Dry Dredgers Field Trip
May 26, 2006
Northern Kentucky Road Cut
Photos by Ron Fine and Bill Heimbrock
Fossils Found That Day
The best fossils found that day were the tiny fossils that take a hand lens to find. The best small fossil found was the fossil shown below. We think it's most likely a Conularia. It was found by a visiting member from Wisconsin.
Since it is unusual and unidentified, it's probably rare and
needs closer examination by professional Paleontologists. So Bob took down the
members contact information and received permission to deposit the specimen in
the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science collections. This is really
smart thinking on Bob's part. So far, there is no positive identification for
this exciting specimen The ridges do not resemble the ones on common Conularia
from the Cincinnatian. It may be a Paraconularia, but this is not documented
from the Cincinnatian that we can find. More details to follow.
Other small fossils found that day included Cornulites (next two pics).
The Cornulites on the left appears to be wrapping around a
stray Cryptolithus Lace Collar. Wasn't the trilobite molt floating along the
Ordovician Ocean bottom? If so, how did this annelid worm grow on it?
Another minifossil found in abundance was Graptolites.
These are the black carbon remains of animals that are likely to have floated in
the water while alive and fell to the Ordovician Ocean floor when they died. The
specimens in the next two pictures are Geniculograptus, formerly
known as Climacograptus.
