COMMENTAIRES DE SPÉCIALISTES

Voici les réponses au courriels envoyés à des spécialistes, paléontologues,
géologues et professeurs d'universités du Canada et des États-Unis

Les commentaires ont été fait à partir des photographies de ce site.
L'avis peut donc changer suite à un examen de la roche en laboratoire.


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FEEDBACK FROM SPECIALISTS

Here are the comments received from Emails that I send to specialists, geologist, paleontologist and professors of Universities and associations Canada and US.

The comments have been made from the pictures on this site.
These opinions could change if the rock was examined in a lab.

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Simon Conway Morris
Department of Earth Sciences
University of Cambridge
Downing Street
Cambridge CB2 3EQ
England
( Sandra Last )
sc113@esc.cam.ac.uk

As you say it is always difficult to judge
fossils from the photographs alone, but I am afraid to say that so far as I
can judge the fossils are indeed traces rather than soft-bodied fossils. I
think the different shaped ends are simply the way the section of the
"outcrop" closes, i.e. angle of burrow/boring to the surface of the
"pebble". Overall, the traces look more like borings to me, and most
probably into a lithified pebble. The alternative that they were
originally formed in soft-sediment is certainly possible, but I think less
likely.

I hope my reply is not too disappointing, and you will realize that if I
saw the original material I might be inclined to change my mind. I have,
however, seen quite a lot of hard-ground material and it is certainly
reminiscent.

My thanks for taking the trouble to contact me and directing me to the website.

Best wishes, Simon Conway Morris

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Dr. Rodney M. Feldmann
Department of Geology
Kent State University
Kent, OH

From the picture, they sure look like worms to me but I know
almost nothing about Ordovician worms. The person you should contact is Allan (Tony) Ekdale
at Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake
City. He is an expert on traces and would be able to provide you with
much better information than I could.
Good luck. Rod

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Dr. A. A. Ekdale, Professor
Department of Geology and Geophysics
University of Utah

I have looked at the fossils illustrated on the web site, which you
called to my attention. They appear to be trace fossils of some
sort, but at this point I am not sure exactly what kind of trace
fossils they might be. I will show the images to some colleagues and
students around here, and if they have some cogent ideas, I'll be
sure pass them on to you.
Yours, Tony

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L'opinion qui suit m'a été donnée par le Dr. Hans Hoffman en personne.
Il a examiné la roche à son bureau de l'Université McGill à Montréal.

The next opinion comes from Dr. Hans Hoffman.
He examined the pictures and the rock at his office in McGill U.

Dr. Hans Hoffman
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
McGill University, Qc. Canada

Ce fut une rencontre très intéressante. Il m'a donné des noms
d'identification probable pour les fossiles et les traces, Palaeophycus et Planolites.
Il ne pense pas que les traces noires sur le monticule soient des vers mais pense que ce
sont des galeries creusées par des vers. Par contre il trouve très
intéressant d'y voir des traces en U sur le monticule et surtout une forme
tubulaire à côté du monticule. Cette forme a attiré son attention car il
pense que ce sont les restes d'un vers dans sa galerie. On peut même y voir le
canal intestinal selon lui. Il n'est pas catégorique car il faudrait faire
des tests et trouver d'autres spécimens semblable pour pouvoir l'affirmer
vraiment mais il pense que cette pierre pourrait bien faire le sujet d'une
étude plus approfondie. Il m'a donné un contact au Nouveau-Brunswick.

_____________________________

He thinks they are Palaeophycus and Planolites burrows.
He thinks that the dark-coloured structures are linings
inside some burrows. He also found something else: Another structure that he
suspect to be a worm that is still in his burrow half opened and showing
what looks like its "digestive" canal. This structure is situated on the
side of the mound and is almost as long as the mound. The structure looks
like a bryozoa but he doubt it to be one. I'll make some pictures of this
structure soon.

Overall, he found it to be an interesting piece showing behaviour and said
it should be studied more intensively. He doesn't study ordovician rocks and
doesn't have the time to do it so he couldn't go further but told me to keep
it in a safe place, that it deserve a special place in my collection.