#fossil lycopsid tree

[uk-fossils]

Lepidodendron Fossil Stem – Carboniferous Plant Fossil – Coal Measures – Radstock, Somerset, UK

Genuine Lepidodendron Stem Fossil – Carboniferous Period – Radstock, Somerset, UK

This is a fine example of a Lepidodendron stem fossil – a relic of an ancient lycopsid tree that once towered over Carboniferous swamplands. This piece was recovered from the classic Coal Measures of Radstock, Somerset, a region famous for its rich palaeobotanical heritage.

Fossil and Geological Information:

Species: Lepidodendron (exact species undetermined)

Family: Lepidodendraceae

Order: Lepidodendrales

Class: Lycopodiopsida

Geological Stage: Pennsylvanian Subsystem, Late Carboniferous (~310 million years ago)

Formation: British Upper Coal Measures

Location: Radstock, Somerset, UK

Depositional Environment: Equatorial deltaic swamps, ideal for forming peat-rich layers later turned into coal

Notable Morphological Features:

Distinctive diamond-shaped leaf scars arranged in spiral rows, left by fallen microphylls

Ribbed or bark-like surface textures indicative of its large, arborescent form

Rare preservation showing clear stem features of a major component of Carboniferous forests

Palaeontological Context:

Lepidodendron was a dominant genus in the Carboniferous forests and contributed significantly to coal formation. Known as a “scale tree,” it could grow over 30 meters high. This stem fossil captures the unique and unmistakable leaf scar patterns that define the genus.

Specimen Details:

Discovered by: UKGE team members Alister and Alison

Discovery Date: 06 March 2025

Prepared by: Alison

Scale Information: Scale cube shown = 1cm – see photo for precise dimensions

Photographic Guarantee: The item pictured is the exact specimen you will receive

Authenticity: Includes a signed Certificate of Authenticity. We guarantee all our fossils are 100% genuine and responsibly collected.

Why This Fossil is Important:

Lepidodendron was a cornerstone of prehistoric forest ecosystems during the Carboniferous period, influencing the development of today’s ecosystems and even contributing to modern fossil fuel deposits. This well-preserved specimen is not only ideal for collectors but also serves as an excellent educational piece demonstrating the structure and texture of ancient lycopsid trees.

An iconic and timeless addition to any fossil collection.

[archipithecus]

more recent research suggests that a lack of fungal decomposition is not responsible for the carboniferous coal beds, here's the abstract from Delayed fungal evolution did not cause the Paleozoic peak in coal production (Nelsen et al., 2016) (link to the paper, no paywall!)

Organic carbon burial plays a critical role in Earth systems, influencing atmospheric O2 and CO2 concentrations and, thereby, climate. The Carboniferous Period of the Paleozoic is so named for massive, widespread coal deposits. A widely accepted explanation for this peak in coal production is a temporal lag between the evolution of abundant lignin production in woody plants and the subsequent evolution of lignin-degrading Agaricomycetes fungi, resulting in a period when vast amounts of lignin-rich plant material accumulated. Here, we reject this evolutionary lag hypothesis, based on assessment of phylogenomic, geochemical, paleontological, and stratigraphic evidence. Lignin-degrading Agaricomycetes may have been present before the Carboniferous, and lignin degradation was likely never restricted to them and their class II peroxidases, because lignin modification is known to occur via other enzymatic mechanisms in other fungal and bacterial lineages. Furthermore, a large proportion of Carboniferous coal horizons are dominated by unlignified lycopsid periderm with equivalent coal accumulation rates continuing through several transitions between floral dominance by lignin-poor lycopsids and lignin-rich tree ferns and seed plants. Thus, biochemical composition had little relevance to coal accumulation. Throughout the fossil record, evidence of decay is pervasive in all organic matter exposed subaerially during deposition, and high coal accumulation rates have continued to the present wherever environmental conditions permit. Rather than a consequence of a temporal decoupling of evolutionary innovations between fungi and plants, Paleozoic coal abundance was likely the result of a unique combination of everwet tropical conditions and extensive depositional systems during the assembly of Pangea.

Once I asked @elodieunderglass why petrochemicals are a non-renewable resource and she explained that it all formed so long ago funguses hadn't been invented yet. And I haven't been the same ever since.

[typhlonectes]

Earth's First Forests 

The Devonian Period was for plants what the Cambrian Period was for animals. Land plants really started to experiment with new forms of growth some 380 million years ago which led to the establishment of the first forests on Earth. 

A very special fossilized forest was discovered in Svalbard, Norway and comprises the fossilized remains of lycopsid trees. Here we see a magnificent reconstruction.

My guest today is Dr. Chris Berry who was part of the team that recently discovered the oldest fossil evidence of forests. As you are going to hear, these forests were very different from the ones we know and love today.

Listen to podcast here: http://www.indefenseofplants.com/podcast/2020/2/23/ep-253-earths-first-forests

[botanyshitposts]

the fern/fern ally professor at my uni told me earlier this year that isoetes’ roots were actually modified leaves and that the argument had recently been resolved based on how they didn’t have root hairs and have leaf scars but i was looking up sources for that for an explanation about it on that post and apparently in 2016 there was a massive study showing that isoetes does have a small amount of root hairs, although they’re unusual in that they aren’t set in any cell structure that could really accommodate them the way root hairs on a normal plant might, and also that their ancestors also had root hairs and the team doing the study examined and reexamined a ton of fossilized root systems and concluded that they ACTUALLY looked like THIS

so. points for isoetes roots being modified leaves:

-the bipolar growth of the embryo shows that the first roots and the first leaves come from around the same space and look very much the same, suggesting that the plant’s reasoning was literally like ‘ah, yes, i shall put one tube into the ground and one into the sky’. we have fossilized remains of embryos that show that their ancestors did the same thing

-the vascular traces inside the roots and leaves of isoetes are very simple and similar to the point where they really do come across as just leaves shoved into the ground (this is a big point)

-roots were a very new thing back in the devonian period and most plants had rhizoids, not roots

-the fossils of lepidodendron roots have leaf bases, which was one of the main supports for a ‘sigmarian root system’ back in the early 1900s (the suggestion that giant spore trees had leafy shoots shoved into the ground instead of actual roots)

-modern isoetes roots are arranged into a whorl similar to how their leaves are arranged

-modern isoetes roots are sloughed off in the same way as they slough off their leaves

points against isoetes roots being modified leaves:

-it seems as if the structure of ancient lycopsid root systems were highly conserved down the line to modern isoetes, and ancient lycopsid root systems were shown to be massive and highly branched to support the giant tree they were attached to

-both isoetes and it’s ancestors apparently had root hairs

-although modern isoetes roots are arranged in a similar whorl as their leaves, the leaves have leaf traces and the roots have different primoridum attaching them to the corm

my personal opinion looking at this is that like.....they’ve gotta be somewhere in between. like, i dont think you could say that they are roots or that they aren’t; they function as roots, even if they’re weird. maybe we’re looking at a very early kind of modern root, but at the same time im 19 years old and this same exact argument has been going on for a century so that hypothesis has probably been preposed before. whomst knows!!! the cutting edge of isoetes science is but a paleolithic hacksaw and we are but neanderthals in god’s cave!!

