SILURIAN FOSSILS FROM KENTUCKY, INDIANA & SURROUNDING STATES

Silurian Period


This period spanned approximately 438-408 million years ago during the Paleozoic era. It was named by the British geologist Roderick Murchison in 1835 after an ancient Celtic tribe called Silures. Fossils from the period appear in Louisville area rock formations from lowest to highest -Lower Silurian (Llandoverian): Brassfield formation (dolostone); Middle Silurian (Wenlockian): Osgood formation (mostly fossil - poor shale), Laurel formation (dolostone), Waldron Shale (dolomitized in Louisville, but unaltered in Clark Co., IN) and Louisville Limestone (which is also somewhat dolomitized). Much of the Silurian rock in the Louisville area is around 425 million years old.

For more information about Silurian Corals of this area refer to this book, Kentucky Fossil Corals of the Silurian and Devonian Rocks of Kentucky by William J. Davis at this web page. This site is provided by the Kentucky Paleontological Society of Lexington, Kentucky. They also have a link to A Monograph of the Fossil Shells of the Silurian and Devonian Rocks of Kentucky by Henry Nettelroth at this web page. This link leads to Palaeontology Fossil Corals by Dr. C. Rominger (1876) that might be helpful as well.

Not all fossils listed here are from KYANA members some are links to fossils found in the local area that are part of the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University in New Haven, CT.

Scroll down this web page and select a name of a particular fossil to view the image on its own page. Use the internet browser's back button to return to this page once through viewing the image. Some images maybe larger that resolution of the display so click on the image to expand it.

 

 

spongeSponges (Porifera)

Astraeospongia meniscus (Roemer)- Bob Formation, Decatur Co., TN

Unidentified Stromatoporoid, highly conical colony, Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Oldham Co., KY


coralCorals (Cnidaria)

Alveolites fibrous Davis - Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Oldham Co., KY

Arachnophyllum pentagonum Goldfuss - Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Beargrass Creek, Jefferson Co.., KY - Peabody Museum of Natural History collection

Arachnophyllum striatum (d'Orbigny) - Middle Silurian, Niagara Group, Clark Co.., IN - Peabody Museum of Natural History collection

Astrocerium venustum Hall, Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Oldham Co., KY

Coenites menis (Davis) Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Oldham Co., KY

Coenites reticulata (Hall) Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Oldham Co., KY

Coenites reticulata (Hall) also referred to as Cladopora reticulata, Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Jefferson Co., KY

Favosites cristatus Davis - Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Oldham Co., KY

Favosites niagarensis Hall - Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Oldham Co., KY

Halysites catenularia (Linnaeus) - Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, KY - Peabody Museum of Natural History collection

Halysites louisvillensis Stumm - Louisville Limestone, Louisville, Jefferson Co., KY

Halysites sp. Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Louisville, Jefferson Co., KY (Large colony collected in the 1880s, Falls of the Ohio Park collection)

Heliolites romingeri Stumm - Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Oldham Co., KY

Heliolites subtubulatus (McCoy) colonial coral, Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Oldham Co., KY

Plasmopora follis Edwards & Haime - Louisville Limestone, Jefferson Co., KY

Propora papillata Edwards & Haime - Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Oldham Co., KY

Thecia major Rominger - Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Oldham Co., KY

Thecia minor Rominger - Middle Silurian, Niagaran Loc., Beargrass Creek, Louisville, Jefferson Co., KY - Peabody Museum of Natural History collection


bryozoanBryozoans (moss animals)

Pyrite-encrusted fenestrate bryozoans, Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale, Jeffersonville, Clark Co., IN, Falls of the Ohio State Park Collection


brachiopodBrachiopods

Eospirifer radiata (Hall), Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale, Jeffersonville, Clark Co., IN - Falls of the Ohio State Park collection

Fardenia subplana (Hall), Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale, Jeffersonville, Clark Co., IN

Lingulid, inarticulate, Waldron Shale, Clark Co., IN

Meristella maria (Hall), Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale, Jeffersonville, Clark Co., IN - Falls of the Ohio State Park collection

Pentamerus sp. Silurian, KY

Stegerhynchus sp., mass mortality with Eospirifer eudora (Hall) at the bottom, Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale, Jeffersonville, Clark Co., IN, Falls of the Ohio State Park Collection

