Special plant fossil on display
Museum für Naturkunde: Three parts of a find from the Petrified Forest
The Museum of Natural History is displaying three parts of a special find in a new highlight showcase: a trunk cross-section, a frond stem and leaves of Medullosa stellata. These come from a tree crown stuck upside down in the tufa, which was found by the Museum für Naturkunde team during the first scientific excavation in Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf in 2009.
This unique find made it possible to anatomically reconstruct Medullosa, the most common and ecologically significant plant in the Chemnitz Petrified Forest.
Original finds and the results of a publication published in 2022 are now on display at the Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz.
The preparation of this fossil, which was discovered in 2009 and recovered in 2010, is still ongoing. However, the material that has already been uncovered has demonstrated the connection between a Medullosa stellata-type stem, Myeloxylon-type fronds and Alethopteris schneideri-type foliage. The anatomy of the plant indicates its enormous ability to conduct and store water, which must have made a decisive contribution to the water balance of the ecosystem.
Complete trees are almost never preserved, and extraordinary conditions are required for organ relationships to come to light after millions of years. The volcano that erupted 291 million years ago in the vicinity of today's Zeisigwald created such special preservation conditions. Heavy volcanic ash, which collected like wet snow on the crowns of the tree ferns and bracken, caused the trees to buckle.
Ten fronds up to 3.5 metres long of a fern seedling were embedded upside down in volcanic rock together with the tip of the trunk (see also the press release of the City of Chemnitz No. 184 of 28 March 2022).
Note:
On the first Friday of every month, the Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz and many other museums in the city can be visited free of charge.