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Hello! I stumbled across these bones while fishing in southeastern Minnesota. My guess is that they are human. I only ever have stumbled upon small marine fossils in the area. I picked it up assuming it was a cephalopod but notice quickly that wasn’t the case. Any ideas? After a quick rinse and some pictures I put them back where I’d found them, eroding out of a rocky bank.

Found in a river bed along with several other fossilized (Jasper\Agate) items and glacier till. River is on the edge of the drift less area in southern WI. Some pictures have a smaller rock (6 CM x 3 CM) for reference. Thank you for looking. Iroh...

Collected in northeast Iowa which is part of the Driftless, very rugged with lots of streams and flooding that cut away the earth. Most fossils here are Ordovician. Most are limestone of the Galena Formation. HOWEVER, this area is a hotbed for mammoth and mastodon teeth and bone finds that the locals call "dinosaur bones". That said, there is an area recently rumored to have a lot of "dinosaur bones" just 30 miles southeast east of Spring Valley, MN on the edge of Iowa. No one wants to talk about it for fear the government is going to come and confiscate their finds. Posting for a friend, so not my find. This is truly an intriguing rock. Spherical, I want to say "cherty" like a possible internal mold, the straight line and the way it is cracking almost like shell on the outside is also interesting. This could just be a very cool rock or...??? He sent me pictures and I am posting it in hopes that someone has seen something like this before. Since I am not very familiar with fossilized bone except for the real dino bones I have from the Hell Creek Formation, I would appreciate any sharing of knowledge that you guys and gals may have in what to look for in that area - @old dead things 1 2 3 4 5

This was a truly incredible hunt. Please be patient with me as this will take several replies as there are LOTS of pictures and a story to tell. I will say "The End" when I'm done. :-) This was a private hunt booked through the Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center, Ecotours, for three generations of the same family. They were experienced fossil hunters and it showed! I'll give you a teaser of the TWO best finds! Praecupulocrinus conjugans as IDed for crinoid expert Crinus in this post: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/66595-beautifully-articulated-ordovician-crinoid/ AND A beautiful whole trilobite from the Decorah Shale which I believe to be an Anataphrus borreaus, that is what we usually pull out of this site, but it needs more prep to be sure. Read on for the WHOLE trip report... It was a beautiful July day in southeast Minnesota for fossil hunting. Temps in the 70s, sunshine, a breeze, low humidity and we had just had two torrential rains that washed out a whole new batch of fossils. The bluff country if SE MN is part of the Driftless... http://www.bluffcountryfossils.net/blog/mysteries-of-the-driftless-video/ and considered one of the most beautiful areas in North America - and very fossiliferous! The Eagle Bluff bus arrived and we started out with about an hour tour at my place, Whispering Winds in Spring Valley, of the fossil gardens and fossil prep barn. With three children ages 5-9, I set up my dino area and showed them a young pigeon as an example of what a baby dinosaur may have looked like as all birds are descended from the dinosaurs. Thanks to the generosity of TFF members I was able to give them a REAL dinosaur bone collected in Wyoming and fossil shark and stingray teeth collected in Morocco. And they had a blast in the fossil sandbox fill with St. Peter Formation sand, fossils and minerals. Then off to Masonic Park which too me is the perfect fossil park! This limestone cliff shows the Prosser and Stewartville members of the Galena Formation wonderfully. A branch of the Root River runs below the cliff and not only Ordovician fossils but also Native American artifacts and Ice Age fossils (mammoth teeth) have been collected here. It also has a cave, an abandoned quarry, and even a hidden stream coming out from beneath a bluff with great fossil hunting on both sides of the road. Hunting the roadside ditches. From there we went to a lovely long road cut that includes both the Stewartville and Prosser members of the Galena Formation. Continued...