Class Bivalvia (=Pelecypoda), Clams, Scallops, Hatchet-foot. Bivalves or clams superficially resemble brachiopods but they are not closely related. Most bivalves open their shells along a plane that is parallel to the plane of symmetry that passes between them. Most brachiopods open their shells along a plane that is perpendicular to their line of symmetry. These simple cases do not always hold true but do for most of the fossil brachiopods or clams that are found in Nebraska. Bivalves and brachiopods rarely are found together in the same paleenvironments. With the exception of the Myalina (Orthomyalina) subquadrata (Shumard) that preferred nearshore environments, all of the bivalves that have so far been found in the Hughes Creek in Nebraska preferred offshore environments.

Astartella sp. cf. A. newberryi

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: "Astartella" sp. cf. "A. newberryi" Meek is one of the more common bivalve species to be found in the Hughes Creek Shale. Its remains are almost always restricted to the offshore, dysaerobic facies in the Hughes Creek Shale.
• Database ID: 56

Edmondia sp. cf. E. nebrascensis

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: "Edmondia" sp. cf. "E. nebrascensis" is compared here to Edmondia "nebrascensis" (Geinitz), one of the first invertebrate fossils to have been identified from Nebraska. The ornamentation and well-forward beak of "Edmondia nebrascensis" are characters Mudge and Yochelson (1962) used to identify this species. These examples were collected from a dyaserobic, offshore facies of the Hughes Creek.
• Database ID: 57

Septimyalina burmai

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: This specimen of "Septimyalina burmai" Newell was collected from the offshore, cold-water, dyaserobic facies of the Lower Hughes Creek Shale. Note the thin shell and the etching. Length is about ½ inch (12 mm). Compare this to the thick, robust shell of "Myalina (Orthomyalina) subquadrata" (Shumard) that lived in the warmer, well-oxygenated nearshore environoments.
• Database ID: 58

Myalina

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: This is apparently an undescribed species of "Myalina"; it was collected by A. Allen Graffham from outcrops of Hughes Creek Shale in Lancaster County in about 1946. It was found in the nearshore facies and it may be a juvenile of "Myalina (Orthomyalina) subquadrata" (Shumard), below.
• Database ID: 59

Permophorous subcostatus

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: "Permophorous subcostatus" (Meek & Worthen). Mudge and Yochelson (1962) illustrated an example of "Permophorous subcostatus" from the younger Burr Limestone Member of the Grenola Formation in Kansas. This specimen is smaller but very similar to the one above, and is characterized by its relatively long shell and far-forward beak.
• Database ID: 60

Schizodus sp. cf. S. wheeleri

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: "Schizodus sp. cf. S. wheeleri" (Swallow). Mudge and Yochelson (1962) stated there is considerable uncertainty as to what the species "Schizodus wheeleri" (Swallow) really is because the type specimens that were described by Swallow (1863) had subsequently become lost and many specimens are internal molds that must be compared with drawings, however inaccurate, of shells. For these reasons, they only compared specimens of "Schizodus to S. wheeleri" (Swallow).
• Database ID: 61

Myalina (Orthomyalina) subquadrata

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: "Myalina (Orthomyalina) subquadrata" (Shumard). Newell (1942) pointed out that this is one of the most commonly misidentified fossil clams in the late Paleozoic of the North American Midcontinent. Newell further stated that these fossils are usually represented by a single valve, the opposite valve having been moved elsewhere by currents or wave action. Newell (1942) also stated that these clams can be very persistend and make up the "Myalina beds" in the Friedrich, French Creek, and Caneyville Formations (= Plumb Shale in Pabian & Diffendal, 1991). The Friedrich and French Creek in Nebraska are now considered members of the Root Formation (Burchett, undated). Mudge and Yochelson (1962) stated that this species may be a host to a diverse epifauna that includes algae, foraminifers, and ectoprocts (=bryozoans). Compare this large, robust specimen of "M. (Orthomyalina) subquadrata" from a shallow, nearshore environment to the small, thin shelled example of "Septimyalina burmai" Newell from a deep, offshore environment.
• Database ID: 62

