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Good afternoon everyone, I’m reaching out today in hopes of getting some information on two specimens. I have no location based information , unfortunately. The first reminds me of petrified wood and stromatolite, it’s a huge faced specimen. The color is darkish red, almost a limonite yellow and some mixes of other feint colors. It looks partially agatized as well. It’s a super cool piece. The second specimen is aquatic based I’m sure, it looked sort of like coral at first glance. After further inspection I’m unsure, so I figured I’d reach out. The specimen is large, 9x5x4 and weighs in over 5 pounds. It looks as if some of it might be a conglomerate, I’m unsure. It looks partially calcified and agatized as well. I appreciate your time and consideration in advance as always. Enjoy the day, Regards, Mike

This is probably an exercise in pareidolia - but could it be a brain endocast? This was self collected July 9, 2011 on San Juan island in Washington State. It was found on private property near the shoreline on the SW corner of the island. The local geology is a complex mixture of Orcas chert and formations of sedimentary and volcanic layers contorted together, peppered with glacial deposits. There are other fossils in the vicinity, including various plants and what I believe are devonian era fish fossils. At first, I thought this was a thunder-egg or nodule that turned to chert/agate. Then, it struck me that it looked like a brain. Perhaps a brain coral of some sort? But it doesn’t look like the photos of brain corals. It did look more like the stromatolite fossils, but no clear match. Something from my biology studies years ago noticed what looked like features of the mammalian brain. But brains don’t fossilize. It also looked too big to be a brain, especially a single lobe without a cerebellum. Was it part of a marine mammal brain? Some sort of brain endocast that turned to agate? It weighs 77g and has not been thoroughly cleaned. One of the photos included is 'as found' and the others show the fossil after it was rinsed off. I haven't given it a thorough cleaning to avoid harm to the sandstone-like coating. I’d love to hear what people think.

I have wondered about this one for several years. It is from the east side of Lake Turkana, in Kenya but I wasn't at the actual spot from where it was picked up, so I don't know anything about the specifics of the location. This was one of at least a dozen specimens that I saw. The other side looks the same as what you can see in the photo. I have wondered if it could be a stromatolite but the shape is odd for that. Could it be some sort of evaporative feature? It is the only one I have, so I haven't tried cutting it open. I'd love to hear some opinions.

My husband found this fossil in a stream in Westfield, NY and I would love if someone could identify it for me. Any help would be great. Hope the pics are ok.

Here is a rock that I have had in my basement since summer. It has finally made it to Forum members to voice their opinion on. I know it is NOT a rugosa coral (a joke for those who saw my previous ID request). I am thinking possibly a stromatolite? Or because of the karst topography in the region, it may be a type of flowstone from a cave. Or maybe one of those rocks to put out in the garden. The bottom of the specimen: The top: Side views:

I found this in Herkimer, NY. I don't think it dates back to fossil animal times, but the head guy showed me a big fossil he said that looked a lot like this. If it is a fossil, what is it? And if not, should I sacrifice it in search of Herkimer Diamonds inside?