Fossil Pennsylvanian Horsetail (Asterophyllites) Plate - France

This is a Pennsylvanian aged fossil horsetail (Asterophyllites) plate from Griassessac, France. There are two stalks of Asterophyllites, unrelated whorls and a section of unidentified plant material. The longest stalk is 2.4" and shows seven whorls (clusters of leaflets). The shorter stalk is 2.0" with 8 whorls. The black fossils stand out nicely against the grey rock.

This is a carbon film fossil, a two dimensional image of an organism. Unlike impression fossils, carbon film fossils show no evidence other than a color change in the rock. All of the original organism has disappeared with the exception of the carbon contained with in it. This is deposited on the rock and forms the image we call the fossil. This usually occurs when a soft bodied organism, is buried in multiple layers of sediment, underwater and is slowly dissolved until is has disappeared. This leaves only a microscopically thin layer of carbon in the shape of the original organism.

Comes with an acrylic stand.