Betty Hooker is one of our volunteer naturalists, and recently she has
been teaching some of our school children about locating other worlds with a
magnifying glass. I wanted to do the same but observed a world of fossils that
were placed here at the Pfeiffer Nature Center under a shallow Inland Sea 400
million years ago.
The first fossil I observed was a segment from the stem of a Crinoid.
Crinoids were plant-like forms but strictly animals in nature.
Above the root rises a stony stem, ten to fifteen inches high.
In the rock they look like a pile of little buttons or little discs, each
one with a hole or star through the center.
Sometimes several of the segments remain attached together; but generally
they are separated and scattered through the rock.
I also observed three different kinds of Brachiopods.
Brachiopods are perhaps the most abundant fossil found at the Nature
Center and can still be found in our oceans today.
They are solitary marine animals with very little power of movement.
They are mollusks and the right and left sides are symmetrical.
But, what really made me excited about this rock were the two different
kinds of Bryozoans found in this rock. Bryozoans are sometimes called moss
animals because they are in located in the Sponge family.
Their colonies, whether living or fossil, are usually small and easily
overlooked. All Bryozoans have
tentacles attached to it that were used for collecting food.
Finding these tentacles is a good way for identifying the Bryozoan
fossils.
For further exploring the Nature Center with a magnifying glass join us
on the 1st of July for a walk with us as we will observe little
animals and plants in our forest. If
you are interested in learning about Western New York Fossils join us on the 16th
of July as we explore rocks with different fossils in them like I did earlier
this summer.
Crinoids
Brachiopods
Bryozoans
By
Thomas P. LeBlanc
Naturalist
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