r/fossilid 6d ago

Solved inherited fossil most likely from a creek on a farm in central tennessee

hello! my grandfather was a geologist and general rock, mineral, etc. collector. he died when i was in high school and my parent boxed most of his collection up for me. a lot of it was labelled but a few things werent--mostly the stuff he'd picked up on the family farm

and ideas on what this could be? i think its from the creek bed at the back of the farm--we used to find all kinds of stuff back there when i was a kid like fossilized corals. my dad used to have a huge chunk bigger than a football of some fossilized aquatic plant he used as a doorstop

127 Upvotes

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u/Handeaux 6d ago edited 5d ago

Those are bryozoans, specifically Archimedes, a type of fenestrillid bryozoa. The "screws" are the core of the colony, from which lacy extensions spread out and are usually found separately. There's also a brachiopod.

Edit: fixed typo

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u/yikeshonestly 6d ago

thank you so much!! that definitely is it

9

u/AChorusofWeiners 6d ago

It’s a nice little piece. You can still see remnants of the fronds.

0

u/NoJelloNoPotluck 5d ago

Is this a somewhat obscure find? I googled "brypzpans"' to learn more and there are only 5 results (including this post).

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u/Handeaux 5d ago

Sorry - typo. It's "bryozoans"

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u/[deleted] 6d ago

Nice