Fossils
INVERTABRATES
A= the geological time period when it is found (ex. Cambrian, Coniferous)
B= the habitat in which the organism lived
C= the lifestyle of the organism (ex. Predator, bottom-dweller, etc.)
D= Where the organism’s fossils have been found (ex. TN, Burgess Shale)
E= picture of fossil
Forams (Foraminifera)
a. Paleocene to Oligocene
b. surface waters; in or on the sea bottom
c. have small chambers
d. Europe, Middle East, Asia
e.
Nummulites-
Small chambers in a spiral, abundant in shallow warm seas of ancient Tethys Ocean
Used in building of Egyptian pyramids
Diatoms
a.
Sponges (Phylum Porifera)
a. Cambrian onward and abundant in Cretaceous
b. aquatic animals
c. filter-feeding organisms
d. marine and freshwater environments
e.
Hydnoceras-
Hydnoceras Tuberosum
Devonian
In Eastern USA; Europe
20 cm
Astraeospongia-
Astraeospongia meniscus
Silurian
Niagara Formation
Decatur County, Tennessee
6 cm diameter
Note spicules in red circle
Astraeospongia meniscus
Silurian
Beech River Formation
Perry County, Tennessee
5.5 cm diameter
Astraeospongia meniscus
Silurian
Beech River Formation
Perry County, Tennessee
5.5 cm diameter
Side View
Bryozoans
a. Ordovician to recent
b. reef systems, colonies prefer clear water
c. grow as encrustations on shells and other objects, form branching structures, thin lacey forms,
or stony growths
d. Mississippi?
e.
Archimedes-
Bryozoan
Archimedes
Central Corkscrew Support
Lacy Zoarium Branches Missing
Carboniferous
Mississippi, USA
Rhombopora- (?)
Bryozoan
Batostoma jamesi
Waynesville Formation Ordovician
St. Leon, IN
Graptolites (Phylum Hemichordata)
a.
Corals (Phylum Cnidaria)
a.
Arthropods
a. Silurian period?
b. many adaptations- deepest oceans to highest mountains, coldest ice to hottest deserts
c.
d. Baltic amber, Burgess Shale
 Trilobites
a. Cambrian
b. ocean
c. juveniles- swimming in plankton, adults- benthic detritus feeders (bottom feeders) except
agnostids- pelagic life (open sea at bottom)
d.
e.
Phacops-
Trilobite
Phacops megalomanicus
Devonian
Atlas Mountains, Morocco
9.5 cm long x 5.5 cm wide
Trilobite
Conocoryphe sulzeri
Middle Cambrian
Jince, Czech Republic
Larger Tilobite 3 cm
Phacops- had schizochroal eyes which made up of larger spherical-shaped lenses numbering in
the hundreds (up to 700) and separated by exoskeleton. Each lens is made of two calcite crystals
arranged as a doublet lens (lens used together).
IsotelusCryptolithus- species that lost eyes
Trilobite Molt
Cryptolithus tessellatus
Kope Formation Ordovician
Ft. Mitchell, KY
Elrathia-
Elrathia kingii
House Range and Drum Mountains Western Utah, USA
Wheeler Shale Formation
Cambrian: 505 Million Years
 Eurypterids
a. Ordovician to the Permian
b. marine
c. predator until Silurian
d. New York’s state fossil
e.
Eurypterus remipes
Fiddler Green Formation
Phelps Member
Upper Silurian
Herkimer Co., New York
Specimen is 9 cm long
 Insects
a. wingless insects- Devonian, winged insects- Pennsylvanian, Herbivorous insectsCarboniferous, Insects w/ complete metamorphosis- Permian, Social insects- Cretaceous, FleasTertiary
b.
c. parasite, herbivore
d.
e.
Baltic Amber with Inclusion
Wasp (Order Hymenoptera)
Cenozoic; Paleocene; Eocene
Yantarny, Kaliningrad, Russia
4.5 cm long x 3 cm wide x 1.5 cm thick
Carbonized Insects
Green River Formation
Cenozoic; Paleocene; Eocene
Kemmerer, Wyoming
Slab 6 cm x 4 cm
 Crustaceans (shrimp, lobster, crabs, barnacles)
a. Cambrian to recent, familiar Decapods- Devonian, crabs-Jurassic
b. marine environments-most successful, few freshwater and terrestrial
c. ate mollusks and brachiopods, predator
d.
e.
