Earendil Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Hello everyone, I was chipping through my bag of shale I brought back from Florissant Fossil Quarry (highly recommend!) and this fossil caught my eye. It's probably from some plant, could you give me an idea of what it is roughly? "Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl; Wrecked is the ship of pearl! And every chambered cell, Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell" -From The Chambered Nautilus by Oliver Wendell Holmes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Trilo Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Someone recommended the book Fossils of Florissant by herbert w meyer and I got it for christmas and if you dont have it I would suggest getting it, it has pictures and descriptions of many plants bugs and vertebrates found there along with history of the site itself, as far as your fossil Im not sure for an ID as it is folded in “If fossils are not "boggling" your mind then you are simply not doing it right” -Ken (digit) "No fossil is garbage, it´s just not completely preserved” -Franz (FranzBernhard) "With hammer in hand, the open horizon of time, and dear friends by my side, what can we not accomplish together?" -Kane (Kane) "We are in a way conquering time, reuniting members of a long lost family" -Quincy (Opabinia Blues) "I loved reading the trip reports, I loved the sharing, I loved the educational aspect, I loved the humor. It felt like home. It still does" -Mike (Pagurus) “The best deal I ever got was getting accepted as a member on The Fossil Forum. Not only got an invaluable pool of knowledge, but gained a loving family as well.” -Doren (caldigger) "it really is nice, to visit the oasis that is TFF" -Tim (fossildude19) "Life's Good! -Adam (Tidgy's Dad) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earendil Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 Thanks, @Top Trilo, I suppose that's all I was looking for in regard to whether it was folded or a seed of some sort. I will look into that book, too. "Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl; Wrecked is the ship of pearl! And every chambered cell, Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell" -From The Chambered Nautilus by Oliver Wendell Holmes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleome Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Yes, that book mentioned above is a good reference, especially via the genus/species index in the back of the book from which you can look up individual flora and fauna known to be found in the Florissant. There are many great photos in this book, as well, though not all species are represented there, photographically. You can also look through the galleries of the Florissant Paleontology Program, at nps.gov/flfo/learn/nature... Again, not everything is shown there. Unfortunately, I am not a botanist, or else I would be able to identify the botanical family of that long, twisted object in your photo, which might be a seed. Is there a botanical garden or college/university botany department in your area? Someone may be able to approximately identify the type of plant it is from, if it is a seed, then given that info, you could see if you could find something similar in the index list of Meyer's book, and pinpoint it further. Remember, many or most of the species of the late Eocene are probably extinct today, but you could still get pretty close. I wish you success! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Maybe the peduncle (the axis of the fruiting head), of a Fagopsis ? (page 92) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earendil Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 Solved: rolled-up leaf trace fossil from a leaf-rolling weevil. https://idigpaleo.org/Detail/objects/9b54b5e2-090f-11e3-af8d-50faf7e7a06b "Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl; Wrecked is the ship of pearl! And every chambered cell, Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell" -From The Chambered Nautilus by Oliver Wendell Holmes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 2 hours ago, yardrockpaleo said: Solved: rolled-up leaf trace fossil from a leaf-rolling weevil. I don't quite follow the solution, yet. Can you give us more ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earendil Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 26 minutes ago, Rockwood said: I don't quite follow the solution, yet. Can you give us more ? Sorry, I didn't quite explain that properly. Leaves usually don't form such a perfect rolled-up shape, so that's why I was confused in the first place. Then I stumbled across those specimens on https://idigpaleo.org/?current_theme=florissant and I formed a suspicion about the said specimen. I investigated it closer and all the leaf-rolled specimens have the same tell-tale shape and design. The way I understand it, the insect cuts off a section of the leaf, then rolls it up to make a home for it's larvae. These are fairly common at Florissant. Hope this helps, Rockwood and anybody else this interests. 1 "Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl; Wrecked is the ship of pearl! And every chambered cell, Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell" -From The Chambered Nautilus by Oliver Wendell Holmes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 Trace fossil - leaf fossil, interesting cross reference. Good catch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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