Yoldia sp. cf. Y. subscitula

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: "Yoldia" sp. cf. "Y. subscitula" (Meek & Hayden). Mudge and Yochelson (1962) provided the first photographic ilustrations of Meek and Hayden’s type specimens of "Y. subscitula" that were probably collected from younger beds in the Chase Group in Kansas. It appears that "Y. subscitula" is a relatively small species of bivalve. The type specimens were based on internal molds and the specimens illustrated here are also internal molds. These bivalves were collected from the deep water, offshore facies of the Hughes Creek.
• Database ID: 63

Immature Mollusk

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: Assemblage of bivalves from the deep, cold water, dysaerobic (oxygen-deficient) transgressive facies of the lower part of the Hughes Creek. Note that these are small [the largest specimens are about ½ in (12 mm) long] and have thin, etched shells.
• Database ID: 53

Nuculopsis?

• Date Posted: 03/02/03
• Description: The image shows right and left valves of an immature clam that is tentatively assigned to the genus "Nuculopsis". Immature bivalves can be very difficult to identify because of homeomorphy or similar appearance. Many immature bivalves and other mollusks are commonly found in the dysaerobic, offshore facies in marine sedimentary sequences. These animals may have suffocated due to the lack of oxygen in the water column.
• Database ID: 54

Nuculopsis?

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: These immature specimens differ some in morphology from the "Nuculopsis?" above. These specimens are somewhat smaller and the differences may be related only to growth stages. One of the problems in paleontology is to establish growth sequences for each species wherever possible. Since the adult of a species may differ greatly in appearance from the juvenile, being able to establish growth sequences will prevent naming invalid species such as synonyms and will aid in constructing evolutionary sequences and trends in various plant and animal groups.
• Database ID: 55

Class Gastropoda, Gastropods or Snails, Stomach-foot. Gastropods or snails make up a fairly important component of the total fauna that has been found in the dysaerobic, offshore facies in the Hughes Creek Shale. Only a few symmetric snails (e.g., Bucanopsis below) have been found in the well-oxygenated nearshore facies. Gastropods have adopted several important feeding habits (see Kohn, 1985) and these include algae grazers, detritus feeders, suspension feeders, parasites, scavengers, and predators. Although Kohn's above work indicated that different kinds of shell morphologies reflected different paleoenvironments, the offshore facies of the Hughes Creek seems to contain several different kinds of shells. This may indicate that currents carried some shells into the area in which they were found. Fossil gastropods in the early Permian in the North American Midcontinent have not been extensively studied and are still poorly understood. It is interesting to note that almost none of the gastropod species recorded by Mudge and Yochelson (1962) from the latest Pennsylvanian and earliest Permian strata of Kansas have been found in the Hughes Creek Shale in Nebraska. This may be a reflection of collection bias and the fact that most of their specimens were derived from near-shore facies.

Bucanopsis

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: Symmetric Snail - "Bucanopsis" sp. This specimen is among material that was collected before 1940 and is in the Nebraska Geological Survey invertebrate paleontological collections. There was a specific name on the label but search through the literature did not reveal that name. To use a specific name for an organism without publishing a simultaneous description creates what taxonomists (paleontologist, zoologists, botanists, etc.) call a "nomen nudum". Taxonomic (classification) rules established by the I.C.Z.N. (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature) prohibit ever using the nomen undum again in taxonomy. Many of the symmetric gastropods had a large brim around the aperture of the shell and and this feature may have stabilized the animal in strong currents.
• Database ID: 64

Baylea sp. cf. B. perhumerosa

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: Medium-Spired Snail - "Baylea perhumerosa" (Meek) is a species that occurs in much older strataof late Pennsylvanian (Missourian) age, whereas "B. capertoni" (Beede) is found in much younger strata of middle to late Permian (Guadalupian) age. Late paleozoic gastropods have not been studied in great detail and this area offers many opportunities for further research in such areas as systematics, paleoecology, and biostratigraphy.
• Database ID: 65

Anematina sp. cf. A. minutissima

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: High-Spired Snail - "Anematina minutissima" (Knight) was originally described from middle Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian) strata from the Mississippi Valley. The shell of this species is generally smooth and it appears to be a long-ranging form.
• Database ID: 66

Murchisonia sp. cf. M. gouldii

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: High-Spired Snail - "Murchisonia gouldii" Beede was originally described from much younger middle to late Permian (Guadalupian) strata in the southwestern United States. The illustrated example here closely resembles examples illustrated in Shimer and Shrock (1944) and it is compared to them but not actually assigned to that species.
• Database ID: 67

Palaeostylus?

