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We pulled some rocks out of a creek to make our fire pit and this was in one of them. A big bug?

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/this-ancient-bug-within-a-lizard-within-a-snake-will-blow-your-mind/ Fossils come in a wide variety of forms, from preserved bones to leftover (and sometimes enormous) footprints. Sometimes, though, they come in the form of a bug within a lizard within a snake, all perfectly preserved within a volcanic lake. About 48 million years ago, an ancestral iguana was having a rather wonderful day in prehistoric Germany. It had just managed to ingest a rather colorful insect, after all, and who doesn’t like a good lunch? However, little did this scuttling Geiseltaliellus maarius know that it just consumed its last meal. It was at this moment that a juvenile Palaeopython fischeri snake decided to strike. More related to modern boa than the python, this tree-dwelling snake slithered out from the shadows and pounced, managing to successfully gobble up both the lizard and its lunch. Sadly, it must have got lost on the way back to its arboreal residence, because it fell into the Messel Pit, a formerly active volcanic lake spewing out highly acidic sulfur dioxide, suffocating carbon dioxide. If anything became overwhelmed by these gasses, it would have likely stumbled into the broiling, bubbling, liquid haze, and sunk down into oxygen-poor waters. As described in the journal Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, this was how the story of the life of the snake, the lizard, and the bug ended. Thankfully for paleontologists, these anoxic and bacteria-depleted waters guaranteed that – along with a wealth of other clumsy lifeforms – the ancient triplets were immaculately preserved for tens of millions of years. “It’s probably the kind of fossil that I will go the rest of my professional life without ever encountering again, such is the rarity of these things,” study co-author Krister Smith, a paleontologist at Germany’s Senckenberg Institute, told National Geographic. “It was pure astonishment.” Although this meal-within-a-meal feature wasn’t immediately obvious at first glance, powerful CT (X-ray) scans were used to peer inside. The iguana-like lizard was successfully identified, but the bug’s species designation remains a mystery for now. Either way, it’s an utterly breathtaking fossil – one that reveals an ancient food chain of predators and their prey. The bug was found within the abdominal cavity of the lizard. Smith & Scanferla/Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments An interpretive sketch of the lizard (orange) and the bug (blue) fossils within the preserved snake (white).

Looks like a spider missing a couple legs?

Never found a fossil before so please bare with me. Let me know if I have something here or not. Looks like some sort of bug because of the pattern on the backside. Also, I couldn't get a super close shot cause I'm using my iphone to capture the pictures but I could see what looked to be wing like veins or patterns in one part of the fossil.

I got a question. Is there any evidence from fossilized remains indicating that trilobites could had consume parts of their exoskeleton to replenish the calcium? Crayfish, Crabs and some other arthropods do so. So what do you think?

hi, i have posted something similar on nature+ forum, but no definite identification. may be a wasp of some kind, or a midge, although i doubt it is a midge. could someone please tell me what the bug is, it is 30 MYO and i am not sure if it is baltic or dominican. these photographs are at different zoom levels. if you can, please inform me of the value. i purchased in japan for 2100 yen, which is 21.94 USD or 12.99 british pound sterling. however it may have more value, or less. i don't know.

Hello, Thanks for looking at this post. I have my Grama's Fossil Collection. She lived in Western North Dakota/Eastern Montana. She found this around the farmland. Hopefully someone can give me a little more information on them. The general area is inbetween Beach North Dakota and Wiboux. I'm not really a collector so I don't really know what is important. I can re-photograph any of these with different light or angles or closer if need be. I really appreciate your help. I would love to display some my Grama's collection but would like to be able answer questions if anyone asks. I couple of the photos are of the same fossil from different angles. I'm not sure the Scoria (redish one) is even a fossil but it was in Grama's Collection Box so I thought I would post it. Thanks again, Steve

Found this today March 28, 2013, near Rock Glen, Ontario, at the Ausable River, high up on the river bank where some new clay had washed down. It was in the clay about 6-8 feet above the water level. It measures approximately 6" long by 3" wide and weighs about 2 pounds... What could this be?? Here are some closer details