%0 Journal Article %J Review of Palaeobotany & Palynology %D 2008 %T Earth's Oldest Liverworts--Metzgeriothallus sharonae sp. nov. from the Middle Devonian (Givetian) of Eastern New York %A L. VanAller Hernick %A E. Landing %A Bartowski, K. E. %K liverworts; taphonomy; preservation; Devonian; New York; Metzgeriothallus sharonae n. sp %X

Liverworts are generally regarded as rare elements in Palaeozoic floral assemblages. However, a focus on dark gray to black shales and siltstones in the Middle–Late Devonian Catskill Delta of eastern New York shows that liverworts are locally quite common as well-preserved, apparently parautochthonous specimens in thin, lenticular, dark gray–black shale and siltstone lenses. These lenses are either dysoxic–anoxic lacustrine or estuarine facies deposited under oxygen-stratified water masses or rapidly deposited flood plain deposits that were not oxidized after deposition. Carbonized remains of the upper Middle Devonian (Givetian) liverwort Metzgeriothallus sharonae sp. nov. are locally common in these lenses. Well-preserved thalli (gametophytes) are only evident by projecting polarized light on the shale and siltstone surfaces. An associated sporophyte capsule is the first evidence of a reproductive structure in a Devonian liverwort. Metzgeriothallus sharonae sp. nov. is the oldest known liverwort. The age of the new species helps recalibrate chloroplast DNA studies that have led to proposals of the timing of liverwort diversification by showing that the evolutionary separations of the Jungermanniopsida and Marchantiopsida and of the Metzgeriidae and Jungermanniidae [previously thought to be Late Devonian and Late Carboniferous, respectively] were no younger than late Middle Devonian.

%B Review of Palaeobotany & Palynology %V 148 %P 154-162 %G eng %U http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2007.09.002 %R 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2007.09.002 %0 Journal Article %J Earth Sciences History %D 2007 %T Where was Ebenezer Emmons' House? %A L. VanAller Hernick %K Ebenezr Emmon %K geology %B Earth Sciences History %V 26 %P 173-174 %G eng %U http://dx.doi.org/10.17704/eshi.26.1.q460m1967ht43814 %R 10.17704/eshi.26.1.q460m1967ht43814 %0 Magazine Article %D 2006 %T Gebhards of Schoharie Were Geological Pioneers %A L. VanAller Hernick %K geology %B Schoharie County Historical Review %V 70 %P 17-22 %G eng %0 Magazine Article %D 2006 %T A Look Back: Remembering State Paleontologist Winifred Goldring %A L. VanAller Hernick %K geology history paleontology %B Legacy: The Magazine of the New York State Museum %V 2 %P 5 %G eng %0 Magazine Article %D 2005 %T A Look Back: James Hall 1811-1898 %A L. VanAller Hernick %K history paleontology %B Legacy: The Magazine of the New York State Museum %V 1 %P 6 %G eng %0 Journal Article %J Earth Sciences History %D 2003 %T Edwin Bradford Hall: Devonian Sponge Collector Extraordinaire %A L. VanAller Hernick %K geology history paleontology %B Earth Sciences History %V 22 %P 209-218 %G eng %U https://doi.org/10.17704/eshi.22.2.t4m3388558qr2226 %R 10.17704/eshi.22.2.t4m3388558qr2226 %0 Book %B New York State Museum Circular %D 2003 %T The Gilboa Fossils %A L. VanAller Hernick %K paleontology %X

The Devonian Period was an interval of dramatic change in the history of life on Earth. Much of the evidence for what is known about terrestrial life during this period in North America has come from some extraordinary fossil discoveries made in Gilboa, New York over the past 150 years. The abundance and often superb preservation of fossils from Gilboa have made this area one of the most important Devonian fossil localities in the world! The Gilboa Fossils is a history of the famous forest fossil site from its discovery in the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Topics include the Devonian flora and fauna found at this locality, and the role of the New York State Museum in disseminating knowledge about this important site.  

%B New York State Museum Circular %I The University of the State of New York %C Albany, New York %G eng %0 Journal Article %J Kaatskill Life %D 2003 %T Northfield Tunnel's Ancient Life %A L. VanAller Hernick %A Mannolini, S. %K geology paleontology %B Kaatskill Life %V 18 %P 32-35 %G eng %0 Journal Article %J Earth Sciences History %D 1999 %T Silas Watson Ford: A Major But Little-known Contributor to the Cambrian Paleontology of North America %A L. VanAller Hernick %K Cambrian paleontology %K history of science %K New York %K Silas Watson Ford %X

Silas Watson Ford (1848-1895), telegrapher and paleontologist born in Glenville, New York, in 1848, made significant contributions to Cambrian paleontology from 1871 to 1888. The focus of his work was the allochthonous Taconic rock that lies east of the Hudson River in easternmost New York. His discovery of a ‘Primordial’ fauna in this region was instrumental in helping to resolve the uncertainty surrounding the age of this older portion of the Taconics. While most of his papers were published in the American Journal of Science, a series of seven papers on the ‘Silurian Age’ was published by the New York Tribune in 1879. For this work he was subsequently awarded an honorary master's degree by Union College.

Ford was hired by his contemporary, Charles Doolittle Walcott (1850-1927), to work for the U.S. Geological Survey from 1884 to 1885. Highly regarded by James Hall (1811-1898), James Dwight Dana (1813-1895), Joachim Barrande (1799-1883), and many other prominent geologists of the time, he was often consulted for his expertise in collecting and describing Cambrian-age fossils.

While Walcott's career continued to flourish, Ford faded into obscurity after 1888. Plagued by personal problems, he was forced to give up his personal library, his fossil collection, and finally, his career. He died in 1895 at the age of 47, with his passing virtually unnoticed by his professional colleagues.

%B Earth Sciences History %V 18 %P 246-263 %G eng %U http://dx.doi.org/10.17704/eshi.18.2.71355x54266626l1 %R 10.17704/eshi.18.2.71355x54266626l1