Rhynie Chert News
deutsche Version
This is a series of contributions mainly based on own finds of Rhynie chert,
    every one of them reporting some observation, interpretation, or discovery
        apparently not yet published in the scientific literature
            and occasionally contradicting established wisdom.

The first contributions were published
since 2004 at www.kieseltorf.de, a website launched by Ralph Kretzschmar (Chemnitz) and deplorably shut down in 2017. This series of numbered issues had begun as paper prints distributed in very small numbers since 2005, with every issue composed of text, pictures, and references being confined to one or two pages. This concise format differing much from the lengthy papers in scientific journals has been applied here, too. It is meant to be a means of spreading information quickly in easily comprehensible quanta, which would be virtually impossible with the conventional ways of publication. When www.chertnews.de started in 2010, the 35 issues available then were put in. Their number is climbing beyond 156 in 2020, and there will be more to come. They are supposed to make up the main part of this website.

Contributions with a mainly introductory or explanatory character are not listed here. They are accessible via Site map.

List of issues numbered according to their sequence of release. Click on the number.
                                                                Looking for particular subjects is easier in the list with  thematically sorted issues.


   1. Enigmatic little sphere                    [Pachytheca]
  2. A rare aspect of Aglaophyton
  3. Ventarura taking shape
  4. A pattern of questionable origin      [fungus action]
  5. Twisted evidence                          [Aglaophyton sporangia]
  6. Aglaophyton epidermis outlined  
  7. The work of spore eaters               [Aglaophyton sporangia]
  8. Re-interpretation of detail on Aglaophyton gametophyte      
  9. Trigonotarbids: known for a long while but still surprising
10. Is there more than one charophyte alga in the Rhynie chert ?
11. Size matters – Aglaophyton sporangia bigger than expected
12. Ebullitiocaris – a slothful little creature that comes in flocks
13. Another weft of tubes – another nematophyte ?
14. A peculiar way of creeping – Aglaophyton reconsidered
15. Horneophyton sporangia as odd-shaped bags
16. Zosterophylls with peculiar branching mode ?
17. Erroneous and other views on a Rhynie chert plant        [Aglaophyton]
18. Another type of Rhynia gametophyte ?
19. Less-common fungus in the Rhynie chert
20. Horizontal layers and plates in chert
21. Twin patterns – a clue to void formation in Rhynie chert plants
22. Cluster of Trichopherophyton sporangia
23. Spoilt attack in the Lower Devonian        [rotifer and alga]
24. What did Castracollis look like ?
25. Seedling in the Rhynie chert – a less-common sight
26. A faint glimpse of another Rhynie chert plant ?
27. Horneophyton tubers – a preferred site for level bands in chalcedony
28. Fungus from Rhynie chert helps to refute Permian /Triassic mites hypothesis
29. New finds of Nematoplexus in the Rhynie chert
30. On the origin of the cellular pattern on the surface of nematophytes
31. Rhynia sections indicating steps of silicification in Rhynie chert
32. Same symbiotic fungus in Aglaophyton and Rhynia ?
33. Nothia sporangium close-up
34. Close look at Castracollis
35. A flat nematophyte from Rhynie
36. Uncommon aspect of Pachytheca
37. Hole repair in Rhynie chert plants
38. Nematophytes vs. liverworts            [Prototaxites]
39. Nematoplexus with a wry twist ?
40. Wilting nematophytes in Rhynie chert
41. Prototaxites and Cosmochlaina: no liverwort connection
42. Sociable trigonotarbids
43. Castracollis hair tufts
44. Pachytheca – a nematophyte propagule ?
45. Horneophyton spores differently arranged
46. Flat nematophyte   Details and reconstruction
47. Dainty meshwork aspect of Aglaophyton epidermis
48. Devonian alga mimicking Coleochaete
49. Trichopherophyton aspects
50. A Devonian plant that would not fit in
51. Nematoplexus aspects
52.
Aglaophyton branching
53. Asteroxylon sporangia of questionable shape
54. Voids in the tissue of early land plants
55. Funny fossil fungus formations
56.
Croftalania venusta and other Devonian microbes
57. Nothia sporangia and their peculiar wall structure
58. 
Ventarura with less-common features
59. Sequence of silicification stages deduced from plant sections in chert
60. Selective decay resistance of soft tissue in early land plants (1)
61. 
A rare sight of Ventarura tissue (1)
62. Spirally splitting Aglaophyton sporangia
63.
A look at Devonian fungi
64.
An uncommon variety of Rhynie chert
65. 
Broken symmetry of Aglaophyton sporangia
66. Selective decay resistance of soft tissue in early land plants (2)
67. Funny fossil microbes
68. Enigmatic cm-size blobs in Rhynie chert
69. A Lower Devonian alga resembling the xanthophyte Botrydium
70.  Enigmatic black deposit in Rhynie chert
71.  Nematoplexus - more details, more questions (1)

72.  Croftalania images
73.  A Devonian alga with peculiar features (Part 1)
74.  Window into the distant past - Palaeonitella
75.  Level fills in hollow Aglaophyton
76.  Symbiotic fungus in Trichopherophyton ?
77.  Silicification steps in chert deduced from fossil fungus hyphae
78.
 The enigma of perfectly straight fungus hyphae
79.  Horneophyton rhizome
80.  Swamp gas bubbles traversing microbial layers in Rhynie chert
81.  
Horneophyton detail
82.  Ventarura - peculiar and confusing 
 
