Sorry guys.....this took longer than I thought, but here are the pics of the Gramadella.......I have better larger ones, but these ones are pretty good nonetheless. Both eyes are visible, as is the tentacle preservation. This is probably one of the rarest things I have ever owned.....kinda scary considering some of the stuff I have had.

Earliest known squid...apparantly.

size is about 6-7cm.

Fantastic fossil Michael :shock:
Is it replaced with pyrite? Is any of the cell structure preserved or was it obliterated by the pyrite crystalization? Would a CT scan show any internal parts? Are the ammonites you posted in this thread (http://www.tonmo.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2101) from the same formation and preservation? In another forum you said you were going to superimpose a sketch, could you post that here too? I would sure like to see an ammonite preserved like that :!:

The specimen is (I believe) replaced with pyrite or arsenopyrite. It wouldn't just be a coating. I have collected sites like this, and the material is completely replaced. I don't know about a ct scan...and interesing idea, I may try it. Normal ct scans aren't designed for this type of thing. I have an oviraptor (dinosaur) egg at the local university now waiting to be scanned on an industrial c.t. scanner. They are a lot more powerful, and are used for things like aircraft parts testing,, etc. They would cook living tissue...they put out huge amounts of radiation. It's really whjat's needed. The ammonites I posted before are not from this loccation. The belemmnite may be (can't really remember), but the ammonites aren't. The ammonites from this locality are little gonaitites from what I remember...only 2-3 cm diameter max. The vast majority of material to come out of here are brittlestars....I will do what I can to put together a superimposed sketch.

Hi Michael,

Thanks again for posting this.

Would you happen to know if Gramadella has been published yet? I have drawn a blank on trying to find details on the net so any references would be most welcome.

Cheers,

Phil

This is what I am aware of.




Fischer, J. *C., and Riou, B., 1982, Les Teuthoides (Cephalopoda, Dibranchiata) du Callovian Inférieur de La Voulte-sur-Rhône (Ardèche, France): Annales de Paléontologie (Vertebrés-Invertebrés)


Wilby, P. R., 2001, La Voulte-sur-Rhône: p. 349-351, In Palaeobiology II, eds Briggs, D. E. G., and Crowther, P. R., Blackwell Science.

Wilby, P. R., Briggs, D. E. G., and Riou, B., 1996, Mineralization of soft-bodied invertebrates in a Jurassic metalliferous deposit: Geology, v. 24, p. 847-850.

Here is a website

La Voulte-sur-Rhône (http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/palaeofiles/lagerstatten/lavoulte/)

All of trhe original info that I posted a month ago is from this website. It's about one of the only on-line sources of info for these fossils.