Petalodus12 Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 Conditions in Western PA have been unusually warm recently, with highs in the 40s and 50s. I decided to take advantage of this warm spell by getting a little bit of fossil hunting in. I decided to do a hunt focused on plants as I’ve been hunting for vertebrates for the better part of the last year and a half and, although I could never get tired of vertebrates I thought some variety was well overdue. So I headed to one of my favorite plant localities in the area. It is located in the Connellsville Sandstone of the Casselman Formation, which is in turn the upper half of the Conemaugh Group. The sandstone is around 305 million years old. The Casselman Formation holds the record of the tail end of one of the largest plant extinctions in our earths history. The prolonged wetness that had existed for much of the Pennsylvanian gave way to dryer conditions, and, as a result, the lycopsid forests fragmented. Many of these lycopsids went extinct during this event, which is known as the Carboniferous Rainforest Collapse. Conifers took advantage of these newly opened ecological niches. Their fossils have been found in this area, although I have never personally found them. Anyway, on to the fossils. Today I mostly found partial Pecopteris fronds, Neuropteris pinnules and Annularia leaflets. I’m going to include some of my better finds from other trips as well, as this trip was rather unproductive. Pictured below is the best Annularia I found today. Or Asterophyllites. I’m not sure. We’ll just go with Calamites leaves for now. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalodus12 Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share Posted January 4, 2020 My best Pecopteris of today 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalodus12 Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share Posted January 4, 2020 A partial ?Calamostachys, my second ever. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalodus12 Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share Posted January 4, 2020 A partial Neuropteris pinnule, my best from today 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalodus12 Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share Posted January 4, 2020 Now I’m going to include some finds from previous trips This is my best Pecopteris. It’s not from this locality but it is of a similar age and from the area. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalodus12 Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share Posted January 4, 2020 Here’s an interesting one: a Neuropteris pinnule with Microconchus epibionts. Found at the same locality as the others from today. Microconchus, or Spirorbis, was a common shelled worm that grew on debris in Carboniferous swamps. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalodus12 Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share Posted January 4, 2020 Vertebrate fossils are very hard to come by at this locality, so it’s a nice surprise to find them. Here are lungfish ribs that I found on a previous trip. They are broken severely. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalodus12 Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share Posted January 4, 2020 Here are my best Annularia and Calamostachys from this site 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kato Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 23 minutes ago, Petalodus12 said: A partial ?Calamostachys, my second ever. I'm glad to see these posted. Here in southern NM I have been finding nice calamite sections and internal piths but somehow was not aware of the cone fossils...I will be keeping an eye out for them in the future! I'm curious to know the dimensional length and width of your specimens. Are they only a couple of inches long? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 Lovely finds. Thanks for sharing these with us. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalodus12 Posted January 4, 2020 Author Share Posted January 4, 2020 15 minutes ago, Kato said: I'm glad to see these posted. Here in southern NM I have been finding nice calamite sections and internal piths but somehow was not aware of the cone fossils...I will be keeping an eye out for them in the future! I'm curious to know the dimensional length and width of your specimens. Are they only a couple of inches long? Yup, they’re only a few inches long. Plus Calamostachys resembles calamites bark so it is often overlooked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 Thanks for the super informative post! Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalodus12 Posted January 5, 2020 Author Share Posted January 5, 2020 18 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said: Thanks for the super informative post! Don Of course! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 Lovely flora - thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 Really cool stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalodus12 Posted January 5, 2020 Author Share Posted January 5, 2020 15 minutes ago, Misha said: Really cool stuff! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalodus12 Posted January 5, 2020 Author Share Posted January 5, 2020 17 minutes ago, Monica said: Lovely flora - thanks for sharing! Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingRPh Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 2 hours ago, Petalodus12 said: Here’s an interesting one: a Neuropteris pinnule with Microconchus epibionts. Found at the same locality as the others from today. Microconchus, or Spirorbis, was a common shelled worm that grew on debris in Carboniferous swamps. That's awesome! To be able to find a great full plant with the snail included... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey P Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 Impressive finds from a formation we don't normally hear about. Congratulations and thanks for sharing these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Neck Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 Totally different type of fossils. Very very cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalodus12 Posted January 5, 2020 Author Share Posted January 5, 2020 45 minutes ago, FlyingRPh said: That's awesome! To be able to find a great full plant with the snail included... I was very happy with it when I found it. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalodus12 Posted January 5, 2020 Author Share Posted January 5, 2020 36 minutes ago, Jeffrey P said: Impressive finds from a formation we don't normally hear about. Congratulations and thanks for sharing these. Yeah the Casselman Formation is very much underrated and understudied. I’m glad that I’ve been able to show it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petalodus12 Posted January 5, 2020 Author Share Posted January 5, 2020 14 minutes ago, Northern Neck said: Totally different type of fossils. Very very cool Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connorp Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 Great flora! Would love to see some more of the fauna as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilNerd Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 I love flora. Both living and long dead. I just wish I had a spot to hunt them close by. There are plenty around the coal mines of Eastern Kentucky, but none near me that I know of. Thanks for sharing! Great finds! I am ! 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...
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