CDR Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 My father lives in SE MN, south of Rochester. He lives on a farm on top of a hill and has been doing a lot of topo work. In doing so, he has discovered that almost every rock he picks up has what appears to be seashells and fossilized plants in them. His research led him to conclude that the fossils are in the range of 400 million years old. The other day he was walking his land and saw what he thought was a potato sticking out of the ground. He picked it up and was puzzled. It feels hard like a rock, is smooth, and most shockingly it glows when light is applied to it. Is this an egg of some sort? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
val horn Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 sorry, my thought is rock and not egg. The glow is neat, but I have not idea what that is from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleostoric Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 This looks like a rock to me as well. Usually, fossil eggs have a layer of eggshell that I do not see here. Also, 400 million years ago is in the time of the Devonian, and I don’t believe there is a creature from that period that would lay an egg that size/shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 Agreed. There is virtually no chance of it being an egg. Quartzite might be a reasonable guess, but I'm not a geologist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDR Posted October 14, 2020 Author Share Posted October 14, 2020 Thank you all for the feedback! My initial thought was that it's a rock, but the light threw me off. When I get a chance to look at it I'll inspect it a little closer and get some better pictures. While it is correct that there were no creatures in the same time-frame as the fossilized shells he's finding, there also isn't a guarantee that everything he finds there was deposited during that timeframe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 Then you still have a horse in the race. We'll gladly take a look, as we pocket our biases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 While the bedrock may be ~400 my (probably Ordovician or Devonian), there is overlying glacial material in that area and this is probably a nicely rounded glacial erratic (and likely not even sedimentary rock). A very nice looking rock, though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDR Posted October 14, 2020 Author Share Posted October 14, 2020 Thank you all for your information, this is very helpful. I apologize if I came across as resistant to reality, I assure you I respect the input from others that clearly have more experience and knowledge in the matter than myself! It may be a rock - but it's a cool one! lol Here are some pictures of other finds on his property over the past couple weeks that better fit the purpose of this forum. Very fascinating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 I see trace fossils to the left in the second row There is likely a mold fossil with epibiont body fossils exposed on what would have been it's surface in the bottom photo. Alternatively they could be trace fossils in a thicker mold fossil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now