[currentsinbiology]

Tiny Animals Trapped in Fossil Trees Help Reveal How Fauna Moved Onto Land

Over 150 years ago, geologist Sir William Dawson made an astounding discovery in the Joggins Cliffs, along the shores of Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy. Within the lithified remains of a giant tree-like fern were the bones of a tiny, 310 million-year-old animal.

This animal was unlike any other seen thus far. It was able to venture where no vertebrate (back-boned) animal had ventured before, deep into the lycopsid forests, away from the water’s edge. This was all thanks to an evolutionary innovation: the amniotic egg.

Although animals had previously ventured onto land in the earlier Devonian Period, animals with an amniotic egg—such as modern reptiles, birds and yes, even mammals—do not need to return to the water to reproduce, as modern amphibians still do. The amniotic egg is a self-contained pond, where the embryo and all its food and waste are stored surrounded by a protective, desiccation-resistant shell.

[indefenseofplants]

The Rise and Fall of the Scale Trees

If I had a time machine, the first place I would visit would be the Carboniferous. Spanning from 358.9 to 298.9 million years ago, this was a strange time in Earth’s history. The continents were jumbled together into two great landmasses - Laurasia to the north and Gondwana to the south and the equatorial regions were dominated by humid, tropical swamps. To explore these swamps would be to explore one of the most alien landscapes this world has ever known.

The Carboniferous was the heyday for early land plants. Giant lycopods, ferns, and horsetails formed the backbone of terrestrial ecosystems. By far the most abundant plants during these times were a group of giant, tree-like lycopsids known as the scale trees. Scale trees collectively make up the extinct genus Lepidodendron and despite constantly being compared to modern day club mosses (Lycopodiopsida), experts believe they were more closely related to the quillworts (Isoetopsida).

It is hard to say for sure just how many species of scale tree there were. Early on, each fragmentary fossil was given its own unique taxonomic classification; a branch was considered to be one species while a root fragment was considered to be another and juvenile tree fossils were classified differently than adults. As more complete specimens were unearthed, a better picture of scale tree diversity started to emerge. Today I can find references to anywhere between 4 and 13 named species of scale tree and surely more await discovery. What we can say for sure is that scale tree biology was bizarre.

The name “scale tree” stems from the fossilized remains of their bark, which resembles reptile skin more than it does anything botanical. Fossilized trunk and stem casts are adorned with diamond shaped impressions arranged in rows of ascending spirals. These are not scales, of course, but rather they are leaf scars. In life, scale trees were adorned with long, needle-like leaves, each with a single vein for plumbing. Before the started branching, young trees would have resembled a bushy, green bottle brush.

As scale trees grew, it is likely that they shed their lower leaves, which left behind the characteristic diamond patterns that make their fossils so recognizable. How these plants achieved growth is rather fascinating. Scale tree cambium was unifacial, meaning it only produced cells towards its interior, not in both directions as we see in modern trees. As such, only secondary xylem was produced. Overall, scale trees would not have been very woody plants. Most of the interior of the trunk and stems was comprised of a spongy cortical meristem. Because of this, the structural integrity of the plant relied on the thick outer “bark.” Many paleobotanists believe that this anatomical quirk made scale trees vulnerable to high winds.

Scale trees were anchored into their peaty substrate by rather peculiar roots. Originally described as a separate species, the roots of these trees still retain their species name. Paleobotanists refer to them as “stigmaria” and they were unlike most roots we encounter today. Stigmaria were large, limb-like structures that branched dichotomously in the soil. Each main branch was covered in tiny spots that were also arranged in rows of ascending spirals. At each spot, a rootlet would have grown outward, likely partnering with mycorrhizal fungi in search of water and nutrients.

Eventually scale trees would reach a height in which branching began. Their tree-like canopy was also the result of dichotomous branching of each new stem. Amazingly, the scale tree canopy reached staggering heights. Some specimens have been found that were an estimated 100 ft (30 m) tall! It was once thought that scale trees reached these lofty heights in as little as 10 to 15 years, which is absolutely bonkers to think about. However, more recent estimates have cast doubt on these numbers. The authors of one paper suggest that there is no biological mechanism available that could explain such rapid growth rates, concluding that the life span of a typical scale tree was more likely measured in centuries rather than years.

Regardless of how long it took them to reach such heights, they nonetheless would have been impressive sites. Remarkably, enough of these trees have been preserved in situ that we can actually get a sense for how these swampy habitats would have been structured. Whenever preserved stumps have been found, paleobotanists remark on the density of their stems. Scale trees did not seem to suffer much from overcrowding.

The fact that they spent most of their life as a single, unbranched stem may have allowed for more success in such dense situations. In fact, those that have been lucky enough to explore these fossilized forests often comment on how similar their structure seems compared to modern day cypress swamps. It appears that warm, water-logged conditions present similar selection pressures today as they did 350+ million years ago.

Like all living things, scale trees eventually had to reproduce. From the tips of their dichotomosly branching stems emerged spore-bearing cones. The fact that they emerge from the growing tips of the branches suggests that each scale tree only got one shot at reproduction. Again, analyses of some fossilized scale tree forests suggests that these plants were monocarpic, meaning each plant died after a single reproductive event. In fact, fossilized remains of a scale tree forest in Illinois suggests that mass reproductive events may have been the standard for at least some species. Scale trees would all have established at around the same time, grown up together, and then reproduced and died en masse. Their death would have cleared the way for their developing offspring. What an experience that must have been for any insect flying around these ancient swamps.

Compared to modern day angiosperms, the habits of the various scale trees may seem a bit inefficient. Nonetheless, this was an extremely successful lineage of plants. Scale trees were the dominant players of the warm, humid, equatorial swamps. However, their dominance on the landscape may have actually been their downfall. In fact, scale trees may have helped bring about an ice age that marked the end of the Carboniferous.

You see, while plants were busy experimenting with building ever taller, more complex anatomies using compounds such as cellulose and lignin, the fungal communities of that time had not yet figured out how to digest them. As these trees grew into 100 ft monsters and died, more and more carbon was being tied up in plant tissues that simply weren’t decomposing. This lack of decomposition is why we humans have had so much Carboniferous coal available to us. It also meant that tons of CO2, a potent greenhouse gas, were being pulled out of the atmosphere millennia after millennia.

As atmospheric CO2 levels plummeted and continents continued to shift, the climate was growing more and more seasonal. This was bad news for the scale trees. All evidence suggests that they were not capable of keeping up with the changes that they themselves had a big part in bringing about. By the end of the Carboniferous, Earth had dipped into an ice age. Earth’s new climate regime appeared to be too much for the scale trees to handle and they were driven to extinction. The world they left behind was primed and ready for new players. The Permian would see a whole new set of plants take over the land and would set the stage for even more terrestrial life to explode onto the scene.

