Chimaeroid Egg Capsule
Oligocene
Keasey Formation
Nehalem River - Columbia County - near Vernonia, Oregon

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Modern (Ghost shark) egg capsule
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Ghost shark egg capsule - Callorhinchus milii
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nuytsia_pix/320399494

References

Fossil Egg Capsules of Chimaeroid Fishes (PDF)
Roland W. Brown
Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 20, No. 3 (May, 1946), pp. 261-266

This fossil specimen was found on a NARG (North America Research Group)
field trip in August. One of our members, Steve Hetrick found this fossil. It is from
the Keasey Formation (Oligocene) near Vernonia, OR. The formation is marine
sediment, but we have found leaf fossils in the formation. We knew it was something
unique, but what was it? We thought it might be a sea pen, another thought was a
large seed pod. We asked some of the local experts but they weren't sure. Thanks
to Carl Mehling who identified it as a Chimaeroid Egg Capsule.

These fossils been found in deposits as old as the Devonian.
My question: Has anyone found similar fossils in the Oligocene or other deposits?

Peg Johnson
Permission required to use these images in other publications

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