EDIT: Props to 75RR! After being suggested it was an Ostracod shell, I investigated. Here is what I found. Ostracods are typically between 0.3mm to 2mm in length (I guessed 0.5mm).
Some are pitted like this:
The central features are adductor muscle scars:
Marginal pore canals are what the hairs (sensilla) extrude through, as I later observed:
ORIGINAL POST BELOW -------VVV
I'm new to microscopy, but I found this interesting. Can anyone identify the features of this rock? Let me know what you think.
Did I find a fossil of a ciliate? Answer: Ostracod fossil
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Did I find a fossil of a ciliate? Answer: Ostracod fossil
Last edited by Strip Sneeze on Tue Jul 13, 2021 7:03 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Did I find a fossil of a ciliate?
How big is this thing? Those hairs that show up in the last picture . Those are rigid and static, like little rock protuberances from the main body?
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Re: Did I find a fossil of a ciliate?
Yea, a bunch of them broke off. My guess is they broke from surface tension as the water level fell. But, even dry, some of them are still rigid and sticking out. If I had to guess, it's about 0.5mm in size. It's like 1/3 of a grain of sand, or basically as small of a dot as a ballpoint pen can make when slightly touching paper, and still visible to the naked eye. Seems a bit large, but I've seen larger tardigrades already. I'm not sure how large a ciliate would be able to get. Was hoping the central features could be linked to a known species. I'm picturing those pores being food vacuoles, and the inner flower petal structures possibly being remnants of a nucleus or something.apochronaut wrote: ↑Mon Jul 12, 2021 6:09 pmHow big is this thing? Those hairs that show up in the last picture . Those are rigid and static, like little rock protuberances from the main body?
It looks like it had to be something living at some point. I flipped it over and looked at the underside. It's completely smooth with no pores. I wonder if it was perhaps recessed inside a larger rock, and maybe that is how the cilia survived long enough to fossilize and not erode or break sooner. This is all speculation, as I am new and have no clue what I found. With different lighting, I was able to see what appears to be the cilia extruding from within the pellicle-like outer layer.
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Re: Did I find a fossil of a ciliate?
Stentors are quite large, easily seen with the naked eye. I found a fossilized kiwi fruit under the fridge once. It had cilia.
Re: Did I find a fossil of a ciliate?
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I would suggest an Ostracod shell
I would suggest an Ostracod shell
Zeiss Standard WL (somewhat fashion challenged) & Wild M8
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)
Olympus E-P2 (Micro Four Thirds Camera)
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Re: Did I find a fossil of a ciliate?
I think you might be right. Apparently they fit the size I was estimating, some can have pitted shells, it explains why I thought it was a rock, and the other features seem to match. I couldn't find an exact match, but it seems likely to be one.