image. Stromatocystis pentagularis Pompeckj, 1896. 23 mm. Middle Cambrian, Jince, Barrandian Massif, Czech Republic. Stromatocystis pentagularis Pompeckj, 1896. 23 mm. Middle Cambrian, Jince, Barrandian Massif, Czech Republic. Lichenoides vadosus Parsley & Prokop 2004. 15 mm calyx. Eccaparadoxides pusillus Zone, early Middle Cambrian, Skryje, Barrandian Massif, Czech Republic. Class Eocrinoidea Jaekel, 1918; Family Lichenoididae, Jaekel, 1918; Genus Lichenoides, Barrande, 1846. Ceratocystis perneri Jaekel 1900, 38 mm. Shallow marine siltstone facies, Middle Cambrian, near Skryje, Barrandian Massif, Czech Republic. Carpoid Superorder Stylophora, Order Cornuta. Trochocystites bohemicus Barrande, 1827. 2 cm carpoid. Middle Cambrian, Jince Formation. Tyrovice-Pod hruskou, Bohemia. Carpoid Order Cincta. Trochocystites bohemicus Barrande, 1827. 2 cm carpoid. Middle Cambrian, Jince Formation. Tyrovice-Pod hruskou, Bohemia. Carpoid Order Cincta. Another Ceratocystis perneri Jaekel 1900, 5 cm. Calcareous sandstone, basal beds of Eccaparadoxides pusillus Zone, Middle Cambrian. Dloha Dora, Skryje, Barrandian Massif, Czech Republic. My thanks to Paul Hille for this specimen. Ctenocephalus coronatus, 2 cm and Ceratocystis perneri Jaekel 1900, 2.5 cm. Calcareous sandstone, basal beds of Eccaparadoxides pusillus Zone, Middle Cambrian. Dloha Dora, Skryje, Barrandian Massif, Czech Republic. My thanks to Paul Hille for this specimen. Stromatocystis pentagularis Pompeckj, 1896, 11 mm on 5 cm matrix. The first edrioasteroid. Middle Cambrian, Jince, Barrandian Massif, Czech Republic. Large (42 mm) Helicoplacoid Helicoplacus gilberti, from the Middle Member of the Lower Cambrian Poleta Formation (Atdabanian) at Westgard Pass in the White-Inyo Mountains of California. The solute Coleicarpus sprinklei (Middle Cambrian, Utah, USA). Ctenocystoides utahensis. 5 mm homalozoan carpoid, Order Ctenocystoida. Lateral view with dorsal side facing upper left.

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]]> Sun Jan 20 2008 Ediacaran of the White Sea, Russia http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1443491.html Ediacaran of the White Sea, Russia Friday 18 January 2008: Ediacaran of the White Sea, Russia

Yorgia waggoneri, a large, 9 cm diameter, complete dipleurozoan megafossil from the Yorgia bed at Zimnie Gory. family Dickinsoniidae, class Dipleurozoa, phylum Proarticulata. Penega Formation, Neoproterozoic Era, Ediacaran Period (dated at 555 Ma, Martin et al. 2000), East Archangelsk, White Sea, Russia. Drawing of 9 cm Yorgia. This interesting fossil consists of conical assemblage of relatively rigid tooth-like structures (once pyritized) surrounded by a skirt with radial striations, 4 cm. Arkarua adami has some similarities, such as the central raised area and the surrounding skirt. The central area of elongate structures formed an upward projecting area, now impressed into the base of an overlying sandstone bed. Ust-Pinega Formation, Valdai Series. White Sea, Russia. Probably a sponge, showing similarities with the Cambrian Choia. Unidentified form, 18 mm across, approaching a rhomboid shape, with a number of structures branching towards the bottom of the image. The branching structures are reminiscent of the axial structure seen in Vendia rachiata (Ivantsov 2004). It also has similarities with Pseudorhizostomites howchini Sprigg 1949. Drawing of a 13 cm Charnia. Dzik (2002) considered these as sedentary ancestors of the ctenophores (but Djik 2003 was less sure). Dickinsonia costata, 45 mm on 25 cm slab. White Sea, Russia. Kimberella quadrata Glaessner & Daily 1959, 45 mm individual on 27 cm slab. Ust-Pinega Formation. Onega Peninsula near the town of Severodvinsk. This fossil is known to vary in length between 3 mm and 10 cm. Kimberella has been interpreted as a mollusc-like bilaterian organism (Fedonkin & Waggoner 1997). Radulichnus rasping marks thought to have been made by a mollusc on an algal mat. Field of view is approximately 5 cm left to right. Ust-Pinega Formation. Onega Peninsula near the town of Severodvinsk. Fan-like sets of scratch marks associated with and attributed to the grazing activity of Kimberella, are inferred to have been produced by its proboscis with two sharp teeth at its end (Ivantsov & Fedonkin 2001; Fedonkin, 2001). A sketch of a White Sea sea floor based on the specimens shown in this gallery Parvancorina minchami Glaessner 1958, 7 mm. From White Sea, Russia. This is a representative of the Parvancorinamorpha, proposed as the first clade in the arthropod crown group, and is closely related to the Cambrian forms Primicaris and Skania ( Lin et al. 2006). Eoporpita medusa Wade 1972. 