Snake head? Or rock

[Lonjob]

I found this snake shaped head in my uncles creek. After cleaning and not fully done. Because i am not a professional. Lol. Could someone tell me if this is  what I think it is ? Washington state NW

[Ludwigia]

Sorry, it's just a rock. Please check out this thread.

[Top Trilo]

Unfortunately I believe it’s just a rock, you don’t see any bone texture and the complex shapes of skulls looks different than this here also a skull will have the basic shape but not any muscles or skin. I’d suggest looking at pictures online of fossils including skulls or researching what fossils are found in your area or both have fun 

[Lonjob]

Ok cool!  Thank you.  I sure do find a-lot of this type of stuff. Super fun  .  It does have some organic type texture to it. Very fun to look at for sure.  Any idea how i can get the colors to pop it is so grayed out from being dried out. Maybe epoxy? 

[Ludwigia]

11 minutes ago, Lonjob said:

 Any idea how i can get the colors to pop 

A beeswax finish works well, or any old stone care product from the hardware store will do the trick.

[digit]

While out hunting for fossils we often find what we call "fakers" that are tweaking our search images into thinking they are something they are not. We occasionally just have to pick up these rocks and bring them home because the masquerade is just so humorous. We've actually created a topic where we can share these examples of where our pattern matching systems in our brain have been tricked into seeing something that is not there.

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia

 

Our well developed brains have a highly tuned recognition system to allow us to make things our with only partial information. It has helped us over time as hunter gatherers to spot camouflaged prey, locate the foliage that might be attached to tasty tubers, or quickly discern friend from foe at a distance. We all have this ability which allows us to see things like facial profiles in mountains and rock features or animals or faces in clouds. It is more developed in some people with a better sense of imagination. We try to temper these possibilities with the knowledge of how fossils form, what real fossils look like and what types of fossil material might be found in an area. Florida was underwater during the time of the dinosaurs so that pretty much precludes finding any dinosaur material in my state. Other states may have exposures from much older time periods like the Devonian well before dinosaurs, snakes and most creatures on land and so the fossils from that time period tend to be marine in nature. Knowledge is the key to understanding what we are seeing when we find interesting rocks. This forum has a deep and diverse knowledge base contained in our membership who enjoy sharing knowledge with those who are receptive.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Lonjob]

Awesome.  Thank you i like the beeswax idea. ! Here is another rock i found ill probably do the same with it.  

[digit]

If you have a good source for colorful hard shiny rocks with a high silica content (like shown above) you might consider at some point in time in purchasing a rock tumbler. I have a friend in your same state who loves to wander the craggy beaches and collect cobbles that are already somewhat rounded. She produces some pretty shiny and smooth rocks from her tumbler--no beeswax needed then.

 

There are actually rock tumbler forums (not hard to find with a minimum of searching). Fossil hunting and rockhounding are passions shared by many of our members.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Lonjob]

Thank you Ken ! I tend to find weird shaped rocks. My goal is to highlight the strange looks and textures more then the shine. I think tumblers will take that away. 
 

also. Does it have to have bone structure to be a fossil? Please help me understand i love the idea of fossils. And the thought behind the time it takes to be there really really ly has my attention  ! Trust my wife thinks i am goof ball over it. Lol

 

i have no idea what the rock is in this pic but its super cray fun to look at. Ill take a look at some rock hound sites. I would like to find someone to go out and do ghat with but i have my own business and work full time so i gather as i work lol

 

Have a good day and thank you so much for responding. You ROCK. HAHAHA. 

[Ludwigia]

1 hour ago, Lonjob said:

Does it have to have bone structure to be a fossil?

That's just one of many possibilities. Fossils are, as you probably already know, just the "leftovers", so to speak, of creatures which lived on land and in the sea in the far past. So you can be looking for substances such as bone, shell, enamel in the case of teeth, wood, plant imprints or even organic substance within and between the rocks. It's also important to find out how old the rocks are which you are finding. This will give you clues as to what kind of fossils can be expected to be found in them. Fossils have been defined, somewhat arbitrarily, as anything older than 10.000 years.

[Top Trilo]

6 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

Fossils have been defined, somewhat

Which is why there are some mammoth bones and remains that are not considered fossils seeing as they lived 1000 years After the pyramids were built. That’s one of the coolest fossil facts in my opinion

[Lonjob]

Oh wow. That is pretty crazy to think about. 