It is amazing to think that we owe much of our industrialized society to scale trees whose leaves captured CO2 and turned it into usable carbon so many millions of years ago. It seems oddly fitting that, thanks to us, scale trees are once again changing Earth’s climate. As we continue to pump Carboniferous CO2 into our atmosphere, one must stop to ask themselves which dominant organisms are most at risk from all of this recent climate change?

Photo Credits: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Further Reading: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

[earthstory]

An Ancient Forest - Joggins Fossil Cliffs

On the east coast of Canada in Joggins, Nova Scotia, there is a forest that has been preserved in rock for more than 315 million years. Exposed in a 600-meter section along the Bay of Fundy these cliffs provide a spectacular record of the plants and animals that lived there so long ago.

During the Carboniferous period (approximately 300 to 360 million years ago) the Earth looked very different than it does today. The continental landmasses were grouped together as a supercontinent, Pangaea. The areas around the equator were covered by lush tropical rainforests and insects were the dominant animal life. These “Carboniferous coal age” forests are responsible for the large-scale coal deposits found in Europe and North America.

Joggins contains the most complete known fossil record of the Carboniferous, with over 200 different species of plants and animals being identified. The unique preservation of this ancient forest, with plants and animals buried in-situ, gives important environmental context to the fossils. The tropical forest at Joggins was dominated by Lycopsid (mainly 𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 and 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴) trees, which are related to modern club mosses and ferns. Only the bottom 2 - 3 m of the trees and their roots are preserved, and the largest have trunks 50 cm in diameter. Fossilized bones of early reptiles have also been discovered in the cliffs at Joggins. 𝘏𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘶𝘴 𝘓𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪, discovered in 1869, is one of the earliest known reptiles and examples of an amniote, the first vertebrates that were able to reproduce on land.

The quality of fossils preserved at Joggins is due to an extremely quick burial. In fact, it is estimated to have taken less than a million years to deposit the entire 900 m clastic section. This quick burial was the result of rapid subsidence within the Cumberland Basin where Joggins is located. This was caused by two factors, the collision of the Gondwana and Euramerica crustal blocks and withdrawal of an underlying Mississippian age salt deposit.

Joggins has quite an interesting history. Although the area had been mined for coal since the 1600’s, the geological significance of Joggins was not recognized until the early 1800’s. The site has been visited by many great pioneering geologists including Charles Lyell, Sir William Dawson, and Sir William Logan. Lyell, who is best known for his principle of uniformitarianism, visited the site in 1842. He was amazed at the fossils and said the cliffs were the “finest exposure in the world”. In 1845 Sir William Logan, the first director of the then newly formed Geological Survey of Canada first mapped the stratrigraphy of the Joggins cliffs in detail. The observations made by these men at the Joggins site helped to shape the development of geological principles that are still upheld today. Thanks to Lyell and Dawson, the Joggins site is also mentioned in Darwin’s ‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴’.

Now classified as a UNESCO world heritage site, the spectacular fossil forests in the cliffs at Joggins will be protected for generations to come.

CD

Sources http://jogginsfossilcliffs.net/ http://bit.ly/2AkaMZP http://bit.ly/2AFNMHQ http://bit.ly/2BvKBzv http://bit.ly/2k8AJHI

Image Source Michael Rygel http://bit.ly/2k9Cjch

[orbemnews]

Scientists Find a Fossilized Ancestor of ‘Dinosaur Food’ Before the first mammals, before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, a plant grew in Gondwana, a huge continent in the Southern Hemisphere. Almost 280 million years later, in what is now Brazil, scientists have identified the fossil remains of that plant as an early member of a lineage called cycads, or cycadales, that continues to this day. The discovery expands scientific understanding of the resilience of these plants, which persisted through two mass extinctions. “The vegetative anatomy of this plant is remarkably similar to the ones that live today,” said Rafael Spiekermann, a graduate student at the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Germany and the lead author of a paper describing the fossil in the journal Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. The preserved species has been named Iratinia australis; “australis” is Latin for “south,” and the fossil came from the southern part of a rock layer known as the Irati Formation. It is a small piece of wood — a bit more than five inches long, about 2.5 inches in diameter — but that was enough to see that it shared key features with plants living today. “If you cut with a machete a cycadale today,” Mr. Spiekermann said, “you will see the same anatomical pattern that you can see in our fossil.” The surviving cycadales are often called “living fossils,” much like present-day coelacanth fish, which retain many of the same characteristics as ancestral fish from hundreds of millions of years ago. This lineage endured a pair of cataclysms when most life was killed off the planet. The first occurred at the end of the Permian geological period 250 million years ago and is often called the Great Dying. It was the largest mass extinction in Earth’s history, opening the evolutionary door to the rise of dinosaurs. The other was the extinction 66 million years ago that brought the age of dinosaurs to an end. “It’s a really long history on Earth,” said André Jasper, a biology professor at the University of Taquari Valley in Brazil and an author of the paper. “You can find it, this kind of plant, in Australia, in Asia, in Africa, in America. It spread all over the world.” Cycadales never dominated the plant kingdom, although they have thrived in certain places. Their heyday was more than 120 million years ago before they, and even older plants like conifer trees, were overtaken by the advent of flowering plants, which were quicker to reproduce and adapt to changing ecological niches. “These guys were dinosaur food,” said Dennis Stevenson, an emeritus senior curator at the New York Botanical Garden and an expert on cycadales who was not involved with the research. Cycadales, however, never disappeared, and some 350 species exist today. Perhaps the best known is the Sago palm, an ornamental plant that looks like a small palm tree but is not actually a palm. Rather, like all cycadales, a Sago palm possesses a distinctive structure of veins running from its leaves through its trunk. The fossil cycadales also preserve this feature, called girdling leaf traces. The Iratinia australis fossil was dug up several decades ago. Based on its leaf shapes, botanists misidentified it as belonging to a different group of plants known as lycopsids. Lycopsids were numerous in this part of Gondwana at that time so the fossil did not get much attention until Mr. Spiekermann, who is working on his doctoral thesis about lycopsids, took a closer look. “I saw a whole different anatomy,” Mr. Spiekermann said. Some fossilized leaves of the same era believed to be parts of cycadale plants had previously been found in China. But this was the first look at the woody part of a cycadale that old. “The anatomical details are just astounding,” Dr. Stevenson said. “I think it’s what every paleobotanist dreams of finding — and the first one identified in the rocks of what was once Gondwana.” The widespread geographical distribution suggests that even then cycadales had already been around for a while. “The notion is, Wow, we have one of those kinds of things here in Brazil and the other ones in China,” Dr. Stevenson said. “Those guys must be much older than what we have so far in the fossil record to get all over the face of the Earth.” William A. DiMichele, curator of paleobotany at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History who was not involved with the Iratinia australis research, said that the discovery was part of a trend of ancient plants turning out to be even more ancient. “There have been a lot of discoveries in the last, say, 10 to 15 years of plants showing up significantly earlier than was previously thought to exist,” he said. Source link Orbem News #ancestor #Dinosaur #Find #Food #Fossilized #Scientists

[shirlleycoyle]

The Oldest Forest in the World Has Been Discovered in a New York Quarry

Scientists have discovered the oldest forest in the fossil record at a quarry in the Catskill region of New York. These primordial woods flourished 386 million years ago, during the Devonian period, and contained at least three types of tree, one of which represents a “quantum leap” in plant evolution, according to a study published on Thursday in Current Biology.

