Eusphenopteris?

[wvbirder]

I was hiking in Berkeley county WV and last week and came across this fern fossil? I'm a neophyte when it comes to fossil ID but wanted to know if anyone could give me some idea of what I found?  

 

Thanks,

Matt Orsie - Hedgesville, WV

[Darktooth]

Welcome to the forum from New York! I definitely looks to be a fern , but I can't help with species. Very nice find.

[goatinformationist]

I have found a ton of fern fossils but I don't have anything like this very attractive specimen.

[Fossildude19]

@fiddlehead  @paleoflor

[Tidgy's Dad]

I think Eusphenopteris is a pretty close match.

From the website of Michael P. Klimetz.

[MeargleSchmeargl]

Great find! 

 

No paleo-botany expert, but I do 2nd @Tidgy's Dad on this one. 

[caldigger]

It's a real nice piece, congrats!

[wvbirder]

Thanks everyone for taking a look and presenting your thoughts! I'll be looking for more in the future. The area in WV where I live is ripe with undiscovered finds in the shale/sandstone. Something like this is what gets you hooked.

 

Matt

Edited April 19, 2018 by wvbirder

[Plax]

the geology map shows quite a diversity for that county, am guessing you were at pretty high elevation if this was from the Pennsylvanian ? Permian? section of the map.

[wvbirder]

Pennsylvanian from what I can determine Plax. There are a pair of ridges (up to 1,800ft) in this area which is spilt by a creek 600-700 feet lower. I was around 1,000 feet. As a side note these two ridges have the only known deposits of Anthracite in West Virginia. Locals used to mine the hills here up until 50-60 years ago. 

Edited April 19, 2018 by wvbirder

[Plax]

sounds like a lot of potential for plants at your site. Am liking the three dimensional aspect of the fossils.

[wvbirder]

I went back to the area in Sleepy Creek today for a hour or so to sift through some more of the shale that's lying near a trail. I then realized the source of these fossils. There is an old Anthracite coal mine used by local in the area and these rocks were the result of the digging that occurred from what I can tell. So, it not a hillside laden rock wall, rather pieces here and there. I've included a couple of new samples from today. I've not prepped any of them as I don't don't how yet.... however I did use Photoshop to bring out some contrast in the images.

 

Edited April 19, 2018 by wvbirder

[abyssunder]

Can they be of Mississippian series ?
The second one somehow looks close to Triphyllopteris, but I'm not a plant guy, so I could be very wrong.

[wvbirder]

I believe you are right. I found this paper on the Sleepy Creek Watershed and found this discussion:

 

Rock Systems: The highly folded and faulted rocks of the watershed are all sedimentary in origin and were formed during the Devonian, Silurian, and Mississippian periods. The youngest rocks in the watershed are the Pocono Group Sandstones, which are members of the Mississippian geologic period. The oldest rocks are the Tuscarora sandstones which are Silurian age rocks. The Tuscarora sandstones have been folded into a well defined anticline that forms Cacapon Mountain. Rocks of the Devonian system are the most extensive in the Sleepy Creek drainage area and are exposed in wide bands east and west of Sideling Hill. They include the shales, siltstones and fine-grained sandstones of the Hampshire, Chemung, Braillier and Mahantango Formations.

[MeargleSchmeargl]

That 2nd slab you found on your return trip looks really nice! Definitely need to put this place on my bucket list so I can finally have a vegetable assortment!