This is the “Fossil Friday” post #322. Expect this to be a regular feature of the website. We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world!

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For this week’s Fossil Friday, we have a very nice Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri (see Mazon Monday #39). Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri is a fairly common seed fern, which is found in many Carboniferous fossil deposits. In some Mazon Creek localities like the Mazon River, it’s a dominant component of the flora. It was called Neuropteris scheuchzeri until 1977, when the classification was changed by Robert Gastaldo after extensive studies on European examples that looked at its frond architecture and cuticle.

M. scheuchzeri was named for the Swiss physician and natural scientist Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672-1733).

This particular specimen of M. scheuchzeri comes from the Dresden locality (see Mazon Monday #235). Dresden was known for large concretions with detailed fossils in dark colors, grays and blacks. Unfortunately, the dark colors can be hard to photograph. Large concretions generally means large fossils and large plants were found at Dresden along with interesting terrestrial animals.