gladius Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 (edited) Hello, a friend of mine found some kind of large fossilized creature in a cave on Sand Mountain in northeast Alabama. It was buried in red clay. The rocks containing fossilized bone are broken into many pieces; he has collected hundreds of small to medium sized pieces and there are many larger ones still at the site. Most of the creature is still there. The rocks are a sandy yellow color and unusually light weight. I washed one of them (#28) and there was a lot of tiny bubbles forming in different places, showing that the rock is porous. Three of the pieces (see pic below) he assembled into a complete joint. The creature may have been 20+ feet long, and I would guess it's a sea creature, given that the imprint of a seashell is found in one of the fossil rocks. The complete archive of images is here: http://grow.game/files/fossil-pictures-lowres-2021-05-26.zip These are pics of only 32 pieces of the hundreds he's collected. Notes on individual images: #20 appears to be some kind of iron ore. It's unusually heavy. There is another piece just like it also. Could be a clue to the geology of the site. #27 note the shell embedded on one side. #28 looks brilliant orange because it's still wet after washing some dirt off. This is the one that was bubbling in different places. Edited May 27, 2021 by gladius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 Welcome to the Forum Only seeing one photo with 4 items in it one with a number 29. Nothing jumps out in the photo provided.. The Geology of that part of Alabama is pretty old, Paleozoic and older. Doubt any large vertebrate would be around. That link you provided is a zip file to a pretty massive download. Suggest you download photos you would like us to see. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facehugger Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 Always better to post pics instead of links (nobody wants to click a link from a stranger - no offense, but that could be a trap). Sorry - I'm not seeing any bony fossil material here. Wait for opinions from others. You should also check a geological map of Alabama to determine the age of the sediment, and what can be found therein. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gladius Posted May 27, 2021 Author Share Posted May 27, 2021 (edited) I've seen many rocks in my lifetime, and I've never seen any rocks like this on Sand Mountain. Now I'm not a fossil expert, but it certainly appears to me that this is some kind of joint for an appendage in that picture above. Does not appear to be a natural rock. The ZIP file provided contains pictures from different angles of 32 different rocks, including "group" photos of those rocks plus many more in the collection. The numbers above reference individual rocks shown in the ZIP file. It's necessary to see all the rocks, in order to get any kind of understanding what this find may or may not be. That's why I made the ZIP file as one convenient download, so my web server bandwidth doesn't get chewed up with people constantly loading pictures linked to this site or elesewhere. No, it's not a trap. For those who are on a slow connection, if you want to browse the pictures individually, follow the link below. Otherwise if you are planning to look through all the pictures, just download the full ZIP please. http://grow.game/files/fossil-pictures-lowres-2021-05-26/ Edited May 27, 2021 by gladius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 Since you are not a fossil expert you have come to the right place to get our opinion, lots of experienced experts here. In the photo provided I do not see any evidence of bone, although the rocks may suggest a joint. The Geology of the area is another factor and it does not support your case. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gladius Posted May 27, 2021 Author Share Posted May 27, 2021 OK then, are there any geology experts here who will please explain to me (like I'm 5) exactly what kind of rocks these are, and the leading theory of how they naturally formed to look exactly like dinosaur bones, up to and including larger rocks still at the site which look exactly like vertebrae, ribs, hip bones, etc? A detailed scientific explanation of this could help other ignorant hillbillies who were confused into thinking they actually found something interesting. Like I said, they are surprisingly light weight, porous rocks, nothing like I've ever encountered before. But then again I'm not an expert at ditch digging, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 I'm sorry, but these look nothing like bones. "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 42 minutes ago, gladius said: A detailed scientific explanation of this could help other ignorant hillbillies who were confused into thinking they actually found something interesting. No one is implying anyone is ignorant. Many of us have been fooled by natural geologic formations. Countless examples look like things they are not. Check out this topic. Geology of Marshall County, AL. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted May 27, 2021 Share Posted May 27, 2021 This all looks like weathered limestone, to me. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 3 hours ago, gladius said: what kind of rocks these are, and the leading theory of how they naturally formed to look exactly like dinosaur bones, up to and including larger rocks still at the site which look exactly like vertebrae, ribs, hip bones, etc? No one is likely to be willing or able to explain something they haven’t seen. If you have pictures of the items as described above, I would suggest posting a few of those to get some informed opinions because only one of the four rocks in your picture above looks like it has the potential to be something other than a rock. Certainly none in the attached picture have the internal texture of bone that I can see. Also, you might want to put some vinegar on one of your pieces and see if it bubbles/fizzes. This could tell us if it is a carbonate. Thanks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gladius Posted May 28, 2021 Author Share Posted May 28, 2021 There is an entire ZIP file full of images; can you browse through it please? They are reduced in size, but still larger than the one above that the forum shrunk. There is a high resolution version of each picture on request. The high res picture archive was 700 megs, way too big for my internet connection to upload, but I can upload individual images as needed. It's difficult to capture the essence of these rocks in one photo, or even a hundred. There is a lot the camera leaves out. None of these photos here have anything like a smoking gun, but there are a lot of bone like characteristics that I can't explain through a natural erosion process. These were buried in red clay inside a cave. How did they get eroded? One part that's missing is what the finder believes is a mandible. This was stolen by a former associate. He drew me a picture of what it looked like, which turned out to be almost exactly like a Basilosaurus jaw when I looked it up online. I will have the person who's holding the rocks to try the vinegar trick. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas.Dodson Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 I downloaded all your images and I'm afraid all of these shapes are explained by natural erosion processes and natural rock shapes with a bit of pareidolia. This is just sedimentary rock in various shapes. Iron rich limestone perhaps or limestone stained by the iron rich clay you mentioned. There are ways to find out the type of rock such as the acid tests mentioned. I see lots of iron oxide and some possible chert inclusions that explain some of the weirder shapes. Images DCS 0106 and 0107 contain the only fossil, a brachiopod. This is consistent with what others have told you about the age of the outcrop being Paleozoic which would also rule out the kind of vertebrate remains you expect. It predates Basilosaurs by more than 200 million years. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyw Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 Except for the shell I’m also not seeing any fossils in your picture above and no I don’t click on external files just as a matter of personal preference. Nature is great at mimicking all sorts of shapes. Just like this image isn’t really a dragons eye 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahnmut Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 Hello Gladius, the single picture you provided in a way comfortable for the people who you ask the favour of identifying your finds looks somewhat similar to bone fragments, but lacks the detail to proof it. Links to Zip-files are not a thing anyone will like to follow. They could for example contain a bug without you even knowing it. Uploading hundreds of single pics to the forum is not necessary either. How about a compromise, select the 1-5 pictures that in your opinion show the most well preserved and unambiguous bones in your friends collection and post them according to the forum rules. Some terms you may like to look up (for example on wikipedia) as examples for geology that may produce bone like forms: speleothem, karst, pseudofossil, chert nodule. I do not know enough about your regions geology to say for sure any one of these is exactly what you have there, but I know that I have been tricked by bone-ish looking rocks often enough. Best Regards, J 1 1 Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted May 28, 2021 Share Posted May 28, 2021 Having looked through the zip file images, I can confidently state that there are no fossils, other than the shell fossil, in any of the pictures. Again, they look like limestone or sandstone rocks. No bones, no bone textures, no bone morphology. Sorry. Discussion has run it's course. Topic Locked. Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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