This is the "Fossil Friday" post #153. Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website. We will post any fossil pictures you send in to [email protected]. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world!
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Now for something completely... well slightly... different. This is a Neuropteris from the Cutacre Opencast in Manchester, England. It dates to about 320 million years ago. Very similar plants and animal fossils are known from the coal mines in the UK. Fossiliferous concretions are sometimes referred to as "pebbles" in the UK.
The Cutacre strip mine once had the largest slagheap in Europe, but has been since recovered as a 550 acre park. Here is what it looked like before recovery.
After recovery, which while good for the environment... most likely sealed away very nice fossils forever.
On to the fossil photos...