9 cm diameter on 26 x 17 cm slab. Penega Formation, Neoproterozoic Era, Ediacaran Period, East Archangelsk, White Sea, Russia. Until recently, Eoporpita was thought to be a chondrophorine, but some researchers now consider it to have been a benthic polyp rather like a sea anemone. The structure of the fossil shows three concentric zones. It is preserved in positive relief on a biomat surface showing “elephant-skin” texture, at the base of the overlying sandstone.

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]]> Fri Jan 18 2008 Palaeozoic Xiphosurans and Aglaspidids http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1442595.html Many people are fascinated by these animals, from the horseshoe crabs of today to their ancient predecessors in the fossil record. There have been a number of exciting recent discoveries, including the very modern looking Lunataspis from the Ordovician of Manitoba and the youngest synziphosurine, Anderella, from the Carboniferous Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana. Further revelations lie in store from the Ordovician of Morocco. Here is a small gallery of images from the Palaeozoic of North America, Europe and North Africa. Wednesday 16 January 2008: Many people are fascinated by these animals, from the horseshoe crabs of today to their ancient predecessors in the fossil record. There have been a number of exciting recent discoveries, including the very modern looking Lunataspis from the Ordovician of Manitoba and the youngest synziphosurine, Anderella, from the Carboniferous Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana. Further revelations lie in store from the Ordovician of Morocco. Here is a small gallery of images from the Palaeozoic of North America, Europe and North Africa.

Euproops danae, 28 mm. Francis Creek Shale, Desmoinesian, Pennsylvanian, Upper Carboniferous. Mazon Creek, Illinois, USA. Liomesaspis laevis. 15 mm. Upper Carboniferous. Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. Paleolimulus sp, 23 mm. Francis Creek Shale Member, Carbondale Formation, Westphalian D, Upper Carboniferous. Pit 11, near Essex, Kankakee Co., Illinois, USA. Bellinurus trilobitoides. 23 mm complete specimen. Westphalian A, Upper Carboniferous. Roof Shales above Wigan 4 Foot Coal Seam, Crock Hey Open Cast, Lancashire, UK. Limuloides limuloides, prosoma of a primitive horseshoe crab (synziphosuran). Church Hill, Leintwardine, Herefordshire, UK. The prosoma is encrusted by a bryozoan colony (see Bellinurus trilobitoides. 30 mm. Upper Carboniferous. Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. Beckwithia typa, 3 cm complete. Weeks Formation, Upper Cambrian, Millard County, Utah, USA. A Victorian drawing of Limuloides limuloides by La Touche, 1884. Euproops rotundatus. 40 mm wide, excellent xiphosuran. Westphalian A, Upper Carboniferous. Roof Shales above Wigan 4 Foot Coal Seam, Crock Hey Open Cast, Wigan, Lancashire, England. This individual carries many small Spirorbis worm tubes which reminds me of the Drawing of the 20 mm Weeks Formation aglaspidid. Notice how the prosoma in this individual is only a quarter of the animal length excluding telson whereas the Beckwithia has a cephalon which is more than a third of the animal's length excluding telson. Drawing of 45 mm xiphosuran. Drawing of the small Moroccan arthropod. There didn't seem to be any more of a telson than this in the matrix. Notice the clear distinction between mesosoma (8 segments) and metasoma. Paleolimulus longispinus, 60 mm, with well preserved chelate limbs in micrite. Filamentous algae, productid brachiopod and nematode worms on reverse. Taylor Formation, Bear Gulch, Fergus County, Montana, USA. A new synziphosurine (Anderella) has recently been described from this deposit (Moore et al. 2007). 6 mm synziphosurine (similar to Bunodidae). Note presence of limbs beneath prosoma at top right. Lower Ordovician, near Zagora, Morocco. 45 mm xiphosuran. Lower Ordovician, near Zagora, Morocco. I think this guy may have been a male since the more robust front appendage could be interpreted as the first pedipalp (used for grasping the female in the modern Limulus). A beautifully chelate limb and a pushing leg are well seen in this specimen.

