Are these fossils?

[Wonderful_Life]

I recently took a trip up to a few localities of the Murray Shale of Blount County, Tennessee, which contains fossils of the early Cambrian period. I looked around in some of the loose shale on the ground to see if I could find a small brachiopod or hyolith (both of which are common to this locality). This was my first time going out and looking to see if I could find a fossil on my own. I took a few pictures of what I thought could possibly be fossiliferous material of some sort, but ultimately could not determine if what I found was indeed fossiliferous. Most of what I saw appeared to be fossil trackways, but I could not definitively determine that. Any thoughts on thoughts on whether or not these are fossils of any sort would be greatly appreciated!

 

If any extra information is needed about the localities themselves I would be willing to supply that. 

20210113_133651-converted-compressed.pdf

20210113_135629-converted-compressed.pdf

20210113_135629-converted-compressed.pdf

[Wendell Ricketts]

Hello WL: I would say they are not, but I'll be interested to see what other folks have to say as well.

W

[Fossildude19]

Cropped and brightened.

 

[Thomas.Dodson]

Here's the other picture. These don't appear to be fossils. Shale splits into weird shapes sometimes. It seems you're on the right track looking for sedimentary rock outcrops. You might find something if you continue searching here but it's also worth noting that not all outcrops are created equal. Tiny portions of humongous outcrops can sometimes contain all the fossils for example.

 

If you post pictures of the trackways we can evaluate this if you'd like.

[EMP]

On 2/17/2021 at 2:56 PM, Fossildude19 said:

Cropped and brightened.

 

 

I've seen similar stuff from the Araby Formation, which is roughly stratigraphically equivalent to the upper Chilhowee Group (of which the Murray is a member). It looks like it could be a Skolithos linearis, but you'd need more from the site to rule out shale fractures.