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Fossilladyhttps://fossillady.wordpress.comThis is where I combine my photography and writing to share my fascination with fossils, beach stones, seashells and corals.

The Horseshoe Crab Plight and Interesting Facts

February 10, 2013 by Fossillady

The horseshoe crab holds a special place in many hearts around the world, including regions along the Atlantic Coast of the United States, such as The Delaware Bay. The map below reveals the horseshoe crab global distribution, including regions along the Indian Ocean and more. Every spring when these time-tested creatures show up by the thousands to spawn, it’s an amazing sight to behold. Even though I do not live in these regions, the famed yearly event has reached the interest and attention of my heart as well.

Horseshoe Crab Spawning Event

Horseshoe Crab on the Beach

Modern Day Plight

During my research of the horseshoe crab, I found myself feeling very sympathetic toward their modern day plight. An animal such as the horseshoe crab having survived millions of years through multiple mass extinctions deserves our respect. Because of over harvesting, abuse, habitat disappearance, pollution and their use as bait, the horseshoe crab is close to being on the threatened list. That would be a crime!

Horseshoe Crab Fossil

Because the animal dates back to the Paleozoic Era over 400 million years ago, I chose to include the horseshoe crab as one of the main characters in the upper-middle grade children’s book I completed recently titled It Happened Under the Devonian Moon. Her name is Breeva and she is a close cousin to another main character in the story since both creatures are arthropods possessing segmented bodies, jointed limbs and an external skeleton called an exoskeleton.

Bi-functional Book Gills of Horseshoe Crab

Help to Humans

The horseshoe crab blood contains copper which gives it the blue color, but more important, their blood contains an ingredient used to test pharmaceutics for impurities. The industry claims this does not harm the animal, but some sources debate this.

Horseshoe Crab Blue Blood

Horseshoe Crab Longevity and Interesting Facts

Horseshoe crabs are simple primitive creatures that haven’t changed much in over 400 million years. Science believes they have survived the eons for several reasons:

1) the size and shape of their exoskeleton shield

2) they can go a year without food

3) they adapt to high salt environments and extreme temperatures

4) their unique blood protects them from infection

* The Atlantic female species can grow 18 to 19 inches (46 to 48 cm) from head to tail, while the smaller males grow to approximately 14 to 15 inches (36 to 38 cm).

* They are gentle animals, non-threatening to humans

* They can breathe in and out of water using bi-functional book gills that resemble pages of a book

* Their thousands of eggs are vital to the survival of migratory birds and other sea animals

Horseshoe Crab Global Distribution

Source

A special in the book I previously mentioned depicts the horseshoe crab named Breeva and her adventure when she steps outside of the ocean for the first time in order to spawn while leaving behind her two closest companions, the spunky, little-cousin, trilobite and the unusually, friendly ammonite.

Horseshoe Crab Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthopoda (Animal having an external skeleton, segmented body and jointed legs)
Subphylum: Chelicerata (Small appendages to form pincers used to feed)
Class: Merostomato (Separates the Horseshoe crab from Eurypterids (extinct sea scorpions)
Order: Xiphosura (Includes extinct and modern Chelicerates)
Family: Limulidae (Modern horseshoe crab)
Genera Limulus (Atlantic horseshoe crab)
Species Polyphemus (Atlantic horseshoe crab)

Check out my fiction books featuring factual prehistory insights blended with imaginative storytelling that entertain as they educate, ages 11-15+ available on Amazon.com and IngramSpark. Also available, a coloring/activity book featuring scenes from both books and many of the plants and animals that lived during the amazing Devonian Time Period; fossil photos and descriptions included.

What is a favosites?

January 29, 2012 by Fossillady

(Charlevoix Stones) Favosites Honeycomb Coral Fossil

A favosites is a type of extinct coral. Favosites coral fossils most identifying feature is the honeycomb-like openings (corallites) revealing where the animal (polyps) lived. The polyp tentacles could tuck inside for safety, typically at night, or stretch out from their calcium-carbonate substrates in order to filter tiny food particles floating by in ocean currents.

