Name/Title
Primitive Conifer NeeldesEntry/Object ID
07.57.15Description
A needle/Leaf imprint. This ancient conifer-like tree, which lived from the late Carboniferous to the early Permian, resembled the modern conifer "Norfolk Island Pine" (Araucaria heterophylla): the trunks of both would bear their main branches in periodic whorls, five or six branches to a whorl.
Leaf fossils in this case are carbon films that remain on the bedding surfaces of fine-grained sediments. Fossilization happened after the leaves sank to the bottom of a pond, lake or swamp and were later buried by additional fine-grained sediments. With burial, the leaves were compressed and the sediment surrounding them solidified. Eventually these fine-grained sediments became sandstone, shale or mudstone. When all the volatile organic material in the living leaf was pressed out, only a thin carbon residue was left in the sediment, marking the outline and veins of the leaf.
Clade: Tracheophytes
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: †Voltziales
Family: †Lebachiaceae (?)
Genus: †Walchia
Species: †W. piniformis
Rock and Mineral Data (Silica):
Assemblage Zone: sandstone
Chemical Composition: Si O2
Crystal System: Subhedral
Type of Fossils Present: Plants
Fracture: conchoidal
Grain Size: Medium
Hardness: 7 Quartz
Luster: Vitreous
Pressure: Moderate
Rock Color: Dark
Rock Origin: Marine/Freshwater
Rock Type: Sedimentary
Specific Gravity: 2.6
Surface Process: Not apparent
Temperature: Low
Texture: fine grainCollection
Fossil CollectionAcquisition
Accession
07.57Source or Donor
Fossil CollectionAcquisition Method
DonationOther Names and Numbers
Other Number
Other Number: 2007.57.15Dimensions
Width
6-1/8 inDepth
1/4 inLength
5-3/8 inDimension Notes
Dimensions taken at widest pointsLocation
Location
Container
LeftDrawer
2nd ShelfShelf
LeftCabinet
Case #102Wall
East WallRoom
Wood roomBuilding
Mentzer Hall - Petrified Wood RoomCategory
PermanentNotes
Mislabeled as 07.58.15 on the exhibit tag.