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]]> Wed Jan 16 2008 Carboniferous Plants and Animals from the Pennine Basin http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1441538.html About 320 to 300 million years ago Europe and much of North America lay in equatorial latitudes, a broad belt of tropical rainforests, swamps and deltas. The coal-bearing strata deposited in that rainforest belt contain a vivid record of the ancient plants and animals that once lived there. Growing up in Leeds (in the north of England) during the late 1970s I would go on collecting trips to nearby opencast coal workings, such as one (now filled in and landscaped) at a place called Temple Newsham, site of an Elizabethan mansion and its grounds. Beautiful plant fossils were easy to find along with bivalve mussel shells and far more rarely an odd arthropod or the jaws of a giant fish. Fossils could be found both in hard ironstone concretions and as compressions in mudstones. Later, from 1994 to 1999, I lived on the edge of an equatorial tropical forest in the central African country of Gabon. This provided direct experience of a comparable climate and suite of environments, with their vibrant fauna and flora, to those present during the late Carboniferous in Europe and North America. In 1999 on returning to Europe and unpacking specimens collected a decade or two before (and long stored away), I found myself with a renewed interest in these Carboniferous plants and animals. Colour, sound and humidity were now added to my mental picture. However, what lived in such forests then was very different from much that lives there now. Memorable experiences in Gabon included encounters with forest elephants and gorillas and of course nothing like this was at large in the Carboniferous. On the other hand, there were also giant millipedes, centipedes, cockroaches, dragonflies and exotic spiders in the equatorial African rainforest, all of these resembling the inhabitants of Carboniferous tropical forests. This collection of images illustrates some of the fossils to be found in the Pennine Basin in the north of England with specimens from localities in Lancashire, of Late Langsettian (formerly known as Westphalian Series A) age, which began about 316 million years ago. The localities are: Bickershaw Colliery where fossils from the shale above the Haigh Yard Coal could be collected from surface spoil tips; Westhoughton opencast pit; Cranberry Lea Farm near Ashton-in-Makerfield; and Crock Hey opencast (accessible from 2001 to 2006), where fossils were mainly found in the shale above the Wigan Four Foot and Wigan Two Foot coals. Prior to the activities of the past decade, this area had yielded exceptional faunal material in the early part of the 20th Century, in particular from the Sparth Bottoms site. Monday 14 January 2008: About 320 to 300 million years ago Europe and much of North America lay in equatorial latitudes, a broad belt of tropical rainforests, swamps and deltas. The coal-bearing strata deposited in that rainforest belt contain a vivid record of the ancient plants and animals that once lived there. Growing up in Leeds (in the north of England) during the late 1970s I would go on collecting trips to nearby opencast coal workings, such as one (now filled in and landscaped) at a place called Temple Newsham, site of an Elizabethan mansion and its grounds. Beautiful plant fossils were easy to find along with bivalve mussel shells and far more rarely an odd arthropod or the jaws of a giant fish. Fossils could be found both in hard ironstone concretions and as compressions in mudstones. Later, from 1994 to 1999, I lived on the edge of an equatorial tropical forest in the central African country of Gabon. This provided direct experience of a comparable climate and suite of environments, with their vibrant fauna and flora, to those present during the late Carboniferous in Europe and North America. In 1999 on returning to Europe and unpacking specimens collected a decade or two before (and long stored away), I found myself with a renewed interest in these Carboniferous plants and animals. Colour, sound and humidity were now added to my mental picture. However, what lived in such forests then was very different from much that lives there now. Memorable