Favosites Honeycomb Coral Fossil

The large fossil sample shown first is preserved in sedimentary claystone. It was found in a field in the city limits of Saugatuck, Michigan, part of the Ellsworth-Antrim Geological Formation (Mississippian-Devonian), in Allegan County, Southwestern Michigan, USA. This particular type of honeycomb coral fossil is more commonly found in Charlevoix, Michigan, situated in the Traverse Group Geological Formations in the far northwestern region of the state. Consequently, they’re often called, Charlevoix Stones.

The tabulae (horizontal internal layers) place the favosites corals in the order of tabulata with internal chambers that built outward and upwards as the organism grew.

Diagram of Favosites Internal Structure

The walls between corallites were pierced by pores known as mural pores which allowed transfer of nutrients between polyps as illustrated below.

(Charlevoix Stone) Favosites Honeycomb Coral Fossil Reveals Inner Growth Layers (Found on Oval Beach, Lake Michigan)

Like all coral, favosites corals thrived in warm, shallow, sunlit seas. They were a colony type coral forming colorful quilt-work reefs and fed by filtering microscopic plankton with their stinging tentacles. They were most prevalent during the Silurian and Devonian time slots, but date as far back as the Ordovician and forward to the Permian between 251-488 mya. That’s over 200 million years of living on earth . . . amazing!

Favosites Honeycomb Coral Fossil

Favosites Classification

Common Name: Honeycomb Coral Scientific Name: Favosites
Kingdom: Animal
Phylum: Cnidaria (means to sting)
Class: Anthozoa (means flower animal)
Order: Tabulata (possess inner horizontal dividing walls)
Family: Favositidae (honeycomb pattern on exoskeleton)
Genus: Favosites Species: Alpenensis (Charlevoix Stone)

Rendering Drawing of Extinct Favosites Honeycomb Coral Showing Polyps Drawn-out

Halysites Chain Coral Uncovered

January 26, 2012 by Fossillady

Oval Beach Saugatuck, Michigan (Winter 2012)

I was super excited to discover several fossils on Oval Beach in Saugatuck, Michigan, USA that are highly unusual to find in winter. The fossil below was lying under deep layers of sand, but luckily, the mild weather with minimal snowfall allowed winter winds to push sand off the under layers. Also contributing to fossil hunting were the low water levels from a long dry spell during the summer of 2012 which produced more beach to explore.

Halysites Chain Coral Fossil Found on Lake Michigan Beach

These fossil samples are from the extinct order of “Tabulate” reef building colony-type corals and from the genus,”Halysites”, commonly called, Chain Corals. They are fairly easy to distinguish due to the chain-link raised impressions for which they are named.

Halysites “Chain Coral” Fossil found on Lake Michigan Beach

As living creatures, the extinct Halysites corals possessed small tubes where the jelly-like polyps resided. The coral polyps contained stinging cells for protection and also for siphoning plankton and organic matter passing by in the ocean currents. As the Chain Corals grew, they built up walls of tube-like chambers called theca which steadily multiplied while adding more links to the chain. In their heyday, they built large limestone reef structures on the seabed. Halysites survived from the Ordovician Period (starting around 480 Mya) through the Silurian Period (ending around 416 Mya).

Halysites Chain Coral Classification

Kingdom: Animal

Phylum: Cnidaria (means stinging animal)

Class: Anthozoa (means flower animal)

Order: Tabulata (possess inner horizontal dividing walls from growth patterns)

Family: Halisitidae (means chain coral)

Genus: Halysites Species: unknown

Halysites Chain Coral Rendering Showing Polyps Extended

First Land Creature

January 27, 2011 by Fossillady

Millipede Trail Trace Fossil

The paleontology community agrees that around 425 million years ago during the Silurian Period, the first animal to show evidence of breathing oxygen from the air was a millipede. A millipede fossil was first discovered by an amateur collector from Scotland in 2004. It exhibited tiny openings not visible to the eye which taxonomists refer to as spiracles for oxygen intake.

