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Post by pleecan (Peter Lee) on Nov 6, 2011 20:13:38 GMT -5
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Post by Joe Botting on Nov 6, 2011 20:57:57 GMT -5
Another interesting one from the Bertie... it is turning up a lot. Now, is this a plant, or is it a chitinous hydroid? The brownish stains around the bundles suggest something with a thick stem (i.e. plant), but then what do the individual strands represent? Or is the stain a diagenetic thing reflecting a slight pyritic halo? In that case, I'd be tempted by a hydroid explanation - there are a lot of similar black fibrous in the Silurian graptolitic siltstones of Wales, and they're normally referred tentatively to hydroids. I'm really not sure what this is... have you got any specific genera in mind?
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Post by pleecan (Peter Lee) on Nov 6, 2011 21:44:49 GMT -5
I am not too sure either Joe.... thought it was seaweed.... this was found is a scrap pile that some one threw out..... I am not familiar with Hydroids... got to look it up : ).... most of the rock at the Bertie is blank so I pick up stuff with squiggle lines on it for closer examination...
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Post by pleecan (Peter Lee) on Nov 7, 2011 5:26:25 GMT -5
Well Joe.... thought branches look like Chondrites verus (Ruedemann) mixed up with graptolite... Diplospirograptus goldringae nov. (carbonized strands)....
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Post by ammocarbsteve on Nov 7, 2011 15:21:40 GMT -5
Peter... Quite detailed under magnification showing some very nice structure... not a bad find from a scrap pile ;o)
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Post by pleecan (Peter Lee) on Nov 7, 2011 15:50:14 GMT -5
Thanks Steve... People throw out a bunch of good stuff into the waste piles : )
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Post by pleecan (Peter Lee) on Nov 7, 2011 21:47:24 GMT -5
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Post by Joe Botting on Nov 7, 2011 22:15:16 GMT -5
At least some of the strands seem to be pyritised internally, suggesting they're hollow. This would fit hydroid better than plant, unless they're vascular bundles, (if it's a secondarily aquatic plant). And there's no obvious sign of apertures, which you'd expect to see in a hydroid, although they can be hard to spot. I don't have access to Chondrites verus at the moment, but the distribution is so tight, it's got to be either a single organism, or an endoparasite (and no, I'm not seriously suggesting anything of the sort  ). I'm still not sure on this - I think we need a plant specialist to comment here. If I had to bet, I reckon it will end up as a secondarily aquatic plant with loose vascular bundles in the branches, but that may be because I'm almost entirely ignorant about plants and am therefore guessing.  |
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Post by pleecan (Peter Lee) on Nov 8, 2011 5:27:07 GMT -5
Thanks Joe.... I am also ignorant of the Bertie biota.... lots of interesting material to be had... Bertie still amazes me.... one quirky deposit that has some weird specimens.... including Lazarus Taxons.....
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). I'm still not sure on this - I think we need a plant specialist to comment here. If I had to bet, I reckon it will end up as a secondarily aquatic plant with loose vascular bundles in the branches, but that may be because I'm almost entirely ignorant about plants and am therefore guessing. 