I agree with you on all counts. The Ragged Rascals sound a great bunch and I think most of us agree that 'expert' tends to mean someone who thinks they know everything worth knowing (that's slightly kinder than Julian's comments in TMA!).

The biggest problem ( IMHO ) with fossil wood is that it it is no longer wood, if you see what I mean. Having turned to stone it will erode accordingly so harsh conditions and greater age will make it harder and harder to recognise. All great fun, and I'm very happy to be wrong. I just want to know.

The reason I asked whether you had found or bought your piece was that if you had found it you could have said where. If you know where it came from you can sometimes get a better idea of possible species. Or were you really lucky and bought it from a shop that gave it a nice provenance sticker?