Texas Pennsylvanian Fossils

Dedicated to the Study of Pennsylvanian Fossils, Sponsored by Members of the Dallas Paleontological Society

Resources

The following list of resources are provided to help identify specimens that have been collected. We will be adding to these resources as they become available.

Finis References

Anderson J.R., Shares A., and Boardman D. 2025. The genus Plocezyga microgastropod biostratigraphic zonation of the Pennsylvanian of the United States. Journal of Paleontology, 99(4), 835–856
Anderson, J.R. Jr., Boardman, D. R. (1989). Distribution and Biostratigraphy of Pseudozygopleurid Microgastropods in North-Central Texas and the Appalachian Basin. Texas Tech University Studies in Geology, 2, 167-188.
Barrick, J. E., Boardman, D. R., & Cocke, J. (1989). Stratigraphic distribution of morphotypes of Idiognathodus and Streptognathodus in Missourian-lower Virgilian strata, north-central Texas. Texas Tech University Studies in Geology, 2, 167-188.
Boardman II, D. R., Nestell, M. K., & Knox, L. W. (1995). Depth-related microfaunal biofacies model for late Carboniferous and early Permian cyclothemic sedimentary sequences in Mid-Continent North America.
Boller, K.A. (1985). Ostracode Distribution in Late Pennsylvanian Finis Shale Cyclothem: ABSTRACT. AAPG Bulletin 1985; 69 (2): 239.
Boston, W.B. 1988. The surficial geology, paleontology, and paleoecology of the Finis Shale (Pennsylvanian, lower Virgilian) in Jack County, Texas. Unpublished Masters Thesis, The College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA.	Boston 1988 Thesis
Buzas-Stephens P.; Kocurko, M. J. (1993). Non-fusulinid foraminifera of the Upper Pennsylvanian Finis Shale, including the description of an enigmatic taxon. Tulane Studies in Geology and Paleontology. 26: 27-33.
Carew, J. L. (1980). A New Pennsylvanian Pseudozygopleurid Gastropod from Texas. Journal of Paleontology, 54(6), 1209–1212.
Cate, A. S., & Evans, I. (1992). Life Histories and Population Structure of Pennsylvanian Brachiopods from North-Central Texas as Determined from Size-Frequency Analysis. Journal of Paleontology, 66(6), 868–880.
Dalquest, Walter W; Kocurko, M. J. and Buzas-Stephens, P.; 1993. A new record of the Chondrichthyan fish Physonemus mirabilis from the Upper Pennsylvanian of Texas. Texas Journal of Science, 45 (2): pp. 191-193.
Dunn, M. T., Mapes, G., & Rothwell, G. W. (2002). On Paleozoic Plants from Marine Strata: Hexaloba finisensia New Genus and Species, a Trigonocarpalean Ovule from the Virgilian (Upper Pennsylvanian: Gzhelian) Finis Shale of Texas. Journal of Paleontology, 76(1), 173–180.	http://www.jstor.org/stable/1307185
Ernst, Andrej, Claussen, Anna Lene, Seuss, Barbara, and Wyse Jackson, Patrick N. 2022. Stenolaemate bryozoans from the Graham Formation, Pennsylvanian (Virgilian) at Lost Creek Lake, Texas, USA. Palaeontologia Electronica, 25(2):a15.	Ernst et al 2022 Bryozoans
Finsley, Charles; 1989. A Field Guide to Fossils of Texas. Texas Monthly Field Guide Series, Texas Monthly Press. 189 p.
Forcino FL, Stafford ES (2020) The influence of collection method on paleoecological datasets: In-place versus surface-collected fossil samples in the Pennsylvanian Finis Shale, Texas, USA. PLOS ONE 15(2): e0228944.	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0228944
