This is the “Fossil Friday” post #338. 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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Jeff Allen recently sent us photos of a fossil he found at Braceville. The specimen is Stigmaria, the underground rooting structure associated with arborescent lycophytes such as Sigillaria and Lepidodendron.

Plant fossils are relatively rare at Braceville, which makes this an especially interesting find. Braceville is an Essex biota locality, best known for its marine animals rather than the abundant plant fossils more commonly associated with the terrestrial and freshwater-influenced Braidwood biota.

Back in April, our friends at the Field Museum published a paper about CT scanning of Stigmaria fossils. There can be a lot of hidden detail in those fossils, see Mazon Monday #320.

This is a very nice specimen of Stigmaria. Thanks for sharing, Jeff!