John K Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 (edited) I popped this terrific leaf imprint my daughter found off from a huge boulder under the I 94 bridge on the Yellowstone, just out of Fallon, MT. last week. I don't know the formation, but it's preserved on a hard sandstone/shale: It's a neat piece: at one angle, any trace of leaf is barely visible. I thought when we collected it it would need to be washed with a weak acid, as it looked to me in the hard afternoon light like it was covered in a coating of calcite or other mineral. But turned a bit under lower light, you can see every detail. Tonight we noticed what we think are the trails of leaf miner insects squiggling around. If so, that would be really cool - a two-fer! Edited August 27, 2014 by John K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Real nice detail! I have to wonder whether a leaf miner's 'tunnel' would be interrupted by a leaf vein, and continue in-line on the other side of it? These might be soil casts from worms feeding under the fallen, matted-down leaf. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilshale Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 I would also lean more towards worm burrows. This is a Parrotia persica leaf from the Upper Pliocene of Willershausen, Germany. The leaf miners tunnel normally stop at leaf veins. But not sure if this is always true. Thomas Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes (Confucius, 551 BC - 479 BC). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Interesting concept. Nice find though! ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 Real nice detail! I have to wonder whether a leaf miner's 'tunnel' would be interrupted by a leaf vein, and continue in-line on the other side of it? These might be soil casts from worms feeding under the fallen, matted-down leaf. ~.JPG I think you're correct: I googled a bunch of images, and while one can see examples of tunnels being interrupted AND examples of tunnels continuing through (or over) the veins, I think in our case the "tunnels" are just too 3D to be any kind of leaf mining insect. Still pretty cool, I think. Wish I had found it... darn kids eyes are so much sharper than mine.... I also took time to look up a possible ID: Betulites (an extinct birch)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 On 8/27/2014 at 9:08 AM, John K said: ...I also took time to look up a possible ID: Betulites (an extinct birch)? Note the characteristic secondary venation that appears to match well with: Platanus reynoldsii. Brown, R.W. (1962) Paleocene flora of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains. USGS Professional Survey Paper, 375:1-119 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 Note the characteristic secondary venation that appears to match well with: Platanus reynoldsii. IMG.jpg Brown, R.W. (1962) Paleocene flora of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains. USGS Professional Survey Paper, 375:1-119 awesome - thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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