Forcino, F.L., E.S. Stafford, J.J. Warner, A.E. Webb, L.R. Leighton, C.L. Schneider, T.S. Michlin, L.M. Palazzolo, J.R. Morrow, and S.A. Schellenberg. 2010. Effects of data categorization on paleocommunity analysis: a case study from the Pennsylvanian Finis Shale of Texas. Palaios 25 (3): 144–157.
Friedel, J. C. 2020. Taxonomy and Paleoecology of the Bivalves from the Finis Shale (Pennsylvanian) of Texas. University of Cologne MS Thesis.
Friedel, Julia, Amler, Michael, Seuss, Barbara (2019) Bivalves from the Pennsylvanian Finis Shale (Virgilian) of North Central Texas Notes on Taxonomy, Life Habits and Palaeoecology
Furnish, W. M., Glenister, B. F., & Hansman, R. H. (1962). Brachycycloceratidae, Novum, Deciduous Pennsylvanian Nautiloids. Journal of Paleontology, 36(6), 1341–1356.	http://www.jstor.org/stable/1301334
Herbert, John H.; et al; 1990. Texas Pennsylvanian Brachiopods. Texas Paleontology Series Publication 4, Houston Gem and Mineral Society, 242 p.
Hoare, R. D., & Mapes, R. H. (1985). New Mississippian and Pennsylvanian Polyplacophora (Mollusca) from North America. Journal of Paleontology, 59(4), 875–881.
Hoare, R. D., Mapes, R. H., & Yancey, T. E. (2002). Structure, Taxonomy, and Epifauna of Pennsylvanian Rostroconchs (Mollusca). Memoir (The Paleontological Society), 58, 1–30.
Howell B.F. 1953, A new Terebellid worm from the Carboniferous of Texas. Bull. Wagner Free Inst. of Science, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 1-4.
Hunt, A.P., Spielmann, J.A., Lucas, S.G., and Durney, K. (2013) Late Pennsylvanian Coprofauna from the Finis Shale of north-central Texas in The Carboniferous-Permian Transition. (2013). United States: New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, 60, 129-131.
Itano, Wayne & Lucas, Spencer. (2018). A revision of Campyloprion Eastman, 1902 (Chondrichthyes, Helicoprionidae), including new occurrences from the Upper Pennsylvanian of New Mexico and Texas, USA. Acta Geologica Polonica. 68. 403-419.
Ivanov, A. O., & Seuss, B. (2024). Late Pennsylvanian fishes from the Finis Shales of North-Central Texas (USA). PalZ, 1-12.	Ivanov & Seuss 2024
Karapunar, B., Nützel, A., Seuss, B. and Mapes, R.H. (2022), Taxonomy and diversity of slit-band gastropods (Order Pleurotomariida) and some slit bearing Caenogastropoda from the Pennsylvanian of the USA. Pap Palaeontol, 8: e1417.	Karapunar etal 2022 Gastropods
Knox, L.W., Barrick, J.E., and Boardman, D.R. 1995. Pennsylvanian Ostracoda from central North America, in: Ríha, J. (Ed.). (1995). Ostracoda and Biostratigraphy. Rotterdam: AA Balkema.
Lee, W., Nickell, C. O., Williams, J. S., & Henbest, L. G. (1938). Stratigraphic and paleontologic studies of the Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks in north-central Texas. The University of Texas Publication 3801: 1-252.
Linsley, R. M., Mapes, R. H., Hui-Ji, W., & Yochelson, E. L. (1989). Some New Paleozoic Gastropod Opercula (Pennsylvanian: Texas). Journal of Paleontology, 63(2), 206–211.
Lobza, V., J. Schieber, and M. Nestell. 1994. The influence of sea level changes and possible pycnocline shifts on benthic communities in the Finis Shale (Virgilian) near Jacksboro, North-Central Texas. In Pangea: Global Environments and Resources, eds. A.F. Embry, B. Beauchamp, and D.J. Glass, Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Memoir 17, 927–947.	Lobza et al 1994 Sea Level Changes