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: High-Spired Snail - This specimen closely resembles any of several species that have been assigned to the genus "Palaeostylus". It is assigned to "Palaeostylus" with some reservations.
• Database ID: 68

Palaeostylys (Pseudozygopleura) sp. cf. P. (Pseudozygopleura) schucherti

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: High-Spired Snail - "Palaeostylys (Pseudozygopleura)" sp. Cf. "P. (Pseudozygopleura) schucherti" (Knight). The genus "Palaeostylus" contains several sub-genera, and "Pseudozygopleura" is rather common in the North American Mid-continent. This genus may be rather long-ranging, the earliest species appearing in the Mississippian of the mid-continent.
• Database ID: 69

Soleniscus sp. cf. S. typicus

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: High-Spired Snail - "Soleniscus" sp. Cf. "S. typicus" (Meek & Worthen). "Soleniscus" is a long ranging genus (Mississippian through Permian) in the mid-continent. Most of the examples found in Nebraska probably belong to the species "S. typicus" Meek & Worthen,
• Database ID: 70

Class Scaphopoda, Tooth Shells or Dentalium shells. Tooth shells are commonly assigned to the genus Dentalium and many of these animals are still living. Dentalium shells have utilized by Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest for making jewelry. The scaphopod lived with its anterior (large end) buried in the substrate from which it fed on smaller organisms therein.

Dentalium

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: "Dentalium" sp. This example of scaphopod is the only one that has been found in the Hughes Creek Shale. It is very similar to one recorded by Mudge and Yochelson (1962) from the Friedrich Shale Member of the Root Formation. Except for being rare, scaphopods do not make up an important part of the Hughes Creek fauna.
• Database ID: 71

Class Cephalopoda, Cephalopods or Head-Footed Mollusks, Nautiloids, Bactritoids, Ammonoids. Nautiloids differ from ammonoids inasmuch as they are commonly larger, have thicker shells, straight walls and sutures between chambers and a centrally located siphuncle that connects between chambers. Nautiloids are more commonly found in near-shore environments. Ammonoids, on the other hand, have small, thin shells, complex walls and sutures between chambers, ventrally situated siphuncles, and preferred to live in offshore conditions. Ammonoids and nautiloids are rarely found together in the same assemblages of fossils. Nautiloids are still living in modern seas, but there are only 3 or 4 genera now compared to the several hundred that lived during the Paleozoic. Nautiloids are strong swimmers that have a head with tentacles, eyes, and a strong beak. Nautiloids are now strong predators and they probably filled a predatory role in the late paleozoic. Both straight-shelled and coiled-shelled nautiloid fossils have been found in the late Paleozoic strata of southeastern Nebraska.

Order Nautilida-Straight Shelled

Order Nautilida---Straight Shelled Nautiloids. Nautiloids are still living in modern seas, but there are only 3 or 4 genera now compared to the several hundred that lived during the Paleozoic. Nautiloids are strong swimmers that have a head with tentacles, eyes, and a strong beak. Nautiloids are now strong predators and they probably filled a predatory role in the late paleozoic. Both straight-shelled and coiled-shelled nautiloid fossils have been found in the late Paleozoic strata of southeastern Nebraska.

Dolorthoceras sp. cf. D. ciscoense

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: "Dolorthoceras" sp. cf. "D. ciscoense" (Miller, Dunbar and Condra). Miller, Dunbar and Condra (1933) recorded this species from near Cisco, north of Brownwood, Texas, and they stated that only one specimen was known from Nebraska although others were in the invertebrate fossil collections of the Yale Peabody Museum, New Haven, Connecticut. The type species for the genus "Colorthoceras, D. circulare" Miller was found in strata of upper Pennsylvanian (Zone of Schistoceras) shale near Woabjilga, Aghil-Depsang or Central Ranges north of Karakoram and south of the K’un-lun Mountains of central Asia.
• Database ID: 72

