FARK.com: (7072214) Ohio man discovers huge fossil, but experts can't identify what it is, or even what kingdom it belongs in

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		Ohio man discovers huge fossil, but experts can't identify what it is, or even what kingdom it belongs in (news.yahoo.com)		66
		More: Interesting, fossils, Ohio, Kentucky, Geological Society of America, realm, seaweeds, geology, shellfish

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7860 clicks; posted to Geek » on 26 Apr 2012 at 1:09 PM | Favorite | share:

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ZAZ		2012-04-26 11:16:48 AM

Looks to me like fossilized ripples in sand.

2wolves		2012-04-26 11:17:27 AM

They quote only geologists.

gopher321		2012-04-26 11:27:29 AM

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

...

which ones am I forgetting? Been a while since Biology class.

Magorn		2012-04-26 11:28:19 AM

Isn't an unidentifiable fossil more properly called "a rock"?

ArkAngel		2012-04-26 11:29:38 AM

Mushroom Kingdom?

gopher321: Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

...

which ones am I forgetting? Been a while since Biology class.

Domain goes above Kingdom

DirtyDeadGhostofEbenezerCooke		2012-04-26 11:48:46 AM

It is so huge they couldn't show a picture of the whole thing!!!

/sponge

Recoil Therapy		2012-04-26 11:55:48 AM

Huh, reading more about this elsewhere it turns out that this was found about 3 miles from my house.

/this now fills your quota of absolutely useless trivia for the day

FloydA		2012-04-26 11:56:27 AM

ArkAngel: Mushroom Kingdom?

gopher321: Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

...

which ones am I forgetting? Been a while since Biology class.

Domain goes above Kingdom

ICZN includes a few other taxonomic levels as well (superfamily, family, subfamily, tribe, subtribe, genus, subgenus, species, subspecies).

But Linnaean taxonomy is being phased out and replaced by the PhyloCode for all of the levels above species, so I don't even bother making my students memorize it anymore.

Cladistics is the future, man! ;-)

ArkAngel		2012-04-26 12:17:53 PM

FloydA: ArkAngel: Mushroom Kingdom?

gopher321: Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

...

which ones am I forgetting? Been a while since Biology class.

Domain goes above Kingdom

ICZN includes a few other taxonomic levels as well (superfamily, family, subfamily, tribe, subtribe, genus, subgenus, species, subspecies).

But Linnaean taxonomy is being phased out and replaced by the PhyloCode for all of the levels above species, so I don't even bother making my students memorize it anymore.

Cladistics is the future, man! ;-)

Phasing out Linnean? But what about poor Dandy King Phillip?

Sybarite		2012-04-26 12:28:20 PM

gopher321: Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

...

which ones am I forgetting? Been a while since Biology class.

Let's see "Kevin, please come over for gay sex." Yep, looks good.

FloydA		2012-04-26 12:45:40 PM

ArkAngel:
Phasing out Linnean? But what about poor Dandy King Phillip?

About half of the mnemonics for Linnaean taxonomy are things I can't say in class without getting fired, so I don't mind. ;-)

Tellingthem		2012-04-26 01:15:04 PM

Possum Kingdom?

schattenteufel		2012-04-26 01:15:23 PM

a fossilized cow patty?

Mad_Radhu		2012-04-26 01:15:37 PM

It's obviously a fossilized shoggoth, left over from their war with the Elder Things. Didn't ANYONE read the Miskatonic University paper discussing their expedition to Antarctica?

BumpInTheNight		2012-04-26 01:18:13 PM

Certainly not the Crystal Skull's.

cgraves67		2012-04-26 01:19:24 PM

coprolith?

Pants full of macaroni!!		2012-04-26 01:19:55 PM

Satan, who as we all know plants fossils to deceive us, must have been especially mischievous that day.

Fabric_Man		2012-04-26 01:20:22 PM

You America-hating scum! It belongs in a REPUBLIC!

rosebud_the_sled		2012-04-26 01:20:54 PM

If they look in the Book of Leviticus, they will probably find a reference to it, and we probably aren't allowed to eat it.
Or have sex with it, unless we sacrifice some other medium sized animal.

Fluorescent Testicle		2012-04-26 01:22:24 PM

Between the approximate date and the scaled appearance, I'm tending towards a giant coral or similar.

wippit		2012-04-26 01:22:24 PM

I'm not saying it's aliens...

t3knomanser		2012-04-26 01:23:07 PM

Sybarite: Let's see "Kevin, please come over for gay sex." Yep, looks good.

Why not, "Karen, please come over for good sex?"

Mjeck		2012-04-26 01:34:11 PM

Checkmate Atheists

divgradcurl		2012-04-26 01:37:00 PM

Sybarite: gopher321: Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

...

which ones am I forgetting? Been a while since Biology class.

