| Manford, OK - Pennsylvanian Colony Creek Shale? |
| Gastropods - Marine snails |
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Ananias welleri - A gastropod that closely resembles Worthenia except that Ananias has a groove on the outer edge of its' whorls where Worthenia has "ribs." |
| Pelecypods - "Clams" |
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Myalina sp. - I'm not 100% sure on the identification of this pelecypod, but it looks like a Myalinid pelecypod. If you know differently and can show me the proper ID, please contact me. |
| Brachiopods |
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Lingula sp. - Phosphate nodules at this locality often contain fossils. Most commonly Inarticulate Brachiopods and vertebrate fossils. |
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Lingula sp. - Another well-preserved Lingula. |
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The pedicle valve of an Orbiculoid Inarticulate Brachiopod. |
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Yeah, this Rhynchonellid brachiopod isn't all that well-preserved, I know I have a better one around here somewhere. I'll replace it when I get around to it, so quit yer complaining. |
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Here's another view. |
| Trilobites |
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Ditomopyge decurata - Front view of the cephalon. |
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Ditomopyge decurata - Lateral view |
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Ditomopyge decurata - View of the coiled thorax |
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Ditomopyge decurata - View of the pygidium. |
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Ditomopyge scitula - pygidium. |
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Coming soon: Vertebrata (Fish bones and shark teeth), Cephalopoda (Nautiloids, Ammonoids), more Gastropods, Crinoids, more Pelecypods. |
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| Stories |
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How much is the trilobite in the window? |
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Before the Oklahoma Department of Transportation came along and ruined the outcrop, I had been collecting this locality for almost three years everytime I would go home to Tulsa from Stillwater. I've found all kinds of interesting things here (which really makes me mad at the OK DoT). The most prolific fossils found here are brachiopods, corals, crinoids, with the occasional trilobite if you look hard enough. I would say that everytime I visited, I would find one to two Ditomopyge trilobites, sometimes I would get lucky and find three. Ammonoids are what I really wanted to find, but out of three years, I've only found ten and they aren't very well-preserved. |
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Anyway, the funny part: One day, on a field trip into Texas with my advisor, we stopped at a fossil show, just to see what all they had. I was looking around at all the booths when I came across this fellow from Oklahoma that had a bunch of OK fossils. He had several Ammonoids that I helped him identify, for which he was grateful, but the hospitality was to soon end when I spotted a trilobite from "Keystone Lake." I informed him I knew where he got these, and we got to talking about the locality. I then turned it over and was quite shocked at the $450 price tag on the mounting! I asked him why it was so expensive, and he said, "well, they are extremely rare." He was surprised to learn that I found one or two everytime I went, whereas he had only found five in almost 15 years of collecting that locality. Needless to say, he was in a hurry to get me out of there, and wasn't too happy with me. |
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I think this goes to show you, just because you don't find them, that doesn't mean they aren't there. |
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"Hey son, you alive?" |
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If you hunt fossils with me, you'll notice that I find a LOT of very small things. How? Well, I lay down on the outcrop and practically crawl over the whole thing if there's time. Why? I like to find EVERYTHING of interest, I suppose that's why I love microfossils so much, my interest is learning from an outcrop, not just collecting. Anyway, one day, while I was "hugging the outcrop", very intently searching for the smallest of fossils, a very gruf voice suddenly said loudly "Hey Son, You Alive?" I darn near jumped out of my clothes, and startled the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Officer that had pulled over to check on my welfare. He said I was so still that he thought I was dead! After I explained what I was doing with my face in the "dirt", he was quite interested and started collecting with me until he got a call on his radio. He even found a trilobite and gave it to me. I've since had that happen to me 3 times, but I've only been scared once since that OHP officer, if you don't count the one in Kansas that told me about spotting a Mountain Lion in the nearby creek. |
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Return to the main paleo page. |
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