I suppose I ought to have a category labeled “rocks”. But I don’t. This is in response to interest expressed by sundry commenters in previous posts regarding the fossils which have found their way to my home.
Many of them I have found myself. But it is surprising how people will give you fossils when they find out that you like them, and don’t consider piles of rocks in your house to be a nuisance. A few of the pieces of my collection were in an old case that was designed to carry around 45 rpm records (remember them???) that was in a box that my mother purchased at an auction. She was actually interested in a jar of antique clothespins that was in the box, but when she opened the red plastic case and found beautiful crystals, mineral specimins and fossils within she immediately brought it to me, her rock crazy daughter. Believe it or not, I am NOT the daughter who majored in geology and anthropology in college; that would be my older sister.
So. Here are a few of my treasures.
The first one was a gift from my college room mate, who lives in Germany. It is a fossilized sea urchin which was collected by her and her husband on the shore of the North Sea.
This one was a gift from my gold smith friend, Doug Feakes, who found this in Montana. It is a fern imprint on shale.
Another gift, this one from the father of one of my piano students. He collected many of these sorts of fossils on his property near Mountain Grove, MO. I have no idea what this intriguing animal was.
Next we have a few brachiopods. The ones in matrix were in the above mentioned box, the nice big one came from Sue just the other day.
She also gave me a wonderful selection of fossilized shark’s teeth. The shell they are in also contains mouth plates and stingers from an ancient sting ray.
She also gave me all the fossilized shells that are contained in this shell. If you look closely, you can see that several of the ones at the front of this grouping have been silicated (that means the shell matrix has been replaced with silica crystals).
This oyster shell could not go out into the garden, it was way too cool. How you manage to become fossilized and still keep your halves together but separatable is a mystery to me. The second shot of this pair shows the oyster shell opened up. The one just to the left also opens into its two halves. Just behind this pair of shells you can see a wad of fossilized worm tubes
This is a commercial fossil, purchased at a rock show. This is a cephalopod, now extinct, called Trilacinoceras hunanense, which was collected in China. This lived during the Ordovician Period, approximately 460 million years ago. Usually you do not find the long extension of the shell intact, so this is a very cool fossil indeed.
This next photo is of a grouping that lives on top of the computer desk. The nautiloid on the right was a gift from England, collected there in Surrey. The two on the right came from Sue from her excavations in florida. The long pointed one is an extinct Murex, the one on the right is a Euphorba. Apparently, the Euphorbas are quite uncommon. She tells me that whenever anyone at the excavation found one you could tell because of all of the euphoric screaming that went along with the unearthing of one. (Perhaps that accounts for the name?)
The next one is a fossil I found myself in Costa Rica 13 years ago. We walked up to a waterfall, and this fossil imprint of a clam shell in a hardened pyroclastic flow was just winking at me from the stream bed there. It is resting on a piece of petrified wood I purchased in Arkansas a few years ago. I had to get it because it looked so much like a log, and it rests by our wood stove. So far no one has tried to put it in to burn.
The last pair of shots I am including are of a fossilized beach. I found this piece on a gravel bar on the Niangua River a couple of years ago. I was attracted to the wave form on the side that faced me.
But what was really cool was what was on the other side of the rock. Many fossilized worm trails are preserved forever here.
I hope you have enjoyed this tour through some of my fossils, and hope you come back for the next tour, which will be skulls and bones.
Skulls and bones! Skulls and bones!
Eyeball, my dear, you are so predictable! I knew you would be excited by that teaser. . .
what’s the curly pink one below the oyster fossil?
That is a horizontal slice through a conch shell that I bought at a stand in Bermuda. I also have a vertical slice, which is an interesting view of the architecture of the shell, but I really liked the spiral of the horizontal slice.
Loved all the fossils and shells. Reminded me of a link on my WordPress blog. It’s from Etereaestudios called Nature by Numbers. It’s about the elegance of the universe through sacred geometry. I loved the images they explained so much for me. What really brought you to mind is that they use a shell for demonstration. Beautiful. Mind expanding. I turned off the music, it didn’t add to my experience. Blessings of love, light and sound, Kelly
http://www.youtube.com/user/etereaestudios
What a wonderful link.
I knew the Fibonacci Series could be found in the nautilus shell (and pinecones, certain flowers, broccoli heads), but I didn’t know about the Golden Mean and the sunflower center. I love the way nature demonstrates some mathematical things to us.
Ellie – this post is MAGIC! Wouldn’t you know i came by just in time to enjoy it (and will share it with my next Tuesday’s blog post for sure!).
Wanted to let you know that I have FINALLY found the perfect art for the oriole’s nest (it has been a very long time, but it is very special). AnnMarieGarden(.org) which is about 32 minutes from me has asked artists to create fairy houses for the summer. I was making clay doors thinking of what in the world to make a house of and then thought of the redwood driftwood you sent and the oriole’s nest which has been in it’s plastic cover al these years. PERFECT! I will sent you a photo of it when it is finished (I just made the doors today).
More perfect, the “bed” will be and inverted piece of skull with one antler that I got from my cousin who died (too young) almost 15 years ago. She collected these things and I love that I have them. She used to spray paint spider webs and collect them on rocks she had painted black. Alas – they weren’ weather proof and have chipped off.
Anyways, i wanted you to be the first to know. Hugs!
How excellent that the proper art for the oriole’s nest has been revealed. I am looking forward to seeing the result. I’m sure it will be MAGIC!
[…] about the environment she has created around her, it turns magical! Please enjoy this post, fossils, as the first extraordinary thing…and note how it is a life-long commitment to having what […]
Hi, I like your fossil photos! As a fossil murex lover (just started my own blog about them a couple of months ago – http://glpolites.wordpress.com/ ), I just wanted to let you know that the name of the shell that you called “Euphorba” is actually Ecphora. You and your friend are quite correct, though — Ecphoras are hard to find in south Florida, and everyone wants them. I[‘ve met many casual fossil collectors who would give anything to find one of their own. So I think that the name “Euphorba” is actually pretty appropriate (even if not scientifically accurate), and I kind of like it! 🙂 Also, the the scientific name of the long skinny Murex next to the “Euphorba” is Supterynotus textilis. It is highly sought after by Florida collectors as well, simply because it is so beautiful and unique in appearance.
Thanks for the informtion. As I was transcribing a rather scrawled name of the Ecphora, I’m not surprised I got it incorrect. I’m just obsessive enough to truly want to know the proper names for things that it makes me very happy to know the name of Ecphora’s neighbor in the display.
Seems like you are the person I need to come here and do some identifications. . .
Thanks for stopping by my blog.