TheSilverWolf98 Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 Hi all. Yesterday, I went on my first fossil hunt in about fourteen years. Went back to one of my old haunts, Jan Juc beach on the south coast of Victoria, Australia (Oligocene deposit - mostly mud and sandstone). I was expecting to find the usual - sea urchins, small crabs, coral, sponges etc. Instead I found a big, dark thing. A thing is all I can describe it as - buried in sandstone with the eroded top showing, I initially thought it could be a toe, or maybe some petrified wood. Once I moved the boulder to my garden and attacked it with a small hammer, what popped out was a little puzzling. It's about as long as a Sharpie (sorry, no ruler on hand, so this was the most universal thing I could think of), and has the girth of a banana. It's much, much harder than the sandstone it was in, and much, much darker. Almost black. The part that was not eroded is in a pretty uniform semicircular shape, which made me think it could be a bone. The breaks you see were present in the thing before I popped it out of the rock. I'm assuming it was originally longer than what I have, as it was eroded away at the edge of the boulder, leaving the small chip at the end. The other end was sheared off at the other edge of the boulder. The rock broke off cleanly around the thing, so it's not a part of the sandstone substrate. Can anyone ID this for me? I know it's pretty beaten up - heavily eroded on the exposed side, and little creatures have started growing on it. Even just confirmation of its status as a fossil or mineral would be helpful. Also, some fossilised coral and shells I found at the same cliff on the same day. Weird little shells with a division up the middle. IDs on these would be greatly appreciated too. Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 I'm not sure just how these relate to each other, but most of it appears to be poorly preserved scleractinian coral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSilverWolf98 Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 (edited) Jan Juc has something of a "seam" of coral in the cliffs, and many loose rocks on the beach - all the coral and the shells here come from that band in the cliff, all in the same 3 metre by 3 metre area. The black thing came from one of the boulders on the beach. Edited February 4, 2021 by TheSilverWolf98 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsaacTheFossilMan Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 Some of those branching structures are definitely fossilised branch corals, perhaps scleractinian, as @Rockwood suggested. I too am unsure as to how the smaller specimen relate to the larger find, until someone with more expertise on corals shows up, this is all I can give you, I'm afraid! ~ Isaac; www.isaactfm.com "Don't move! He can't see us if we don't move!" - Alan Grant Come to the spring that is The Fossil Forum, where the stream of warmth and knowledge never runs dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSilverWolf98 Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 The small white spotty specimen actually came out of the large boulder with the black thing, though I don't think it is related - from the little pinpricks on its surface I have a hunch it could be some sort of sponge fragment. It's about as long as an adult thumbnail. Thanks for your input @IsaacTheFossilMan and @Rockwood. I agree with you two on the broader ID of the coral as Scleractinian. Not sure how much better we'll be able to get than that, due to it being a bit rough around the edges and so heavily fragmented. Really hoping to get an ID on the black thing though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsaacTheFossilMan Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 5 minutes ago, TheSilverWolf98 said: The small white spotty specimen actually came out of the large boulder with the black thing, though I don't think it is related - from the little pinpricks on its surface I have a hunch it could be some sort of sponge fragment. It's about as long as an adult thumbnail. Thanks for your input @IsaacTheFossilMan and @Rockwood. I agree with you two on the broader ID of the coral as Scleractinian. Not sure how much better we'll be able to get than that, due to it being a bit rough around the edges and so heavily fragmented. Really hoping to get an ID on the black thing though. You're welcome buddy! I hope you get your ID, good luck! ~ Isaac; www.isaactfm.com "Don't move! He can't see us if we don't move!" - Alan Grant Come to the spring that is The Fossil Forum, where the stream of warmth and knowledge never runs dry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazee Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 The honey-colored fossils in the last picture look like "squid beaks"/cephalopod rostrums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSilverWolf98 Posted February 5, 2021 Author Share Posted February 5, 2021 7 hours ago, fossilcrazee said: The honey-colored fossils in the last picture look like "squid beaks"/cephalopod rostrums. I don't think so, that is just the reverse view of the shell fragments pictured earlier - I think they are small clam shells, but the division you see up the middle of the interior of the shell has me stumped, I have never seen anything like that before on shells like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilcrazee Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 12 hours ago, TheSilverWolf98 said: I don't think so, that is just the reverse view of the shell fragments pictured earlier - I think they are small clam shells, but the division you see up the middle of the interior of the shell has me stumped, I have never seen anything like that before on shells like this. D'oh Thought they were separate pics. Thanks for letting me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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