Season 2, Episode 2: What the Fauna!
In very eager anticipation to my return to Hungry Hollow, what can a fossil hound do but practice some observation skills in the neighbourhood? After I performed repeated, almost daily, visits to the pit behind the Boler Ski Hill to collect mediospirifers that sit right atop the mud and clay wall, it was time to be off to Hungry Hollow.
And here we are at the Hungry Hollow area in Arkona, Lambton County. This quick snap is a pretty good indicator of how fossiliferous the terrain is just under your feet. Pictured above are rugose corals, bryozaons, and crinoid bits. Location: north pit.
Above you can see a scattering of broken spirifers.
My daughter was able to drive me up to the site for a three hour visit to both pits, from 3:30 - 6:30. The deer flies were pretty nasty at the north pit near the woods, but not bad at all in the south pit. The very next day I was back again around 8:30 am courtesy of my friend and his two very young sons who had their very first fossil collecting adventure. Most of the specimens depicted here will be from my solo trip, as the second trip was more about showing the young explorers around.
My daughter was able to drive me up to the site for a three hour visit to both pits, from 3:30 - 6:30. The deer flies were pretty nasty at the north pit near the woods, but not bad at all in the south pit. The very next day I was back again around 8:30 am courtesy of my friend and his two very young sons who had their very first fossil collecting adventure. Most of the specimens depicted here will be from my solo trip, as the second trip was more about showing the young explorers around.
Above is a smorgasbord of small fossils magnified 3x, mostly bryozoans, corals, spirifers, and crinoids. To the top left is the cephalon of the trilobite Eldgregeops rana. To the bottom right can be seen the slightly brassy coloured nautiloid (most likely Bactrites, but I'll have to double check). All the specimens to be pictured from my visit will be shown in their raw, unprepared, fresh-from-the-field state.
What is amazing about the site is that, despite being a fossil collecting destination for about 150 years, it still produces more fossils than any one person could ever take away. So, no matter how many visitors it receives, it never seems to be "picked over" too much. Added to this would be that mother nature does a good job of exposing new specimens as they emerge out of the crumbling shales and limestone, and that the quarrying is still active, which exposes new specimens.
My goal had been in pursuit of the elusive Eldregeops rana, a trilobite I have wanted to find since I was a child. I had heard conflicting testimony over where one might be found, be it at the north or the south pit. One collector I ran into who was leaving as I was just beginning my expedition told me he had found a "roller" (some trilobite species, like this one, had a tendency to roll up into a tight ball). He said it was more likely I would only find a few pieces instead of a full specimen. The doubt in his voice was setting me up to not be too disappointed. And I did search the north pit in vain for even a tiny fragment, a tiny piece of lithic proof, of the elusive trilobite. I came away with hundreds of specimens of corals, crinoids, brachiopods, and a few pelycopods, but no trace of my three-lobed arthropodic dream.
With only 45 minutes left until I had to leave the site to meet my ride back to town, I was going along the southern wall of the south pit - encrusted as it was with coral pieces - when I finally found my roller! I couldn't believe my eyes, eyes that had been scanning over the same fossils for over 2 hours. I was so worried I would lose it that instead of placing it in my collecting case where it might be damaged, or in a pocket where it might fall out, I jammed it into my wallet. Not five minutes later, I found just a cephalon piece already pictured earlier.
What is amazing about the site is that, despite being a fossil collecting destination for about 150 years, it still produces more fossils than any one person could ever take away. So, no matter how many visitors it receives, it never seems to be "picked over" too much. Added to this would be that mother nature does a good job of exposing new specimens as they emerge out of the crumbling shales and limestone, and that the quarrying is still active, which exposes new specimens.
My goal had been in pursuit of the elusive Eldregeops rana, a trilobite I have wanted to find since I was a child. I had heard conflicting testimony over where one might be found, be it at the north or the south pit. One collector I ran into who was leaving as I was just beginning my expedition told me he had found a "roller" (some trilobite species, like this one, had a tendency to roll up into a tight ball). He said it was more likely I would only find a few pieces instead of a full specimen. The doubt in his voice was setting me up to not be too disappointed. And I did search the north pit in vain for even a tiny fragment, a tiny piece of lithic proof, of the elusive trilobite. I came away with hundreds of specimens of corals, crinoids, brachiopods, and a few pelycopods, but no trace of my three-lobed arthropodic dream.
With only 45 minutes left until I had to leave the site to meet my ride back to town, I was going along the southern wall of the south pit - encrusted as it was with coral pieces - when I finally found my roller! I couldn't believe my eyes, eyes that had been scanning over the same fossils for over 2 hours. I was so worried I would lose it that instead of placing it in my collecting case where it might be damaged, or in a pocket where it might fall out, I jammed it into my wallet. Not five minutes later, I found just a cephalon piece already pictured earlier.
Eldregeops rana in its unprepared, uncleaned state. Location: south pit, southern wall, Hungry Hollow.
Pictured here are tentaculites both in and out of their matrix. Tentaculites look like tube worms, and there is a lot of confusion among paleontologists as to where they should fit in the taxonomy. I'm always reminded of Carolus Linnaeus who, in his immense project of creating the biological taxonomy we use today, had to create a special category for the miscellaneous creatures that didn't quite fit anywhere else. He called this category "worms." In this case, it might be fitting!
Pictured above are a few crinoid pieces. Below are the same with a the addition of a trilobite cephalon trying to photobomb the picture. All specimens here were retrieved from the south pit, magnification 3x. On the far right, note the crinoid stem piece with the protruding spines. That would likely be a Megistocrinus.
Pictured on the left and right are two brachiopod hashplates - fairly common, yet still impressive. Closer observation reveals a few crinoids and other critters. The brachiopods are all wide-winged Mucrospirifer.
Crinoid hashplate to the left, and to the right an assortment of other finds. As I brought home well over a hundred specimens, it is going to take me a bit of time to photograph and ID them all.
Of the ones I collected over the two days, I did not photograph the corals, but I have ID'd a few specimens:
Trilobites: Eldregeops rana
Coral: Cladopora roemeri, Trachypora elegantula, Heliophyllum teruseptatum, Eridophyllum subcaespotosum, Platyaxum frondosum
Cephalopods: Bactrites arkonensis
Brachiopods: Mucrospirifer (sp unidentified), Nucleospira concinna
Crinoids: Megistocrinus (sp unidentified)
Of the ones I collected over the two days, I did not photograph the corals, but I have ID'd a few specimens:
Trilobites: Eldregeops rana
Coral: Cladopora roemeri, Trachypora elegantula, Heliophyllum teruseptatum, Eridophyllum subcaespotosum, Platyaxum frondosum
Cephalopods: Bactrites arkonensis
Brachiopods: Mucrospirifer (sp unidentified), Nucleospira concinna
Crinoids: Megistocrinus (sp unidentified)