This is the “Fossil Friday” post #325. 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!
Jeremy Zimmerman sent in photos of this breathtaking Radstockia kidstonii. R. kidstonii is a very rare true fern from Mazon Creek. Its pinnules and fertile structures are similar to the modern fern Marattia alata.
It was originally named Radstockia sphenopteroides by George Langford in his first book “The Wilmington Coal Flora From a Pennsylvanian Deposit in Will County Illinois” in 1958. It was later reclassified by Thomas N. Taylor in “On the structure and phylogenetic relationships of the fern Radstockia kidston.” in 1967. Taylor named Radstockia kidstonii for Robert Kidston (1852-1924), a Scotish botanist and paleobotanist. For more information, see Mazon Monday #243.
Thanks for sharing this beautiful specimen, Jeremy!
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