PB-2026-000008
Owner identification confidence: high
Cyclonema bilix
My published record carries the identification Cyclonema bilix. The references below help explain what to inspect, while keeping the species-level limits visible.
Read the shell in more than one view
The Atlas of Ordovician Life describes Cyclonema at genus level as turbiniform or trochiform (top- or cone-shaped), with spiral ornamentation, few whorls increasing rapidly in size, and an oblique aperture with a reflected inner lip.[2]
The University of New Brunswick describes its catalogued C. bilix specimens, UNB-2018-0649, as right-coiling shells with three whorls, fine spiral ornamentation and a circular aperture filled with sediment. That is a description of those museum specimens, not a universal three-whorl rule or an observation about my fossil.[3]
The species-level limit
The Atlas lists both C. bilix and C. humerosum among Cincinnatian species, but the retrieved descriptive text is genus-level. The museum description is not a species-level key.[2][3]
I have not established a reliable bilix-versus-humerosum diagnostic key from these checked sources. I am therefore not using a rounded shell, a whorl count, or a locality label to claim that comparison is settled. My bilix record remains my identification, with its recorded confidence shown below.
My find and the formation checklist
The public record below documents my own find. The wider Arnheim fauna checklist on The Bed is a separate literature-and-personal-find guide, not a species key or independent confirmation of this specimen.
| Feature to inspect | What the reference describes | What this does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Overall shell and whorls | Top- or cone-shaped; few whorls increasing rapidly in size | A unique diagnosis of C. bilix |
| Surface and aperture | Spiral ornamentation; oblique opening with reflected inner lip | A species identification when these features are hidden or damaged |
How I inspect a specimen
- Open the full-size shell photograph and follow the coiling outline. Note which whorls and which parts of the surface are actually visible.
- Look for a view facing the aperture (shell opening) as well as a side view. If the opening or inner lip is filled or hidden, mark that feature as not observable.
- Compare spiral ornamentation only where the shell surface is preserved clearly. Do not silently treat a missing detail as a diagnostic absence.
- Keep any later revision with the original public record. A specialist comparison or better view may change the identification without erasing this observation.
My published finds
1 published record with public photographs. These counts describe published records, not abundance or a complete quarry census.
Confidence is my recorded assessment, not independent verification. A locality or formation name does not establish a specimen’s identity.