Thursday, February 16, 2012

Plant Fossils at State Park


Last week, I visited the interpretive center at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, Indiana located across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. They have two temporary fossil displays that have nice specimens to observe. One on paleoecology and the second on plants from the fossil collection of Herb Miracle. These pictures represent just a small sample of the specimens on display so if you get a chance visit and check out all the fossils.

The first fossil shown is of a long (30+ cm) section of Calamites from the Pennsylvanian Period layers of eastern Kentucky. The next image if a Lepidodendron aculeatum imprint found the Carboniferous of France.

Next is another French plant fossil called Syringodendron.
The following image is an eastern Kentucky plant fossil identified as Lescuropteris.
The next pictures shows two segments of a Stigmaria fucoides from eastern Kentucky.
Last picture is of another eastern Kentucky Pennsylvanian Period plant fossil Neuropteris.