Whitfieldella nitida (Hall), Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale, Jeffersonville, Clark Co., IN - Falls of the Ohio State Park collection


trilobiteTrilobites (Arthropoda)

Arctinurus occidentalis (Hall), pygidium, Waldron Shale, Clark Co., IN

Bumastus sp., pygidia, Middle Silurian, Laurel Formation, Bardstown, Nelson Co., KY

Calymene breviceps Hall, Waldron Shale, Decatur Co., IN

Calymene breviceps Hall, Waldron Shale, Hartsville, Bartholomew Co., IN

Dalmanites sp. imprint of partial pygidium and thorax, Louisville Limestone, Jefferson County, KY

Harpidella "Cyphaspis" christyi, Waldron Shale, Hartsville, Bartholomew Co., IN

Sthenarocalymene celebra (Raymond) Middle Silurian, Springfield Formation, Wayne Co., IN

Sthenarcalymene celebra, (Raymond) Laurel Dolomite, Metamora, Franklin Co., IN

Trimerus delphinocephalus, (Green), Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale, Clark Co., IN

Trimurus delphinocephalus (Green), cephalon, Silurian, Waldron Shale, Clark Co., IN

Trimurus delphinocephalus, (Green), thorax/pygidium, Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale, Clark Co., IN


snailSnails (Gastropods/Mollusca)

Platyceras (Platystoma) niagarense (Hall), Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale, Oldham Co., KY


clamClams (Pelecypods/Mollusca)

Cypricardina arata (Hall), Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Oldham Co., KY

Pterinea brissa Hall, Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale, Jeffersonville, Clark Co., IN - Falls of the Ohio State Park collection


cephalopodCephalopods (Mollusca)

Cyrtocone cephalopod, Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale, Jeffersonville, Clark Co., IN

Dawsonceras amycus (Hall) - Jeffersonville, Clark Co., IN

Dawsonceras annulatus (Sowerby) - Louisville, Jefferson Co., KY


crinoidCrinoids and Blastoids(Echinodermata)

Caryocrinites omatus (Say) Louisville Limestone, Utica, Clark Co., IN

Eucalyptocrinites type crinoid holdfast on Astrocerium venustum Hall, Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Oldham Co., KY

Eucalyptocrinites crassus calyx, Waldron Shale, St. Paul, Decatur Co., IN

Eucalyptocrinites ovalis calyx, Middle Silurian, Louisville Limestone, Jefferson Co., KY

Eucalyptocrinites-type Crinoid holdfast, Waldron Shale, St. Paul, Shelby Co., IN

Lyriocrinus melissa (Hall) - Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale, Clark Co., IN; Falls of the Ohio State Park collection

Myelodactylus sp. a coiled crinoid (calyx in the center, not exposed), Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale, Clark Co., IN

Troosticrinus reinwardti (Troost) - Brownsport Group, Decatur Co., TN

Unidentified Crinoid holdfast, Waldron Shale, St. Paul, Shelby Co., IN

 

Other

Graptolite Dictyonema sp. - Middle Silurian, Waldron Shale, Clark Co., IN

 

 


 

A Note About Fossil Names

Fossils are named like any other biological species. The genus and trivial name (i.e., Auloceras + undulata) equals the species name. The author's last name is in parenthesis (Billings) if the genus name has been changed. It is not in parenthesis if the genus name is the original designation, such as Favosites niagarensis Hall. A subgenus will be noted like this: Favosites (Emmonsia) emmonsi Rominger. In this example the subgenus is Emmonsia. It was originally designated its own genus name, but recent research has folded it back into the genus Favosites. If the species name is not known, you will see an "sp." after the genus name (i.e., Cyclonema sp.). Names of fossils often seem to be in a state of flux, but that is the nature of research. We strive to place the most up-to-date names we can find with photos on our web site.

Abbreviations

Some abbreviations are used to make the entries smaller. They are Co. for County, KY for Kentucky, IN for Indiana, OH for Ohio, and TN for Tennessee.

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Last Updated: 06/16/2009 - Fossil drawings © Michael Popp, 2009

 

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