Lucid_Bot Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 Howdy! This specimen comes from the Pennsylvanian Period, Conemaugh Group, Glenshaw Formation, in the Mason Shales below Brush Creek Limestone. The area has a lot of Pecopteroids, Neuropteroids and Calamites. However, I've been informed that it is not Calamites. I should also note that this piece was part of a larger fossil cast that was crumbling apart when I found it, and unfortunately, I was unable to save the rest of it. The last picture is the back side. All help is appreciated and thanks in advance! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 Perhaps areal/trunk roots of a fern ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinwaffle Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 It also kind of resembles some bryozoan images and drawings online, but maybe it could be from lycophytes outer bark ( or inner bark?) - lepidodendron, or knorria? FYI I'm just making a guess from some notes I took; I don't really know anything. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 2 hours ago, Twinwaffle said: maybe it could be from lycophytes outer bark ( or inner bark?) There are aspects of the shapes and arrangement that would seem to fit. Maybe it is an unusual preservation of such a thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid_Bot Posted September 16, 2021 Author Share Posted September 16, 2021 It looks a bit more like calamostachys to me, but I really know anything either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 23 minutes ago, Lucid_Bot said: It looks a bit more like calamostachys to me, but I really know anything either. Are the protrusions (nubs) arranged in a way that crosses the axis at a right angle ? It appears to spiral more like leaf bases on a lycopod to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 How about the core of a Lepidostrobus ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid_Bot Posted September 16, 2021 Author Share Posted September 16, 2021 4 hours ago, Rockwood said: How about the core of a Lepidostrobus ? I think that's it! Spore cone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 15 minutes ago, Lucid_Bot said: I think that's it! Spore cone? I'll tag @paleoflor . He may see it eventually for a confirmation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted September 17, 2021 Share Posted September 17, 2021 Very Neat find! Yep I thought lycopsid as well. I asked for some help from folks in the know about your specimen and got this info to ponder: At that tiny size and given its stratigraphic context it might be some kind of branch of Sigillaria, it could indeed be a cone peduncle. That does not rule out other possibilities. From the shape of the leaf bases, their very elongate nature, the position of the “scar” at the top of that elongate feature, and the obscurity of the leaf scar, that this thing had attached leaves and did not have leaf abscission. This is much like seen in Stigmaria where there are scars that actually are pseudoscars – when found in situ, there are virtually always attached rootlets, but when extracted these are left in the rock matrix. No one really has studied small isoetaleans in the Paleozoic. There are a number of small lycopsids that we don’t know a lot about in compression. One is Polysporia, which becomes locally abundant following the Middle-Late Pennsylvanian floristic turnover (this is called Chaloneria in anatomical preservation). The stratigraphic interval that includes this turnover in the Appalachians is somewhat compressed compared to the Illinois Basin and Midcontinent region, so the signal is not quite as clear. Continued hunting success! Regards, Chris 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid_Bot Posted September 17, 2021 Author Share Posted September 17, 2021 9 hours ago, Plantguy said: Very Neat find! Yep I thought lycopsid as well. I asked for some help from folks in the know about your specimen and got this info to ponder: At that tiny size and given its stratigraphic context it might be some kind of branch of Sigillaria, it could indeed be a cone peduncle. That does not rule out other possibilities. From the shape of the leaf bases, their very elongate nature, the position of the “scar” at the top of that elongate feature, and the obscurity of the leaf scar, that this thing had attached leaves and did not have leaf abscission. This is much like seen in Stigmaria where there are scars that actually are pseudoscars – when found in situ, there are virtually always attached rootlets, but when extracted these are left in the rock matrix. No one really has studied small isoetaleans in the Paleozoic. There are a number of small lycopsids that we don’t know a lot about in compression. One is Polysporia, which becomes locally abundant following the Middle-Late Pennsylvanian floristic turnover (this is called Chaloneria in anatomical preservation). The stratigraphic interval that includes this turnover in the Appalachians is somewhat compressed compared to the Illinois Basin and Midcontinent region, so the signal is not quite as clear. Continued hunting success! Regards, Chris Very informative answer, thanks! And I just thought it was a calamite when I found it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid_Bot Posted February 26, 2023 Author Share Posted February 26, 2023 I found another example of this fossil. In situ this time. Thought it might help confirm or deny the original ID... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid_Bot Posted February 28, 2023 Author Share Posted February 28, 2023 I should've mentioned this was found in a different location (Beaver County), but same formation (Glenshaw). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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