Backyard Trip

[Missourian]

On 12/22/2013 at 7:35 PM, Auspex said:

Whenever I need to relax, I come to this fascinating topic and lose myself in your telling of the Earth beneath your feet; it is engrossing, and I thank you

 

Why thank you.

[Wrangellian]

That snake is as pretty as the flowers! Looks poisonous as $%#@ but I wouldn't know. Glad we don't have poisonous snakes here on the Island...

The brach and bryos are nice enough (as is the tour of the sites generally), but since you haven't shown many fossils lately, have you thought of posting pics of stuff you have found earlier? I'm not sure if we have seen all the good stuff you must have in your collection. How many different types of bryos do you find?

It would be interesting to see what kinds of fauna live in those Bahamian shoals and how they compare/contrast with your Pennsylvanian fauna.

[lissa318]

Since I haven't shown that many fossils in this thread lately, I snapped a few photos the other day as I scrambled over some large boulders used for erosion control....

Osagia makes this Farley Limestone:

5721-Osagia.jpg

An unusual sharp contact between limestone and sandstone:

5715-ls-ss-interface.jpg

This is probably Farley as well.

The limestone is full of bryozoans and other things:

5717-bryozoans.jpg

Brachiopod, probably a brachial valve of Linoproductus:

5718-brachiopod.jpg

Wow. Nice limestone with the bryozoans! Nothing ever jumps out at me that easily here!!!! Dislike the snake BTW... lol Great pics as always!

[Bullsnake]

That snake is as pretty as the flowers! Looks poisonous as $%#@ but I wouldn't know.

That is a Milk Snake, Wrangellian. They are harmless, and quite beneficial!

It's colors are believed to mimic the venomous Coral Snake, however we don't have Coral snakes around here. Because of their beautiful colors, they are protected by the state. But there are many exotic varieties, and are commonly bred for the reptile trade.

[Wrangellian]

That is a Milk Snake, Wrangellian. They are harmless, and quite beneficial!

It's colors are believed to mimic the venomous Coral Snake, however we don't have Coral snakes around here. Because of their beautiful colors, they are protected by the state. But there are many exotic varieties, and are commonly bred for the reptile trade.

I figured it was harmless by what Missourian said, but I do know there are snakes that look similar that are deadly. I guess there are others in your area that are dangerous? Up here all we have is the garter snake, as far as I know, and if exotic ones are let loose I imagine they don't survive the winter.

[Missourian]

On 12/23/2013 at 5:36 PM, Wrangellian said:

The brach and bryos are nice enough (as is the tour of the sites generally), but since you haven't shown many fossils lately, have you thought of posting pics of stuff you have found earlier?

It would be interesting to see what kinds of fauna live in those Bahamian shoals and how they compare/contrast with your Pennsylvanian fauna.

 

I'm always scheming up new things to post on this thread.

 

Quote

I'm not sure if we have seen all the good stuff you must have in your collection. How many different types of bryos do you find?

 

I do have more goodies overall to show, but nothing more at the moment from the backyard.

 

I'm not sure how many types of bryozans. I have about a half dozen genera named, though there are probably many more that are indistinguishable without technical examination.

 

Quote

It would be interesting to see what kinds of fauna live in those Bahamian shoals and how they compare/contrast with your Pennsylvanian fauna.

 

That has always fascinated me. For every organism that has been found in a given modern environment, there will likely be one with the same basic morphology and function that filled a similar niche back in the Pennsylvanian (or whenever). It's really interesting when the two examples are from completely unrelated groups.

[Wrangellian]

That's what I was thinking!

Will be watching as always..

[Missourian]

On 12/23/2013 at 6:03 PM, lissa318 said:

Wow. Nice limestone with the bryozoans! Nothing ever jumps out at me that easily here!!!! Dislike the snake BTW... lol Great pics as always!

 

Thanks. I wish more trilobites, goniatites, crinoids etc, etc would jump out at me more....

 

As for snakes, I don't mind them as long as they don't mind me....

[PFOOLEY]

Really great thread. Much appreciation for the lessons in your local flora and fauna (as well as the paleofauna ).

Edited December 24, 2013 by PFOOLEY

[Missourian]

On 12/24/2013 at 3:13 PM, PFOOLEY said:

Really great thread. Much appreciation for the lessons in your local flora and fauna (as well as the paleofauna ).

 

Thanks.

[Missourian]

Merry Christmas!

 

[Wrangellian]

I don't mind the snakes either as long as they're harmless. Ditto spiders.. Now myriapods, on the other hand, and certain kinds of worms, I can only take in fossil form! Guess everyone has their willies-inducer. Whoever doesn't gets my automatic respect.

Nice Xmas shot! Merry Christmas to you too, and everyone else.

[Missourian]

On 12/24/2013 at 8:16 PM, Wrangellian said:

Now myriapods, on the other hand, and certain kinds of worms, I can only take in fossil form! Guess everyone has their willies-inducer. Whoever doesn't gets my automatic respect.

Nice Xmas shot! Merry Christmas to you too, and everyone else.

