I found an arthropod (probably)

[Daniel Fischer]

Hello. I found a fossil quite some time ago, I do not remember the exact location but I found it somewhere in northern Israel.

My initial thought was that this is a mantis shrimp fossil but now I don't think it's a mantis shrimp but I do believe it's some kind of an arthropod. 

I would love to hear any opinion about what this fossil may be and there is a picture with a covid mask for scale. 

 

 

  

[aek]

Just a rock, not fossil.

[Fossildude19]

Not seeing a fossil here - fracture patterns and differential weathering make this look somewhat like a fossil. 

 

[Ludwigia]

I agree with my predecessors. No fossil here.

[GeschWhat]

Is that typical of the matrix in that area?

[Daniel Fischer]

Thank you everyone who replied.

First of all I do not remember where I found this rock so I can't provide anymore information.

 About 8 people agreed that this is not a fossil so I wanted to ask how do you get to this conclusion, I am no expert to rocks and I hope this question won't insult anyone because I know that your knowledge is not something you can just explain but I would love it if you could give me a general idea of how can you tell this is not a fossil because for me it looked very much like a fossil.

[FranzBernhard]

2 hours ago, Daniel Fischer said:

not something you can just explain

Indeed, and so your question is one of best of all! Thanks for asking it.

 

It was immediate decision for me, that this is a fracture pattern. But why?

- In its regularity, it is too irregular to be a fossil.

- There are other spots of the same kind (2), which do no belong to the supposed fossil.

- The pattern is not restricted to a bedding plane (1). You can see at (1), that the fractures are at an angle to the rock surface.

- Other member will be able to provide some more arguments. 

 

And finally and most important:
Keep your critical thinking!!

Franz Bernhard

 

Edited April 4, 2021 by FranzBernhard

[GeschWhat]

First let me say I don't believe this is a fossil. It may be an ichnofossil, but there is no way to know for sure since you don't recall where it was found. I am unfamiliar with the type of fossils found in Israel. Best I can tell from the photo, the coloration and texture does resemble some coprolites I've seen from other areas. If, and only if this is a coprolite, the grooves that somewhat resemble a shrimp, could be tooth marks (more properly referred to as feeding/grazing traces or dentalites).  The problem is, a lot of rocks can look like coprolites. Unless you know for certain it came from a fossiliferous area, there is no way to know for sure. You could touch it to the tip of your tongue to see if it sticks. Depending on the fossilization process, fossil bone and carnivore coprolites may stick. I could be wrong, but this has the appearance of weathered marble. 

 

I hope this helps.