The discovery pushes the empirical timeline of forests back millions of years, which has implications for understanding how these trees sparked an “energetic revolution,” meaning that their energy-efficient adaptations reshaped global ecosystems and climate, the authors said.

“The origin of big trees and forests seems to be coincident in time with some dramatic changes in the Devonian ecosystem and climate,” said lead author William Stein, an emeritus professor of biology at Binghamton University, in a call.

“In particular, there’s been pretty clear evidence that there was a drawdown of CO2 levels from the atmosphere during this time,” causing global cooling, he added. “This is important because we’re, in a sense, looking at the opposite trending effects currently with people, deforestation, and global warming.”

The root systems of this Devonian forest are preserved in an abandoned sandstone quarry near Cairo, New York. Though the site has been known for plant fossils since the 1960s, the new specimens were found within the last decade, and may have become noticeable due to years of weathering.

Aerial view of the root systems. Image: William Stein and Christopher Berry

Stein and his colleagues think the fossils represent three ancient tree families: Archaeopteris, Eospermatopteris, and an unidentified species that may have been a type of vascular plant called a lycopsid.

Eospermatopteris, which looked a little like a modern palm tree, was also found at the next oldest fossilized forest, located about 30 miles away in Gilboa, New York. But the real star of the study is Archaeopteris, because it “strikingly advanced for its time” and likely represents “the beginning of the future of modern forests,” Stein said.

“This was a large plant that had modern-looking secondary tissues—basically wood—and it was the first major player that we understand actually had leaves,” he explained. “It’s essentially identical to what you would expect to see today in modern conifers or flowering and seed plants as a whole.”

Unlike Eospermatopteris, which wasn’t able to penetrate very far into the soil with its roots, Archaeopteris grew specialized structural roots that expanded both laterally along the surface of the soil, and deep underground. This robust network could tap into more resources than Archaeopteris’ rivals, and that may explain why it evolved to be such an efficient and innovative photosynthesizer.

Though the Cairo site is a few million years older than Gilboa, Stein said that he shies away from calling it “the oldest forest” because the two sites may have represented one long-lived and relatively stable biome. “That’s our hypothesis: that they probably are just different ecological snapshots of the same longstanding forest,” he said.

Based on the patterns of the sediment, the Gilboa site was likely located in a river system that frequently experienced catastrophic floods, whereas the Cairo area seems to have been drier and less chaotic. Still, the remains of fish inside Cairo’s fossilized forest suggest that it did sometimes flood. These events may have been damaging to the woods at the time, but the sediment upheaval produced by them helped preserve these fascinating fossils.

Stein hopes that future exploration of the Catskills will reveal more clues about the first forests to emerge on Earth, and the role they played in reshaping our planet’s climate and ecology.

“We only have a sample of two sites like this,” he said, “so it leaves a lot to be done in terms of trying to figure out what actually did go on.”

The Oldest Forest in the World Has Been Discovered in a New York Quarry syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[plantsrocklab]

Plant Paleobiology term projects, part 2

Here are two more class projects -- these were voted #2 and #3 favorites in the class.

First, Rebekah Stein’s work is based on a specimen of Asteroxylon. Here’s what she wrote about it:

General overview

Asteroxylon was a lycophyte found in the lower Devonian Rhynie Chert, a chert formation in northeast Scotland by volcanic activity and a subsequent ancient hotspring, permineralizing rich terrestrial and freshwater flora in place, ~400 million years ago (Devonian; Hueber 1992; Taylor et al. 1997). Of the flora within this chert, Asteroxylon is one of the better studied plants, though has no extant specimens and has long been extinct. Typically, this early vascular plant had isotomously and anisotomously branching stems with G-type tracheids (like many early lycopsids). Asteroxylon was very distinct in that it has an actinostele-typed protostele, or star-shaped stele, with exarch xylem; protoxylem is towards the end of the lobes and phloem develops between the lobes. Asteroxylon did not yet have leaves, instead it had leaf-like appendages called enations emerging from the epidermis (without xylem entering the base), spiral around the stem. The vascular bundles extended from the centralized actinostele toward the enations but not into the enations, which is what distinguished them from leaves (Kerp et al. 2013). At the end of the axes, the sporangia were kidney shaped, flattened medially (Lyon 1964). The axes and enations above ground both had cuticles with stomata. Asteroxylon existed before the advent of true roots, and instead had rhizomes. These rhizomes lacked rhizoids and branch repeatedly, with specialized off-shoots that displayed positive gravitropism to stabilize. As the Rhynie Chert is such a phenomenal example of a paleoecological system rife with niches, it is important to note Asteroxylon’s interaction with surrounding organisms. Rather than being found in an Asteroxylon-dominated niche, Asteroxylon was typically found in a diverse setting mixed with genera like Nothia, Rhynia, Aglaophyton and Ventarura (Trewin 1993). Asteroxylon was, however, better at tolerating dry habitats due to its complex vascular system, compared to other members of the Rhynie Chert (based on larger photosynthetic surfaces on enations, as well as an extensive root system), and therefore was likely more competitive upland (Kerp et al. 2013).

My illustration For my overall specimen drawing, I chose to draw the unique and distinctive actinostele of the Asteroxylon, emphasizing the stellate xylem. In my drawing, which is a transverse cross-section through the aerial axis of Asteroxylon, the protostele with its exarch star-shaped xylem is obvious. In addition to showing this stele, leaf traces from where the enations form are abundant.

Recently, I have been very focused on the fact that earth sciences are poorly represented in the primary and secondary school curriculum, which has resulted in a lack of interest (based largely in not knowing) in earth and geosciences until late in graduate school. However, earth sciences influence all of our lives, and studying this “subject” is the curricular version of studying the earth around us. In order to increase interest in earth sciences at a college level, it is important to make them accessible at a young age. Therefore, I wanted to make a book for primary school aged children about fossils, in the hopes that it piques the interest of readers and informs them of possible career, research, and study directions in the future. Because of the audience, the language used to describe my specimen is very simplified. I did include a few words that would normally be considered jargon, but I felt were integral to describing Asteroxylon correctly (rhizomes, enations, actinostele). I emphasized these words in text and treated them as new “vocabulary” words. I imagine the target audience is ~6 years old, but do not consider myself an expert in reading levels. I aimed to make this subject matter approachable by acting as if members of the audience were in fact an inspiring paleobotanist themselves. Therefore, I drew children scientists, made the setting very vivid, and cartoonized Asteroxylon.

