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  • Keith Schmidt posted an image in the group Group logo of What is it?What is it? from the myFOSSIL app 4 years, 9 months ago

    4 years, 9 months ago
    4 years, 9 months ago

    Lepidodendron?

    • They look like it… where did you find these? Also, paging @mackenzie-smith

    • A relative passed away and had them displayed in his house. Unfortunately he passed suddenly and there was no identification on anything. He was a geologist so needless to say learning about rocks and minerals as well!

    • There appear to be one or two specimens that have the diamond-shaped leaf scars similar to lepidodendron however, the rest do not so I think there might be a mix of woods. For those larger specimens can you is the cross section visible? That is generally the better angle for plant stem ID.

    • Sure can! I am working on getting some 3D pictures for Michigan State University so i can pass them along.

    • also they had this to say about them.. Well, I sent the photos around to several knowledgeable colleagues, and some of those have “stumped the chumps!”  There are some definite plant fossils— the smaller prone one in the middle and another, far right— that may be cycads.  The large elongated, somewhat pointed ones bear a resemblance to the horns of extinct rhino-like animals, but they don’t closely match anything in our collections or in references that would confirm it. And at least one person thinks they could all be vegetative in nature (plants). But at this point we must admit that “we don’t know!”  It would help if we had some additional information on where these came from and how they were collected…

      I’d suggest sharing photos of these specimens more widely, perhaps contacting fossil experts at the American Museum (New York), Field Museum (Chicago), or the Smithsonian (National Mus NH). It may help to actually show these to the “experts,” since photos don’t always provide all the information necessary. Also, every February the MSU Museum has an event called “Darwin Discovery Day” where people can bring in natural specimens for (possible) identification. We’d love to see them and be glad to take a closer look. (Watch for annoucement of date on the Museum website).