Shrimp
Cretaceous
Haquel, Lebanon
Brachiopods (Rhynchonella in Kit)
a. Cambrian to recent
 Inarticulate
a. Cambrian
b.
c.
d.
e.
Lingula Articulate
a. Ordovician
b. deep water and shallow environments. Majority- shallow water and intertidal zones
c. filter feeders
d. state fossil for Kentucky
e.
PlatystrophiaAtrypa-
Atrypa
Pedicle Valve
Devonian
Iowa
1.9 cm wide x 1.7 cm tall
Atrypa
Brachial Valve
Devonian
Iowa
1.9 cm wide x 1.7 cm tall
Mucrospirifer-
Mucrospirifer
Brachial Valve
Devonian
New York
3.5 cm wide x 1.8 cm tall
Mucrospirifer
Pedicle Valve
Devonian
New York
3.5 cm wide x 1.8 cm tall
Rafinesquina-
Brachiopod
Rafinesquina ponderosa
Waynesville Formation Ordovician
St. Leon, IN
Note: This Rafinesquina, an articulate brachiopod, is covered with inarticulate brachiopods
LeptaenaComposita-
Composita
Pennsylvanian
Missouri
1.8 cm long x 1.3 cm wide
Composita
Pennsylvanian
Missouri
1.8 cm long x 1.3 cm wide
Side View Showing Aladdin Oil Lamp Shape
JuresaniaMollusks (Phylum Mollusca)
a. Cambrian
b. marine environment most common, freshwater streams, lakes, springs, and marshes
c. predators
 Bivalves (clams, mussels, oysters)
a. Mesozoic
c. feed by filtering particles from the water through siphons. Possess a foot, but have limited
mobility.
d. burrow in sediment, stone, or wood. Classified by their hinges
e.
Pecten- (scallop)
Gryphaea-
Gryphaea arcuata
"Devil's Toenail"
Left valve (right valve on bottom)
Jurassic
England
6 cm long
Exogyra- (oyster)
Exogyra ponderosa
Left Valve
Cretaceous
Texas
14 cm long
Pholadomya-
Pholadomya ambigua
Early Jurassic; UK.
4 cm
 Gastropods (snails)
a. Cambrian to recent
b. marine, freshwater, land
e.
Conus- (cone shell)
Conus (Lithoconus) Sauridens
Middle Eocene, USA
6 cm
Turritella-
Turritella
Miocene
Santa Monica Mountain, California
3.5 to 4.5 cm
Worthenia-
Worthenia tabulata
Pennsylvanian
Wise County, Texas
2.4 cm tall
Platyceras- (sea snail)
Platyceras sp.
Devonian
Moscow Formation
Little Beards Creek
Leicester, New York
2.5 cm long
Cypraea-
 Cephalopods
a.
b.
c.
d.
o Nautiloids
a. Paleozoic
e.
Orthoceras- a straight horn
Nautilis-
Nautilus with Siphuncle
Cretaceous; Albian Stage
Mahajanga, Madagascar
o Ammonoids (Ammonites?)
a. Devonian to Permian (Mesozoic)
e.
Dactylioceras-
Baculites-
Baculite
Fox Hills Formation, Cretaceous
South Dakota
9.5 cm long
o Belemnoids (Belemnites?)
a. Mesozoic
b. marine rocks
c. internal, chambered shell, cylindrical
e.
Belemnitella-
Belemnitella Mucronata (Schlotheim)
Late Cretaceous; Holland
Belemnite
Cylindroteuthis oweni
Kelovey Formation, Jurassic
Rizan, Russia
Echinoderms
a. first appearance in Cambrian
b. strictly solitary marine organisms
 Crinoids
a.
b. massive calcite skeleton
c. filter feeders
d. abundant in Paleozoic seas
e.
stems- singe tube connecting to cup
columnals- many columns make up one stem
calyxes- cup is at the base connected to stem and arms
Crinoid
Montgomery County, Indiana
Edwardsville Formation
Paleozoic; Mississippian
12 cm long x 2.5 cm at widest
 Echinoids
c. sea beds
e.
