Pennsylvanian Period Plants

Fossil plants from the Pennsylvanian Period (about 318 to 299 million years ago) on display at the Indiana State Museum.

This first fossil is a Neuropteris plicata.  It is some type of seed fern.

Next fossil is an Annularia stellata.

 

This next fossil is an Asterotheca oreopteridia.

 

This last fossil is an Annularia radiata.

 

Devonian Period Plants

Devonian Period (about 416 to 359 million years ago) plants found in the New Albany Shale. These fossils are on display at the Indiana State Museum.


This first two fossil images are of a Callixylon newberryi trunk fossil.  More than likely the tree trunk floated into an area of Indiana and then sank.  Over time the trunk became fossilized.

 

These last two images are of what might be a Calamites in the New Albany Shale.  The Calamites has a relative alive today referred to as Horsetails.

 

 

Mississippian Period Fossils

Crawfordsville Indiana crinoids on display at the Indiana State Museum called Sarocrinus varsouvensis, Onychocrinus ulrichi, and Camptocrinus crawfordsvillensis.  The inside of the shell of a brachiopod called Echinoconchus alternatus is also displayed.  These fossils are found in the Edwardsville Formation and existed in the Mississippian Period (approximately 359 to 318 million years ago).