Order Nautilida-Coiled Shelled

Metacoceras sp. cf. M. sublaeve

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: "Metacoceras" sp. cf. "M. sublaeve" (Miller, Dunbar, & Condra). "Metacoceras" is a very long-ranging genus of Nautiloid from the Pennsylvanian-Permian section of North America. There are several species, some of which have been found as far east as West Virginia. Miller, Dunbar and Condra described the holotype specimen of "Metacoceras sublaeve" from six examples that were collected from the Neva Limestone Member of the Grenola Formation in Lancaster County. The specimen illustrated here is from a horizon that is in closest vertical proximity to the horizon from which the holotype of "M. sublaeve" was collected and is only compared to it. Because of relatively poor preservation of septa between the chambers, this specimen can only be compared to a previously described species.
• Database ID: 73

Order Bactritida

Order Bactritida Shimansky, 1951, Bactritoids. The extinct bactritoids are usually small, straight to slightly curved mollusks that have commonly been found in offshore facies that character deep, cold water conditions. Mapes (1979) described numerous bactritoids from the North American Mid-continent and showed that many are very tine, nearly microscopic fossils and that macroscopic individuals are very rare. Mapes (1979) derivation of bactritoid families (fig. 7) shows the earliest representatives of this group are of Devonian age. Most bactritoids have a bulbous protoconch (first chamber) followed by chambers that are separated by straight sutures and that they have marginal siphuncles.

?Bactrites

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: Order Bactritida Shimansky, 1951, Bactritoids? "Bactrites" sp.
• Database ID: 74

?Bactrites

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: Order Bactritida Shimansky, 1951, Bactritoids? "Bactrites" sp.
• Database ID: 75

Order Ammonoidea

Order Ammonoidea, Goniatites, Ceratites and Ammonites. In the late Paleozoic, goniatites make up the bulk of the ammonoids. The ammonites with highly complex sutures are not found in Nebraska until the Cretaceous Period. Goniatites are often small, most having shells of 12 or so mm in diameter. They are often found in the offshore, dysaerobic facies of the cyclic deposits. Pabian (1970) reported that ammonoids were relatively rare in Nebraska. Pabian quoted J. Wyatt Durham's 1967 Presidential address to the Paleontological Society:

In 1943 I was sent into northeastern Columbia to study the marine Cretaceous of the region. From previous reconnaissance by others it was known that ammonites were abundant in some limestones and shales. It was nearly two weeks before I recognized my first ammonite even though I was searching for them. I then found that I had been overlooking them (sometimes in beds where they were abundant) because I had not previously learned how to recognize them in rock (my previous experience had all been with specimens in the laboratory).

Several years after Pabian's (1970) citation of Durham's address, Pabian attended a field trip that was led by an ammonoid researcher. Within weeks, several thousands of ammonoids were found in Nebraska, many from the Hughes Creek Shale.

Immature Goniatites

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: Immature Goniatites, greatest diameter about 10 mm.
• Database ID: 76

Immature Goniatites

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: Order Ammonoidea. Immature Goniatites, diameters range from about 2 mm to 15 mm. This large group of immature goniatites may have all perished in oxygen-deficient water. Such assemblages of goniatites are commonly found in such environments where upwelling currents of dysaerobic waters cause mass mortality by suffocation. Holterhoff and Pabian (1989) citing written communication from B. F. Glensiter stated that the goniatite fauna from the Hughes Creek Shale included "Eoasianites" sp., "Prothalossoceras" sp., and "Mescalites discoidale" (Bose). Furnish and Glenister (1971) named the genus Mescalites from material that Bose had originally described as "Gonioloboceras discoidale", and which was collected from strata of lower Permian age near Tularosa, New Mexico. An immature "M. discoidale" was found among these juvenile specimens.
• Database ID: 77

Immature Goniatites

• Date Posted: 03/03/03
• Description: Order Ammonoidea. "Prothallosoceras" sp., shell of mature individual showing the typical goniatite suture. This individual was found among a collection of immature goniatites. This is one of the few mature ammonoids that was collected from the Hughes Creek Shale in Nebraska.
• Database ID: 78