CBOB Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 I had a larger Mazon Creek nodule pop a few nights ago from a bucket I had collected this summer from the Fossil Campground. My bucket of nodules is dwindling and so this was a nice surprise. My guess is a lepidodendron branch? Wanted to see what others thought as I've never collected anything quite like this one before. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 With no leaf scar pattern, I think it is something other than Lepidodendron. I loves me a nodule mystery! "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...
CBOB Posted November 28, 2015 Author Share Posted November 28, 2015 Oh these nodules are full of mysteries! I've found plenty of nodules with similar bark/stem patterns like this one but never have seen the leafy bud coming off. And this is a larger nodule than most I find there. This one got me really excited when it popped! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted November 28, 2015 Share Posted November 28, 2015 Turned upside down looks like Sphenopteris spinosa, maybe. 1 " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stocksdale Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Very interesting if the leaf is actually attached and not just randomly associated. It certainly looks like it belongs with the wood. I'd imagine the leaves in budding form would also look quite different from whatever fully developed leaves might be. Certainly some type of "seed fern". Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.–Carl Sagan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 I'm wondering if this could be another of the Cordaites strap like leaves or is it really bark? Seems to be another that has the series of parrallel lines and tapers somewhat on the end.... hmm...Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 I would call it Rhacophyllum sp Nice find! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBOB Posted December 23, 2015 Author Share Posted December 23, 2015 Thanks for the feedback on my ID. I saw your pics RCfossils in the gallery of your Rhacophyllum specimens and sure looks real close. It's always exciting to find something new out there at Mazon! Thanks again everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlehead Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 This is an example of why it often takes several examples to make a complete picture. Just looking at this one it is not clear if the foliage is in true attachment or just an association. As it stands it really says nothing. Only after seeing several examples which are nearly identical to this, does it become clear. Rob is correct the foliage is Rhacophyllum cornutum (has a thick and fibrous rachis) and we now know the supporting structure is the frond base or possibly (though no roots have been seen) a newly emerging tree fern which has Crenulopteris acadica as permanent foliage. Other examples clearly show the true physical attachment. Rhacophyllum/Aphlebia like structures still grow in a very similar way today on some modern tree ferns. It is thought these odd temporary foliage's are produced to jump-start photosynthesis as the permanent foliage unrolls out of the fiddlehead. Attached are a couple of additional examples for comparison. FYI. the pits on the supporting structure are the bases of shed soft spins which seldom are preserved once the fiddlehead starts to open. Hope that helps. Jack 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Most excellent! Thanks Rob/Jack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBOB Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 Yeah thanks guys! Thats great info and I like the pics too Jack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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