This is Mazon Monday post #207. What's your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:[email protected].
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Spiropteris sp. are immature fern fronds. They are also called fiddleheads.
The name Spiropteris was established in 1869 by Wilhelm Philippe Schimper (1808-1880), who was an Alsatian botanist. From 1862 until 1879, he was a professor of geology and natural history at the University of Strasbourg. Schimper made significant contributions to bryology and paleobotany. His biggest contribution was proposing a new division for the geological time scale. He called the new epoch the "Paleocene Era", which was based on paleobotanical findings from the Paris Basin.
Wilhelm Philippe Schimper
The cover of the book "A Comprehensive Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek" by Jack Wittry features a painting of a fiddlehead.
This painting was created by Peggy Macnamara, who is the Artist in Residence at the Field Museum in the Division of Birds. She has served in that position since 1990. Her website is peggymacnamara.com. This inspiration for this painting is the specimen shown below.
Spiropteris appears on page 141 of Wittry's "A Comprehensive Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek".
Spiropteris sp. Schimper, 1869
1958. Spiropteris Schimper; Langford: p. 182, fig. 319
1976. Spiropteris Schimper; Crookall: p. 864, pl. 161, figs. 1-5; pl. 166, figs. 6, 8, 9DESCRIPTION: Spiropteris foliage coils from the tip downward. In some examples, leaves are not apparent and appear only as coiled vines.
REMARKS: Spiropteris is common. They are immature leaves of true ferns and at least one known species of seed fern. In the Mazon Creek flora, there are poorly preserved examples of Spiropteris with Laveineopteris rarinervis foliage similar to the vine-type seen in Fig. 3. See Laveineopteris rarinervis. Present-day forms are commonly referred to as fiddleheads.
Specimens
Spiropteris sp.- FMNH PP26844
From Wittry's "A Comprehensive Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek".
