Rhynie chert is the name for fossiliferous material from a uniquely well-preserved layer in one site near the village of Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The bulk of the fossil bed consists of primitive plants (which had water-conducting vessels and spore sacs but no leaves), along with arthropods: Collembola, opiliones (harvestmen), pseudoscorpions and the extinct, spider-like trigonotarbids. A fossil Ammonite Fossils are the mineralized remains of animals or plants or other traces such as footprints. ... Aberdeenshire can refer to two local authorities in Scotland with this name. ... Royal motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (Latin: No one provokes me with impunity) (Scots: Wha daur meddle wi me) Scotlands location within the UK Languages with Official Status1 English Gaelic Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Hepaticophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... The term spore have several different meanings in biology. ... In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - Trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - Spiders, Scorpions, etc. ... Families Suborder Arthropleona   Superfamily Entomobryoidea    Entomobryidae - slender springtails    Isotomidae - smooth springtails    Oncopoduridae    Paronellidae    Tomoceridae   Superfamily Poduroidea    Brachystomellidae    Hypogastruridae - elongate-bodied springtails    Neanuridae    Odontellidae    Onychiuridae - blind springtails    Poduridae - water springtails Suborder Symphypleona    Dicyrtomidae    Katiannidae    Sminthuridae - globular springtails    Sminthurididae    Bourletiellidae    Arrhopalitidae Springtails (Order Collembola) form the largest of the three orders of... The Phalangids or Opiliones (better known as harvestmen or daddy longlegs) are eight-legged invertebrate animals belonging to the order Opiliones in the class Arachnida, in the subphylum Chelicerata of the phylum Arthropoda. ... The Phalangids or Opiliones (better known as harvestmen or daddy longlegs) are eight-legged invertebrate animals belonging to the order Opiliones in the class Arachnida, in the subphylum Chelicerata of the phylum Arthropoda. ... A pseudoscorpion, (also known as a false scorpion or book scorpion), is an invertebrate animal belonging to the order Pseudoscorpionida in the class Arachnida, in the subphylum Chelicerata of the phylum Arthropoda. ...

This fossil bed is remarkable for two reasons. Firstly because the age of the site (Devonian, about 410 MYBP) makes this one of the earliest sites anywhere containing terrestrial (as opposed to marine) fossils, coinciding with the earliest stages of the colonisation of land by plants and animals. Secondly, these cherts are famous for their exceptional state of ultrastructural preservation, with individual cell walls easily visible in polished specimens. Stomata have been counted, and lignin remains detected in the plant material, and the breathing apparatus of trigonotarbids (known as book lungs) can be seen in cross-sections. Threads assumed to be fungal hyphae can be seen entering plant material, either acting as decomposers or mycorrhizal symbionts. The Devonian is a major division of the geologic timescale that extends from the end of the Silurian period (360 million years ago (mya)) to the beginning of the Mississippian subperiod of the Carboniferous (408. ... Phyla Porifera (sponges) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria Placozoa Subregnum Bilateria  Acoelomorpha  Orthonectida  Rhombozoa  Myxozoa  Superphylum Deuterostomia     Chordata (vertebrates, etc. ... Chert Chert is a fine-grained silica-rich cryptocrystalline sedimentary rock that may contain small fossils. ... Ultrastructure is the detailed structure of a biological specimen, such as a cell, tissue, or organ, that can be by electron microscopy. ... This is not about surgically created bowel openings; see stoma (medicine) In botany, a stoma (also stomate; plural stomata) is a tiny opening or pore, found mostly on the undersurface of a plant leaf, and used for gas exchange. ... Lignin is a chemical compound that is an integral part of the cell walls of some cells, e. ... A book lung is a rudimentary type of lung found in arachnids, such as scorpions and spiders; horseshoe crabs also posess book lungs. ... A hypha (plural hyphae) is a long, branching filament that, with other hyphae, forms the feeding thallus of a fungus called the mycelium. ... A mycorrhiza (typically seen in the plural form mycorrhizae meaning fungus roots) is a distinct type of root symbiosis in which individual hyphae extending from the mycelium of a fungus colonize the roots of a host plant. ... Common Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) in their magnificent sea anemone (Heteractis magnifica) home. ...

It seems that silica-rich water rose rapidly and petrified this early terrestrial ecosystem in situ almost instantaneously. Although the fossils are famous, the actual fossil bed lies under at least 1 metre of overburden, in a single small field (which is also protected by being an SSSI), so is effectively inaccessible to collectors. In geology, petrifaction or petrification is the process by which organic material is converted into stone or a similar substance. ... In ecology, an ecosystem is a naturally occurring assemblage of organisms (plant, animal and other living organisms—also referred to as a biotic community or biocoenosis) living together with their environment (or biotope), functioning as a loose unit. ... The metre, or meter, is the basic unit of length in the International System of Units (SI: Système International dUnités). ... Overburden is the term used in mining to describe material that lies above the area of economic interest. ... A Site of Special Scientific Interest or SSSI is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. ...

External link

Rhynie Chert Learning Resource