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Howdy all, Here's a Pennsylvanian plant assemblage from Letcher, Kentucky. I'm already aware of the Cordaites leaf and another structure that looks similar to that, as well as the seed fern fronds. I'm curious however as to what type of seed fern that is, and of the other little bits and pieces that are in here.

Howdy all, Recently recieved this piece. Found in Laurel County, Kentucky. Was described as Calamites, which I agree with, but I'm wondering if anyone could tell me anything more about it.

During a family reunion in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, I was able to sneak out and check some road cuts for fossils while everyone was sleeping. Nothing earth shattering today. But I am always curious when I do not recognize something. The usual smattering of Pecopteris Seed Ferns were found. But assistance is needed for a few finds that I can not identify. 3. has a depression that looks like it could be an impression of a seed pod? 4. has a round orangish bumpy surface on the right side of the matrix 4 cm wide. It is to the right of the red dot. 5. Looks to be a clam, something I have not seen in the Glenshaw Formation. Fresh water bivalve? 6 reminds me of a possible seed pod. Both halves of the specimen are present. It is 2 cm long 7. is a 2 cm bumpy specimen. 8. is similar to 7. but is 3 cm. It is to the right of the red dot. 9. is a 7 cm branching structure above the red dot. Possibly something like Sphenopteris? All thoughts and comments are appreciated.

