Carboniferous Fossil Seed Coal Measures UK Specimen Westphalian Houghton Colliery County Durham Genuine COA Included

Description

Genuine Carboniferous Fossil Seed – Rare Coal Forest Plant Remain

Offered here is an authentic Carboniferous fossil seed specimen, preserved from the famous Westphalian Coal Measures of northern England. Fossil seeds are an especially fascinating and less commonly encountered form of plant fossil, representing the reproductive structures of ancient swamp forest plants that thrived more than 300 million years ago.

This specimen comes from Houghton Colliery, Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham, UK, a classic historic Coal Measures locality renowned for producing significant Carboniferous plant fossils. The fossil is a carefully chosen piece, selected for its quality, character, and collectability. The listing photographs show the exact specimen you will receive, with full sizing details clearly visible in the images provided.

Every purchase includes a Certificate of Authenticity with lifetime guarantee, supplied as a generic authenticity card to permanently accompany the fossil.

Geological Age and Formation – Westphalian Coal Measures

This fossil seed dates to the Westphalian Stage of the late Carboniferous Period, approximately 310–315 million years old. During this extraordinary time in Earth’s history, Britain lay close to the equator and was covered in vast tropical wetlands filled with dense forests.

These environments were dominated by primitive trees, ferns, seed ferns, horsetails, and clubmosses, forming the vegetation that eventually created the coal deposits of northern England.

The Coal Measures are sedimentary rock layers deposited in swampy river deltas, flood basins, and waterlogged lowlands. Thick accumulations of plant material were rapidly buried in fine muds and silts under oxygen-poor conditions, allowing delicate reproductive structures such as seeds to fossilise instead of decaying.

Fossil Type – Ancient Plant Reproductive Structure

Fossil seeds from the Carboniferous are particularly significant because they represent one of the earliest evolutionary developments of seed-based reproduction in plant history.

During the late Carboniferous, many early seed-producing plants, including seed ferns and other primitive gymnosperm-like groups, began to diversify. Fossilised seeds provide rare evidence of this important transition in Earth’s plant ecosystems, marking a step toward the dominance of seed plants in later geological periods.

Unlike leaf or stem impressions, seeds are less frequently preserved, making specimens like this an unusual and highly collectible part of palaeobotanical history.

Morphology and Preservation Features

This specimen preserves the distinctive compact form associated with fossilised seeds from coal swamp deposits. Often preserved as carbonised compressions or mineralised structures within shale, these fossils can display surface texture and shape that reflect their original biological form.

Such fossils provide a direct connection to the reproductive biology of the plants that formed the ancient coal forests. They are also visually intriguing as natural relics of prehistoric life cycles frozen in deep time.

Locality – Houghton Colliery, County Durham, England

Houghton Colliery is one of County Durham’s historic coal mining sites, known among collectors for yielding classic Westphalian plant fossils. Material from this locality is increasingly scarce today, as traditional coal exposures and mining access have greatly declined.

A fossil seed from this provenance is not only scientifically interesting but also carries strong geographic and historical value within British palaeontology.

Authenticity, Display and Collecting

This is a 100% genuine Carboniferous fossil seed specimen, ideal for:

• Fossil and mineral collectors
• Palaeobotany and coal forest enthusiasts
• Educational geology and natural history displays
• Unique prehistoric gifts and conversation pieces

An excellent opportunity to own a rare reproductive fossil from Britain’s ancient tropical coal swamps, preserved for over 300 million years and supplied with a lifetime Certificate of Authenticity.