Background for a Grade 6 Fossil Trip

1. A Do-It-Yourselves Tour in 23 Slides

3. If you lived here, you’d be near the equator!

4. Another View....

5. Fossil site
Rochester
Genesee River

6. All Devonian: limestone, shale, sandstone
Note: Yellow shows Silurian....Rochester is mostly Silurian – not as old...

7. The Devonian Sea

8. Tops of Horn Corals...
they rarely fossilize
Most likely Fossil finds at Little Beard’s Creek
Horn Corals, Brachiopods, Trilobites, Crinoids,
Pelecypods

9. Horn Corals

10. All horn corals became extinct
during the Great Permian
Extinction

11. Crinoids “Sea Lillies” and Trilobites (on the surface).
Large Arthropod is a Eurypterid...we will not find fossil samples here, but
they are the New York State Fossil!

13. Calyx “flowerish top” is
rarely found, but stem pieces
are common...and very small
Crinoids are Alive today, but not nearly
as common as in the past.

14. Bryozoans....Colonial animals...live in connected colonies, very tine as
individuals...can be seen in stem-like connected fossils...Thousands
of species of them live today.

15. Brachiopods...the most commonly
found fossils at L.B.Creek

16. Palm size and much smaller...
Look like Clams, but are not related
Name means Shoulder-Foot
They have a foot that extends into
the sea bottom and anchors them.

17. Some are ‘winged’, some round. All are Symmetrical on the surface, BUT the
top and bottom shells are different sizes. Bottom
Top

18. Brachiopods became extinct during one of the Three Devonian Extinctions

19. The 3 Major Devonian Extinctions

20. Pelecypods...common in the Devonian
common now...include clams!
Note the top of the shells are NOT
Symmetrical!

21. NOTE We will not find them at Little Beard’s Creek, but the first Tetrapods...land
animals that evolved from Lobe-finned fish evolved. Tetrapods are believed to be
a link between Lobe-finned fish and Amphibians.

23. Last minute notes: wear shoes that can get wet...have dry ones for lunch and the return to school.
Be sure and bring a labeled bag for fossils...an old sock is good for small ones!
If you have a rock hammer, do bring it but also a pair of googles! The science department has several