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SAMPLE
ISSUE
The Monongahela Rockhound News
is a Monthly Publication of the
Monongahela Rockhounds,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Sample Issue
November 2014
Visit us on the Web at:
www.monongahelarockhounds.org
A Pittsburgh Area Mineral, Fossil, & Lapidary Club
Tiny, Ancient Crustacean Preserved in Fool’s Gold
An international team of geologists, led by
University of Leicester Emeritus Professor of
Palaeontology David Siveter, captured a prehistoric
portrait of parental care deep in the fossil record.
The team revealed a ‘sea nursery’ which features a
species of ostracod new to science, Luprisca incubi.
Ostracods are a class of crustacean sometimes
known as “seed shrimp,” because of the shrimp-like
body sandwiched between a bi-valved shell that
hinges on their back. Today, ostracods are abundant
wherever water is found, but they are still virtually
unknown to humans due to their small size. Some
70,000 species of ostracod have been identified, and
ancient ostracods are thought to have lived
alongside trilobites in poorly oxygenated waters.
According to the team, these fossils are the only
known invertebrate fossils that seem to indicate
simultaneous brooding of eggs, embryos, and young.
The fossils also indicate that this habit, maintained
by some ostracods today, has persisted for at least
450 million years. Most living ostracods lay their
eggs outside their bodies, but a few living groups
still brood their embryos inside. The number and
size of L. incuba‘s brood is similar to its modern
descendants.
This find not only highlights ostracods’ remarkable
reproductive and brood-care strategy, but it is now
the oldest confirmed occurrence of ostracods in
the fossil record.
The new fossils are truly spectacular in that they
are exceptionally well preserved in iron sulfide, or
pyrite – also known as fool’s gold – conserving not
only the shell but, in this case, a few other tiny,
stunning details of anatomy that are almost always
lost in the fossil record, including antennae, legs,
gills, and muscles!
Underside of pyritized ostracod,
from Siveter, et al in Current Biology
These pyritized ostracods came from rocks of the
Upper Ordovician Katian Stage Lorraine Group of
New York State, including examples from the
famous Beecher’s Trilobite Bed in Oneida County.
The discovery extends human knowledge of the
paleobiology of ostracods by some 25 million years.
- Ron Smart
Volume 47, Issue 9
Monongahela Rockhound News
Page 2
General Information
Monongahela Rockhounds
PO Box 18063
Pittsburgh, PA 15236
www.monongahelarockhounds.org
Mission Statement
To promote, among its members and
the general public, an interest in
collection of minerals, fossils, and
associated items. ● To promote their
use in lapidary work. ● To promote the
study and classification of minerals, gem
stones and other items of such nature.
Club Officers
President
Arlene Fatalino
1st Vice-President
Bret Howard
2nd Vice-President
Johanna Burnett
Treasurer
Tony Orzano
Recording Secretary
Paul Scholar
Board of Directors
June Epp
Dave Ganz
Don Laufer
Tony Orzano
Webmaster
Michael Moody
Newsletter Editor
Ron Smart
[email protected]
Affiliations
Member: Eastern Federation of
Mineral and Lapidary Societies, Inc.
Member: American Federation of
Mineralogical Societies, Inc.
Meeting Location
Munhall Borough Building
20th Ave. & West Street
Munhall, PA 15120
When Next We Meet
This month’s meeting will be
held at 7:30 pm, Saturday,
November 1st, 2014.
The hosts for this month are
Amy S. and the Burnett family.
This month’s program is to be
announced.
Have a safe and happy holiday!
Our next regular meeting will be
held at 7:30 pm, Saturday,
January 3rd, 2015.
Monongahela Rockhound News
is the official newsletter of the
Monongahela Rockhounds.
Disclaimer & Release To the best
of our knowledge, all articles and
information presented in this
newsletter are true, accurate and
free of copyright infringement.
The Monongahela Rockhounds is
not responsible for the usage of
the information contained in the
newsletter.
The Monongahela
Rockhounds hereby grants other
non-profit organizations the right
to republish articles in this
newsletter for non-commercial
usage as long as complete source
credit is given, unless noted
otherwise.
Deadline The editor welcomes
any and all contributions to the
newsletter. Please provide articles
and any other submissions for
publication at least seven days
prior to the upcoming meeting to
be considered for inclusion in that
month’s issue.
Mark Your Calendar - Shows & Events
November 1-2–Exton, PA:
Tuscarora Lapidary Society’s 45th Annual Gemarama, School at Church Farm, 1001
E Lincoln Hwy. Info.—www.lapidary.org/GEMARAMA/Gemarama.html.
November 15–16—Lebanon, PA:
Mid-Atlantic Gem and Mineral Association's 7th Annual Gem Miner's Holiday Gem,
Mineral, and Fossil Show, Lebanon Cnty. Fairgrounds, 80 Rocherty Rd. Info.—
Teresa Schwab, 301/565-0487, or [email protected], or www.gem-show.com.
November 22-23–Clarksburg, WV:
Prehistoric Enterprises Show; Harrison County Parks & Recreation Complex; 43
Recreation Dr., Rte. 19 South; Sat. 10-6, Sun. 11-5; free admission; displays,
minerals, rocks, gems, jewelry, fossils, artifacts, projectile points, geode cracking,
lapidary, science shows, rock and fossil ID, hourly door prizes, grand prize drawing,
fossil dig, free rock or fossil for children. Info.—Ray Garton, 304/282-2306, or
[email protected], or www.prehistoricstore.com.
For more shows, be sure to check out:
http://www.rocksandminerals.org/Coming%20Events/coming-events.html
http://www.the-vug.com/vug/vugshows.html