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Do you have a picture you could put on the web. Otherwise send me a picture and I will make a temp url. James Mahaffy (mahaffy@dordt.edu) Phone: 712 722-6279 Biology Department FAX : 712 722-1198 Dordt College, Sioux Center IA 51250 >>> rxlock@wm.edu 08/07/01 02:03PM >>> Hi folks, As a favor for a student, I'm trying to follow up on the taxonomic affinities of a group of cone-shaped fossils from the Marcellus Shale (Upper Devonian) of western Virginia (near Lake Moomaw). These fossils are long (3-9 cm), narrow (max 0.5 cm), extremely thin-shelled, and straight, tapering to a distinct point. They are crushed flat and all lie parallel to bedding. Several specimens possess a longitudinal groove straight down the middle of the cone, but this may simply be the result of crushing. I haven't found any evidence of ornament, but there's not much original shell material available. They bear a close resemblance to the specimen of "Bactrites" aciculum Hall, figured in the Middle and Upper Devonian of Maryland volume published by the Maryland Geological Survey in 1913 (p. 320, pl. 42, fig. 5). I've found some of the older literature on this critter (including Hall 1879 and Kindle 1912), but haven't been able to find anything particularly recent on it or its close relatives. It appears to have bounced back and forth quite a bit taxonomically and has been classified in turn as a scaphopod, pteropod, ammonite, and marine worm. If anyone has any information on the fauna of the Marcellus Shale and any ideas re. the taxonomic affinities of these cone-shaped specimens, I'd love to hear from you! Thanks, Rowan Rowan Lockwood Department of Geology The College of William and Mary P.O. Box 8795 Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795 Phone: 757/221-2878 Fax: 757/221-2093 Email: rxlock@wm.edu
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