Mahantango/ Juniata 5 - Devonian Stick In The Mud (Or Not)?

[hitekmastr]

This is the 5th in a series of fossil ID questions - this one relates to two stick shaped fossils collected on our Sept. 16 trip to the 380 million year old Devonian site in Juniata County, PA.

Devonian plants and trees are hard to find in Pennsylvania because so much was underwater however there were sticks and twigs and stems that did sink into the mud and get preserved. The question is, did we find two of those during our Juniata trip? Are these stick shaped fossils from plants or trees, or something else? Opinions, please...

This stick shaped sample has a long thin piece extending at the bottom which appears to be part of the main fossil, which may (or may not) offer a clue:

Here is another fossil from the same site/trip which has a similar form factor - it is in green shale - this bulges out a bit at the base:

[Fossildude19]

Michael,

The first one looks planty to me, due to the striations in it, but, ... the second one to me looks more like a burrow of some sort, especially with the outward flaring on the one end, and lack of striation.

Looking forward to seeing what others have to say.

Regards,

Edited September 19, 2012 by Fossildude19

[Herb]

I think they are some type of burrow also, especially with the brachiopod pieces in the rock.

[AgrilusHunter]

I agree with fossildude, the first one looks stickish for sure. The second one could be a cast of something else. Cool finds!

[hitekmastr]

One stickish and one burrow-ish - I'll take that. One of our goals is to try to find some Devonian flora and a stick qualifies. Now we need to "trade up" and find a Devonian leaf fossil...we may already have it - this is a closeup of a pattern on one of our Red Hill fossils from June, that appears to be a leaf. The second image (from Red Hill) looked like a small fish originally but Herb suggested it is probably a plant - if so, this was our first Devonian plant.

Edited September 20, 2012 by hitekmastr