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Howdy y'all! As fall sets in and lots of rain in the forecast, it makes for some good ichno/trace fossil hunting! The lower temps in the South just makes it idea. I got out last week after a weekend of rain on site with many rockslides containing goodies to be found. These fossils aren't your typical trace fossils of tetrapods or giant insects but of the small and tiny variety which are a joy to find! I love collecting them and they offer a glimpse into ancient mud flats of the Carboniferous period. Some of these fossils can be identified and others are in waiting and hopefully I will continue to find other mysterious tracks along the way. As I've mentioned before I hope to find the track maker of each fossil but at the moment content with what I'm finding. I will continue to post my finds and hope you guys and gals are just as fascinated by them as I! Pics #1, 2, 5, 7, 11- are identified as Xiphosurans...sometimes I find them single, double and sometime multiples. I've also been told they are some type of "hopping" insect (Toganoxichnus)? Pics #3, 6, 8, 10, 14- are identified as Diplichnites traces. Pic #4- Not sure what the fish/infinity impression is? Next to it is half of a Xiphosuran track. Pic #9- You will see a Xiphosuran track and next to it is a track shaped into a backward question mark. It appears a small arthropod got bogged down in the mud and struggled to find a firmer footing and did as you can tell toward the end...just my theory??? Pics #12, 13- not sure but there are a number of traces...maybe feeding traces on #12 and a single on #13? Pic #15- You will see two different Xiphosuran tracks with a Diplichnites overlapping them.
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- carboniferous period
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Hi Y'all! It's been a crazy hot summer...so hot that it kept me from getting out to fossil hunt. A break came last week when I was able to get out for about an hour and half and found these nice specimens. Having to work on weekends and daylight getting shorter I didn't have much time to really get into it but this site continues to produce regardless how much time I spend there. Love my Carboniferous Flora, especially the ferns! This site produces some unbelievable fossils with detail and contrast! Several varieties of fern species have been found and so fortunate to find so many with the venation detail as some of you have seen in past post of ferns on The Fossil Forum. Here are a few from last weeks finds. Pic 1- Sphenopteris- although there isn't much contrast here, it's still a nice piece Pic 2- Closeup of the Sphenopteris leaves with detail venation Pic 3- Lycopodiates with Nueropteris fern frond and leaflets, coal film giving detail and contrast Pic 4- Lepidodendron stems, coal film giving some detail and contrast Pic 5- Lepidostrobus, detailed cone with coal film giving detail and contrast Pic 6- Lepidodendron- interior impression of trunk Happy National Fossil Day everyone!
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Hello all! It's been very busy the past several months but managed to get out and do some fossil hunting several weeks ago. Found quite a few trace and plant specimens but not the spectacular "fern fossil" or "trace slab" with several different tracks on it that I envisioned finding at these sites. It's just a matter of time? With the weather and the rain we'd been getting lately it won't be long until the weeds and Kudzu take over one the sites and will be much more difficult to hunt. Until then we will gather as much as we can, when we can. Pic #1-3- 2D Calamite impressions...the first picture looks like stitching, if you look closely you will see a node. Pic #3- has a fern rachis highlighted with coal film Pic #4- Almost 3D Calamite cast Pic #5- Lepidostrobus cones Pic #6, #7 and 11- Nueropteris fern frond Pic #8, #9- Mariopteris fern fronds Pic #10- Lyginopteris fern frond with Nueropteris leaflet Pic #12-15- Trace Fossils, makers unknown...probably some type of arthropod?
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Carboniferous Period experts! I need some help getting the correct ID on this fossil. I was finally able to get out to do some Carboniferous Plant fossil hunting on Monday after 2 months! I find a lot of these and wonder if they part of the same plant? The branch to the right that has a coal film on it seems to be that of Lepidodendron and in the upper left what appears to be Lycopodiates? I've associated the Lycopodiates as a ground plant? Is what up in the upper right the leaves of the Lepidodendron or the ground plant I spoke of earlier?
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Hello all! I had an opportunity to get out several weeks back to fossil hunt. I came across a washed out area on site that was solid layers of stone above a large coal seam. I removed some of the soil covering the stone face and found several cracks and fissures in that stone created by rainwater, heat and cold expanding between the layers making it easy to split. With chisel in hand I pried up several slabs containing these fern hash plates, fern fronds and Trigoncarpus (seed pods). Some of the slabs were fairly big so I had to downsize them to fit in my bucket. The two hours I was there, my bucket was filled to the brim and then had to call it a day. All the unwanted excess stone and soil was placed back. What a great day! Can't wait to get back soon.
