Re: paleonet Sunday Paleo-Mystery

[Ron West <rrwest@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Mike,

Your slab reminds me of some Permian units where I collected lungfish 
burrows and associated vertebrate debris from north-central Oklahoma 
years ago with Ollie Olson.  Thus, your guess as to Texas (or Oklahoma) 
Permian seems reasonable.

Cheers - Ron
On Jul 17, 2005, at 8:53 PM, Mike Everhart wrote:

> All,
> The Sunday Paleo-Mystery should be an easy one for someone... 
> hopefully....
>
> Last week I found a fairly large slab of* dark red "sandy shale"** 
> sitting on the prairie grass at the edge of an exposure of Smoky Hill 
> Chalk in southeastern Gove County, Kansas.... where it obviously did 
> not originate.
>
> **There is a small (1.4 mm) vertebra exposed on the surface of a slab.
> http://www.oceansofkansas.com/Temp5.html
>
> ****The matrix is filled with small, shiny white fragments of bone or 
> scales, etc. Little is identifiable. *** *
>
> Any ideas as to where it came from?
> I'm guessing the Permian red beds of Texas, but have never been there. 
>  I'm assuming that someone unloaded the slab while repacking their 
> vehicle and forgot to put it back (or got tired of lugging it around).
>
> Regards,
>
> *Mike Everhart
> Adjunct Curator of Paleontology
> Sternberg Museum of Natural History
> Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS
> www.oceansofkansas.com
> *
> *
> **
>
> *
>
> ***
>
>
>
**************************
Ronald R. West, Ph.D.
Professor of Palaeobiology
Department of Geology
Thompson Hall
Kansas State University
Manhattan, Kansas 66506-3201