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I just don't know???


Ruger9a

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Good morning folks.  I have a strange fossil that "looks" like it might be a devil's toenail or ????  It is filled with what looks like ocean debris.  It looks like a shell, but has way too many layers.  It also looks like some sort of coral or stromatolite.  It came from a box of rocks purchased at a yard sale so there isn't any ID information.  Anyone know what this really is? 

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It's hard to get a feel for the morphology from the photos (not your fault - I'm on my phone and without my glasses), but I wonder if it might be the oyster  Pycnodonte or similar. 

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It appears to have both valves intact.

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The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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Thank you guys.  So, the consensus is oyster; likely Pycnodonte - right?  I checked out Pycnodont on wiki and it does look very similar.  What is all the stuff inside, it's last dinner or a collection of settlements afterwards?  

John, yes it does have both values intact.

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10 minutes ago, Ruger9a said:

Thank you guys.  So, the consensus is oyster; likely Pycnodonte - right?  I checked out Pycnodont on wiki and it does look very similar.  What is all the stuff inside, it's last dinner or a collection of settlements afterwards?  

John, yes it does have both values intact.

I would be hesitant to say it's Pycnodonte for sure.  Oysters can be difficult to identify, especially if you don't know what age or formation.  It could be any number of taxa.  I just threw out Pycnodonte, because of the high dome and somewhat round shape.  Without geological context, I'd just label it as "oyster".  You might be able to narrow it down to family Gryphaeidae. 

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1 hour ago, Ruger9a said:

Will do as recommended.  Do you have any idea as to "contents" got there?

I think that's bits of broken fossil shell "hash" and associated matrix (from the ancient sea floor) adhering to the concavity in the valve (shell) 

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4 hours ago, Peat Burns said:

I think that's bits of broken fossil shell "hash" and associated matrix (from the ancient sea floor) adhering to the concavity in the valve (shell) 

Thank you.

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How about a LARGE Prasapora?? The local Prasapora here are at best 2" across. But I have seen pictures MUCH larger, big as a hand. Caleb, RIP, posted these pictures. Prasaporas are domed on top and concave on the bottom with many concentric rings. The concavity allows debris to fill in this space. Look carefully on the domed surface for evidence of a bryozoan pattern. It can be subtle.

 

Bottom: post-3840-0-68519200-1378611377_thumb.jpg Top:post-3840-0-99664300-1378611371_thumb.jpg

and with a scale:

post-3840-0-07426800-1378611369_thumb.jpg

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Thanks Minnbuckeye.  I thought it might be a contender until I checked out several references.  I borrowed the below photo of Prasopora simulatrix (bryozoan colony) from JefferyP of this forum to post here for comparison, it doesn't appear to be a match.  What do you think?

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I thought it a long shot but because no knowledge of location, I thought it should at least be in the list of differential diagnoses. Prasapora  that I find look more like your specimen underneath than JefferyP's.  His show structure vividly while mine typically only have the rough rings. 

 

 Mike

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On 4/19/2020 at 4:46 PM, minnbuckeye said:

I thought it a long shot but because no knowledge of location, I thought it should at least be in the list of differential diagnoses. Prasapora  that I find look more like your specimen underneath than JefferyP's.  His show structure vividly while mine typically only have the rough rings. 

 

 Mike

Mike,

I appreciate any leads that I can research for one of my "unknowns", thanks.

Wayne

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@Ruger9a, message me your address and I will send you a handful of prasapora. From there, you should be able to tell if it is a possibility. 

 

 Mike

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