Fern Fossils
By PaleoScene www.paleo.cc

Glen J. Kuban
4726 Grayton Rd
Cleveland, OJ 44135
Phone 440-241-2509
E-mail: gkpaleo@yahoo.com



Fossil Seed Ferns from central Pennsylvania

Llewellyn Formation, Pennsylvanian Period

The seed fern fossils shown here represent plants in an ancient bog over 300 million years ago--long before dinosaurs roamed the earth. They are the type of plants that compressed into coal over time. The site from which these fossils were collected is the only area in the world where the fossils show dramatic white to yellow-orange colors, as opposed to brown or black compressions at other sites. The colors are entirely natural--the result of a unique preservational environment. The plants lived in a swampy, oxygen poor habitat. When they died, a combination of low temperature, pressure, and oxygen allowed the plant tissues to be replaced by pyrite (iron sulphides). Pyrophyllite (aluminum silicate, a whitish mineral) is believed to have replaced the pyrite later, as the sediments piled up and the temperature and pressure increased. The yellow and orange colors are caused by iron oxide residues. Several different plant species are found at the site; the most common are seed ferns called Alethopteris, Neuropteris, Pecopteris, and Sphenophyllum, with Alethopteris by far the most common.

(Click on images for larger views)


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ID: F07
Alethopteris

$14.00

ID: F14
Alethopteris and Neuropteris

$15.00


Front

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ID: F15 Alethopteris
and a few Neuropteris leaves

$16.00

NOTE: Only one half of this specimen is now available (the left half)


Front

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ID: F17 Alethopteris and stems

$20.00

ID: F09-1

Alethopteris and Neuropteris

$16.00