What’s This?! Cephalopods

Posted by Beverly on July 13, 2013

Cephalopods were the apex predator of the Ordovician. Remember that is was a sea without fish!

Most cephalopods will have ridges that define the chambers, but not all. I would strongly suggest that you read the Wiki article on cephalopods and research from there.

Orthoceras

Anatomy of a Cephalopod.

I found this on a Google Image Search and found it very informative!

Here is a video of a living cephalopod. It runs about 1 minute, not great but it gives you an idea of what the ancient creatures that you are collecting fossils of may have looked like.

Here is a link to a pdf on the origins of the cephalopod in the Ordovician:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2749442/pdf/pone.0007262.pdf

So, here are pictures for you to familiarize your eye with. You will almost invariably find pieces of cephalopods. Note: I have been told that the largest and most complete specimens of cephalopods are actually found in pastures. Pastures are always private land, ask permission FIRST. And if you see one just across the fenceline, check for BULLS BEFORE you go in! There are some nice examples of cephalopods at the Fillmore County History Center in Fountain.

So, I have collected all of these in less than 12 months.

Ordovician

Galena Formation

Fillmore County, MN

As an idea of scale on these, the mesh is 1.75 inches long and 1 inch high, when pic is taken horizontally – these two pics happen to be taken on the verticle of the mesh.