References:

1. Hueber, Francis M. "Thoughts on the early lycopsids and zosterophylls." Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden(1992): 474-499.

2. Taylor, T. N., Klavins, S. D., Krings, M., Taylor, E. L., Kerp, H., & Hass, H. (2003). Fungi from the Rhynie chert: a view from the dark side. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 94(4), 457-473.

3. Kerp, H., Wellman, C. H., Krings, M., Kearney, P., & Hass, H. (2013). Reproductive organs and in situ spores of Asteroxylon mackiei Kidston & Lang, the most complex plant from the Lower Devonian Rhynie Chert. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 174(3), 293-308.

4. Lyon, A. G. (1964). Probable fertile region of Asteroxylon mackiei K. and L. Nature, 203(4949), 1082.

5. Trewin, N. H. (1993). Depositional environment and preservation of biota in the Lower Devonian hot-springs of Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 84(3-4), 433-442.

The other project I’ll feature today is by Serena Scholz, who based her project on Annularia. Here’s her work:

General overview:

Annularia is the form genus of the leaves of Calamites, an extinct tree-like plant that belongs to the same evolutionary lineage as modern horsetails. Unlike living horsetails, which are in the genus Equisetum and are small and herbaceous, Calamites were medium-sized trees, growing to heights of over 30 meters. The leaves (Annularia) are arranged in whorls around a central stalk, with anywhere from 8-13 leaves per whorl. Branches also grow in a whorled pattern, often from an internode or a node of the segmented central stem. The stem is usually hollow, with secondary xylem providing a rigid outer structure around the outside, which has led to many interior casts of broken stems being preserved in the fossil record.

Annularia first appears in the fossil record in the early Carboniferous, and disappears by the mid Permian. This particular specimen is a compression fossil from the Carboniferous. Arborescent horsetails (sphenophytes) are one of the four major groups that made up the Carboniferous coal swamps (360-300 Ma). The Calamites trees favored frequently disturbed habitats such as riverbanks, deltas, and lakeshores, due to their ability to asexually reproduce through underground rhizomes (Scott, 1979).  This clonal reproduction allowed it to quickly colonize bare substrate, and also quickly regenerate after burial by alluvium (Gastaldo, 1992).

Adaptations for disturbed environments:

Niche partitioning between different major plant groups is clearly apparent in the fossil record of Carboniferous coal swamps. While the wettest parts of the swamps (the mires) were inhabited by arborescent lycopsids like Lepidodendron, arborescent horsetails like Calamites lived closer to the edges of the ecosystem, favoring frequently disturbed, aggradational areas with high rates of sediment influx (Bashforth et al., 2014). This is primarily due to the biological adaptations of the plants to different ecological niches: lycopsids had evolved shallow, hollow rootlets (Stigmaria) which enabled them to aerate their roots within the otherwise waterlogged soils of the mires. In contrast, one of the most important biological features of Calamites was its system of woody, underground rhizomes, which allowed it to regrow after flooding and burial, and also promoted clonal reproduction in order to quickly colonize bare substrate (Gastaldo, 1992). The rhizomes are large and woody, and look very similar to the segmented stems, though the nodes get increasingly close together as they approach the apical area.

These rhizomes made Calamites extremely tolerant of long-duration flooding and partial burial by alluvium, as they allowed the plants to immediately regenerate from the rhizome after flood events occurred, as opposed to waiting for the sexual reproductive cycle to grow new colonies. They also provided stability and anchorage in unstable ground such as newly-deposited, unconsolidated sediments. These horsetails were therefore dominant in areas with high potential for flooding or burial by sediment, including riverbanks, lakeshores, and deltas (Scott, 1979), as well as clastic floodplains (Martín-Closas and Galtier, 2005). While they do possess sexual means of reproduction as well (Calamites is free-sporing with sporangia borne on cones), these asexual methods were much more prevalent and important to their ecological niche (Gastaldo, 1992).

A recent study of modern herbaceous horsetails (genus Equisetum), showed that the plants have a significant convective ventilation ability, also known as humidity-induced convective aeration (Armstrong and Armstrong, 2009). The Equisetum genus is one of very few non-angiosperm plants to have such a high convective flow, which was found to be primarily used for aerating the underground rhizomes still present in modern species. The authors of this study proposed that Calamites and other fossils in the Equisetaceae family may have also had this convective ability as well, due to the close anatomical and morphological similarities between the living and extinct species. If true, this could indicate that plant ventilation via a molecular gas pump may have existed since as early as the Carboniferous or early Permian, much earlier than previously believed. This ability to aerate the underground rhizomes may also have played a key role in allowing the fast regeneration and clonal growth of Calamites after flooding or burial events.

References:

Armstrong, J., and W. Armstrong. 2009. Record rates of pressurized gas-flow in the great horsetail, Equisetum telmateia. Were Carboniferous Calamites similarly aerated? New Phytologist 184: 202–215.

Bashforth, A. R., C. J. Cleal, M. R. Gibling, H. J. Falcon-Lang, and R. F. Miller. 2014. Paleoecology of Early Pennsylvanian vegetation on a seasonally dry tropical landscape (Tynemouth Creek Formation, New Brunswick, Canada). Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 200: 229–263.

Gastaldo, R.A. 1992. Regenerative growth in fossil horsetails following burial by alluvium. A Historical Biology 6: 203-219

Martín-Closas, C., and J. Galtier. 2005. Plant taphonomy and paleoecology of Late Pennsylvanian intramontane wetlands in the Graissessac-Lodève basin (Languedoc, France). PALAIOS 20: 249–265.

Scott, A.C. 1979. The ecology of Coal Measure floras from northern Britain. Proceedings of the Geologists Association 90: 97–116.

[uk-fossils]

British Carboniferous Fossil Plants & Leaves – Coal Measures UK, Authentic Paleozoic Specimen

An outstanding collection piece featuring authentic British Carboniferous Fossil Plants and Leaves from the classic Coal Measures deposits of the Carboniferous Period, approximately 310–320 million years ago. These fossils were formed in the lush, swampy forests that once dominated prehistoric Britain, now preserved as detailed impressions in shale or siltstone.

The fossil assemblage typically includes various species of ferns (Neuropteris, Alethopteris), seed ferns (Pecopteris), lycopsids (Lepidodendron, Sigillaria), and horsetails (Calamites), representing the dominant vegetation of the time.

Fossil Type: Fossilised Plant Impressions (Leaves, Stems, and Fronds)

Geological Age: Carboniferous – Pennsylvanian Subperiod (Westphalian Stage)

Formation: Coal Measures (Upper Carboniferous)

Depositional Environment: These plants grew in lowland tropical wetlands and coal-forming swamps. Rapid burial by sediment in oxygen-poor environments led to remarkable preservation of delicate plant structures in fine-grained muds and silts.

