Unidentified fossil, coral maybe?

[Oz32]

Hello,

Last saturday I had a trek in a mountain area in the northen Italy alps and I found this fossil (I'm not actaully 100% sure that it's a fossil, but I don't know what else could it be). It looks like an echinoderm fossil to me, but I'd like to ask your opinion about it.

Thanks a lot, have a nice day.

 

Oz

[Rockwood]

It's a fossil I think. But not the way I think you think.

I believe it is a trace fossil, left by many worms maybe ?

[FranzBernhard]

Welcome to TFF from Austria, @Oz32!

 

Your specimen reminds me somewhat of weathered Dachstein coral limestone (Upper Triassic).

Have a look at the pic in the upper right corner of this site:

Dachsteinkalk (local Austrian wikipedia site, in German)

 

Here is an own pic of such a Dachstein coral limestone from Salzkammergut, Styria:

 

Corallites are usually not well preserved, they appear mostly just as tubes. Here is a freshly broken specimen from the same site, width of specimen ca. 15 cm:

But I am not sure if I am correct, though.

Franz Bernhard

[Rockwood]

There is a slight indication of it at bottom center in the second photo. Is coral steinkern a thing ?

[FranzBernhard]

1 hour ago, Rockwood said:

There is a slight indication of it at bottom center in the second photo.

I think, I can see it, too!

 

1 hour ago, Rockwood said:

Is coral steinkern a thing ?

Yes, but could be complicated with all the recrystallization, void filling etc. to distinguish what is what. Here is a polished slab, again from the same site. At least corallites are still somewhat in life arrangement in these specimens.

Franz Bernhard