Ever Seen Something Like This?

[Odd Rocks]

This piece had just gone through a 30-minute sonic cleaning cycle.  I was looking it over with a jeweler’s glass to see what was left to clean when I was startled to see something green in a crevice.  Not just green, but something that was shaped like an aloe vera plant and very, very small.  The establishing shots were taken with an iPhone on its highest 6x telephoto, the close-ups were done with a digital microscope at about 50x magnification.  

1. ‘Anyone found something like this in a piece you were cleaning?  What is it?
2. How has it survived multiple cycles in the sonic cleaner, brush cleaning and at least one acid dunk?

[Ludwigia]

Location? Stratigraphy? Lithology? Are you familiar with the paragenesis of the surrounding matrix? Is that "something green" solid or pliable?

[Fossildude19]

6 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

Location? Stratigraphy? Lithology? Are you familiar with the paragenesis of the surrounding matrix? Is that "something green" solid or pliable?

 

I think he is asking about the plant that appears to be rooted in the rock. 

His finds come from a glacial till.

 

 

[connorp]

What does this have to do with paracrinoids (one of the tags)?

[Ludwigia]

43 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

 

I think he is asking about the plant that appears to be rooted in the rock. 

His finds come from a glacial till.

 

 

 

I was wondering that too, but I just wanted to make sure. Can't really tell from the photo if it's mineral or plant, since I've seen copper secondary minerals with this form.

[Coco]

How big is this thing ? Is it hard or soft? It reminds me of a fresh foam...

 

It would be better to have sharper photos and made in the daylight.

 

Coco

[Al Dente]

Looks like moss growing in the crack.

[Isotelus2883]

Atrichum undulatum.

[Coco]

So it’s definitely a foam.

 

Coco

[Ludwigia]

8 minutes ago, Coco said:

So it’s definitely a foam.

 

Coco

Dear Coco. I know that the french word mousse can be translated as foam, but the proper english word is moss

[Coco]

My dear Roger, I thank you for these clarifications, it is indeed not always easy to navigate in a language that is not our own

 

So we agree that it is a very small recent plant, often found in the undergrowth and on old stumps ?

 

Have a nice day.

 

Coco

[Odd Rocks]

Thanks for that y’all.  Moss’ can be very durable and this one survived chemical dunking and multiple brush and sonic cleansings.  Here;s abefore poc of the same piece.

 

I think the piece is a paracrinoid, but I’ll defend that in the ID forum.

 

Another question germane to this thread, how do I take better photos?  I seem to be having trouble producing pics that clearly show the details of my pieces.  Coco suggests using daylight instead of artificial light.  I take these pictures directly underneath 6 LED mini-cans on a ceiling fixture and the digital microscope has a directed light that I have to adjust to avoid washing out the image.  Can anyone recommend better methods or maybe a better digital camera to take closeups with?  It is very difficult to get my iPhone to focus close up and my digital microscope is cheap and very hard to focus well.

 

 

[Odd Rocks]

And that entire plant is less than 1mm across.

[Ludwigia]

1 hour ago, Odd Rocks said:

And that entire plant is less than 1mm across.

 

So the green object is pliable which makes it a plant? You still haven't answered my questions about stratigraphy, lithology and location. What makes you think that this is a Paracrinoid?

[Odd Rocks]

Someone else answered, the fossil is one of many intact “heads” I’ve found coming out of glacial till.  I believe the fossil is a paracrinoid, not the plant.  I think the fossil is a paracrinoid because it has three thecal body plates, and orifices (anus and mouth) that don’t align with the “stem”.  I can also see food grooves and feint traces of brachioles.  I’ll post the fossil after I’ve cleaned it a bit more and figure out how to photograph these observations.

 

The plant was too small to poke with anything to test for pliability.  The plant is less than 1mm across.

Edited August 1 by Odd Rocks
Clarity

[trilobites_are_awesome]

49 minutes ago, Odd Rocks said:

Someone else answered, the fossil is one of many intact “heads” I’ve found coming out of glacial till.  I believe the fossil is a paracrinoid, not the plant.  I think the fossil is a paracrinoid because it has three thecal body plates, and orifices (anus and mouth) that don’t align with the “stem”.  I can also see food grooves and feint traces of brachioles.  I’ll post the fossil after I’ve cleaned it a bit more and figure out how to photograph these observations.

 

The plant was too small to poke with anything to test for pliability.  The plant is less than 1mm across.

This is not a paracrinoid. They are incredibly rare and are Definitely not going to found in glacial till.

[Isotelus2883]

Many of these extremely geodised fossils are fragmentary. They also much more commonly form around horn corals, partial gastropods, and other things. I don’t see why this is more probably a paracrinoid than a horn coral fragment.