Comparison to Centipedes

Millipedes are detrivores, feeding on decaying plant material, and most of them live in moist habitats. Unlike their cousin centipedes, most are not predators, they don’t bite or have a poison sting. They are slower moving because their numerous legs are tiny in proportion to the rest of their bodies. Another difference is their bodies are rounded and not flat like that of centipedes. Also, centipedes have one leg per body segment, whereas millipedes have two per segment.

North American Type Millipede (photo from Wikipedia)

Although their name suggests they have thousands of legs, the truth is, they commonly have between 36 to 400, which is still a lot of legs! The (Narceus, americanus) millipede shown in the photograph is a rather large species which grows up to four inches in length. I think its rather cute. Anyway, the Giant African Millipede is the largest millipede today reaching up to 12 inches in length, but the largest ever discovered in the entire history of millipedes dwarfs the African Millipede. It lived during the Carboniferous Age and scientists estimate it grew 3 feet (1 meter) long and a meter wide. The Carboniferous Age of lush tropical forests must have contributed to its gigantic stature!

Millipede Classification
Kingdom: Animal
Phylum: Arthopod (having segmented body, exoskeleton, jointed legs)
Class: Myriapoda (means 10,000 legs)
Class: Diplopoda (having two legs per segment)
Family: Spirobolidae (mean cylyndrical or rounded back)

Check out my fiction book, one of two in a series, with factual prehistory insights blended with imaginative storytelling that entertains as it educates. Perfect for young explorers interested in fossils or young readers who simply like a good story, ages 11-13+. Also available, a coloring/activity book featuring scenes from both fiction books and many of the plants and animals that lived during the amazing Devonian Time Period; fossil photos and descriptions included, available on Amazon.com and IngramSpark.

Simple as a Clam

December 16, 2010 by Fossillady

Did you know, in 2007 off the coast of Iceland, a clam was discovered to be at least 405 years old. It was declared the world’s oldest living creature by North Wales, Bangor University researchers. Hmm . . . maybe they’re not so simple after all!

Fossilized Encrusted Clam Shell Found on Lake Michigan Beach

Recently, I found three interesting clam shell fossils on the shore of Lake Michigan, in Southwestern Michigan USA. The first sample shown, clearly reveals the hardened muddy sediment that has completely encrusted its shell.

The clam fossil below has been completely replaced by minerals and is petrified to stone. It’s the mold of the original clam shell where sediment filled in the space where the animal’s soft body parts once lived. The smooth surface is a telltale demonstration of Lake Michigan’s sand and wave action.

Fossilized Clam Shell Mold Found on Lake Michigan Beach

With the use of two abductor muscles, bivalves or clams, can open and close their shells tightly. Very fittingly, the word “clam” gives rise to the metaphor “to clam up”, meaning to stop speaking or listening.

Clams are distinguished from other mollusks like oysters, mussels, and scallops because they typically bury themselves rather than attach themselves to substrates. Wikipedia

Clam Fossil (Limestone Mold) Found on Lake Michigan Beach

AGES: Clams have occupied Earth beginning as early as the Cambrian Period, 510 million years ago, and were quite abundant during the Devonian Period around 400 mya. According to a Smithsonian study, clams and other bivalves became highly abundant following the Permian-Triassic mass extinction (roughly 252 million years ago), with significant proliferation during the Mesozoic Era, specifically the Cretaceous Period (approx. 145–66 million years ago). During the Cretaceous, specialized bivalves called rudists dominated reef-building, replacing corals as the primary reef architects

Clam Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusk (Invertebrate animals with soft body encased in hard shell i.e. squid, snails, clams, chitons, octopus, nautilus)
Class: Bivalve or Pelycopod (Animals possessing two uneven halves called valves which are mirror images of each other joined at one edge by a hinge (i..e. oysters, mussels, scallops, clams)
Common Clam Classifications & Types:
Hard Shell Clams Quahogs (Mercenaria mercenaria) (See Photo Sample)
Softshell Clams (Mya arenaria): Known for brittle, chalky-white shells.
Razor Clams Elongated, narrow shells resembling an old-fashioned razor.
Geoduck (Panopea generosa): Very large clams with a gaping shell.

