This is the “Fossil Friday” post #98.  Expect this to be a somewhat regular feature of the website.  We will post any fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Please include a short description or story.  Check the #FossilFriday Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world!

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Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri, a seed fern, is up for this week’s Fossil Friday.  However, this specimen is from Knob Noster in Missouri not Mazon Creek.  The Knob Noster locality is thought to be contemporaneous with Mazon Creek, which dates to about 307 million years ago.  Back in the Pennsylvanian, a large bay is thought to have 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.

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 much less dense.  We had a spider from Knob Noster back in Fossil Friday #84 and a Neuropteris vermicularis in Fossil Friday #87.