Morphological Features:

Detailed vein and frond impressions

Often preserved as flat carbon films or positive/negative moulds

Fronds may show branching patterns and midrib structures

Notable:

Fossils from the iconic British Coal Measures

Includes representatives of extinct tree-sized club mosses and seed ferns

Excellent for educational use, fossil collectors, and display

Actual specimen photographed – scale rule = 1cm per square

Authenticity: All of our fossils are 100% genuine natural specimens and are supplied with a Certificate of Authenticity. The photo displays the exact specimen offered. Please refer to the image for full dimensions.

This fossilised record of ancient forest life offers an incredible window into Earth’s prehistoric ecosystems. A classic and educational specimen from the Carboniferous coal-forming landscapes of the UK.

[monocotluvr]

Plant Paleobiology term projects, part 2

Here are two more class projects -- these were voted #2 and #3 favorites in the class.

First, Rebekah Stein’s work is based on a specimen of Asteroxylon. Here’s what she wrote about it:

Asteroxylon was a lycophyte found in the lower Devonian Rhynie Chert, a chert formation in northeast Scotland by volcanic activity and a subsequent ancient hotspring, permineralizing rich terrestrial and freshwater flora in place, ~400 million years ago (Devonian; Hueber 1992; Taylor et al. 1997). Of the flora within this chert, Asteroxylon is one of the better studied plants, though has no extant specimens and has long been extinct. Typically, this early vascular plant had isotomously and anisotomously branching stems with G-type tracheids (like many early lycopsids). Asteroxylon was very distinct in that it has an actinostele-typed protostele, or star-shaped stele, with exarch xylem; protoxylem is towards the end of the lobes and phloem develops between the lobes. Asteroxylon did not yet have leaves, instead it had leaf-like appendages called enations emerging from the epidermis (without xylem entering the base), spiral around the stem. The vascular bundles extended from the centralized actinostele toward the enations but not into the enations, which is what distinguished them from leaves (Kerp et al. 2013). At the end of the axes, the sporangia were kidney shaped, flattened medially (Lyon 1964). The axes and enations above ground both had cuticles with stomata. Asteroxylon existed before the advent of true roots, and instead had rhizomes. These rhizomes lacked rhizoids and branch repeatedly, with specialized off-shoots that displayed positive gravitropism to stabilize. As the Rhynie Chert is such a phenomenal example of a paleoecological system rife with niches, it is important to note Asteroxylon’s interaction with surrounding organisms. Rather than being found in an Asteroxylon-dominated niche, Asteroxylon was typically found in a diverse setting mixed with genera like Nothia, Rhynia, Aglaophyton and Ventarura (Trewin 1993). Asteroxylon was, however, better at tolerating dry habitats due to its complex vascular system, compared to other members of the Rhynie Chert (based on larger photosynthetic surfaces on enations, as well as an extensive root system), and therefore was likely more competitive upland (Kerp et al. 2013).

My illustration For my overall specimen drawing, I chose to draw the unique and distinctive actinostele of the Asteroxylon, emphasizing the stellate xylem. In my drawing, which is a transverse cross-section through the aerial axis of Asteroxylon, the protostele with its exarch star-shaped xylem is obvious. In addition to showing this stele, leaf traces from where the enations form are abundant. 

Recently, I have been very focused on the fact that earth sciences are poorly represented in the primary and secondary school curriculum, which has resulted in a lack of interest (based largely in not knowing) in earth and geosciences until late in graduate school. However, earth sciences influence all of our lives, and studying this “subject” is the curricular version of studying the earth around us. In order to increase interest in earth sciences at a college level, it is important to make them accessible at a young age. Therefore, I wanted to make a book for primary school aged children about fossils, in the hopes that it piques the interest of readers and informs them of possible career, research, and study directions in the future. Because of the audience, the language used to describe my specimen is very simplified. I did include a few words that would normally be considered jargon, but I felt were integral to describing Asteroxylon correctly (rhizomes, enations, actinostele). I emphasized these words in text and treated them as new “vocabulary” words. I imagine the target audience is ~6 years old, but do not consider myself an expert in reading levels. I aimed to make this subject matter approachable by acting as if members of the audience were in fact an inspiring paleobotanist themselves. Therefore, I drew children scientists, made the setting very vivid, and cartoonized Asteroxylon.

References:

1. Hueber, Francis M. "Thoughts on the early lycopsids and zosterophylls." Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden(1992): 474-499. 

2. Taylor, T. N., Klavins, S. D., Krings, M., Taylor, E. L., Kerp, H., & Hass, H. (2003). Fungi from the Rhynie chert: a view from the dark side. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 94(4), 457-473. 

3. Kerp, H., Wellman, C. H., Krings, M., Kearney, P., & Hass, H. (2013). Reproductive organs and in situ spores of Asteroxylon mackiei Kidston & Lang, the most complex plant from the Lower Devonian Rhynie Chert. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 174(3), 293-308. 

4. Lyon, A. G. (1964). Probable fertile region of Asteroxylon mackiei K. and L. Nature, 203(4949), 1082. 

5. Trewin, N. H. (1993). Depositional environment and preservation of biota in the Lower Devonian hot-springs of Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 84(3-4), 433-442.

The other project I’ll feature today is by Serena Scholz, who based her project on Annularia. Here’s her work:

General overview:

Annularia is the form genus of the leaves of Calamites, an extinct tree-like plant that belongs to the same evolutionary lineage as modern horsetails. Unlike living horsetails, which are in the genus Equisetum and are small and herbaceous, Calamites were medium-sized trees, growing to heights of over 30 meters. The leaves (Annularia) are arranged in whorls around a central stalk, with anywhere from 8-13 leaves per whorl. Branches also grow in a whorled pattern, often from an internode or a node of the segmented central stem. The stem is usually hollow, with secondary xylem providing a rigid outer structure around the outside, which has led to many interior casts of broken stems being preserved in the fossil record.

Annularia first appears in the fossil record in the early Carboniferous, and disappears by the mid Permian. This particular specimen is a compression fossil from the Carboniferous. Arborescent horsetails (sphenophytes) are one of the four major groups that made up the Carboniferous coal swamps (360-300 Ma). The Calamites trees favored frequently disturbed habitats such as riverbanks, deltas, and lakeshores, due to their ability to asexually reproduce through underground rhizomes (Scott, 1979).  This clonal reproduction allowed it to quickly colonize bare substrate, and also quickly regenerate after burial by alluvium (Gastaldo, 1992).

Adaptations for disturbed environments:

Niche partitioning between different major plant groups is clearly apparent in the fossil record of Carboniferous coal swamps. While the wettest parts of the swamps (the mires) were inhabited by arborescent lycopsids like Lepidodendron, arborescent horsetails like Calamites lived closer to the edges of the ecosystem, favoring frequently disturbed, aggradational areas with high rates of sediment influx (Bashforth et al., 2014). This is primarily due to the biological adaptations of the plants to different ecological niches: lycopsids had evolved shallow, hollow rootlets (Stigmaria) which enabled them to aerate their roots within the otherwise waterlogged soils of the mires. In contrast, one of the most important biological features of Calamites was its system of woody, underground rhizomes, which allowed it to regrow after flooding and burial, and also promoted clonal reproduction in order to quickly colonize bare substrate (Gastaldo, 1992). The rhizomes are large and woody, and look very similar to the segmented stems, though the nodes get increasingly close together as they approach the apical area.