Photo Above: Northern Quahog Hardshell Clamshells Mercenaria sp My Seashell Gallery

For more clam photos, drawings and information you can go to another fossillady article HERE.

Did you know a worm can be pretty?

November 19, 2010 by Fossillady

Fan Tubeworms or Feather Duster Tubeworm Rendering/Drawing (Prehistoric Ostracoderm Fish Observing Tubeworms)

Tubeworm remnants attached to an extinct ammonite fossil shell

These little segmented sea worms secrete calcium carbonate to build a permanent protective tube over their bodies. They can attach themselves to many available surfaces such as rocks, clams or even other tubes of tubeworms. Their fossil record dates back as far as the Silurian Period around 443 million years ago, and today they are quite common worldwide. The worm living inside the tube is commonly called a “feather duster” or “fan worm” which displays a crown of feathery tentacles that it uses to strain micro-bits of food from the water. Therein lies the tubeworm beauty. Many seashells, living and fossilized, are encrusted with feather duster tubeworms and sometimes they completely over shadow their hosts with a large mass of crusty tubes.

Tubeworms Encrusted On Clam Shell

Tubeworms Can Show Off an Attractive Crown of Feathers

It’s true; they can be real pretty as you’ll see from the photo samples below and most likely this was true in the distant past as well. Today, there are approximately 344 known species of feather duster tubeworms that may show off a colorful, attractive crown of feathery plumes. But if you wish you could catch one in your local lake, you would be disappointed because they are all salt-water marine varieties. A breakdown of their taxonomy explains a lot about them which you should find very interesting.

Feather Duster Tubeworm (photo by Wikipedia)

CLASSIFICATION BREAKDOWN DEMONSTRATES TWO FAMILIES

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Annelid (means ringed one) Large group of segmented worms from 17,000 species ranging in size from microscopic to 3 meters long

Class: Polychaeta General marine group of annelid worms from 10,000 species; Each segment of the creature possesses a pair of outgrowths with bristles which help them hold onto objects. They have a well developed head with two to four eyes and antennas. They can be found worldwide and withstand the coldest and hottest temperatures known on the planet. From this group of annelids, they can be predators, herbivores, filter feeders, scavengers or parasites.

Order: Canalipalpata Bristle-footed or Fan-headed tubeworms

Suborder: Sabellida Sedentary marine worms that secrete calcium carbonate tubes

Peacock Tubeworm (Sabella, pavonina) (photo by Wikipedia)

Family 1: Sabellidae (Two Photo Samples Shown Above) Sedentary marine tubeworms where the head is mostly concealed by feathery branches. They reinforce their tubes with sand and bits of shell. They tend to be common in the ocean intertidal zones around the world.

Family 2: Serpulidae (Two Photo Samples Shown Below) Differs from Family #1 primarily by a specialized operculum, a cone shaped plug that often resembles a trumpet which blocks the tube entrance when the worms withdraw into their tubes.

Red Tubeworm, Plume worm or Calcareous Tubeworm (Serpula, vermicularus) (photo by Wikipedia)

The Red Tubeworm (Serpula, vermicularis) shown above can rapidly retract into its tube; is typically red, orange, or pink with transverse white strands; can be found in shallow intertidal zones to deep depths up to 800 meters deep. The tube can be curved but not spiraled.

The Christmas Tree Tubeworm (Spirobranchus, giganteus) shown below is named for its double spiraled plume of feathers and shape resembling a Christmas tree. They display a wide variety of colors.

