This is the "Fossil Friday" post #244. 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 hash tag #FossilFriday on Twitter/X and Bluesky for contributions from around the world!
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The Knob Noster, Missouri fossil deposit is contemporaneous with Mazon Creek, which dates to 307 - 309 million years ago. Back in the Pennsylvanian, a large bay separated the two deposits. The red dot below represents Wilmington, IL 300 million years ago. Looking at the outline of Missouri, Knob Noster is in the middle west portion of Missouri, just southeast of Kansas City.
Paleo Map from https://dinosaurpictures.org/
Fossils from Knob Noster are found in concretions just like Mazon Creek. But, the Matrix is quite a bit different, being much lighter in color and seemingly less dense. We had a beautiful spider from Knob Noster (Fossil Friday #84). a nice Neuropteris vermicularis (Fossil Friday #87), and most recently we did a post (Fossil Friday #232) will some information about Chuck Barlow, who lives in Knob Noster, MO and comes to the MAPS Expo to sell many of the specimens he finds on his property.
Laveiniopteris rarinervis (Mazon Monday #81) is an extinct species of seed fern from the Pennsylvanian Period. This sweet specimen has a partial branch and multple rachis with many pinnules. It was purchased at the MAPS Expo in October of 2024.
