Limestone Shell Fossils

October 26, 2024

When I was picking up rocks out of the yard, I noticed most of the rocks were limestone.

I was delighted to notice fossils in some of the rocks.

The mussel fossils are pretty and easy to recognize.

Based on my limited research of using Google Glass, this appears to be several bryozoan fossils.

What are bryozoans? This was the best description I found and it is from: https://www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/learn/bryozoa/

“Bryozoans are filter feeding invertebrates and can be found in both freshwater and marine habitats, where they are often easy to miss because of their small size and cryptic lifestyle (e.g., encrusting seashells, rocks, or kelp). In almost all species, tiny (< 1-millimeter diameter) bryozoan individuals, called zooids, live together as a colony that often encrusts surfaces, grows branching structures, or, in freshwater species, forms a gelatinous blob. Despite their small size, marine bryozoans are abundant in many fossil assemblages thanks to the preservability of their hard calcium carbonate skeletons.”