Christmas Tree Tubeworm (Spirobranchus, giganteus) (photo by Wikipedia)

Interesting Side Note: According to a paper published February, 2000 in the journal, Nature, written by a Penn State research team, tubeworms living in the cold, calm depths in the Gulf of Mexico have surprisingly long life spans, especially compared to their cousins living in hot, active environments. Apparently, the cold climate tubeworms they studied take from 170 to 250 years to grow two meters long, while the hydrothermal-vent hot climate tubeworms grow well over a meter in just one year.

Mysterious Sponges

October 14, 2010 by Fossillady

Lake Michigan Sponge Fossil, Side View

This is one of the more unusual fossil finds from our shores of Lake Michigan in Southwestern Michigan USA! I’m 99.9 % sure it’s a fossilized sponge and not a coral due to the lack of septa, vertical growth walls. From the side view, you can see how the tubes, or pores, permeate down into the structure.

Lake Michigan Sponge Fossil, Top View

INTERESTING SPONGE FACTS: The most fascinating fact about sponges is their long extended history on Earth beginning 580 million years ago. The type of sponges we’re most familiar with are the ones we use for our households. Those are actually referred to as, demosponges, having entirely soft fibrous skeletons with no hard elements of which there are only a few species. After thousands of years, humans had almost harvested them to extinction by the 1950’s. Many are now being researched for a possible source of medicines.

Popular Tourist Spot Selling Natural Sponges, Source: en.wikipedia.org

HOW SPONGES LIVE: Sponges have delicate skeletons and rely on a constant water flow through their bodies to capture food and obtain oxygen. They don’t have a digestive or circulatory system like we do. They can actually change the shape of their bodies for maximum water flow. Most species have the ability to contract and squeeze the water out of their pores in order to flush out sediments clogging them. They can even escape from predators by squeezing out the water and shrinking themselves. For further defense, many shed spiky spicules to create a dense hazardous carpet around them which keeps away predators such as star fish.

SPONGE CLASSIFICATION

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Porifera (means to possess pores)

Four Classes

Demosponges – Largest class; Inner structure reinforced with collagen fibers and spine-like spicules made of silica minerals; Usually barrel shaped; Can live in a wide variety of habitats

Hexactinellida – Glass Sponges; Spiny spicules made of silica minerals forming inner scaffolding structure with gelatin substance weaved in between framework; likes Polar Regions

Calcareous – Outer exoskeleton and inner spicules made of calcium carbonate. Restricted to shallow marine waters where production of calcium carbonate is easiest to obtain.

Scleropongiae (Coralline or Tropical Reef Sponges) soft body that covers a hard, often massive skeleton made of calcium carbonate, either aragonite or calcite. The layered skeletons look similar to reef corals, therefore are also called coralline sponges.

Straight Shelled Nautiloids Have a Long History

September 25, 2010 by Fossillady

Straight-shelled nautiloids date back from the Cambrian Period roughly 500 million years ago and survived into the Late Triassic Period around 230 mya. That’s approximately 270 million years of living on earth . . . overwhelming and astounding! Their fossilized shells have been discovered all around the world in large assemblages commonly occurring in marine limestone rock.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, all the straight-shelled nautiloids were named orthoceras, creating a wastebasket taxon and confusion. To clarify, orthoceras is a specific genus of extinct nautiloids restricted to Middle Ordovician aged marine limestones of the Baltic States and Sweden. And more recently to add to the confusion, orthocone refers to just the straight shell.

Orthocone (Orthoceras) Straight-Shelled Nautiloid Fossil

The straight-shelled nautiloids were an abundant group of marine mollusk cephalopods that flourished during the Paleozoic timeslot and diminished by the end of the Triassic period into extinction. They are related to modern day cephalopods including octopus, squids, cuttlefish and the nautilus. They were also related to the extinct ammonites possessing coiled shells, which evolved after them. The straight-shelled nautiloids likely were not as agile as their cousin coiled-shelled ammonites. Both species possessed a siphuncle tube that ran through the entire lenght the animal’s inner chambers inside their shells. Each inner chamber was separated by a wall called, a septa wall. As the animal grew, it added another septa wall and a new septa chamber of a larger size.

