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Dominik Niehaus posted a new specimen. 3 years, 11 months ago
3 years, 11 months ago3 years, 11 months agoDominik Niehaus has contributed specimen mFeM 68598 to myFOSSIL!
Dominik Niehaus posted a new specimen. 3 years, 11 months ago
Dominik Niehaus has contributed specimen mFeM 68598 to myFOSSIL!
Oh no, they’re definitely plant fossil. Probably seed ferns. my photos didn’t come out great, but you can spot a few fronds.
I added some close-ups of the leaves, but as I said, they’re not ferns but seed ferns – plants that look “fern-ish” in the fossil record but differ both in the structure of their leaves and the fact that they have seeds instead of spores.
@i-edwards @dominik-niehaus Hi, everybody! Very cool fossil! It has a ferny texture to the leaves, so I’d say it’s a plant. In fact it looks similar to this one:
Specimen 64064
What do you all think?
@Nathan-Newell Yup, that looks very similar – and according to a quick Google search, Neuropteris has been found in the Ruhr Area.
Hi, @Nathan-Newell, @Dominik-Niehaus, and @I-Edwards! @Mackenzie-Smith might also be able to chime in!
@i-edwards, @samantha-ocon, @dominik-niehaus and @nathan-newell, Wow, I’m popular today. Yes, I agree with Nathan and Dominik that this is a species of Neuropteris. The midvein of the pinnule attaches to the rachis without any laminar attachment. This, however, is not a fern despite having foliage that looks like ferns. These plants produce seeds instead of spores and belong to an extinct group called the Pteridospermatophytes. They are common though large slabs are nice and hard to come by just because they are difficult to excavate and transport.