Image: Plumalina plumaria Hall, 1858 (6.3 cm tall) in quartzose siltstone, weathered from the South Wales Member of the lower Perrysburg Formation (Canadaway Group, Upper Devonian) of western New York State, USA. (8473318685)

Description: Shown is a soft-bodied fossil that was first described & named in the 1850s, but is still considered a problematicum in the modern literature. This is a soft-bodied frond called Plumalina plumaria Hall, 1858. Workers usually assign this organism to the hydrozoans (Phylum Cnidaria, Class Hydrozoa) or the gorgonarians (Phylum Cnidaria, Class Anthozoa, Order Gorgonaria), but it’s probably safest to refer to it as “Incertae Sedis” (“uncertain placement”). Locality: railroad cut on southern side of railroad adjacent to Rt. 26, southeastern side of Almond Lake, just northwest of Hornell, western Steuben County, western New York State, USA.
Title: Plumalina plumaria Hall, 1858 (6.3 cm tall) in quartzose siltstone, weathered from the South Wales Member of the lower Perrysburg Formation (Canadaway Group, Upper Devonian) of western New York State, USA. (8473318685)
Credit: Plumalina plumaria Hall, 1858 (6.3 cm tall) in quartzose siltstone, weathered from the South Wales Member of the lower Perrysburg Formation (Canadaway Group, Upper Devonian) of western New York State, USA. Uploaded by PDTillman
Author: James St. John
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
License: CC BY 2.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
Attribution Required?: Yes