whitmanrr Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 Grandson found this in an outcrop of immature sandstone in the proximal fluvial facies of the Paleocene Fort Union Formation in Park County, Montana. My current guess, based on the age of the outcrop and the depositional paleo-environment, is that it is a fossil plant, although it doesn't look much like one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 I would guess bryozoan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitmanrr Posted December 16, 2019 Author Share Posted December 16, 2019 Yeah. I was kinda thinking the same thing too. But in an upstream fluvial environment? Are bryozoans tough enough to endure in that kind of energy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 40 minutes ago, whitmanrr said: Yeah. I was kinda thinking the same thing too. But in an upstream fluvial environment? Are bryozoans tough enough to endure in that kind of energy? Sometimes there are small intervals of shallowing upward and deepening cycles to allow for the right conditions for bryozoans to extend their range. Some of them can be fairly resilient; I’ve seen them in high energy layers with toppled and abraded corals. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitmanrr Posted December 16, 2019 Author Share Posted December 16, 2019 Good insight. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitmanrr Posted December 28, 2019 Author Share Posted December 28, 2019 After some input from an academic, I'm pretty confident this is not bryozoa; the pits are too large. I haven't exhausted all resources. If I get a positive ID, I will post it her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahnmut Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 How about a graptolite? I just saw a picture of Araneograptus that at least slightly reminded me of this thread. Best regards, J Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitmanrr Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 Thanks for the input. No graptolites in the Cenozoic. Sadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 cliona tunnels sans shell? (WAG) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitmanrr Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 Good thinking. There certainly are fresh water sponges, but I know next to nothing about them. Is Cliona an example? Was the genus extant in the Paleocene? Are the pits too big for a sponge? If I had to bet, I'd go with a plant fragment in this paleo-environment. But you never know. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliona https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clionaidae https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demosponge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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