ColorfulColorado Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Found this near a construction site in a new neighborhood development east of I-25 I northern Colorado. What is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpa Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 First hello and welcome to TFF from Austin, Tx. You've come to a great place to get answers to such questions. Some expert will be along soon enough to give a definitive answer. In the meantime, as to "what is this?", well really neat for starters. It sure has the pattern typical of petrified palm wood. So that is my initial guess, but still I'd like to "phone a friend" before making that my final answer as I don't know the flora/fauna of the area where you found this. Again, welcome to TFF. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColorfulColorado Posted December 2, 2019 Author Share Posted December 2, 2019 Thank you for the quick response. I couldn’t tell you what the flora/fauna was long ago in this area. I found this in the eastern grass plains of Colorado. However, not too far from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Palm wood was my line of thought also. Neat find. There's probably more where that came from. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Welcome to TFF from Austria! LOL!! My very first impression was black tourmaline crystals in feldspar/quartz matrix... But sure, closer inspection of the pic clearly said no to tourmaline, as some of the black rods have a rugged outline. I was unable to identify it positively, though, so I learned already something new today, that this is fossilized palm wood. And the specimen has a really nice contrast. There could be more at this construction side! Franz Bernhard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 5 hours ago, ColorfulColorado said: grass As monocotyledons palms are an early relative of grass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Sorry, I'm not seeing palm fiber (palms don't have wood) there. It's pretty palm-like but something is off To properly ID it that way would require some higher magnification. It could also be a Syringopora-type coral or a cluster of worm tubes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 4 hours ago, Carl said: Syringopora-type coral or a cluster of worm tubes Not seeing it. I do agree that the ID could use some refinement though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson g Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 4 hours ago, Carl said: Sorry, I'm not seeing palm fiber (palms don't have wood) there. It's pretty palm-like but something is off To properly ID it that way would require some higher magnification. It could also be a Syringopora-type coral or a cluster of worm tubes. I would agree, my inital thought was Syringopora coral myself. Forsure better lighted photos would be needed for the best accuracy. Can we get a little bit further information on the location found like county location? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColorfulColorado Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 7 hours ago, Jackson g said: I would agree, my inital thought was Syringopora coral myself. Forsure better lighted photos would be needed for the best accuracy. Can we get a little bit further information on the location found like county location? Found in Weld County, Colorado USA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColorfulColorado Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 I would upload better photos but the max I can do is 3.95MB. I have some good ones that I’ll try to upload for better lighting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 6 hours ago, ColorfulColorado said: I would upload better photos but the max I can do is 3.95MB. If you crop them to show just the fossil it's more efficient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColorfulColorado Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 5 hours ago, Rockwood said: If you crop them to show just the fossil it's more efficient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Until someone comes up with something to beat palmoxylon I think I'll stay there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 Those shots are pretty good. Can we get one looking directly down on the ends of the black cylinders? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 I would expect to see some kind of horizontal connecting canals in a syringoporid coral, so I'm in the palm camp for now. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColorfulColorado Posted December 3, 2019 Author Share Posted December 3, 2019 2 hours ago, Carl said: Those shots are pretty good. Can we get one looking directly down on the ends of the black cylinders? Like this? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 Ah, now I think I see the connecting canals! So I change my mind and say syringoporid coral. Still a very beautiful find. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpa Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 Perhaps comparing some picts of each might help: Coral 2nd row, right hand column https://wgnhs.uwex.edu/wisconsin-geology/fossils-of-wisconsin/coral-gallery/ Top left corner https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/syringopora.html Wood - top pict https://www.etsy.com/listing/116882276/petrified-palm-wood-2pc-natural-gemstone Colorado pet palm wood https://www.online.com/itm/Colorado-Petrified-Palm-Wood-Polished-Specimen-Extra-Large-Dots-/361194650732 Or perhaps not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpa Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 BTW, Colorado, it just struck me - Was this specimen found anywhere near the specimen pictured at: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColorfulColorado Posted December 4, 2019 Author Share Posted December 4, 2019 1 hour ago, grandpa said: BTW, Colorado, it just struck me - Was this specimen found anywhere near the specimen pictured at: No, that was found high up in elevation. About 9,000 ft. This one was found in low elevation. About 5,000 in grassy plains in a new development. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 5 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said: Ah, now I think I see the connecting canals! I think you need to look again. The darker areas sure don't look like part of a coral to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 I lean toward palm wood based on my study and collection of both palm wood and syringoporoid corals. The rocks to the east of the Rockies and highway 25 tend to be Tertiary. Palm occurs in Tertiary rocks. Syringoporoid corals occur in Paleozoic rocks. The fiber bundles in palm wood are often darker than the matrix, while syringoporoid corals rarely present in that manner. The spacing of palm fibers when viewed end on is more irregular than that of syringoporoid coralites. The slightly irregular outline of the dark dots is not round enough to be coralites of a syringoporoid. Cells visible in the dark dots would clench palm wood. Do you see anything that looks like cells in vascular bundles from http://www.petrifiedwoodmuseum.org/OligoLouIntroduction.html?: 6 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 16 hours ago, DPS Ammonite said: I lean toward palm wood based on my study and collection of both palm wood and syringoporoid corals. The rocks to the east of the Rockies and highway 25 tend to be Tertiary. Palm occurs in Tertiary rocks. Syringoporoid corals occur in Paleozoic rocks. The fiber bundles in palm wood are often darker than the matrix, while syringoporoid corals rarely present in that manner. The spacing of palm fibers when viewed end on is more irregular than that of syringoporoid coralites. The slightly irregular outline of the dark dots is not round enough to be coralites of a syringoporoid. Cells visible in the dark dots would clench palm wood. Do you see anything that looks like cells in vascular bundles from http://www.petrifiedwoodmuseum.org/OligoLouIntroduction.html?: This is all great stuff here - thanks. I agree that the bundles are often darker but I've never seen such strong contrast. And I'm actually thinking the dots in the specimen under scrutiny are too round to be palm as they should be bilobed due to the dual nature of the bundles (see attached). I'm also suspicious about the fractured white areas that look more like quartzite than silicified plant tissues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted December 4, 2019 Share Posted December 4, 2019 @ColorfulColorado You are the most able to look straight down the axis of the individual shapes in question. What do you see ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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