Sea Urchins-
Sea Urchin
Echinocorys vulgaris
Cretaceous, Campanian
Alemannia Quarry, Hoever Hannover
Lower Saxony, Germany
7 cm long
Sea Urchin
Heart Urchin
Micraster kunolus
Cretaceous
Germany
6 cm long
Sand Dollars-
Fossil Sand Dollars
Oligocene
Bordeaux, France
Specimens are 6.5 cm in diameter
Sand Dollar
Tertiary
Kettleman Hills
Coalinga, California
4 cm
 Stelleroids or look up “Asteroids” (Starfish)
a. back into the Ordovician
b. in the water
e.
Sea Stars-
Sea Star
Ordovician
Morocco, Africa
2 cm
Brittle Stars-
Brittle Star
Solnhofen Limestone
Late Jurassic
Germany
5 cm across
Brittle Star
Urasterella asperula
Lower Devonian
Budenbach, Germany
Specimen is 3 cm x 3.5 cm
 Blastoids
a. Silurian to the Permian
b. attached to hard substrate on sea bed
e.
Pentremites-
Blastoids
Montgomery County, Indiana
Edwardsville Formation
Paleozoic; Mississippian
Specimens are 2 cm long x 1.5 cm wide
VERTEBRATES
Fish
 Jawless fish (Agnathans)
a. Time period - Devonian (from 405 million to 345 million years ago)
b. Habitat - oceans (born in rivers, then return to rivers to reproduce)
c. Lifestyle - scavengers
d. fossils found in - British Columbia
e. Pictures:
Hagfish-
Lampreys-
Conodonts-
 Armored Fish (Placoderms)
a. Time Period - Devonian (from 405 million to 345 million years ago)
b. Habitat - fresh water
c. Lifestyle - predator
d. Where the fossils are found - various locations
e. Pictures:
Genus: Dunkleosteus-
Genus: Bothriolepis-
 Cartilagenous Fish (Chondrichthyans)
a. Time period - Early Devonian Period to Today
b. Habitat - saltwater
c. Lifestyle - predator
d. Where the fossils are found - various locations
e. Pictures:
Shark-
Shark Teeth-
Ray-
 Bony Fish (Osteichthyans)
a. Time Period - Late Devonian period to today
b. Habitat - fresh or saltwater
c. Lifestyle - herbivore
d. Where fossils are found: various locations
e. Pictures:
Ray Finned Fish-
Lobe Finned Fish-
Reptiles
Dinosaurs
Birds
a. Late Jurassic
b. Forested areas
c. most likely hunted small prey, seizing it with its jaws if it was small enough or with its claws
if it was larger
d. only specimens of Archaeopteryx that have been discovered come from the Solnhofen
limestone in Bavaria, southern Germany, which is a lagerstätte, a rare and remarkable geological
formation known for its superbly detailed fossils.
e.
Genus - Archaeopteryx
Mammals
Genus – Basilosaurusa. Late Eocene
b. Shallow warm seas around the world; surface-dweller
c. Predator
d. Louisiana, USA; Egypt; Pakistan
e.
Genus – Mammuthus- (Mammoth)
a. Early Pliocene to Middle Holocene
b. tundra-like steppe environment, grassland
c. grazing herbivore
d. Alaska and Washington, USA
e.
Genus – Mammut- (Mastodon)
a. Oligocene through Pleistocene
b. Grassy plains
c. grazing herbivore
d. Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bolivia, England, Germany, the Netherlands,
North America, Romania, and northern Greece.
e.
Genus – Hyracotheriuma. Early Eocene–Mid Eocene
b. woodlands of the northern hemisphere
c. grazing herbivore
d. Wyoming, USA
e.
Genus – Equusa. Early Pleistocene to recent
b. grassy plains
c. grazing herbivore
d. Idaho, USA; southern Texas
e.
Genus – Smilodona. Late Pliocene to Late Pleistocene
b. grasslands, shrubby areas, and pine forests
c. Predator
d. La Brea Tar Pits in California, USA
e.
Genus sp. – Homo neanderthalensisa. Pleistocene
b. Cold northern climate
c. Omnivore hunter-gatherers
d. Portugal, Ukraine, Gibraltar, France, Spain, Britain Germany, Czech Republic,
Slovakia, Croatia, Greece, Iraq, Israel, Iran, Romania and Russia.
e.