US High Plains and Rocky Mountains (ID, MT, ND, SD, WY, CO) Search this
Object Type:
Education and Outreach collections
Collecting Locality:
North America, United States, North Dakota
Description:
This object is part of the Education and Outreach collection, some of which are in the Q?rius science education center and available to see.
Geologic Age:
Cenozoic - Paleogene - Eocene
Notes:
Fragments of fossilized impressions of leaves left in rocks. The largest piece measures around 21 cm x 17 cm x 4 cm in size, and the rest measure around the same or less in size. These fossils show evidence of hole feeding, margin feeding, and skeletonization insect damage. Hole feeding is caused when an insect with chewing mouthparts eats through a portion of a leaf. The specific type of hole feeding is identified as damage type (DT) 02: medium-sized circular perforations, between 1 mm and 5 mm in maximum diameter. Margin feeding is when an insect with chewing mouthparts eats from the edge in towards the center of the leaf. The specific type of margin feeding is identified as DT14: excision of the leaf blade extending to a primary vein, typically a midvein. Skeletonization is a distinctive kind of hole feeding, and is caused when an insect eats through a portion or layer of a leaf but it doesn't eat the veins. The specific type of skeletonization is identified as DT16: removal of interveinal tissue resulting in retention of some vein network but with a surrounding reaction rim poorly developed or barely evident.