Chaetocladus Primitive Silurian Plant Fossil

Description: Plants are somewhat poorly represented during the Early Silurian due to the lack of suitable depositional environments. Noncalcified algae are particularly rare due to the lack of hard parts. They presumably were found in widespread locations, but without the proper conditions for preservation, few traces have been found. A deposit in Estonia was found late in the last decade which sheds some light on the variety of such thallophytic algae. This one has a feathery appearance and is known as Chaetocladus, a genus that first emerged in the Middle Ordovician. This is one of several types I have been fortunate enough to acquire. Note that it has a flattened base for self-display.

Reference: Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences, Vol 58 No 1, 2009, pp38-42.