[Lonjob]

7 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

That's just one of many possibilities. Fossils are, as you probably already know, just the "leftovers", so to speak, of creatures which lived on land and in the sea in the far past. So you can be looking for substances such as bone, shell, enamel in the case of teeth, wood, plant imprints or even organic substance within and between the rocks. It's also important to find out how old the rocks are which you are finding. This will give you clues as to what kind of fossils can be expected to be found in them. Fossils have been defined, somewhat arbitrarily, as anything older than 10.000 years.

How can i determine age of rock or minerals? Seems like mineral can be easy to go by do to  taking  a certain time for minerals to form.. correct?   What about soft tissue/ shell or exoskeleton type bugs? The shell would stay or form into stone lol. Idk. and in correct situation the soft tissue is sorta imprinted? Is that trave fossil? 

[Ludwigia]

5 hours ago, Lonjob said:

How can i determine age of rock or minerals?

Study, study, study. Geological maps, for instance and scientific works about the geology, lithology and paleontology of a particular area. And field work, of course, to familiarize yourself with stone types and stratigraphy. Not to mention visits to natural history museums which are full of information. And last but not least, joining a rockhound club where you'll meet lots of experienced people to answer your questions.

[Lonjob]

Ill pic up some maps up. That is actually the best advice thank you

 

when it comes to a groups i hope its no like the car clubs.  Lol some people get way into there is only one way to to this !! Lol.  But ill see if i can find a small one in the area

 

thank you again. I hope the next time i am here i have something good ! 

[Leahlulu]

I love this topic

[digit]

Hopefully, for the educational value of earnest discussion which sets our forum apart from much of social media.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken.

[Lonjob]

Yes i love education!  I consider my self as a professional apprentice. Lol

 

the reason i ask about the bugs and soft tissues and stuff is i have something i have been working on. And would to have someone with more knowledge teach me i guess language. 
 

 

so here is my 2 month project lol. I hope you guys will want to see more then one pic hahaha there are more just hard to tell which one people will want to see 

 

I found it in a creek by my place in arlington washington i am drawn to bugs naturally so at least its fun to look at lol

[Lonjob]

An one more for fun!! 

[JohnJ]

56 minutes ago, Lonjob said:

Yes i love education!  I consider my self as a professional apprentice. Lol

the reason i ask about the bugs and soft tissues and stuff is i have something i have been working on. And would to have someone with more knowledge teach me i guess language.

so here is my 2 month project lol. I hope you guys will want to see more then one pic hahaha there are more just hard to tell which one people will want to see 

I found it in a creek by my place in arlington washington i am drawn to bugs naturally so at least its fun to look at lol

 

Investigate "hackle fringe geology".

[Top Trilo]

11 minutes ago, Lonjob said:

An one more for fun!

Can you point out what your looking at please. All I see is natural fractures

[Lonjob]

Hey guys sorry to bug but. Is this a fracture? 

[Leahlulu]

On 12/2/2020 at 1:30 PM, JohnJ said:

 

Investigate "hackle fringe geology".

Why can't that be a turtle shell?  I really have NO IDEA but it looks like it could be lol

[JohnJ]

17 minutes ago, Leahlulu said:

Why can't that be a turtle shell?  I really have NO IDEA but it looks like it could be lol

 

I lot of things can generally look similar, but have completely different origins.  

[digit]

Yes, the latest image is just another fractured rock.

 

17 minutes ago, Leahlulu said:

Why can't that be a turtle shell?  I really have NO IDEA but it looks like it could be lol

I volunteer at the FLMNH and do a lot of work at the Montbrook fossil site in Florida. This site has an incredible abundance of turtle fossils (several species) so I see turtle shells every time I work with material from Montbrook. It's hard to state is brief terms why it can't be turtle shell other than it has no characteristics of actual fossilized turtle shells. It does very clearly resemble a hackle fringe fracture. The best I can say would be to do an internet image search for the following two phrases:

 

"hackle fringe geology"

 

"fossil turtle shell"

 

After you look at some of the images available online, I think you'll clearly see why we are suggesting this piece is demonstrating a hackle fringe fracture and is not a fossilized turtle shell. Try the suggested image searches and see if you don't agree.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken