This is the "Fossil Friday" post #187. Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website. We will post any fossil pictures you send in to [email protected]. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world!
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For this week's Fossil Friday, we have another Mazon Creek bucket list fossil. Chitons are mollusks, so they are related to clams, cephalopods (like nautilus, squids and octopus), and snails (gastropods). In the past, there were other common mollusks, like ammonites and a wide variety of cephalopods. In the Mazon Creek biota, chitons are very rare. We looked at the one known species, Glaphurochiton concinnus, back in Mazon Monday #175. G. concinnus was described by Eugene Richardson, Jr, in 1972. The holotype resides in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. It was collected by Mr. and Mrs John McLuckie.
Today's breathtaking specimen comes from ESCONI member Alan Keith, who lives in Texas but travels up to the area once in a while. He was in town for the Fall Braceville field trip, the September "Brag Night". and the September field trip to Danville. He showed us his chiton while he was visiting and we were all blown away. Thanks again for sharing this gorgeous fossil, Alan!