 

Thanks.

 

I can do without centipedes, but millipedes are cool by me.

[Wrangellian]

They are the less creepy of the two types, I will say that.

[Missourian]

Still waiting for the thaw....

 

[Missourian]

Enjoying a mild day in January....

 

Layer cake with icing (Farley Limestone):

 

 

Adam-and-Eve orchid (Aplectrum hyemale):

 

 

The leaves of this unusual plant appear in late fall and last into the spring. This makes it easy to spot in the otherwise barren forest.

[Missourian]

The Martha Lafite Thompson Nature Sanctuary is 100 acres featuring various habitats including forest, prairie, and marsh. A month ago, we visited the area for the first time. Unfortunately, the visitor center was closed that day. We still walked a few of the trails. The dead vegetation in the prairie field indicated an incredibly diverse flora.

 

Today, I got to see the visitor center. The exibits were modest, but I was impressed with the treatment of the local geology. One wall had a mural representing the rock strata beneath the forest. A few fossils were displayed on this wall. These included crinoids (which is the state fossil of Missouri), and Cordaites:

 

 

They even had a reconstruction of the ancient plant:

 

 

Cordaites leaves are characteristic of the upper Winterset Limestone, which I was hoping to see in the vicinity. I was delighted that they chose to display these instead of something more generic. There was also a table that contained several rocks, including this slab with Cordaites:

 

 

It's likely this was found on the property. Next, I ventured off to the trails to see for myself.

[Missourian]

Rush Creek is the fairly large stream that runs through the area:

 

 

At the sanctuary, there are a couple large bends that cut into the hill side. I figured the Winterset or lower beds would be exposed here. I was hoping to see the Middle Creek Limestone, Hertha Formation or even the Pleasanton Group. Below the creek overlook are these beds:

 

 

They look like they could be Winterset, but I couldn't be sure. A thin bed of shale was exposed at the bottom. I didn't find any fossils:

 

 

A little ways downstream, the second cut bank was dominated by a massive, tannish bed at the top:

 

 

This is the root-mold-bearing bed in the middle of the Winterset. Since these beds are all lower Winterset, I couldn't tell where the Cordaites-bearing rock could have came from. Perhaps the smaller streams and ravines cut through some of it higher up in the hills.

 

Although, yet again, I didn't find any fossils, I did see a few other interesting things along the way. An old, abandoned railroad bridge hulked over the creek:

 

 

In one spot in the stream, the ice was a work of art:

 

 

[JohnJ]

Not everyone could see the art within the ice...it's an excellent composition.

[Missourian]

On 1/23/2014 at 11:45 AM, JohnJ said:

Not everyone could see the art within the ice...it's an excellent composition.

 

Thanks. I almost destroyed it just trying to get my footing on the rocks.

[Wrangellian]

I hear a lot about Cordaites but this is the first time I think I have seen what it was supposed to look like. Good to see these reconstructions next to examples of the fossils, it really brings things to life and must fire people's imaginations.

[Missourian]

On 1/23/2014 at 7:41 PM, Wrangellian said:

I hear a lot about Cordaites but this is the first time I think I have seen what it was supposed to look like. Good to see these reconstructions next to examples of the fossils, it really brings things to life and must fire people's imaginations.

 

I imagine they would have looked like cabbage palms with only a casual glance. Up close, though, they would be unlike anything else that I'm aware of.

 

 

 

(I found these renderings with Google. They are too cool not to borrow.... )

[Wrangellian]

Never seen a cabbage palm, but nice renderings, they sure don't look like modern conifers. Are the roots supposed to mangrove-like?

There is a supposed conifer called Protophyllocladus in our local Cretaceous that has broad leaf-like 'needles' that I imagine would also not look like any modern conifer that I have seen, and I wonder if it would be more like this thing. (Couldn't find a reconstruction)

[Missourian]

On 1/24/2014 at 7:51 PM, Wrangellian said:

Never seen a cabbage palm, but nice renderings, they sure don't look like modern conifers. Are the roots supposed to mangrove-like?

 

I have one piece of Cordaites wood from the Winterset that shows strong evidence of stilt-like roots:

 

 

An example of a cabbage palm:

 

 

Anyone who's been anywhere near Florida would be quite familiar with these.

[Wrangellian]

I have one piece of Cordaites wood from the Winterset that shows strong evidence of stilt-like roots:

post-6808-0-65112800-1371594714.jpg

An example of a cabbage palm:

450px-Sabal_sp__Lisa.jpg

Anyone who's been anywhere near Florida would be quite familiar with these.

Nice fossil! I'm not sure those are stiltlike though - what I'm seeing is they are almost at right angles to the trunk so they coudl just as easily be horizontal surface roots.

I may have seen pics of the cabbage palm before but it looks like any other palm to me!

I found an interesting pdf that contains lots of reconstructions of early plants (except my Protophyllocladus!) - too bad it's in Portuguese, would be nice to have an English version (At least the important scientific terms/names are recognizable):

run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/854/1/mendao_2007.pdf‎

Edited January 25, 2014 by Wrangellian