Fort Apache Limestone Site 5 survey results from the Permian Fort Apache Limestone East of Payson   Updated 10/12/19  Our final survey of Outcrop 1 ended with Site 5. Very non fossiliferous, this site was highly dolomitized and had a larger percentage of terriginous material (mud) than any other site. Preservation was fair to good on the few fossils found, however due to the dolomitization of the limestone, this gallon sample took a very long time to reduce in the acid bath! The final few pieces simply would not dissolve. Despite the fraction of a teaspoon of material collected here, there were a few unusual finds. Mainly the most crinoid ossicles found in a single site yet, and something very strange - Ostracods on the "half shell". Nearly every ostracod found was single shell halves, not complete specimens like every other site. This seems to indicate these were washed in (Winnowing) from another area and fell apart upon transport. The ostracods from the other sites were most likely buried by silt and died intact. Another strange thing was the sheer number of ostracods - they dominated the fossil fauna at this site. What was found As far as what was found in a one gallon zip lock bag of rock, this list highlights the best preserved specimens: 1. A very small amount of Urchin material that was very poorly preserved 2. Dozens of poorly persevered Branching / Encrusting Bryozoans 3. TWO Serpulid Worm domiciles (Chonetes) 4. ONE fragmentary Scaphopod 5. Two species of Ostracods almost all half shells 6. Several dozen of both superbly - and poorly preserved Gastropods 7. Several crinoid ossicles in two different sizes 8. Several tiny Trilobite bits 9. Only a few Bivalves - very small 10. Two productid spines And here is what was NOT found that had been at other sites along the trail: 1. No Sponges or sponge roots 2. No solitary rugose corals 3. No Straparollus 4. No Bellerophontid Gastropods 5. No Nautiloids 6. NO winged clams 7. NO small scaphopod teleoconchs 8. NO fenestrate Bryozoans 9. NO brachs 10. NO metallic particles For a site so poor in fossils, there were a few surprises! The Fossil Photos. A few words on how these photos were taken. Using an Amscope stereo microscope, one or two dozen shots of each subject were taken with the focus shifted a bit between shots. The focus stacking software Picolay was used to combine the images to obtain one frame of fully sharp focus. Thousands of frames are treated in this manner and the final images of the Fort Apache micro fossils you see here are the results of a huge amount of work! Enjoy. Bryozoans  Dozens of branching bryozoans were in the shell hash. Preservation was fair to poor. Chonetids (Spirorbis)  Serpulid worms were apparently quite rare here. Perhaps the influx of huge amounts of terriginous sediments did not allow them to feed. Bivalves  Strangely enough, only a few bivalves were found, three types. Crinoids  Crinoids were a big surprise considering the influx of sediments. The larger ossicles were most likely the stems, and the smaller ones the arms and cirri. Gastropods  Gastropods were hard to find amongst the mix of massive amounts of dirt and ground up shells. Ostracods on the Half shell  Nearly every ostracod was half a shell, not the typical both halves articulated. And there were so many of them! Scaphopod  ONE scaphopod was found, very poorly preserved. Productid Spines  Two spines in the entire gallon of rock from both zones. Trilobite  Strangely, a few bits of rims were found (doublure) in poor condition. The left one has a bit of the cranidium still attached. Urchin  A few urchin spines were found, but no plates. Crystals  Larger than normal crystals found seem to indicate a more complete set of diagenetic changes occurred to this locality. Paleo HOME