GMS Field Trip October 2025 (1 of 3)

GMS Field Trip
Late Ordovician Fossils in Kentucky
Saturday, October 4, 2025

The first field trip of October was a joint trip with the Rome Georgia Mineral Society (ROGAMS). Members collected at an iconic fossil location in Kentucky called “the Maysville cut”. Late Ordovician fossils including brachiopods, bryozoans, and crinoids were incredibly abundant, so much so that it could be a bit overwhelming. Every rock you looked at had fossils in it! Not nearly as abundant were trilobites, so they were on everyone’s wish list. We also found Solenopora, fossils that look like little brains. Once thought to be calcareous red algae, they are now classified as a type of sponge.

ROGAMS field trip chair and GMS member Tim Hellinger arranged for a group rate at a local hotel, and got permission for us to use the breakfast area for a meeting. The night before the trip, members gathered at the hotel. Jason and Aaron Leatherwood provided some fossil ID handouts, then gave us a talk about the fossils we would be collecting. They described the 3 formations (Kope, Fairview, and Bellevue) we would see and what we could find in each layer. They answered our questions, then we were all well-prepared for the trip the next day.

It was a good thing too, because when we arrived at the site, we were awed by all the fossils there! Rockhounds in a fossil candy shop? Yes! There was so much to see, I decided to pick up brachiopods for grab bags and small plates for door prizes. Then, I concentrated on collecting tiny fossils and scooping up some sediment to check later for sand and microfossils. Amongst the tiny fossils I collected, I found two interesting bryozoans. One has a star-shaped indentation, and the other has star-shaped bumps all over it. A quick internet search turned up an identification right away: Constellaria. The star-shaped bumps are called “maculae”, and occur on raised areas called “monticules”. They are thought to be involved with the flow of water within the bryozoan colony.

Other finds that day included cephalopods, crinoid stems, brachiopods, bryozoans, gastropods, trilo-bits, and many, many plates with a menagerie of all of the above. Charles found a nice coiled crinoid specimen. As chance would have it, Jason was going to a fossil prep specialist nearby after the trip. She had just completed prepping a gorgeous trilobite plate that he collected from the site we were at. Since he was going to pick up his plate, he took Charles’ crinoid specimen with him. She identified it as the holdfast of a crinoid called Glyptocrinus, and completed the prep very quickly.

We continued to a second location where the fossil du jour was Selenopora, a type of sponge. These curious fossils that look like little brains are abundant and easy to find. My sand friend who told us about the location wrote that it is good to cut them open to reveal the pink and white growth bands inside. The fossils are primarily calcium carbonate, and the pink is attributed to hydrocarbons that contain boron. I collected several to keep whole and some to cut. The juniors on the trip found some large specimens, one about a foot across!

It was a wonderful adventure in fossil collecting. Everyone learned a lot and found a lot. We are all excited to go again! Many thanks to ROGAMS field trip chair Tim Hellinger and GMS Field Trip Lead Jason Leatherwood for setting up and running this trip!

Lori Carter on behalf of Jason Leatherwood
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