The Bulletin
 Editor - Jack Kallmeyer

September 2025
Anchor or Float?

Our program this month will be presented by Thomas Williams. A frequent guest speaker for the Dredgers, Thomas will be presenting a program entitled: Loboliths - Floats or Anchors?

Program summary: Loboliths are large spherical objects associated with crinoids in the Upper Silurian and Lower Devonian. The purpose of these structures is controversial and the lobolith genus Camarocrinus has been variously described as an independent class of echinoderms, cystoids, genital sacs, anchors/roots, or floats. Today, we know they are definitely crinoidal, attached to the distal stem of Scyphocrinus. But the big question remains: are these just interesting structures, floats, or anchors? The history of lobolith research ranges from the latter half of the nineteenth century through current time. Many well known paleontologists, including Hall, Haeckel, Jaekel, Bather, Schuchert and others, including modern researchers, have pondered this float vs anchor question. Both seem plausible, as crinoids have evolved many ways of attachment. Besides attaching their holdfasts to the seafloor, crinoids have also attached themselves to logs to drift in the water column, and modern crinoids have even been observed swimming and crawling along the bottom. Since their first discovery it has mostly been assumed, not without some doubt, that loboliths were floats acting much like fishing bobbers or buoys, allowing the crinoid to float in the water column. However, is that a correct assessment? More recent research of Scyphocrinus and Camarocrinus suggests their mode of living are anchors to either rest on or be incorporated into the substrate. (Springer, 1917; Ray, 1980; Gorzelak, 2020). This talk will evaluate the evidence and present more information on these unusual echinoderms.

Thomas Williams earned his Bachelor's Degree in geology from Western Illinois University and his Masters of Science in geohydrology at Illinois State University. He worked for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency as groundwater geologist in hazardous waste cleanup and as a field inspector in water pollution control from 1998 through 2017. He has taught various classes for Illinois State University as an adjunct professor in Environmental Studies, primarily environmental regulation. A longtime fossil collector, he has served as the chairman of the Mid-America Paleontological Society (MAPS) fossil show from 2008 to present.

TIME: 8 pm
DATE: Friday, September 26, 2025
PLACE: Room 201 Braunstein Hall
                University of Cincinnati Clifton Campus
SIMULCAST: via Zoom - Link sent no later than Sept 24.

Here are some directions to our meeting room (Updated)

President’s Message - General Announcements
By Jack Kallmeyer

Attendance at UC was decent at our May meeting with 26 on Zoom and 33 in-person at UC. This was higher than the previous meeting. See the end of this bulletin for updated parking information.

At recent meetings I have had a lot of frustration connecting with the UC Guest wifi server. The UC tech support people suggested I try to get authorization to use the UC Secure server. I’ve had little luck contacting anyone who can help in the Geology Department as they would be the ones to obtain that authorization for me. The bottom line is: if you absolutely can’t connect to the meeting via Zoom, it may be that we were unsuccessful in connecting to the UC Guest server.

When you receive messages, the bulletin or Zoom links, do not reply to these messages. We do not monitor this email box for incoming mail so your reply or question will go unseen for up to a month. If you need to contact us do so through: admin@drydredgers.org

Masks will be considered as optional at Dry Dredgers meetings at UC. However, if you have a cold, other respiratory symptoms or are coughing or sneezing, you will still need to wear a mask to protect others. If you are ill, we suggest that you stay home and watch on Zoom. Some of our members who attend these meetings are in high risk groups (including me) so please be courteous and sensitive to their situation. Vaccination is also highly recommended. We have a limited number of free masks at the front of the room if you need one.

Beginner's Class
By Greg Courtney

The Beginners Class will be conducted from 7:15 PM to 8:00 PM on September 26th. It will be held before the general meeting in room 300 in Braunstein Hall on UC campus. That's one floor up from the main meeting. This month's class will be presented by Greg Courtney. He will be presenting a slide show on fossil hunting methods and tools including an introduction to Ordovician sea life and methods of collecting them. There will be some in-person fossils to see and samples to take home. It will be in-person only. No remote Zoom. If any member would like to lead a future beginners class contact Greg at youthenrichment@fuse.net

May Field Trip: Into the Woods
by Bob Bross

When conodont teeth were first discovered in the 1850's, the question raised was "What creature do they belong to?" For 130 years, they were referred to as "orphan fossils" - a term that was used for other Ordovician specimens such as certain sponges and echinoderms. Other prehistoric finds fell into this category as well: a fossilized embryo might not indicate what it would grow up to be, essentially not having any parents. Fortunately for conodonts, preserved soft-body examples eventually "reunited" them with their "parents."

If your eyes aren't up to the task, fear not; crinoids, trilobites, and other examples can be found in this Southgate member of the Kope formation. The site has a gentle slope, and parking is abundant on the shoulder; while the roadway is a little active, most of the exploration can be done on one side.

Here are some pictures of the Dry Dredgers previous trips to this site.

Directions to this field trip are available to dues-paying members in the Email version of the bulletin which is a full color PDF file loaded with interesting articles. Would you like to be a member? Please do. Here are the instructions for mailing in your dues. 

More interesting and informative articles, along with color illustrations is available in the full E-Bulletin that was emailed to dues-paying members.

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