AstroRaptor56 Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Hello! I recently went to Grand Ledge, Michigan. This area is part of the Carboniferous, and more specifically the Pennsylvanian period. I found this fossil that appears to be scales. It’s not an imprint either, the scales are elevated. In the surrounding rock there are cordiate fossils and some kind of clam, I found ferns in the area as well. I believe that it was a swamp land way back when these were all alive. An ID on what kind of plant or maybe even fish scales would be awesome! Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Maybe Lepidodendron? Plants are not my strong suit. I did want to say though, nice job on finding stuff there. I poked around a couple times with no luck. Fossil hunting is tough in southern Michigan. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroRaptor56 Posted July 1, 2020 Author Share Posted July 1, 2020 55 minutes ago, connorp said: Maybe Lepidodendron? Plants are not my strong suit. I did want to say though, nice job on finding stuff there. I poked around a couple times with no luck. Fossil hunting is tough in southern Michigan. I looked Lepidodendron up to see what other specimens looked like and I’m pretty sure you right on! Thank you so much! Those are such cool plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deutscheben Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Nice find! I used to climb at Grand Ledge, but I never looked for fossils there. I missed out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Yup, also not too familiar with plant fossils, but this definitely looks like Lepidodendron sp. to me. And though your specimen looks too worn to attribute an exact species name, it might still be fun to have a look at the images in this lithotheque. Photographs are of Chinese specimens, so I'm not sure how well that would hold up versus your locality, but could be interesting comparison all the same. 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 I'm tempted to call this lepidopholios because the leaf scars look as wide as tall. It appears to be a branch though so that might be different than a typical trunk pattern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 9 hours ago, Rockwood said: lepidopholios *lepidophloios Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 56 minutes ago, Mark Kmiecik said: *lepidophloios I guess lepidophloios could work also. But I can't even see the other symbol on my key board. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 22 hours ago, Rockwood said: I guess lepidophloios could work also. But I can't even see the other symbol on my key board. 5 points on that one. Same here. And the ball game is tied. Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 1 hour ago, Mark Kmiecik said: 5 points on that one. Same here. And the ball game is tied. I thought I got the spelling from a book. So there really do seem to be both spellings that could match the post. I was a little worried. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilus Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 A lifetime ago I used to collect fossils in Grand Ledge. I'm glad they are still being found there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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