To move throught the ocean water, the straight-shelled nautiloids and ammonites filled their inner chambers with water by using the siphuncle tube. They then forced the water out which propelled them backward with a kind of jet propulsion. The tube also served as a buoyancy device by releasing the water and leaving air space. This allowed the animal to raise and lower itself through various ocean depths.

The straight-shelled nautiloids possessed 8 to 10 powerful tentacles which protruded from the wide opened end of its shell and out its head. The tentacles detected and captured prey. The animal possessed well developed eyes, a beak and a well developed brain and head with a hood.

(Orthoceras) Straight-Sheled Nautiloid Fossil

Their fossils have been quarried by Europeans for many years and adorn floors, stairs, jewelry, gravestones and more with their durable and desirable beauty.

The straight-shelled nautiloids displayed extreme diversity in size from a few inches to 14 feet in length. One of the largest straight-shell giants from the earliest years, Cameroceras, reached approximately 30 feet ( 9 meters) in length.

CLASSIFICATION

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusk (large diverse group of invertebrates with soft bodies encased in a shell i.e. clams, snails, oysters )

Class: Cephalopoda (means prominent head and tentacles i.e. squid, octopus, nautilus, cuttlefish)

Subclass: Nautiloidea (series of chambers of increasing size connected by a central tube)

Order: Orthocerida (extinct group of cephalopods possessing long straight shells)

Family: Orthoceridae (early Ordovician to the Triassic period (approx. 490–200 million years ago) straight horn nautiloids)

Genus: Orthoceras (means straight horn)

Cephalopod Straight Shelled Nautiloid Orthoceras Drawing Rendition

Check out my fiction book, one of two in a series, featuring factual prehistory insights blended with imaginative storytelling that educates as it entertains. Also availabale, a coloing/activity book featuring scenes from both books along with many of the plants and animals that lived during the amazing Devonian Time Period; fossil photos and descriptions included. Perfect for young explorers interested in fossils or young readers who simply like a good story. Ages 11-15+ available on a Amazon.com

Earth’s Original Land Tree Plant

September 17, 2010 by Fossillady

Was the “Calamite” the first tree-like plant to grow on land? Many scientists believe so. It possibly grew up to 100 feet (30 meters) tall, towering above the sparse landscape during its lengthy lifespan. Its earliest ancestral calamites were herbaceous and small appearing approximately 400 million years ago during the Devonian Time Period. The Calamite tree-like species trived during the tropical coal swamps of the Carboniferous roughly 360 million years ago before dying out at the end of the Permian mass extinction roughly 250 million years ago.

Devonian to Carboniferous Age Calamite Tree Leaf Imprint “Annularia” Trace Fossil

The trunk of the Calamite tree-like plant was a woody hollow tube, lacking true bark. The calamite resembled modern day bamboo with segments and ribbing. The leaves called “annularia” were primitive and needle like, arranged in whorls around a stem.

Trace Fossil Imprint of Devonian to Carboniferous Age Calamite Tree Stem

The Calamite-tree reached its zenith durng the hot swamp tropics of the past, particularly during the Pennsylvanian Period around 300 mya. Many of their fossils have been found worldwide including, USA, China, Canada, South America and Europe.

Internal and External Imprint Fossil of Calamite Tree Stem

The three amazing fossils above were found in Sebastian County, Arkansas in an old coal strip mine in 1993 by Michael A. Whitkanack, who donated them to my classroom. They are actually the imprints of the Calamite’s leaves and stems which scientists refer to as trace fossils.