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Hello all! I went fossil hunting several weeks back in-between all this rain we'd been getting and found a few nice samples of Carboniferous Flora here in Bama. This particular spot has produced some quality detailed preservation on fossils I've never seen before. The weather hasn't been that cooperative of lately but glad see toward the end of the week it will be gorgeous so another trip to this site is in the works! Pic# 1 not sure what this is but it looks like a christmas tree. Pic #2 is fern rachis with fern fronds Pic #3 is a Nueropteris hash plate. Pic #4 and #8 are Lycopodiates. Pic #5 is a Mariopteris fern frond with a Peripteris leaflet. Pic #6 are Fern Rachis with Nueropteris fern fronds. Pic #7 is a Calamite impression I've never seen before...this one in particular has these huge node imprints on the impressions. Pic #8 is Trigoncarpus (seed) Pic #9 Mariopteris fern frond hash plate. Stay tuned more to come!
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Hello all! I got to go fossil hunting today after work before the storm rolled in. I'm familiar with most Carboniferous Flora but these two finds. Is the fern frond and leaflets called Peripteris or something else? The second and third pic looks like a Calamite? It has ribbing but no nodes present? Could this be a leaf of some type of Lycopod? Any help would be appreciated. Carboniferous Period, Pottsville Formation, Alabama.
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Hello All! It's been quite sometime since I last visited the fossil fern honey hole. Having to work the weekends and not having enough daylight to hunt fossils was a bummer for at least 7 months! Now that spring is in the air, temperature is getting warmer and there is more daylight I had to take advantage of a late afternoon hunt with a lil' extra daylight on hand.
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Hello Y'all! It's been awhile...I recently acquired several track fossils to add to my collection. I think these tracks were made by a Cincosaurus Cobbi. They were found at a renown ichno fossil site here in Central Alabama about a hour drive from my home. I have been there twice and found mostly cool plant fossils but these are really downright cool especially the ones with fossil fern fronds on the shale plate. I thought I'd share them with you. Hopefully when the weather warms up and there's more daylight I will be able to visit more of these sites to add these cool fossils to my collection!
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Hey Y'all! Due to some technical issues with pictures on the first posting... I'm trying again.... It had been awhile since I got to go on a fossil hunt with the local Alabama Paleontological Society group. On 11/20/18, I got to go to a active surface coal mine not far from my home on a gorgeous, cold day considering we had rain all week. We checked in around 9:30 am and was guided to our destination through a lot of mud to a site away from the major activity of mine operations. We had the run of spoil piles that were created into berms that contained all sorts of plant fossils! My goal for the day was to find as many fern fossils that could fit into two 5.5 gallon buckets and those berms didn't disappoint. Most of what I found was disarticlulated Neuropteris fern fronds and lots of fern hash plates. The leaflets had a reddish tint of iron that had oxidized when exposed to the weather as the sample shows. I collected a number of hash plates that I found very interesting. I found numerous fern fronds ... ... and even several pieces of Sigillaria bark impressions that I don't have in my collection. (I think this one is the interior impression of the Sigillaria) I shot a picture of a young Mimosa, a modern day tree fern leaves and shadow cast upon a hash plate slab with the Neuropteris leaflets. After about and hour or two on that berm I think I tapped it out so another location was found and we all moved there where I found many more fern fossils including the find of the day, this fern frond! By the time we got ready to leave both of my buckets were full and of course we all wanted to stay longer but felt we didn't want to over stay our welcome. There were several slabs that I didn't have time to break down so I left them as well as the bigger ones that couldn't be taken out, so only a picture had to do! The last picture is that of a Stigmaria with visible rootlets! What an awesome day, I declare this site as one of my favorites and look forward to coming back again!
