matthew textor Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Hi everyone this is Matthew again today in the creek I found this strange fossil I think it might be some kind of wood but I am not sure ? does anyone know what this is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 Hey Matt! That's a neat find. Not sure you can nail down any specific ID on this, other than to say it is plant material. There are no diagnostic details to nail down an ID. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobWill Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 Hi Matt. I agree with Tim. I am curious about the context though because sometimes I find similar material where I don't expect to find it. Is this a site where you have found plant material before? Do you normally find marine or other fossils there? Is the wood part hard like the rock and is the rock limestone like it looks? I forget where the sites you hunt are located so that could limit the possibilities depending on the age. If you know the formation or even the period I might know if there is any similarity between this and the ones I find in Texas. Thanks for any help you can offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 @BobWill Matt's usual hunting grounds are Devonian marine environments. The Devonian of New York has fairly common stray plant pieces that are usually unidentifiable. They are a bit more plentiful in Eastern New York, but are not uncommon in Western New York, where Matt is located. 2 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 I see the faintest hint of straitions like on well preserved calamities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 5 minutes ago, Scylla said: I see the faintest hint of straitions like on well preserved calamities. No nodes, however. Also I don't believe Calamites were around during the Devonian. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 8 hours ago, BobWill said: Is the wood part hard like the rock and is the rock limestone like it looks? This stuff is carbonized and can flake off fairly easily, and the host rock is likely shale. I've found a number of these in the Devonian of Western NY and here in Ontario. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilNerd Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 Very cool find Matt! The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. -Neil deGrasse Tyson Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 Would callixylon be a reasonable guess ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 13 minutes ago, Rockwood said: Would callixylon be a reasonable guess ? There may not be enough diagnostic detail to say, sadly. If it is Callixylon, then it would have to be in later Devonian deposits (if I recall correctly, earlier stages of the Devonian did not have such deep-rooting trees like Callixylon). But, for the curious, some light reading if one can find these: Gensel, P.G. and D. Edwards (eds.). 2001. Plants Invade the Land: Evolutionary and Environmental Approaches. New York: Columbia Univ. Press. Raven, J.A. and E. Edwards. 2001. "Roots: evolutionary origins and biogeochemical significance." Journal of Experimental Biology 52: 381-401. ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 55 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said: No nodes, however. Also I don't believe Calamites were around during the Devonian. Yup, calamites are carboniferous. Wasn't positive this had to be Devonian. I also do not see any nodes, but sometimes the nodes are far away from each other and not seen in a short segment. Anyway, I don't think this is calamites, but I still see striations like in calamites. So maybe it is an ancestor species from the late Devonian. Check out this link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 Would be a guess, at best. Could also be a branch of Archaeopteris. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 My thought was that it seems less flattened, more woody, than most early Devonian plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobWill Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 5 hours ago, Kane said: This stuff is carbonized and can flake off fairly easily, and the host rock is likely shale. I've found a number of these in the Devonian of Western NY and here in Ontario. Thanks, that's why I asked in case it was. Since most wood is mineralized and hard I have been curious about some I find in Cretaceous limestone of north Texas. It looks just like charred wood from a recent forest fire and is completely encased in the rock so couldn't have been recently carbonized roots or other wood. Very flakey with lots of fine detail. I'm just wondering how it might have been preserved. If the same thing comes out of Devonian material that makes it even more mysterious to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew textor Posted July 28, 2019 Author Share Posted July 28, 2019 16 hours ago, BobWill said: Hi Matt. I agree with Tim. I am curious about the context though because sometimes I find similar material where I don't expect to find it. Is this a site where you have found plant material before? Do you normally find marine or other fossils there? Is the wood part hard like the rock and is the rock limestone like it looks? I forget where the sites you hunt are located so that could limit the possibilities depending on the age. If you know the formation or even the period I might know if there is any similarity between this and the ones I find in Texas. Thanks for any help you can offer. I found it in the same site with all my other fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew textor Posted July 28, 2019 Author Share Posted July 28, 2019 16 hours ago, BobWill said: Hi Matt. I agree with Tim. I am curious about the context though because sometimes I find similar material where I don't expect to find it. Is this a site where you have found plant material before? Do you normally find marine or other fossils there? Is the wood part hard like the rock and is the rock limestone like it looks? I forget where the sites you hunt are located so that could limit the possibilities depending on the age. If you know the formation or even the period I might know if there is any similarity between this and the ones I find in Texas. Thanks for any help you can offer. it has to be devonian and this is the first time I have found it there in the creek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew textor Posted July 28, 2019 Author Share Posted July 28, 2019 16 hours ago, BobWill said: Hi Matt. I agree with Tim. I am curious about the context though because sometimes I find similar material where I don't expect to find it. Is this a site where you have found plant material before? Do you normally find marine or other fossils there? Is the wood part hard like the rock and is the rock limestone like it looks? I forget where the sites you hunt are located so that could limit the possibilities depending on the age. If you know the formation or even the period I might know if there is any similarity between this and the ones I find in Texas. Thanks for any help you can offer. the rock is all shale 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockin' Ric Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 Maybe late to the game, this looks like a Cordaites leaf? WELCOME TO ALL THE NEW MEMBERS! If history repeats itself, I'm SO getting a dinosaur. ~unknown www.rockinric81.wixsite.com/fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 Any possibility of aquatic vegetation? Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 7 hours ago, Rockin' Ric said: Maybe late to the game, this looks like a Cordaites leaf? Too early for Cordaites, Ric. This is a Devonian aged area Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 53 minutes ago, Mark Kmiecik said: Any possibility of aquatic vegetation? Not that I am aware of in the Devonian. Again, this is probably unidentifiable, other than to say it is plant material. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reese the Rockhound Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 Judging by the faintness of the ribbing (and disregarding geologic time), it could be Phragmites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 Mat, you have brought us a wonderful mystery! It has faint features that are tantalizing, but (at least to the level of expertise of those responding so far), not diagnostic. Let's call on @paleoflor, and see whether he can help. P.S.; I like the 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew textor Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 On 7/28/2019 at 3:15 PM, matthew textor said: the rock is all shale at the site I don't find wood very often maybe once a year. this fossil does not come up very often unlike other fossils I have found there before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 Any chance of it being a 'float'? Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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