WHAT WE LEARNED IN OUR FIRST FOSSIL HUNTING SUMMER This is a short recap of what we learned on our fossil trips this summer, in our first 3 months as very new fossil collectors. This week, Nancy and I gave a slide presentation on our summer fossil hunting experiences, to the Delaware Valley Paleontological Society. We didn't realize it ourselves but in 3 months we visited 8 sites in Pennsylvania and New York including: Antes Creek, Deer Lake, Red Hill, Juniata County, McIntyre Mountain, Montour and St. Clair in Pennsylvania, and a very productive trip to Tully, NY. We visited St. Clair 4 times, which has become our home site. At St. Clair, we were astonished by the diversity of species - we collected well articulated samples of more than a dozen species including: Alethopteris, Annularia, Asterophyllites, Cordaites, Cyclopteris, Eusphenopteris, Lepidophylloides, Neuropteris, Odontopteris, Pecopteris, Sphenophyllum, Sphenopteris, and numerous Seeds, Bark, Roots. Most notably - I learned to pronounce all of these without stuttering! At St. Clair, we spent one trip looking exclusively for seeds trigonocarpus), and one trip looking just for roots (stigmaria). Our most significant finds have included very large (2 foot long) display pieces covered with well articulated orange ferns, an alethopteris seed attached to a leaf stem, and many Carboniferous leaves that have different shapes from traditional ferns. What we learned this summer has really helped us find some interesting fossils - here are a few things we did that helped a lot: 1. DOING OUR HOMEWORK. It helped to study each site in advance using Internet websites and books on fossils (Dave's "Views of the Mahantango" and "Louisville Fossils" are among the best, imho). Several universities also have great educational sites that bring each era to life in very creative and interesting ways, with lots of illustrations and photos. I like the UC-Berkeleyand University of West Virginia websites. 2. LEARNING FROM TRIP REPORTS. We read trip reports from other groups and individuals to see what they reported - sometimes this helps us stumble across new places to visit such as the site at Tully, NY and Deer Lake. 3. SETTING GOALS AND TARGETS FOR EACH TRIP. For each trip, we establish specific goals - for example we may look for seeds, or roots at St. Clair, or trilobites or shell assemblages at a Devonian site. Our interest right now is in looking for things that are scarce or rare, and fossils that are extremely well articulated (which is also rare!). We also like solving puzzles so eventually we would like to find things that help add to the fossil record in areas where there are still questions or missing links. 4. DISPLAYING WHAT WE FIND. Personally, Nancy and I like collecting larger fossils that we can display in mounts and frames, and we are also looking for larger pieces that we can display like sculptures - we have a few pieces that we drilled holes in, inserted wooden dowels that we stained, and then drilled/inserted the dowels in wooden trophy bases - all available from a craft store. This allows us to display thicker fossils esp. assemblages, like sculptures, and you can turn them around and look at all sides when they are mounted like this. 5. WE AVOID FOSSIL HORDING. We both agreed that we would NOT become "fossil horders" putting hundreds of rocks in boxes and sticking them away in the basement or garage - instead, we focus on finding display-quality items, and rare or scarce finds which we are slowly putting in frames. 6. DOCUMENTING OUR FINDS WITH CLOSEUP PHOTOS. We photograph everything we find as soon as possible after returning from a trip, using a digital camera with a closeup attachment - many times we find new discoveries while taking closeup photos and some of our best finds came AFTER we returned from the trip and inspected our fossils. I usually put the finds on a white background on an ironing board and use window light, nothing fancy, but it works. 7. FOSSIL ID. We post anything we can't identify on the Fossil Forum and are EXTREMELY grateful for the terrific response from our friends on the site! We are also accumulating a growing library of fossil books (some modern, some from the 19th and early 20th century) so we can identify more fossils ourselves without having to post on Fossil ID. 8. WRITING ABOUT OUR EXPERIENCES GIVES US NEW INSIGHTS. We report everything that interests and excites us about fossil hunting on Fossil Forum to share our experiences - and we find that writing about what we're doing helps us learn more and gain insights, just from writing about it. We have also started videotaping some of our adventures and are thinking about the best place to post some of these. 9. WINTER PLANS: COPING WITH CABIN FEVER. Our winter plans are to visit one or two more sites, then go into "fossil hibernation" and organize, identify and label fossils we haven't processed yet. We have a Dremel to do some light preservation work where needed. We are not planning to become "chemical conservators" - using chemicals to dissolve limestone and so forth - that's a bit too ambitious for us at this point. We may get involved in some interesting activities by local universities that are using 3D printing to process and replicate large dinosaur bones. We are also planning to provide an exhibit (on Carboniferous plants and trees/coal swamps) at a fossil fair in April. 10. RECOMMENDED READING: I enjoy reading fossil books - I'm currently reading with great interest a small book entitled "Leaves and Stems from Fossil Forests" by Raymond E. Janssen (1939) which I bought last night at the DVPS meeting, and a textbook entitled Introduction to Paleobiology and the Fossil Record by Benton and Harper (2008) (excellent book). The book that has been the most useful to me so far is the classic book "Fossil Collecting in Pennsylvania" by Hoskins et. al. (3rd ed. 1983). I am constantly re-reading the Hoskins book and find something new each time as my knowledge grows. A book that impressed Nancy and me is a large beautifully illustrated book entitled "Prehistoric Life: The Definitive Visual History of Life on Earth" (published by Dorling Kindersley, 2012) UPDATE (Oct 11): Nancy is taking some college courses which are prerequisites to enter grad school, so I am doing most of the fossil reading and ID. I read several books at the same time and other books I purchased that I am currently reading are: Paleobotany: The Biology and Evolution of Fossil Plants (second edition) by Thomas Taylor; and Introduction to Paleobiology and the Fossil Record by Benton and Harper. I guess you can tell from this that I'm reading up on fossil plants - my main interest is not just to understand the evolution and fossil record, identification tips, etc. - but also to try to figure out where the missing links and gaps are so if we come across something that adds to the fossil record, we will be able to recognize the value. What is most surprising is that there is a lot missing from the Carboniferous record - partly because after this period, many of the oceans and swamps apparently dried up and there were ice ages and other factors that caused mass extinctions. Here are some interesting things I have learned this summer about Fossil Plants and Trees: 1. More Carboniferous insect fossils and evidence of insects are needed (by the way, there are some GREAT current discussions about insects on this forum!). 2. Many categories of lycopsids and other Carboniferous trees and plants do not have verified associations between the leaves and seeds, or leaves and trunks/stems. Many trigonocarpus (fossilized seeds and "fruits") are found with leaves, but examples of seeds actually ATTACHED to leaf sprigs are rare (we have found one example of a seed attached to Alethopteris). 3. More Leaf and Bark Verifications are Needed. Another interesting thing I learned is that there are more than 30 different types of "scale tree" patterns but only half a dozen leaves for these trees - suggesting that a lot of different species had the same leaves - or - there are a lot of missing leaf types or the existing leaf types have not been matched to the bark patterns yet. 4. Another peculiar revelation is that most Carboniferous leaves that do not fall neatly into classic fern shapes seem to be lumped together as "sphenopteris" - we have many "non-traditional fern" leaf fossils that are VERY different from each other and obviously different species, but when we go online to ID them, they all seem to be grouped as "sphenopteris!" Maybe some of these leaf types match up with the bark patterns I mentioned. 5. Last but certainly not least is the insight that fern trees could have 2 or 3 different types of leaves on the same tree! This was really interesting. Also, some leaf types can come in different shapes - for example, Neuropteris can be round at the base of a stem and elongated along the stem and at the tip...AND...some paleobotanists now classify cyclopteris - the round fan shaped leaf - as a form of Neuropteris. This definitely adds to the confusion. I'm still reading and trying to understand all of this and these are only my initial impressions, which are still forming and there may be explanations for some of these questions that I haven't discovered yet but these are the questions that I am trying to answer by reading, and of course, by fossil collecting. I hope that many of our new friend (and I should add, VERY COOL new friends!) on the fossil forum will help clarify some of these interesting questions. Hope this is helpful.