Let's see "Kevin, please come over for gay sex." Yep, looks good.

oh wow, and i thought "oh be a fine gal, kiss me" for stars was rather cheeky.

/this one time, at band camp, we totally made up naughty mnemonics

WordsnCollision		2012-04-26 01:41:26 PM

Mad_Radhu: It's obviously a fossilized shoggoth, left over from their war with the Elder Things. Didn't ANYONE read the Miskatonic University paper discussing their expedition to Antarctica?

www.majhost.com

I_C_Weener		2012-04-26 01:42:28 PM

Mjeck: Checkmate Atheists

Its and angel fossil.

www.simpsonspark.com

dryknife		2012-04-26 01:43:14 PM

If that's six feet, let me show you what six inches looks like.

Drubell		2012-04-26 01:46:15 PM

Dinosaur turd?

jso2897		2012-04-26 01:47:53 PM

The comments.
The comments.
My poor, tortured, sizzling, frying, screaming brain, the f**king comments.

scarmig		2012-04-26 01:49:18 PM

WordsnCollision: Mad_Radhu: It's obviously a fossilized shoggoth, left over from their war with the Elder Things. Didn't ANYONE read the Miskatonic University paper discussing their expedition to Antarctica?

[www.majhost.com image 640x456]

Hey, I have one of those. Nice paint job.

2wolves		2012-04-26 01:51:19 PM

I_C_Weener: Its and angel fossil.

Wow. That's an interesting sentence.

I_C_Weener		2012-04-26 01:54:58 PM

Angel fossil. It's. An.

MadMonk		2012-04-26 01:59:30 PM

Holy shiat! Is that fascinating stuff or what!?

germ78		2012-04-26 02:02:32 PM

How long before it goes on display at the Creationist museum?

StrikitRich		2012-04-26 02:03:19 PM

Amish?

jayhawk88		2012-04-26 02:10:57 PM

I think the answer is obvious.

4.bp.blogspot.com

escherblacksmith		2012-04-26 02:24:31 PM

jayhawk88: I think the answer is obvious.

not my favorite herculoids . . .

\\\gloop and gleep, sheesh -- real creative names
\and wouldn't a fossil of Igoo just be Igoo?

Parthenogenetic		2012-04-26 02:26:52 PM

Pants full of macaroni!!: Satan, who as we all know plants fossils to deceive us, must have been especially mischievous that day.

The fossil was unearthed in Covington, KY, just a few miles away from the Creation Museum in Petersburg.

Sofa King Smart		2012-04-26 02:28:09 PM

ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

any 5 pointed starfish thingy's around?

Stabone33		2012-04-26 02:40:23 PM

Dinosaur turd?

algal mat?

Pants full of macaroni!!		2012-04-26 02:54:35 PM

Parthenogenetic: Pants full of macaroni!!: Satan, who as we all know plants fossils to deceive us, must have been especially mischievous that day.

The fossil was unearthed in Covington, KY, just a few miles away from the Creation Museum in Petersburg.

There ya go. Case closed.

stevetherobot		2012-04-26 02:58:36 PM

Dinodork		2012-04-26 03:02:10 PM

Stabone33: Dinosaur turd?

algal mat?

If it wasn't Ordovician, I'd have said Dunkelosteus' hangover blacks,

WelldeadLink		2012-04-26 03:11:20 PM

Magorn: Isn't an unidentifiable fossil more properly called "a rock"?

Streetrock.

StoPPeRmobile		2012-04-26 03:14:39 PM

Meecht		2012-04-26 03:21:01 PM

Kings Play Cards On Fat Green Stools ?

shanteyman		2012-04-26 03:27:39 PM

Mebbe it's part of the one Jeebus rode into Jerusalem.

cryinoutloud		2012-04-26 04:33:00 PM

Sybarite: Let's see "Kevin, please come over for gay sex." Yep, looks good.

Ours was "kids playing cards on freeways get smashed."

Hey, I didn't make it up.

RKTeuthis		2012-04-26 04:34:21 PM

Domain supersedes Kingdom....

Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
etc.

Anyhow, that thing looks like a large bryozoan or encrusting sponge or even a sort of colonial tunicate. It was something soft-bodied that was buried by a landslide or similar lightning-fast deposition, that's my guess.

Great Porn Dragon		2012-04-26 04:37:59 PM

As for Linnaean schematics, I always learned it "Kris Price Called On Friday--Great Sex!"

(Mind, this was before domains and the PhyloCode, so I'm sort of outing myself as an Auld Farte here :D)

Still, this is neat as all get out--Ediacaran-esque life that apparently survived to the late Cambrian :D (The Fossil-Blob is by FAR not the only thing from way-back-then that we can't figure out WHERE it fits other than on the general domain level--"We know it was multicellular life of SOME kind, but other than that, we have no farking idea".)

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