pleecan Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Are there any fossil plant experts out there? Opinions? Found this fossil a few years ago. Bertie Formation , Silurian rock, Fort Erie ON Canada. In the same layers as Euryptrids / Cooksonia. Area was thought of as a salty lagoon during Silurian period. I thought it might be a seed or pod with a infant plant maybe Cooksonia emerging from the pod. If you look carefully you can see a faint vascular channel... mid axial, longitudinal. Fossil is about 1" long, bulbous width about 1/4". or maybe it is an Eurypterid part? Rock matrix is extreme fine grained limestone. PL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paleozoicfish Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Are there any fossil plant experts out there? Opinions? Found this fossil a few years ago. Bertie Formation , Silurian rock, Fort Erie ON Canada. In the same layers as Euryptrids / Cooksonia. Area was thought of as a salty lagoon during Silurian period. I thought it might be a seed or pod with a infant plant maybe Cooksonia emerging from the pod. If you look carefully you can see a faint vascular channel... mid axial, longitudinal. Fossil is about 1" long, bulbous width about 1/4". or maybe it is an Eurypterid part? Rock matrix is extreme fine grained limestone. PL That looks like a Cooksonia sp. cheers, -PzF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 That looks like a Cooksonia sp. cheers, -PzF Thanks for the reply PzF, Regards, PL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Pleecan, cool fossil example. Nice seeing some of the very early plants! PZF, Curiosity question for you. How do you tell in this specimen if this is Cooksonia versus one of the other early Silurian plants like Steganotheca? I've read that the shape of the spore sacs distinguishes the different species in Cooksonia and that Steganotheca had a few more branches but they were both without leaves... I don't know anything about this age of plants and am interested. One of the websites I found on Cooksonia shows a number of different species and their spore sac shapes. http://www.xs4all.nl/~steurh/engcook/ecooks.html Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted November 29, 2009 Author Share Posted November 29, 2009 Pleecan, cool fossil example. Nice seeing some of the very early plants! PZF, Curiosity question for you. How do you tell in this specimen if this is Cooksonia versus one of the other early Silurian plants like Steganotheca? I've read that the shape of the spore sacs distinguishes the different species in Cooksonia and that Steganotheca had a few more branches but they were both without leaves... I don't know anything about this age of plants and am interested. One of the websites I found on Cooksonia shows a number of different species and their spore sac shapes. http://www.xs4all.nl/~steurh/engcook/ecooks.html Regards, Chris Hi Chris: In this particular quarry... I have found Cooksonia similar to Cooksonia paranensis sporangia morphoogy. Speculation is that the plant seed pod may be Cooksonia paranensis. see attached pic Cooksonia that I have collected from the Bertie formation. PL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamalama Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Cool early plants! -Dave __________________________________________________ Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPheeIf I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPheeCheck out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 PL, thanks for the additional info and photo. Very neat stuff. Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjohn835 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Those are really cool pics pleecan. Did you do that through a microscope? With rocks in my head, and fossils in my heart.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted November 29, 2009 Author Share Posted November 29, 2009 Those are really cool pics pleecan. Did you do that through a microscope? Yes. Nikon 4500/ 990/ 995 digital camera can't remember which one as I still have all 3 models....as image was taken a few yrs ago, coupled via a relay lens to variable zoom stereo microscope on a boom stand with/without 0.5x barlow attachments, remote shutter control. PL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Placoderms Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Are there any fossil plant experts out there? Opinions? Found this fossil a few years ago. Bertie Formation , Silurian rock, Fort Erie ON Canada. In the same layers as Euryptrids / Cooksonia. Area was thought of as a salty lagoon during Silurian period. I thought it might be a seed or pod with a infant plant maybe Cooksonia emerging from the pod. If you look carefully you can see a faint vascular channel... mid axial, longitudinal. Fossil is about 1" long, bulbous width about 1/4". or maybe it is an Eurypterid part? Rock matrix is extreme fine grained limestone. PL Pleecan, Earlier this year I was at Al Lang's quarry with a group from Harvard and these were referred to as "sperm", I recall someone thinking it was plant but I attached what I was able to get my hand on. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted November 30, 2009 Author Share Posted November 30, 2009 Pleecan, Earlier this year I was at Al Lang's quarry with a group from Harvard and these were referred to as "sperm", I recall someone thinking it was plant but I attached what I was able to get my hand on. T Hi Plac: Interesting article ... do you have a reference? My fossil came out of the Williamsville /Bertie formation, Ridgemount Quarries just similar to the published picture. Water lime when it cleaves can cleave asymetrically so the exterior of the fossil is revealed or it can cleave right down the middle to show the internals.... maybe if the "sperm" creature was embeded in plastic and polished... the internals may be revealed ... maybe you will see a plant vascular structure... just speculating... on another note ... have a look at Hungry Hollow Trips posting and see if you think the fossil is fish armor. PL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Placoderms Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Hi Plac: Interesting article ... do you have a reference? My fossil came out of the Williamsville /Bertie formation, Ridgemount Quarries just similar to the published picture. Water lime when it cleaves can cleave asymetrically so the exterior of the fossil is revealed or it can cleave right down the middle to show the internals.... maybe if the "sperm" creature was embeded in plastic and polished... the internals may be revealed ... maybe you will see a plant vascular structure... just speculating... on another note ... have a look at Hungry Hollow Trips posting and see if you think the fossil is fish armor. PL Sorry, this came out of "Fossil Ecosystems of North America": http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=5568076 I replied to your e-mail on the fish armor with my thoughts... T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted November 30, 2009 Author Share Posted November 30, 2009 Sorry, this came out of "Fossil Ecosystems of North America": http://www.press.uchicago.edu/presssite/metadata.epl?mode=synopsis&bookkey=5568076 I replied to your e-mail on the fish armor with my thoughts... T Thanks for the reference and for the insights on fish armor. PL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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