Don McDonald found a rock with what looked like nice specimens
of
Asterophyllites, one of the forms of the foliage connected with
Calamites. The rock was very large and it was difficult to extract
intact pieces.
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Fig. 5 - Reconstructed
portion of a large strap-shaped leaf of Cordaites |
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This was a common problem because much of
the rock at this site is
shale, and splitting rocks means some fossils may break or even
disintegrate.
This nearly happened to me on the next fossil I found. Near
where
Don was working, I found the interesting fossil shown here. It broke up
when I started to try and extract it, but the pieces could be put
together like a puzzle as in the photograph. At first, I thought this
was a Calamites impression, but the long striations and the narrowing
of the fossil towards its end reveals this to be a giant strap-shaped
leaf of Cordaites. Note the lack of any nodes, which rules out the
Calamites interpretation completely.
Matthew Valente, who came as a guest with Jim and Faye
Lacefield,
found a round-leafed fossil fern that I had not seen before. Matthew
tentatively identified it as Mariopteris robusta. According to Jim,
this is a common species near the south part of the well-known Warrior
Basin, but it is not common in Walker County where Cedrum is located.
This field trip was combined with our traditional "Christmas
season
gathering" and several members brought the fixings for our lunch that
were shared by everyone. Thanks to Jim Lacefield and James Lowery for
comments and additions to this report, and especially to Steve Minkin
and his son for making and bringing the delicious gumbo as our main
course!
--Edited by Vicki Lais
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