83.  Black stains, coatings, and linings in Rhynie chert
84.  Miniature fossil sewage tank
85.  
A dark side of palaeobotany
86.  More nematophytes in the Rhynie chert 
87.  
Microbial debris in Rhynie chert
88.  
Early land plant seedlings
89.  A Devonian alga with peculiar features (Part 2)
90.  A Devonian alga with peculiar features (Part 3)
91.  A rare sight of Ventarura tissue (2)
92.  Glades in the nematophyte jungle
93.  A Devonian alga with peculiar features (Part 4)
94.  Asteroxylon aspects
95.  
Trichopherophyton and Ventarura in one chert sample
96.  Ventarura performing as a flower
97.  Selective decay resistance of soft tissue in early land plants (3)
98.  Nematophytes in gel
99.  
Another new nematophyte in the Rhynie chert
100.
101. Castracollis eye ?
102.
Nematoplexus - more details, more questions (2)
103. Black shards in decayed tissue
104. Observations on fungus resting spores
105.
Selective decay resistance of soft tissue in early land plants (4)
106. Strange fossil assemblage in a chert sample
107. Another tangle of tubes in chert
108. An uncommon fossil fungus
109. Fossil mycoparasite like extant Trichoderma
110. Scary Nothia
111. 
Fossil mycoparasite like extant Trichoderma (2)
112. Pseudocells in Rhynie chert
113. Microbial reefs in the Devonian swamps at Rhynie
114. Rhynie chert sample with peculiar details
115.
Devonian fungus globules densely clustered
116.
Fossil fungus-related spheres that come in pairs
117. Enigmatic voids in the tissue of early land plants

118. Damage control in an early land plant
119. Fossil fungus-related spheres with fancy fills
120.
Fossil fungus-related spheres with alga connection
121. Aspects of Devonian microbes
122. Nematoplexus - enigmatic ever more
123. Water turned into Devonian chert
124. Asteroxylon tissue affected by fungi
125. Croftalania upgrowth shaped by grazing creatures ?
126. Enigmatic knots of an enigmatic organism        [
Nematoplexus]
127. Rhynia aspects
128. A particular connection of alga tubes
129.
A miniature football from the Rhynie chert
130. Hollow straws in pairs
131. Peculiar cracks in Rhynie chert
132. Persistent "palisade wall" of Aglaophyton sporangia
133. Nematoplexus branch knot close-up
134. Nematoplexus - Where the spirals come from
135. Nematoplexus  -  thrice enigmatic
136. Nematoplexus with controversial aspects
137. Nematoplexus surprisingly polymorphic
138. Questionable Devonian charophyte Palaeonitella
139.
Peculiar charophyte alga in the Rhynie chert
140. Another filamentous alga in the Rhynie chert
141. Devonian charophyte alga forming lumps
142. Agates and fossils from watery habitat (1)
143. Agate and fossil from watery habitat (2)  -  Eerie glow
144. Agate and fossil from watery habitat (3)  -  Enigmatic trough
145. Agate and fossils
from watery habitat (4)
146. Microbial emergences in Devonian and Permian cherts
147. Crustacean and crystal
148. Fossil mycoparasite like extant Trichoderma (3)
149. Spore clots in Rhynie chert
150. Horneophyton sporangia
151.
Nematothallus and Nematoplexus in one chert sample
152.
Tubes at Nematoplexus branch-knots
153. Nematophyte or fungus ?
154. Nematophyte big tubes with precipitate
155.
Nematophyte twice protected
156. Varied nematophytes in Rhynie chert
157. Tracheid-like tubes in Rhynie chert
158. Nematophyte tubes and "branch knots"
159. 
Rhynia enigmas old and new
160. Common fossils with uncommon aspect in the Rhynie chert
161. Trigonotarbid hiding places
162. Hairs on trigonotarbid mouth parts
163. Conspicuous spheres in Rhynie chert
164. An uncommon chert sample with Rhynia
165. Parasite scabs on Rhynie chert plants
166. Enigma inside Aglaophyton spores
167. Silica gel boundaries in chert
168. Scalariform tube wall patterns
169. Devonian charophyte whorls of branches
170. Herbivore deterrence by early land plants
171. Ventarura xylem
172. Black coatings on cell walls of early land plants
173. Surprising aspects of Devonian fungus hyphae
174. Ventarura with enigmatic tube inside
175. Trichopherophyton sporangia
176. Nothia sporangia aspects
177. Devonian gloss
178.
Aglaophyton spores decayed inside sporangia
179. Well-known creatures and enigmatic formations in one piece of chert
180. 
Holes gnawed into early land plants by elusive creatures
181. Enigmatic hollow straws of early land plants
182. Early land plant aging
183. Charophyte lacking gyrogonites ---  Palaeonitella centenary
184. Devonian creature or random assemblage ?
185. Palaeonitella whorls -- young and old
186.
Conspicuous fungus chlamydospores in the Rhynie chert
187. 
Symbiotic fungus Glomites in the early land plant Aglaophyton
188. Rhynia twice affected
189.
"Snowing" siliceous flakes preserved in Rhynie chert
190. Fungus-related fossil spheres in Rhynie chert
191. Croftalania aspects

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