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Hello All! Ichnology has to be a fascinating field of study. I don't know bout you guys but as a citizen scientist/ fossil collector I definitely find them fascinating and when I post them on The Fossil Forum or the other social networks. I enjoy hearing the different discussions about them. Alabama is known for it's fossil diversity and these are no exception. The samples presented here are overshadowed by the specimens coming out of the Union Chapel Mine northwest of the my present location. http://kudzu.astr.ua.edu/apsmono1/paper19_APS_MONO_1_Hauboldetal.pdf Union Chapel produces all sorts of tracks from tetrapods, horseshoe crabs and a plethora of insects as well as plants specimens. Not to say the site I visit is the same because it's not but still provides a glimpse into an ancient mudflat during the Carboniferous Period teeming with life. Thanks to all the professionals who have help me identify some of these trace fossils. My goal and hope will be to eventually find impressions of the track makers. I have been visiting this site for over ten years and it still eludes me!
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Ichno Fossils from the Carboniferous Period, July 2018
Rockin' Ric posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Howdee y'all! It was a hot 91 degrees with humidity yesterday when I decided to get out of the home to do a little ichno fossil hunt. Life had been a tad bit rough for the past 3 months and needed some Fossil Therapy. Here are a few interesting samples. The second pic appear to be tadpole shaped resting traces. I thought they were small horseshoe crabs?? I placed these on the FB Ichnology page and have two experts having a dialog about them. From my observation, the tadpole like images and the maker are still a mystery?? This is a partial burrow that I find a lot. About half the finds are 3D tubes with texture on them. It appears that the organism created the texture from tracks inside the tubes? Definitely not a Ichnology expert, just a guess.
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Howdee Ya'll! Here are some recent Trace Fossil finds after all this rain we've gotten...Tropical Storm Alberto has brought more which means a lot of eroded rocks from the wall that keeps on giving! I find they are the most fascinating fossils and the least noticed especially the smaller specimens created by arthropods. The mystery with most trace fossils is what kind of ancient life form left behind its tracks eons ago. The first three pics are inconclusive so far...no body fossil have been found of the track maker, yet??? The fourth pic is a Conostichus, bioclast burrow. I have no idea what the last pic is? Anyone out there know? I did notice a faint resting trace, leg imprints on the plate of the mystery fossil?
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Plant Fossil Debris Hash Plates and 3D Calamite Stems
Rockin' Ric posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Hello all! Since it has gotten warmer I was able to venture out to my favorite sites to do some fossil hunting. Here are a few plant debris hash plates with ferns and assortment of other plant material on them. So much detail and preservation on the plant impressions especially the venation on the fern fronds. I really like the way the shale slabs are the color they are, the fossil impressions really stand out amongst the light gray. Does anyone know what the gold/yellow color in some of the shale slabs...could it be sulfur or something else? Lepidodendron Stem and 3D Calamite stem cast. Mariopteris, Nueropteris fern fronds with Lepidostrobus and Lycopodiates. Mariopteris Fern fronds and Lycopodiates. 3D Calamite stem cast and Nueropteris Fern frond and leaflets. Fern Rachis, Mariopteris Fern fronds and leaflets. Assortment of plant debris with Mariopteris Fern Fronds, Rachis and Lepidostrobus.
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Hello All! Here are some ichno fossils finds from several weeks ago after days of rain we got down here. I love hunting these things and find them fascinating since there is a mystery that surrounds the maker of the trace fossils. Finding the track maker has eluded me although one of these pics might shed some light on one possible track maker...I found an impression of what appears to be the underside of an arthropod? Either way, hopefully someone somewhere might take up the challenge of writing a paper about them in the near future.
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Hello all! It's good to get out hunting again now that warmer weather and more daylight is at hand. Here are the rest of the specimens from last weeks fossil hunt. Not as spectacular as previous finds but are keepers. I already posted the finds of the day... the last 3 pics, in case a few of you haven't seen them? Lepidodendron stem and Lycopodiates with carbon film 3D Calamite Stem with coal crystals and Mariopters/Nueropteris fern fronds, Lepidostrobus Cone and Fern Rachis hash plate Mariopteris fern fronds with carbon film Spiropteris (furled fern frond)... or fiddlehead Lepidodendron stem and virtual cornucopia of vegetation on the other side: Mariopteris fern frond, Fern Rachis, Lepidostrobus Cone, Lycopodiates and Peripteris Giagante leaflet with carbon film
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Hello ya'll! Here is the find of the day from a recent fossil fern hunt. Slowly but surely getting them cleaned. While on site I debated on whether to toss this fossil since it had a partial impression of Lycopodiates on one side. There was about an inch of stone that could be split from the other side. Good thing I did! A Spiropteris appeared when I split the stone with both pos and neg plates. I guess the moral of the story is don't toss it, split it!