experiences in Gabon included encounters with forest elephants and gorillas and of course nothing like this was at large in the Carboniferous. On the other hand, there were also giant millipedes, centipedes, cockroaches, dragonflies and exotic spiders in the equatorial African rainforest, all of these resembling the inhabitants of Carboniferous tropical forests. This collection of images illustrates some of the fossils to be found in the Pennine Basin in the north of England with specimens from localities in Lancashire, of Late Langsettian (formerly known as Westphalian Series A) age, which began about 316 million years ago. The localities are: Bickershaw Colliery where fossils from the shale above the Haigh Yard Coal could be collected from surface spoil tips; Westhoughton opencast pit; Cranberry Lea Farm near Ashton-in-Makerfield; and Crock Hey opencast (accessible from 2001 to 2006), where fossils were mainly found in the shale above the Wigan Four Foot and Wigan Two Foot coals. Prior to the activities of the past decade, this area had yielded exceptional faunal material in the early part of the 20th Century, in particular from the Sparth Bottoms site.

Liomesaspis laevis, a small 14 mm horseshoe crab. Published in Gea (2007). Wing of a very large homoiopterid insect, Anglopterum magnificum, 105 mm long. This was the first specimen of the genus to be found and is now the paratype (published in Prokop et al. 2006). A second example was collected by Andy Tenny. Large 30 cm section of Stigmaria with attached rootlets from below Wigan 4 foot Coal, Westphalian A. Crock Hey opencast, near Haydock, Lancashire. A complete lycopsid cone, 15 cm long. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007). Calamites cisti preserved in 3D from a mouth bar sandstone body at Crock Hey. 39 cm tall, cast in sandstone of the central pith of the stem. Local clusters of Calamites stems were found in life-position at Crock Hey. Collected by Andy Tenny. Published in Gea (2007). Potoniea carpentieri, rare pollen organ of a seed fern, a cluster of sporangia. Foliage of the plants that produced these pollen organs (Paripteris and Linopteris) is relatively commonly found in the British Coal Measures, but the reproductive organs are rarely seen. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007). Road map showing collection localities. Platysomus parvulus Williams, a 40 mm juvenile palaeonisciform fish. Westphalian A, Bickershaw Colliery, Lancashire. This was a deep-bodied fish covered with large deepened scales. This species is recognised by the fine ornament of parallel ridges which decorate the scales and the head bones. Dr. Peter Forey of the British Museum suggests that this fish was eaten by a larger vertebrate and then ejected as unpalatable. Published in Gea (2007). A pecopterid fern, Lobatopteris. Collected by Andy Tenny. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007). Bellinurus trilobitoides, 23 mm. Crock Hey. Pygocephalus cooperi. 17mm abdomen. Birckershaw. Smithixerxes pustuliferus, complete 30 mm example of a poorly understood aquatic uniramian arthropod (Euthycarcinoid), thought to be related to the myriapods. The gut trace and delicate limbs are well-preserved in this exceptional specimen (see drawing). Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007). A large Strepsodus scale, 45 mm. Westhoughton. Brodia priscocincta, 49 mm insect wing showing pigmentation pattern. This one is not from the Pennine Basin, but Cosely in Staffordshire. Brodia was a palaeopterous insect belonging to the order Megasecoptera (family Brodiidae). Bivalves. A) Anthraconaia fugax. 30 mm long. Bickershaw Colliery. B) Naiadites sp., a bivalve mollusc, 20 mm long. Westhoughton. This shell is encrusted by tiny spiral Spirorbis worm tubes. C) Anthraconauta sp. 23 mm long. Bickershaw Colliery. Published in Gea (2007). Bellinurus trilobitoides, 30 mm. Rochdale. Cyclus johnsoni. An enigmatic cyclinid arthropod. Limbs and antennae are preserved in this specimen. Rochdale. Published in Gea (2007). Maiocercus celticus, an exceptionally complete 4 cm trigonotarbid arachnid. This specimen has all limbs plus pedipalps and fangs preserved. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007). A complete 25 mm insect nymph, probably palaeodictyopteran, from the Westhoughton open cast pit. Many tens of hours go into carefully exposing the details of such fossils with an airscribe. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007). Part of a body segment of a giant arthropleurid arthropod, 75 mm across. The whole animal would have been approximately 2 m long. Arthropleurids have been interpreted as either amphibious or terrestrial detritivores. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007). A complete myriapod, Xyloiulus sp, 70 mm long. Notice the fine preservation of limbs in this specimen. Millipedes are detritivores unlike their predatory cousins the centipedes. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007). Asterophyllites longifolius, delicate foliage of a horsetail. Collected by Andy Tenny. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007). Calamite cone cf Calamostachys sp., 4 cm. Crock Hey. 43 mm Euproops rotundatus. The animal is complete with genal spines and telson and is encrusted with small Spirorbis worm tubes. Published in Gea (2007). Large (80 mm) three-dimensionally preserved goniatite Cancelloceras (Gastrioceras) listeri from the Palaeoxyris sp, the egg capsule of a freshwater shark, 35 mm long. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007). A rare complete terrestrial scorpion, 18 mm long. Limbs and pedipalps are finely preserved. Scorpions are predators on other arthropods. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007). A complete terrestrial arachnid, 12 mm body length. This is Mesotarbus peteri, a phalangiotarbid. The anal operculum is clearly visible. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007). Asterophyllites longifolius 30 mm. Crock Hey. The beautifully-preserved cone of a sphenopsid (horsetail) in part and counterpart. Calamostachys sp. 60 mm long. Spore cases can be clearly seen between the bracts. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007). Seed of a seed-fern, Trigonocarpus sp. 17 mm. Bickershaw colliery. Published in Gea (2007). The large basal leaf element of a seed-fern. Cyclopteris sp. 40 mm. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007). Lepidodendron branch tip, 30 mm. Bickershaw. Published in Gea (2007). Published in Gea (2007). Neuropteris heterophylla with encrusting spirorbis worm tubes. 6 cm. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007). Corynepteris angustissima, a 50 mm zygopterid fern. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007). Smithixerxes pustuliferus, complete 30 mm example (drawing). Location map of the north of England showing Crock Hey and Westhoughton sites. A river delta prograding into a lake, Gabon, West Central Africa. The sediment-laden water in, and in front of, the deltaic channels contrasts with the clearer water of the lake. Note the branching pattern of distributary channels and the vegetated levees on each side. Plumes of mud can be seen in front of the distributary channel mouths. This mud will settle to deposit in the lake and will eventually compact with burial to become shale.This is an excellent analogue for the environments in which fossil-bearing siderite concretions formed during the Late Carboniferous. My graphic log of the succession exposed at Crock Hey opencast during 2005(published in Prokop et al. 2006). The section from Coal 2 (which may be the “Wigan Four Foot”) coal upwards is strikingly similar to that of the Francis Creek Shale Member in the Mazon Creek area (Baird & Sroka 1990). The sketch shows the Platysomus being hunted by a Strepsodus individual, the scales of which are commonly found.

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]]> Mon Jan 14 2008 Exceptional Preservation of Fossils in Pyrite http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1426536.html A small selection of exceptionally preserved pyritized animal fossils is displayed here. The specimens come from three sites: The Ordovician of New York State, the Devonian of Bundenbach in Germany and the Jurassic of La Voulte-sur-Rhone in France. Wednesday 19 December 2007: A small selection of exceptionally preserved pyritized animal fossils is displayed here. The specimens come from three sites: The Ordovician of New York State, the Devonian of Bundenbach in Germany and the Jurassic of La Voulte-sur-Rhone in France.

