Huge Cyclopteris Fossil Leaflet of Neuropteris Seed Fern

Description: Cyclopteris is the form genus given to leaflets of Neuropteris seed ferns that are found detached from rest of the plant. As Neuropteris leaves go, this one is huge. The extinct Neuopteris is a member of the seed ferns (Pteridospermatophyta), of which there are numerous species. The fossil record evidences primitive forms in the late Devonian age. They particularly flourished during the Carboniferous and Permian periods. Other seed ferns include Pecopteris, Cyclopteris, Alethopteris, and Sphenopteris.

This fossil comes from a very old collection, some 50 to 60 years old, the plant fossil collection of a man and wife who combed more than 100 plant fossil sites, almost all west of the Mississippi River. No doubt, some of these sites have been subsumed by strip malls, and urban sprawl, or are otherwise no longer open to collecting. There was no Internet for these amateur collectors to research their treasures, so many remain unidentified. As is apparent, this one was mounted the old fashion way; I've left it as is.