These rhizomes made Calamites extremely tolerant of long-duration flooding and partial burial by alluvium, as they allowed the plants to immediately regenerate from the rhizome after flood events occurred, as opposed to waiting for the sexual reproductive cycle to grow new colonies. They also provided stability and anchorage in unstable ground such as newly-deposited, unconsolidated sediments. These horsetails were therefore dominant in areas with high potential for flooding or burial by sediment, including riverbanks, lakeshores, and deltas (Scott, 1979), as well as clastic floodplains (Martín-Closas and Galtier, 2005). While they do possess sexual means of reproduction as well (Calamites is free-sporing with sporangia borne on cones), these asexual methods were much more prevalent and important to their ecological niche (Gastaldo, 1992).

A recent study of modern herbaceous horsetails (genus Equisetum), showed that the plants have a significant convective ventilation ability, also known as humidity-induced convective aeration (Armstrong and Armstrong, 2009). The Equisetum genus is one of very few non-angiosperm plants to have such a high convective flow, which was found to be primarily used for aerating the underground rhizomes still present in modern species. The authors of this study proposed that Calamites and other fossils in the Equisetaceae family may have also had this convective ability as well, due to the close anatomical and morphological similarities between the living and extinct species. If true, this could indicate that plant ventilation via a molecular gas pump may have existed since as early as the Carboniferous or early Permian, much earlier than previously believed. This ability to aerate the underground rhizomes may also have played a key role in allowing the fast regeneration and clonal growth of Calamites after flooding or burial events.

References:

Armstrong, J., and W. Armstrong. 2009. Record rates of pressurized gas-flow in the great horsetail, Equisetum telmateia. Were Carboniferous Calamites similarly aerated? New Phytologist 184: 202–215.

Bashforth, A. R., C. J. Cleal, M. R. Gibling, H. J. Falcon-Lang, and R. F. Miller. 2014. Paleoecology of Early Pennsylvanian vegetation on a seasonally dry tropical landscape (Tynemouth Creek Formation, New Brunswick, Canada). Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 200: 229–263.

Gastaldo, R.A. 1992. Regenerative growth in fossil horsetails following burial by alluvium. A Historical Biology 6: 203-219

Martín-Closas, C., and J. Galtier. 2005. Plant taphonomy and paleoecology of Late Pennsylvanian intramontane wetlands in the Graissessac-Lodève basin (Languedoc, France). PALAIOS 20: 249–265.

Scott, A.C. 1979. The ecology of Coal Measure floras from northern Britain. Proceedings of the Geologists Association 90: 97–116.

[sciencespies]

310-million-year-old tree fossils to reveal new ancient animals

https://sciencespies.com/biology/310-million-year-old-tree-fossils-to-reveal-new-ancient-animals/

310-million-year-old tree fossils to reveal new ancient animals

The Joggins Cliffs, N.S. are designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the fossil record preserved in the strata of rocks. Credit: Shutterstock

Over 150 years ago, geologist Sir William Dawson made an astounding discovery in the Joggins Cliffs, along the shores of Nova Scotia’s Bay of Fundy. Within the lithified remains of a giant tree-like fern were the bones of a tiny, 310 million-year-old animal.

This animal was unlike any other seen thus far. It was able to venture where no vertebrate (back-boned) animal had ventured before, deep into the lycopsid forests, away from the water’s edge. This was all thanks to an evolutionary innovation: the amniotic egg.

Although animals had previously ventured onto land in the earlier Devonian Period, animals with an amniotic egg—such as modern reptiles, birds and yes, even mammals—do not need to return to the water to reproduce, as modern amphibians still do. The amniotic egg is a self-contained pond, where the embryo and all its food and waste are stored surrounded by a protective, desiccation-resistant shell.

This new kind of animal, that Dawson would name Hylonomus lyelli, remains the earliest amniote in the fossil record. Since then, many other animals, some strange and some familiar, have been added to the list of discoveries at Joggins Cliffs at the Bay of Fundy. These include microsaurs, temnospondyls and Dendrerpeton acadianum.

In 2008, the Joggins Fossil Cliffs were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And the cliffs haven’t ceased sharing their secrets—each colossal tidal cycle erodes and exposes more of the ancient ecosystem that once thrived in its formerly equatorial location.

In this illustration from ‘Air-Breathers of the Coal Period’ by John William Dawson, ‘Hylonomus Lyelli’ is represented leaping in pursuit of an insect. Credit: Dawson Brothers

Ancient fern records

The initial discovery of the paleontological significance of Joggins took place in 1842, when British geologist Sir Charles Lyell travelled to Nova Scotia. Ten years later, Lyell and local geologist Sir William Dawson together studied the strata of the 310 million-year-old cliffs. Within the cliffs stood the bodies of giant trees, frozen in time. However, these trees are unlike those in forests today. Rather they were ancient, giant ferns that would have towered 20 to 30 metres above the forest floor.

These ferns are what make Joggins in particular critical to our understanding of early tetrapod evolution. That’s because when they died, their soft inner cores rotted away, leaving behind their firm outer bark and a hollow interior. It’s within these hollowed-out stumps that animal remains were trapped and protected for over 300 million years, and where we find them today.

New discoveries

I’m not going to lie: significant fossil finds at Joggins are few and far between. But it’s the unparalleled potential of the next big discovery that keeps me coming back to the site year after year. And we may now have the best chance of that next big discovery.

A collaborative effort between researchers and institutions is collecting material for future study. Credit: Hillary Maddin, Author provided

After a back-breaking, 15-year collaborative effort between the Nova Scotia Museum, Saint Mary’s University, Nova Scotian geologist John Calder, the Joggins Fossil Institute and Joggins native Brian Hebert, a new collection of giant fossiliferous trees—representing the largest collection amassed since the site was discovered—is ready for fresh eyes.

Over the next number of years, meticulous manual preparation will reveal tiny new bones, one by one. What makes the newly discovered material so special is that they were collected from strata lower in the Joggins section than any previous material. The fossils within will become new earliest records of animals that we recognize as members of groups of animals that are still alive today—amphibians, reptiles and mammals—and many that are now extinct. We will see for the first time what these trailblazers looked like, and how many different kinds were present in this early phase of tetrapod evolution.

Tetrapod evolution

These animals will teach us many new things about one of the most important phases in tetrapod evolution: the establishment of the first terrestrial, vertebrate communities. We will analyze their anatomy and, through comparisons with living animals, learn about what these animals may have been doing when they were alive.

For example, we can examine the condition of their teeth to learn about what they might have been eating. With the explosion of terrestrial plants at the time, we can see how long it took before animals became herbivorous, and how their strategies might be similar or alternatively, completely different, from those of modern-day herbivores.