Maisey, J. G., Bronson, A. W., Williams, R. R., & McKinzie, M. (2017). A Pennsylvanian ‘supershark’ from Texas. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 37(3).	https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2017.1325369
Malinky, J. M., Mapes, R. H., Broadhead, T. W. 1986. New late Palaeozoic Hyolitha (Mollusca) from Oklahoma and Texas, and their palaeoenvironmental significance. Palaeontology, 29, 2, 303–312.
Malinky, J., Boardman, D. R., Barrick, J. E., Cocke, J., & Nestell, M. K. (1989). Hyolitha in Midcontinent Pennsylvanina Cyclothems: Paleoecology and Taphonomy. In 23rd Annual Meeting, South-Central Section Geological Society of America (pp.279-290).
Mapes, R. H. 1979. Carboniferous and Permian Bactritoidea (Cephalopoda) in North America. University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions 64:1-75
Mapes, R. H., and Boardman, D. R. 1988. The upper Paleozoic (Pennsylvanian-Permian) ammonoid Emilites. Journal of Paleontology 62:69-75
Mapes, R. H., Mapes, G., Boardman, D. R., Barrick, J. E., Cocke, J., & Nestell, M. K. (1989). Late Pennsylvanian terrestrial plants in dysaerobic marine environments in North-central Texas. In 23rd Annual Meeting, South-Central Section Geological Society of America (pp. 221-234).
McKinzie, M.G., and J. McLeod. 2003. Pennsylvanian fossils of North Texas. Occasional Papers of the Dallas Paleontological Society 6: 1–154.
McKinzie, M.G., and J. McLeod. 2015. Color Guide to Pennsylvanian Fossils of North Texas, 1–280. Dallas: McMcPaleo Publ
Melnyk, D. H., & Maddocks, R. F. (1988). Ostracode Biostratigraphy of the Permo-Carboniferous of Central and North-Central Texas, Part II: Ostracode Zonation. Micropaleontology, 34(1), 21–40.	https://www.jstor.org/stable/1485608
Miller, A.K., and H.R. Downs. 1950. Ammonoids of the Pennsylvanian Finis Shale of Texas. Journal of Paleontology 24(2): 185–218.	http://www.jstor.org/stable/1299501
Moore, R. C. (1929). A Bryozoan Faunule from the Upper Graham Formation, Pennsylvanian, of North Central Texas. Journal of Paleontology, 3(1), 1–27.	http://www.jstor.org/stable/1298043
Moore, R. C. (1929). A Bryozoan Faunule from the Upper Graham Formation, Pennsylvanian, of North Central Texas. Part II. Journal of Paleontology, 3(2), 121–156.	http://www.jstor.org/stable/1297946
Morris, N.J., & Dickins, J.M. (1991). Upper Palaeozoic anomalodesmatan Bivalvia. Bulletin of the British Museum, Natural History. Geology, 47, 51-100.
Mutvei, H., Mapes R.H., & Doguzhaeva, L.A. . 2012. Shell structures in Carboniferous bactritid-like coleoids (Cephalopoda) from South Central USA. GFF - A Scandinavian Journal of Earth Sciences 134:201-216
Nestell, M.K., G.P. Nestell, and J.E. Barrick. 2019. The Kasimovian-Gzhelian boundary and associated microfauna of the transgressive part of the Finis Shale Cycle (Graham Formation, Cisco Group, Pennsylvanian) in North-Central Texas, USA. Paleontological Journal 53 (8): 832–836.	Nestell et al 2019 Kasimovian-Gzhelian Boundary
Newell, N. D. and Boyd, D.W. 1975. Parallel evolution in early trigonacean bivalves. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 154(2):55-162