I found some interesting specimens as I was probing soft reddish colored Rock (sandstone?) that had been dumped in a field near my house Atchison Kansas. I could be wrong with my assumption is that it's from the nearby Missouri River. A handful of interesting observations pictured here but I'm not sure about. 1) The hard oozy substance on one rock. Is that amber? 2) the half dollar sized impression that looks like it's an Amber upon another rock. Could that be some kind of plant? 3) one rock has a thin black band across it. Wondering what ancient event might be known to cause that? 4) most interesting, I found a few Trilobite looking figures. From what I've dug into so far, looks like they might bea Carolina praying mantis oothecas. I have read that these can be hard, but they feel hard like the rock, or at least close to it. Nearby I did see s momome cotton-like material that look like it could be another stage of this creature. But then again it wasn't very thick and just a little bit of cotton material there. I have the suspicion that perhaps these were more ancient oothecas partially fossilized. But that was only a wild guess. Any insights into any of the above would be most welcome. Thanks for any help you can provide.

I've had some great hikes this month with such a variety of finds. I walked several miles rock hounding and my legs were tired. I sat down to hydrate and debate if I should continue when I looked down and right in front of me was the cutest little fern. I was lucky enough to find the matching halves in the same spot! Just the energy I needed to keep going!

Made it out to Mazonia for the opening day this year, and it was the first time I ever filled a bucket. Went back with my 4 and 5 year old and they found another 20 concretions themselves. A little chilly the first day but it kept the bugs dormant, great weather on the return trip. We got a nice open Alethopteris half as well.

Northeast Alabama. Pottsville Formation. Beautiful (and tiny) fern fossils I found a couple of days ago. I would love some help with an ID (or even someone to point me to a guide)! Photos are from my cell phone, but I plan on taking more with a better camera this week

Hi Everybody! I'm trying to hunt down some sites for fern fossils in Northeast Pennsylvania. I have zoned in on Lackawanna county & small areas around Carbondale. I have found a shale pit area that I am unsure if it is public or private property. I'm having a very difficult time discerning whether or not the land is public or private. Any tips or suggestions on where to look? Has anyone had success with public hunting in the area?

In 2004, the oldest flying fossil insect fossil, a trace in the Wamsutta Formation, was described in Nature. The locality was several hundred feet from where an extensive exposure of the formation was located in a cut. I was planning to try and locate the locality, but due to time issues I went back to this cut, which I had visited once before. Several other localities containing abundant plants and ichnofossils are located in the vicinity. Here is an image of a shaly horizon that was between thick conglomeratic layers. There are three of these major ones, with the lower being darker and being more of a sandstone. The middle shale layer. Most of the finds were from here, although the lower member had some complete Cordaites leaves that I forgot to take back. Here are the finds from the lower section. Occasionally, there were smoother sections of bioturbated mud between the sandy shale, where well defined trails were preserved. Some raindrop prints. Here is a possible arthropod print, that is very badly defined. In these higher energy layers, some fragmentary plants were found. A Cordaites? bit was found, with some clasts of quartz just below. Some small pebbles of quartz. Now, here are the plants from the middle shaly layer. A Cordaites? fragment, with several other pieces. A certain layer within the shaly horizon was full of these pieces, however there was little variety and there was little need to fill my shoeboxes with these. Some specimens, showed what seemed like borings on them. Here is the most distinct example. I found these, also on plant fragments at three separate localities in the North Attleboro area, including one of the Rhode Island Formation. In the talus I found a decent, but either badly preserved or badly exposed fern. Just from the shape, there are quite a few possibilities on what it might be. Hee is a quite well defined tetrapod footprint I found in a bioturbated layer of the section, which split readily into relatively thin and flat slabs, which allowed for an examination for prints. However, there is quite a bit missing on the other side of the split. And last, not a fossil but a geological oddity. It is obviously a clast from one of the conglomeratic horizons, but something is weird about it. Inside, are more pebbles. It is a conglomerate, that has weathered out and become, itself, a clast of the Wamsutta conglomerate! The clasts within this pebble are of a quite different nature than the ones in the Wamsutta. Though the finds are not very spectacular, the conglomerate pebble certainly made up for it.

L.S., Wanted to share this "mini ecosystem" in fossilized form. The photos below show a rhizome of Osmunda pluma Miller 1967, a member of the royal fern family, from the Paleogene of the Fort Union Group (probably the Sentinel Butte Fm.) near Glenn Ullin in Morton County, North Dakota. On the first photo you can see a central stele surrounded by "eyes", which are cross-sections through the petioles of the leaves of the fern (see for comparison this section made through an extant Osmunda cinnamomea rhizome). More to the top and bottom of the photo, parallel lines are visible. These are the remnants of a woody texture, probably of some kind of gymnosperm (see also the second image, a flatbed scan of the entire slab containing the fern rhizome). According to Miller (1967, p. 143) the fern was growing on a so-called "nurse log": when a tree in the woods falls over and starts to decay, this can provide an excellent opportunity for new plants to grow! See for example these lovely examples of modern nurse logs. Cheers, Tim Fern rhizome of Osmunda pluma Miller 1967 showing central stele and petioles The fern rhizome is embedded in a woody texture, interpreted as a nurse log.