New York Fossils

[marineboy]

Hello, I was wondering if anybody knew of ammonites ever living in the devonian sea over in the new york area.

I ask this because recently my dad was visiting and they were digging up different shelled fossils behind the hotel he was staying at in up-state new york. He got his hands on some of them and when he gets back I will post pictures but I am very curious to see what they are.

he says that they were digging up tri-somethings (i forgot the name) along with other shelled animals.

 

[Architeuthoceras]

From a Museum in Norway

And from the Paleontology Research Institution

was the Tri-something trilobite? (see link above)

 

[marineboy]

yeah thats what its name was.

So according to the second link ammonites can be found there?!? thats great Ill let him know.

 

[Phil]

Hi Marineboy, sorry to take so long to get back to you.

You or your father a might like to have a look at this rather nice chart detailing fossils and geological events in New York State:

http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/reftable/reftablearch/pg08,9.pdf

As for ammonites, well technically the fossils you find there would be goniatites which were an ammonoid and predated ammonites. Proper ammonites had not yet evolved when the Devonian rocks were laid down. They looked similar to some ammonites with their coiled shell but were of simpler construction with zig-zag shaped suture lines.