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Fantastic Fern Fossil In Flint


truceburner

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An acquaintance found this on a ranch outside of Roscoe, TX. I presume it's some sort of fern. Any chance we could narrow it down further?

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It's a lovely specimen with a special remembrance for the collector. Appreciate any help you can offer.

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It certainly is a beautiful specimen! :wub:

What size is it? Looks small...

"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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Wow, what a beautiful specimen. I had not heard that Carboniferous plants could be found in Texas, though that would not be a complete surprise as marine horizons of that age are well known.

Don

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...I had not heard that Carboniferous plants could be found in Texas...

Do you recognize this as a Carboniferous species?

"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 an extraordinary fossil!

It looks to me like the pinnae of some species of Pecopteris.

The alternating pinnulet position on the midvein, along with the fact that the pinnulets are attached directly to the midvein (no stem) speaks of Pecopteris to me.

To narrow down the ID to species level, we would need to see close up pictures of the veining of the pinnulets.

Exquiste fossil, ... thanks for posting it!

Regards,

EDIT: - It looks to me like the area around Nolan County has some Upper Pennsylvanian and Permian exposures,... according to this geological map.

Edited by Fossildude19
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    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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Very, very nice!

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Makes St Clair ferns look like throw aways

Edited by minnbuckeye
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Do you recognize this as a Carboniferous species?

Just making an assumption. It looks a lot like some Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) ferns/seed ferns, and I am not familiar with anything else that looks quite like this. On the other hand I am no paleobotanist and I certainly would not claim to be familiar with the entire diversity of ferns through the fossils record. The specimen could certainly be something other than a Carboniferous plant.

Don

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Just making an assumption. It looks a lot like some Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) ferns/seed ferns, and I am not familiar with anything else that looks quite like this. On the other hand I am no paleobotanist and I certainly would not claim to be familiar with the entire diversity of ferns through the fossils record. The specimen could certainly be something other than a Carboniferous plant.

Don

Well, nuts. I was hoping to date the thing. Looks like there are Upper Carboniferous and Permian rocks in that area, though.

It is probably my lack of broader experience, but I don't associate chert with Carboniferous land plants. Got my curiosity up to 11. What a beautiful fossil!

"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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There are numerous records of pecopterids from the Permian of Texas. According to the USGS, the Permian Quartermaster Formation appears to be the closest possibility, just east of Roscoe.

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image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

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Well, nuts. I was hoping to date the thing. Looks like there are Upper Carboniferous and Permian rocks in that area, though.

It is probably my lack of broader experience, but I don't associate chert with Carboniferous land plants. Got my curiosity up to 11. What a beautiful fossil!

The problem is the origin of the chert cobbles in the Ogallala Formation around Roscoe. It's likely not as young as the formation in general (Pliocene / Miocene), but I'm not sure the chert originates from the Permian.

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The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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The owner notes that the cobble is roughly the size of a fist. I've passed along the link to this thread. More info and pics soon I hope. Thank you all for the insightful comments.

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Beautiful! It looks similar to some Permian fronds that I found a few years ago. Ferns, however, exist, as we know, up to the present day, so until we can affirm its geological age, we shall remain in the dark. There's enough cretaceous in Texas, and flint is very common there, or at least it is over here.

Edited by Ludwigia

 

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Ferns and chert nodules; excellent! Thank you, Tim!

"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 certainly looks like Edward's chert to me. I'd love a PDF of that thesis... Thanks, Tim.

Edited by truceburner
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