Complete large Codiacrinus schultzei, about 45 cm long if outstretched. Peter Hohenstein preparation and X-Ray. X-Ray image of part of an exceptional Palaeoisopus problematicus specimen, 370 mm from arm to arm. Wingertshell Member, Kaub Formation. Peter Hohenstein preparation. Baliactis sp. an extremely rare starfish, 55 mm in apical view. Peter Hohenstein preparation. Detail of X-Ray image, Codiacrinus schultzei. X-Ray image of Palaeocucumaria hunsrueckiana. Vachonisia rogeri, 80 mm in X-Ray image. This specimen is now in the Bonn Institute of Palaeontology. Palaeocucumaria hunsrueckiana Lehman 1958, 80 mm long, clearly showing tentacles. Peter Hohenstein preparation. Palaeothea devonica, a very small pycnogonid (sea spider) with the crinoid Bathericrinus hystrix, which is only partly pyritized. Plectodiscus discoideus. Complete hydromedusan with tentacles, 50 x 40 mm. The trace fossil Chondrites occurs in this specimen. Wingertshell Member, Kaub Formation. Peter Hohenstein preparation. Rhenocystis latipedunculata. Complete carpoid, 43 mm. Peter Hohenstein preparation. Ventral view in the terminology of the calcichordate interpretation (see Sutcliffe et al. 2000). Palaeoisopus problematicus specimen, 370 mm from arm to arm. Wingertshell Member, Kaub Formation. Peter Hohenstein preparation. Chotecops ferdinandi, 55 mm long, from Bundenbach with antennae and limbs visible. Some of the filamentous gill branches (exopods) have been exposed. Possible ommatidia (individual elements, visual and pigment cells) of the left compound eye are clearly visible. Furcaster palaeozoicus, a complete ophiuroid, 80 mm across. Similar forms are known from a water depth range of 100 to 2500 m offshore modern Oregon. Gemuendina stuertzi. Ray-like placoderm fish, 20 cm wide. Wingertshell Member, Kaub Formation. Peter Hohenstein preparation. The eyes and upturned mouth are clearly visible. X-Ray image of Gemuendina stuertzi head. X-ray of Baliactis sp. X-Ray image of Rhenocystis latipedunculata. Bundenbachochaeta eschenbachensis 23 mm polychaete worm with the ophiuroid (60 mm) Furcaster palaeozoicus, Wingertshell Member, Kaub Formation, Eschenbach-Bocksburg. Bundenbachochaeta eschenbachensis 23 mm polychaete worm, detail. Part of slab with Ophiopinna elegans, numerous (at least 27) individuals reaching 50 mm diameter. Tiny gastropods and indeterminate other material are also present. Early Callovian, Middle Jurassic, Ravin des Mines at La Boissine, to the west of the town of La Voulte-sur-Rhône in Ardèche in Southern France. Asteropyge sp. in ventral view showing limbs and antennae. 45 mm. 25 mm dibranchiate coleoid cephalopod showing preservation of tentacles and soft body. Jurassic (Callovian), La Voulte sur Rhone, France. Complete Conularia, 165 mm tall. Gemunden. X-Ray image of Helianthaster rhenanus. X-Ray image of Medusaster (this individual has pyritized tube feet preserved) and Furcaster. Juvenile crinoid attached to brachiopod. Bundenbach Anetoceras sp, 44 mm, one of the earliest ammonoids and an important zone fossil for the Hunsrück Slate. Mimetaster hexgonalis, 50 mm, ventral view of a large individual showing appendages. Peter Hohenstein preparation. Specimen published in Figure 4 of Hohenstein (2004). Pyritized orthocone cephalopod, 32 mm long. Whetstone Gulf Formation, Ashgill , Upper Ordovician, near Martinsburg, New York State. Diagoniella-like sponges from 10 to 14 mm long. Whetstone Gulf Formation, (younger than Utica Shale Group), Ashgill , Upper Ordovician, near Martinsburg, New York State. 