Photos by Bill Heimbrock
It was the Lexington club, Kentucky Paleo Society's turn to
host this year. We met at a park near Lexington to have our annual meeting and
picnic. It had not rained in weeks and there was a fire ban. So we had fried
chicken, BBQ ribs and lots of side dishes that the members of both clubs brought
to share. It was delicious! Here are some photos of the good time.
Site #1: Pennington Formation, Mississippian Period
Our first stop was on private property. It exposed the Pennington Formation of the Mississippian.
Fossils Found at Site #1
Blastoids
Our best finds were abundant blastoids. These were all
Pentremites sp.
There were a number of fragments and parts of blastoids found
too. (Next 3 pics)
Crinoids
Crinoid stems were everywhere on this site. Notice that many
of these stems had cirri coming off of them.
Here is a crinoid stem with the basal plates of the crinoid in
place.
We think this next one is probably individual, disarticulated
plates of a crinoid calyx.
We also found some crinoid spines ("wing plates") from the
crinoid Pterotocrinus sp..
Bryozoans
We didn't see many "cork screws" of the bryozoan
Archimedes sp. But we did find a number of their fronds. They were
partially articulated and preserved in matrix. 
Brachiopods
The most abundant brachiopod on site #1 was
Cleiothyridina sp.. These next 2 group photos include other types
of brachiopods as well.
We found a few Spirifer brachiopods too.
Corals
We found a decent number of horn corals on site #1. (next 2
pics)
Some people found tabulate colonial corals too.
Bivalves (clams)
Here's a beautiful bivalve with some shell preservation. Nice
find!
I picked up this interesting concretion because it is loaded
with fossils. I can't say for certain if was originally on this site, or if it
was transported in some manner.
Site #2: Paragon and Borden Formations
The second site we visited is a huge and tall road cut that
also exposed Mississippian age rocks. But this isn't the Pennington Formation
like the first site. It's the Paragon and Borden formations.
This may have been the best find of the day. It's a huge trace
fossil. It looks a little like the siphuncle of a very large orthocone
cephalopod, but it probably isn't that. It looks like an oversized
Archimedes with the fronds But it probably isn't that. So far, we
are stumping the experts. What is it? You tell me!
Brachiopods on Site #2
Fewer brachiopods were found on site #2. Here's what appears
to be a Platystrophia sp. but it's Mississippian
age.
Bryozoans on Site #2
In the Paragon Formation on Site #2, we found some fronds of
the "corkscrew" bryozoan Archimedes sp..
(Next 2 pics)
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