Fossiliferous beach at Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Nova Scotia, Canada. Credit: Shutterstock

We can also examine their bones to learn about what kinds of activities they were doing in these new environments. We’re seeing evidence at slightly younger Carboniferous localities that animals had already begun diversifying ecologically. We see the first burrowing animals and some possibly arboreal animals (animals who spend most of their lives living in trees).

Were the animals at Joggins already doing these things? If so, we would learn it took relatively little time for animals to exploit the many aspects of their new environment. If not, well then, it will appear as though it took some time for these trailblazers to get their footing in the terrestrial realm.

Together these discoveries and new analyses will revise our understanding of the Carboniferous Period. No longer will we think of it as a boring, stagnant swamp filled with unspecialized creatures.

A new picture is now emerging, one of a dynamic environment that quickly filled up with animals with many new adaptations and abilities.

Explore further

World’s smallest fossil footprints discovered at Joggins

Provided by The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Citation: 310-million-year-old tree fossils to reveal new ancient animals (2019, July 17) retrieved 17 July 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2019-07-million-year-old-tree-fossils-reveal-ancient.html

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#Biology

[uk-fossils]

Stigmaria Fossil Stem Carboniferous Coal Measures Scotland UK | Musselburgh Plant Fossil with Certificate

This listing is for a beautifully preserved Stigmaria fossil stem, originating from the Carboniferous Period, specifically the Coal Measures of Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. This is a genuine piece of ancient plant life from approximately 310–300 million years ago, dating to the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) sub-period.

The fossil shown in the photos is the exact specimen you will receive. It has been carefully selected for its distinct features and natural history significance, making it ideal for collectors, educators, and anyone interested in palaeobotany.

Geological & Palaeontological Details:

Fossil Type: Root/stem structure (rhizomorph) of an ancient lycopsid plant

Genus: Stigmaria (likely belonging to the root system of Lepidodendron or Sigillaria)

Order: Lepidodendrales

Geological Period: Carboniferous

Stage: Pennsylvanian (Westphalian)

Stratigraphy: Coal Measures (part of the Scottish Coal Measures Group)

Location: Musselburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Depositional Environment: Low-lying equatorial swamp and floodplain environments where dense lycopod forests flourished. These environments formed the organic-rich layers that eventually transformed into coal seams.

Morphology & Features:

Stigmaria is characterised by a cylindrical, branching root structure with spirally arranged rootlet scars, forming the distinctive pitted pattern seen on the fossil’s surface

The preserved features show clear detail of the rootlet attachment points that supported anchorage in soft, waterlogged substrates

Typically preserved in grey shale or siltstone, reflecting anoxic burial conditions ideal for fossilisation

Provides key insights into the rooting systems of Carboniferous lycopod trees, the dominant flora of ancient coal-forming forests

Notability: Stigmaria fossils are among the most iconic plant fossils of the Carboniferous. Their distinct morphology and association with Lepidodendron and Sigillaria make them critical to understanding the ecology and evolution of the Earth’s earliest forested ecosystems. This specimen, from the historically significant coalfields near Musselburgh, represents a rare and regionally important find.

Additional Details:

All our fossils are 100% genuine specimens

Includes a Certificate of Authenticity

Photo shows the exact fossil for sale

Scale cube = 1cm – please refer to photos for precise sizing

Whether for education, research, or private display, this specimen offers a tangible connection to the lush primeval landscapes that once covered prehistoric Scotland. A perfect addition to any fossil or palaeobotanical collection.

[uk-fossils]

British Carboniferous Fossil Plants & Leaves – Coal Measures UK, Authentic Paleozoic Specimen

An outstanding collection piece featuring authentic British Carboniferous Fossil Plants and Leaves from the classic Coal Measures deposits of the Carboniferous Period, approximately 310–320 million years ago. These fossils were formed in the lush, swampy forests that once dominated prehistoric Britain, now preserved as detailed impressions in shale or siltstone.

The fossil assemblage typically includes various species of ferns (Neuropteris, Alethopteris), seed ferns (Pecopteris), lycopsids (Lepidodendron, Sigillaria), and horsetails (Calamites), representing the dominant vegetation of the time.

Fossil Type: Fossilised Plant Impressions (Leaves, Stems, and Fronds)

Geological Age: Carboniferous – Pennsylvanian Subperiod (Westphalian Stage)

Formation: Coal Measures (Upper Carboniferous)

Depositional Environment: These plants grew in lowland tropical wetlands and coal-forming swamps. Rapid burial by sediment in oxygen-poor environments led to remarkable preservation of delicate plant structures in fine-grained muds and silts.

Morphological Features:

Detailed vein and frond impressions

Often preserved as flat carbon films or positive/negative moulds

Fronds may show branching patterns and midrib structures

Notable:

Fossils from the iconic British Coal Measures

Includes representatives of extinct tree-sized club mosses and seed ferns

Excellent for educational use, fossil collectors, and display

Actual specimen photographed – scale rule = 1cm per square

Authenticity: All of our fossils are 100% genuine natural specimens and are supplied with a Certificate of Authenticity. The photo displays the exact specimen offered. Please refer to the image for full dimensions.

This fossilised record of ancient forest life offers an incredible window into Earth’s prehistoric ecosystems. A classic and educational specimen from the Carboniferous coal-forming landscapes of the UK.

[uk-fossils]

British Carboniferous Fossil Plants & Leaves – Coal Measures UK, Authentic Paleozoic Specimen

An outstanding collection piece featuring authentic British Carboniferous Fossil Plants and Leaves from the classic Coal Measures deposits of the Carboniferous Period, approximately 310–320 million years ago. These fossils were formed in the lush, swampy forests that once dominated prehistoric Britain, now preserved as detailed impressions in shale or siltstone.

The fossil assemblage typically includes various species of ferns (Neuropteris, Alethopteris), seed ferns (Pecopteris), lycopsids (Lepidodendron, Sigillaria), and horsetails (Calamites), representing the dominant vegetation of the time.

Fossil Type: Fossilised Plant Impressions (Leaves, Stems, and Fronds)

Geological Age: Carboniferous – Pennsylvanian Subperiod (Westphalian Stage)

Formation: Coal Measures (Upper Carboniferous)

Depositional Environment: These plants grew in lowland tropical wetlands and coal-forming swamps. Rapid burial by sediment in oxygen-poor environments led to remarkable preservation of delicate plant structures in fine-grained muds and silts.

Morphological Features:

Detailed vein and frond impressions

Often preserved as flat carbon films or positive/negative moulds

Fronds may show branching patterns and midrib structures

Notable:

Fossils from the iconic British Coal Measures

Includes representatives of extinct tree-sized club mosses and seed ferns

Excellent for educational use, fossil collectors, and display

Actual specimen photographed – scale rule = 1cm per square

Authenticity: All of our fossils are 100% genuine natural specimens and are supplied with a Certificate of Authenticity. The photo displays the exact specimen offered. Please refer to the image for full dimensions.

This fossilised record of ancient forest life offers an incredible window into Earth’s prehistoric ecosystems. A classic and educational specimen from the Carboniferous coal-forming landscapes of the UK.