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Need Help Identifying This "fossil" From Grapevine Tx


talk2mrb

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I found this … I’ll call it fossil … several years ago in Grapevine, TX, west of DFW near the Hwy 360 and Hwy 121 split, on a hill that was cleared for a housing development. I have little knowledge of how to determine geology, but this fossil looks like Google images of Miocene leaf fossils. Maps show this area has Eagle Ford Shale or Woodbine Sandstone. The rock is definitely sandstone. I found the rock loosely exposed from the dirt that was moved. There were other similar rocks scattered around, but I found no other fossils. The fossil has smooth leaf like margins. There is a clean center-line on the fossil that looks like a leaf midrib. There is no leaf petiole. Any idea what this is?

post-17104-0-37836500-1418947948_thumb.jpg

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I am puzzled by the lack of leaf veins...

Despite its leaf-like shape, and it's strong mid-rib impression, I have doubts that it is actually a leaf impression.

That said, I have no immediate insight as to what it may be. I hope some of the Grapevine gang can shed some light on it!

Great image, by the way!

"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!

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It is most certainly a leaf...

What leaf lacks veins on the under side? The preservation is such that they would show , if they were there.

"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!

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What leaf lacks veins on the under side? The preservation is such that they would show , if they were there.

Depending on the lithology and preservation, it's a fairly common occurrence for fossilized leaves to lack any surface detail.

The overall morphology of this specimen is 100% leaf.

image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

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looks like a willow leaf maybe

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen

No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go.

" I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes

"can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks

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It's a leaf impression for sure.

Don MacNeal wrote a 230 page book on the leaf fossils from Woodbine sandstone in Denton county.

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As crisp as the purported mid-rib impression is, it doesn't make sense to me that other leaf-like details would be completely absent:

post-423-0-58147200-1418995357_thumb.jpg

I will gladly yield to the tide of opinion, but I would like to reconcile what I can see with what it is. :)

"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!

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I agree with Auspex regarding the missing veins. I just consulted several leaf fossils from the Chuckanut Formation in Washington and all have veins preserved. I have some willow specimens in a box that have not seen daylight for a couple years. I'll "dig" them out and see what they have to say.

The specimen is clearly from the Woodbine Formation which, as Lance points out, has produced significant plant fossils. The overall form screams leaf for sure.

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I agree that this is a leaf. I also agree that it is unusual that absolutely no trace of veination is visible. As I looked through images of similar fossil leaves, I found a few that had almost no trace of veins, but there was still a hint that they were there. This may just be a very rare extreme example.

The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence".

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I found this … I’ll call it fossil … several years ago in Grapevine, TX, west of DFW near the Hwy 360 and Hwy 121 split, on a hill that was cleared for a housing development. I have little knowledge of how to determine geology, but this fossil looks like Google images of Miocene leaf fossils. Maps show this area has Eagle Ford Shale or Woodbine Sandstone. The rock is definitely sandstone. I found the rock loosely exposed from the dirt that was moved. There were other similar rocks scattered around, but I found no other fossils. The fossil has smooth leaf like margins. There is a clean center-line on the fossil that looks like a leaf midrib. There is no leaf petiole. Any idea what this is?

Thank you all for the replies! I'll go with leaf fossil.

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It's a leaf impression for sure.

Don MacNeal wrote a 230 page book on the leaf fossils from Woodbine sandstone in Denton county.

The book Lance mentioned can be looked at HERE, with an ebook version available for $10.31!

Some of the figures at the end look similar to the posted fossil. (Plate 17, figures 2 and 3, in particular.)

Maybe some form of Daphnophyllum angustifolium?

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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As I already mentioned, depending on the lithology and preservation, it's not unusual for fossil leaves to lack venation.

It's more apparent if you spend a lot of time looking at fossil leaves. Attached are a few random Cretaceous examples:

post-4301-0-85728600-1419014010_thumb.jpg

image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

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There are various genera of plants which may have no visible (or only faintly visible) venations. In some cases, the venations can be seen internally only, by holding the leaf up to bright sunlight. For some thick, leathery, opaque evergreens they may not be seen even then. Olea (olive) sprang immediately to mind, although it won’t be that from Texas. There are several others though.

post-6208-0-57860700-1419021011_thumb.jpg

Olea europaea: Picture from Rnbc on Wikipedia – Creative Commons license

Roger

I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who [Rudyard Kipling]

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nice, Painshill

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen

No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go.

" I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes

"can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks

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To all respondents; I yield to your superior experience regarding this fossil 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!

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Here is the book as single pages starting with plate 1.

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?view=image;size=125;id=mdp.39015038882448;page=root;seq=166;num=154

I had the E-book but it's locked and could not print it and could not transfer to my main computer because of DRM restrictions.

I made a trip to some of those areas but there's nothing to see 60 years later.

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