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It had been December 2017 since I last did a fossil hunt. Unable to go on the weekends because of work and by the time I get off there is no daylight left to attempt a hunt. Now it's 2018 and the days are getting longer I went on a fossil fern hunt recently and found a bucket full of nicely preserved specimens! Unfortunately the ground was wet, the shale slabs were saturated with moisture and brittle making them impossible to wash so I'm having to let them dry out before washing the grit and dirt off my finds. I was able to get one or two washed now posting a cool find. On one side there is "y" shaped Lepidodendron stem with what looks like the leafy portion of the tree or Lycopodiates. Turn it over you have the several different varieties of plant fossils from Mariopteris Fern fronds, Peripteris leaf, Lepidostrobus cone, Lycopodiates and Fern Rachis. I will post the other when I get them washed and presentable.
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Hello All! I recently inquired if there were any threads discussing how to "highlight" fossils to make them stand out? I am all about keeping them NATURAL but I have finds where the impressions are so faint they can't be seen unless you pull them up close to your face. Some of you know I have been posting a lot of my Carboniferous plant finds with very good preservation already highlighted with carbon film but others not so much especially the negative impressions on the stone. I'm not always lucky to find both pos/neg images which complete the entire fossil, some of those finds are the negative images so I have to resort to finding ways to highlight some of them. It has been suggested that I use ground up carbon (coal) to powder and paint onto the image and then coat with glue/water mixture. I can see that working on larger fossil impressions like that of the lycopod fossils but when it comes to the ferns and smaller impressions other alternatives will have to do? I have been experimenting with using fine tip sharpies that have worked well. Here is the before and after shots of a fern fossil I recently did. The lone fern frond in the right was the only one that had the carbon film on it. What do you guys think?
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Hello All. Here are some Carboniferous Brachiopods found at a residential construction site in Central Alabama. #1 Nicely perserved Brach #2 Mermaid top #3 Small Brach hash #4 Small Brach hash with Lepidophylloide #5 Pyritized Brach with small Chonetids scattered about? #6 Brach with pieces of Mussel and Trilobutt. #7 Brach with piece of Bivalve.
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Here is one half of my latest active coal mine finds. There's not much contrast between the image and stone like the previous fossils I've posted on the lighter color shale that came from a construction site. The mine shale is a lot darker in color, some slabs found are almost close to coal consistency. Carboniferous Period, Pottsville Formation, Central Alabama. 3D Calamite Stems Calamite Stem with Trigoncarpus and large Calamite stem impression. Neuropteris leaf hash plates with rachis. Trigoncarpus seed pods with stems and rachis. Not sure what the first pic is...Calamites??? Fern leaf hash plate. Fern hash plate and Lyginopteris fern fronds.
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Here is one half of my latest active coal mine finds. There's not much contrast between the image and stone like the previous fossils I've posted on the lighter color shale that came from a construction site. The mine shale is a lot darker in color, some slabs found are almost close to coal consistency. Carboniferous Period, Pottsville Formation, Central Alabama. Panoramic view of the coal mine Stigmaria with rootlets and Cordaites leaves...there were lots of this in the spoil piles. Stigmaria with rootlets, rarely find stigmaria this small with the rootlet image attached...most I've had to photograph because the stone was too big to carry out. Lyginopteris fern fronds with fern rachis and what appears to be lepidodendron stems? Fern rachis and Lyginopteris ferns. I counted 5 Trigoncarpus on the first piece. Second pic with Fern rachis with Nueropteris fern fronds and leaves? Lyginopteris Fern fronds with stems and Stigmaria impression with nodes. Nueropteris fern fronds and leaves with rachis and Trigoncarpus with overlapping rootlets and other type of material? 3D Calamite stem.
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Not as spectacular as previous plant fossil finds. Here are a few specimens from last Tuesday's hunt, consisting of Maropteris and Neuropteris fern frond, Lepidostrobus, Trigoncarpus, Coal crusted Calamites Stem and Fern Rachis.
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Found these two fossils the same day at two different sites. The sites are 30 minutes east and west of each other. On both fossils there is a trigoncarpus seed pod. Could the images criss-crossing, overlapping each other be cyperite leaves or Lepidophylloides? ...Or some type of stems or root system?
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I am aware of the different species of Calmites but don't know all of them. Can anyone identify this one? I'm curious as to what the vertical seam separating the ribbing?