Niko, S. and Mapes, R. (2010). Reevaluation of the Late Carboniferous Cephalopod, Brachycycloceras? spectrum Hansman, 1965 from Texas, USA, Paleontological Research 14(4), 227-232.	https://doi.org/10.2517/1342-8144-14.4.227
Niko, S., B. Seuss, and R.H. Mapes. 2022. Virgilian (Late Pennsylvanian) coiled nautiloids from the Finis Shale Member of the Graham Formation in Texas, southern Midcontinent North America. Bulletin of the Tohoku University Museum 21: 1–19.	Niko et al 2022 Coiled Nautiloids
Niko, Shuji and Mapes, Royal H.; 2011. Texanoceras, a new Neptunoceratid cephalopod genus from the Upper Pennsylvanian Graham and Caddo Creek Formations in north-central Texas. Journal of Paleontology, 85 (3): pp. 519-523.
Nützel A, Ebbestad JO, Seuss B, Munnecke A, Mapes RH, Cook AG (2023) On Paleozoic platycerate gastropods. Zitteliana 97: 29-51.	Nutzel et al 2023 Platycerate Gastropods
Plummer, F.B., Scott, G., Dunbar, C.O., and Skinner, J.W., 1937, The Geology of Texas, v. III, Upper Paleozoic Ammonites and Fusulinids: University of Texas Bulletin 3701, 516 p.
Rigby, J. & Mapes, R.H.. (2000). Some Pennsylvanian and Permian sponges from Southwestern Oklahoma and North-Central Texas. 45. 25-54.
Rigby, J. K. 1978. Two wewokellid calcareous sponges in North America. Journal of Paleontology 52(3):705-716
Roden, V.J., Hausmann, I.M., Nützel, A., Seuss, B., Reich, M., Urlichs, M., Hagdorn, H. and Kiessling, W. (2020), Fossil liberation: a model to explain high biodiversity in the Triassic Cassian Formation. Palaeontology, 63: 85-102.	Roden et al 2020 Liberation Lagerstatte
Rothwell, G. W., Mapes, G., & Mapes, R. H. (1996). Anatomically preserved vojnovskyalean seed plants in Upper Pennsylvanian (Stephanian) marine shales of North America. Journal of Paleontology, 70(6), 1067–1079.
Sendino, C., Clark, B., Morandini, A.C. et al. Internal conulariid structures unveiled using µCT. PalZ 97, 451–467 (2023).	Sendino et al 2022 Conularid
Strimple, H. L., & Mapes, R. H. (1977). A New Upper Pennsylvanian Fissiculate Blastoid from Texas. Journal of Paleontology, 51(2), 357–362.	http://www.jstor.org/stable/1303613
Yancey, T. E. (2024). Revision of Late Paleozoic pinnid genera and North American species of bivalve family Pinnidae. Bulletins of American Paleontology. 410: 1-83.	Google Scholar Link
Yancey T.E. 2025. Description of Willipteria, a new genus of late Paleozoic pterioid bivalves, and redescription of Leptodesma Hall. Journal of Paleontology, 99(1), 116–127	Yancey 2025 Willipteria
Yancey T.E. 2025. Revision of Monopteria (Monopteriidae), a late Paleozoic pteriomorphian bivalve. Journal of Paleontology. 2025;99(1):99-115.	Yancey 2025 Monopteria

Various Resources

Pennsylvanian Color Guide Index of Genera

Permian Brachiopods of West Texas III Cooper and Grant

Lower Permian Brachiopods and Molluscs From the Upper Jungle Creek Formation, Northern Yukon Territory, Shi Waterhouse 1996

King 1938 Chonetidiae and Productidae.pdf

Pictorial Guide to Upper Pennsylvanian Fossils (click to download)

by Dr. Ben Neuman in conjunction with the Dallas Paleo Society

  Section 1 - Brachiopoda
  Section 2a - Mollusca
  Section 2b – Mollusca – Cephalopods
  Section 3 – Cnidaria, Porifera, Bryozoa, Ichnofossils
  Section 4 – Echinodermata
  Section 5 – Foraminifera and Other Microfossils
  Section 6 - Arthopoda