22 mm complete Triarthrus eatoni with very fine preservation of limbs and antennae. Whetstone Gulf Formation, (younger than Utica Shale Group), Ashgill , Upper Ordovician, near Martinsburg, New York State. Markus Martin preparation. Published in Fossilien, 3/08, pg. 158. Part of 24 cm slab with 14 cm sponge, numerous Diagoniella-like sponges from 10 to 14 mm long and four orthocones from 1 to 6 cm. Whetstone Gulf Formation, (younger than Utica Shale Group), Ashgill , Upper Ordovician, near Martinsburg, New York State. Gastropod, La Voulte sur Rhone. Part of slab with Ophiopinna elegans, numerous (at least 27) individuals reaching 50 mm diameter. Tiny gastropods and indeterminate other material are also present. Early Callovian, Middle Jurassic, Ravin des Mines at La Boissine, to the west of the town of La Voulte-sur-Rhône in Ardèche in Southern France. Part of slab with Ophiopinna elegans, numerous (at least 27) individuals reaching 50 mm diameter. Tiny gastropods and indeterminate other material are also present. Early Callovian, Middle Jurassic, Ravin des Mines at La Boissine, to the west of the town of La Voulte-sur-Rhône in Ardèche in Southern France. 25 mm dibranchiate coleoid cephalopod showing preservation of tentacles and soft body. Jurassic (Callovian), La Voulte sur Rhone, France.

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]]> Wed Dec 19 2007 Soft part Preservation in Trilobites and their Sister Groups http://rusmithsgallery.fotopic.net/c1426535.html Here is a small selection of trilobites and their sister groups, showing exceptional preservation of their non-mineralized parts. Wednesday 19 December 2007: Here is a small selection of trilobites and their sister groups, showing exceptional preservation of their non-mineralized parts.

Misszhouia longicaudata, 6 cm long, showing details of limb gill branches. Maotianshan, Yuxi, Chiangjang County, Yunnan, China. A flawlessly complete 55 mm specimen of the trilobite Chotecops ferdinandi with antennae and walking limbs (telepodites or endopods) clearly exposed. Lower Devonian, Hunsruck Slate, Bundenbach, Germany. A wonderfully complete 43 mm specimen of the trilobite Asteropyge sp with antennae and walking limbs (telepodites or endopods) clearly exposed. Lower Devonian, Hunsruck Slate, Bundenbach, Germany. Balcoracania dailyi (Pocock 1970). 12mm trilobite. Lower Cambrian. Soft body preservation of the trilobite’s gut is clearly in evidence. These occur in one locality only, from the Cape D’Estaing Formation, Emu Bay, South Australia. B.dailyi detail. Naraoia spinosa 15 mm with antennae emerging laterally from the cephalon. This is the most common Naraoid from Chengjiang, but preservation of antennae is not often seen. Selenocoryphe platyura. Peters 2003. 36 mm in ventral view showing preserved gut and mid gut diverticulae. Weeks Formation. Utah, USA. A Lower Cambrian Chengjiang Eoredlichia intermedia, 28 mm, showing preserved antennae. Cindarella eucalla, 65 mm, a wonderfully preserved xandarellid from the Lower Cambrian of Chengjiang, China. Cedaria minor. 12 mm long showing preservation of the gut, Upper Cambrian, Weeks Formation, Millard County, Utah. 22 mm complete Triarthrus eatoni with very fine preservation of limbs and antennae. Whetstone Gulf Formation, (younger than Utica Shale Group), Ashgill , Upper Ordovician, near Martinsburg, New York State. Markus Martin preparation. Naroia compacta, a complete 23 mm soft bodied trilobite, Marjum Formation, Middle Cambrian, Millard County, Utah. The complex branching gut diverticulae are beautifully displayed as are soft body preservation, including gut and limbs, seen through the thin carapace. Another image of the Asteropyge. Xandarella spectaculum. 65 mm, an exceptional complete individual from Mafang Detail. Note very fine spines projecting from antenna. Paired exopod and endopod. Again very fine spines projecting from antenna. Detail of limbs with terminal claws. Claw detail. Gill filaments of exopod. Detail of limbs. Claw detail. Detail of antennae.

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