Devonian to Carboniferous Era Calamite Tree (Earth’s First Tree-Like Land Plant) Rendition Drawing

CLASSIFICATION

Scientific Name: Calamite Common Name: Horsetail / Wiskfern

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Pteridophyta (ferns, reproduce by spores)

Class: Sphenopsida or Equisetopsida (means ribbed, vertical jointed stem; bamboo like in appearance)

Order: Equisetales (ancient, arborescent (tree-like) relative of modern-day horsetails (Equisetum)

Family: Calamitaceae (extinct family of tree-sized, spore-bearing plants closely related to modern horsetails)

Genus: (STEM) Calamite (LEAF) Annularia

Special Note: The Calamite may look familiar to some. Their modern descendants are the “horsetails” of today. They grow in open fields and edges of woodlands, but only reach a few feet tall.

The “horsetail” or Equisetum is an amazing living fossil related to the Calamites, the only surviving genus from the entire class of Equisetopsida. For millions of years, the Equisetopsidas were much more diverse and flouished during the late Paleozoic, Permian and Carboniferous forests. Through the millenniums, they decomposed layer by layer, sinking deep and eventually contributing to the coal deposits of today.

The Extinct Medullosa Tree and its Leaves called “Neuropteris”

September 14, 2010 by Fossillady

Neuropteris Fossil Leaf Imprint

Extinct Neuopteris leaves are associated with the extinct tree called Medullosa, an ancestor of the flowering plant group. They flourished at the same time as the tree called Psaronius associated with the leaf called Pecopteris during the hot swamps of the Carboniferous through the Permian time slots around 360 to 250 million years ago. Earth’s cooling temperatures likely contributed to both of these trees disappearances.

Comparison Neuropteris Vs. Pecopteris Leaf Fossil Identification: One way to tell the difference between these two leaf fossil imprints is by examining the mid-vein of their leaflets. In Neuropteris, the vein stops midway up the leaflet and splits into several fine veins, whereas the mid-vein in Pecopteris extends up to the tip. Neuropteris leaflets are more blunt tipped and attach by a single stem as opposed by the entire base, as with Pecopteris. Also, Neuropteris has a more overall heart shape. A link to my article about the Psaronius tree, associated with the Pecopteris leaf, for photo comparison is provided at the end of this article.

Note: The reason these extinct trees have different names from their leaves is because scientists discovered them at different times and assigned them separate names before they put them together. If you think this creates confusion, I would have to agree.

NEUROPTERIS LEAF CLASSIFICATION

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Tracheophyta (vascular plants with system of transporting nutrients and liquids)

Class: Gymnosperm (means bare seeds – today’s examples i.e. conifers, cyads, ginkgo)

Order: Pteridospermales (extinct group of seed-ferns which bore seeds on leaves)

Family: Medullosales (plants with complex pollen organs and large fronds)

Genera: Neuropteris (given name of foliage)

Carboniferous to Permian Era Medullosa Seed Fern Tree Rendition Drawing

Medullosa seed-bearing tree is associated with the leaves called “Neuropteris”. Medullosa was a medium sized tree, often called seed-fern tree, reaching about 33 feet (10 meters) tall. It was not a true fern because it produced seeds, instead of spores. It only resembled fern trees and grew during the same era as the true fern trees, for example the “Psaronius” tree associated with the “Pecopteris” leaves. The leaves of Medullosa had many leaflets attached to a leaf stem which could grow quite large, as much as 10 feet (3 meters) long.

MEDULLOSA TREE CLASSIFICATION

Kingdom: Plantae

Clade: Traceophytes (Large group of vascular plants with transport system for nutrients and fluids)

Division: Pteridosperm(aphyta) (Extinct group of seed bearing plants)

Order: Medullosales (Plants with complex pollen organs and large fronds)

Family: Neurodontopteridaceae (Neuropteris Leaf)

Genus: Medullosa (Seed-bearing, fern-like plants)

For photos and descriptions of the Psaronius tree and its Pecopteris leaves that lived during the same time period of Medullosa go HERE , otherwise keep scrolling if you are viewing from the “Categories” list under “Tree Fossils”