Dry Dredgers Field Trip
May 28, 2011
Southeastern Indiana
Upper Arnheim, Waynesville, Liberty and Lower Whitewater Formations, Late Ordovician Period

It was another great day in May for the Dry Dredgers to return to their favorite Richmondian site - a large road cut in Indiana. The site has two great trilobite layers and nice crinoids are also found. Today was no exception. This site at the top end of the road, exposes the Liberty formation and at the bottom end, the Waynesville formation. At the very top and very bottom are found the Lower Whitewater and the Arnheim formations, respectively. Here are some pictures of the site and fossil hunters.

Trilobites Found

Isotelus

A young member found a complete pygidium (tail) of an Isotelus.

No whole Isotelus were found. Only partials and fragments. That's normal. Isotelus are large and not kept in one piece after 440 million years.

Ceraurus milleranus

This Ceraurus head is always a great find, even when it's just a glabella, as is shown above.

Acidaspis

Here is a pygidium of a Ceraurus.

Cornulites worm tube.

Flexicalymene

Interestingly, several great examples of the Rusophycus (burrow) of Flexicalymene were found at the bottom of gutters. Both gutter and burrow were preserved as casts.

Crinoids

This first crinoid appears to be a fragment of a calyx..The left and right sides are shown below in these two pictures. Without the calyx basal plates preserved, it's hard to tell what genus this is.

I think this next crinoid is Cincinnaticrinus pentagonus. On the far left of the photo shows the calyx and arms. On this species, the calyx is no thicker than the stem.

Monoplacophorans

Here's a beautiful, ornate mollusk, Phragmolites dyeri.

Gastropods (snails)

Ichnofossils (trace fossils)

Brachiopods

Pelecypods (clams)

Colonial Coral

Protaraea richmondensis

Pyrite

I think this is a Stromatoporoid.

A picture of the ground to show the variety of fossils that can be found at this site.

Now lets see our July 2011 field trip.

See photos of previous field trips to this Southeast Indiana fossil Mecca.
March 2010
September 2008
September 2007
September 2006
March 2006
March 2004
October 2003
April 2002

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