Mercydarko13 Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 I found this while hunting the creek bed in the little woods adjacent to my house in Ireland Indiana. I was examining it and 3 seconds into doing so, my brain forgot it was a rock and I screamed and dropped it. I know snakes can't be fossilized but this seems to be a real petrified snake head. I was wanting your opinions and tried my best to get good pictures. What do you think it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 Ooooo! Yes! A snake! Squirmy and bitey! It was brave of you, Mercydarko, to pick it up again. Looky here, an octopus devouring a brachiopod! 3 http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 Harry's leg-pulling notwithstanding, it is a geodized crinoid calyx. Pretty nice! Don 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 Yep nice little crinoid calyx 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 Here is what a crinod looks like if you did not know. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted July 28, 2021 Share Posted July 28, 2021 Crinoid calyx, I agree, but I'm not sure if it goes to the well known geodized category, although it is very close to that. 1 " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercydarko13 Posted July 29, 2021 Author Share Posted July 29, 2021 Actually I find crinoid calyxes all the time in that Creek bed. These are the ones I found this evening besides the 2 at the bottom. Geodized of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercydarko13 Posted July 29, 2021 Author Share Posted July 29, 2021 And that octopus too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercydarko13 Posted July 29, 2021 Author Share Posted July 29, 2021 6 hours ago, abyssunder said: Crinoid calyx, I agree, but I'm not sure if it goes to the well known geodized category, although it is very close to that. And I have to agree with you that it's not a geodized crinoid calyx because here are others I've found in the same creek bed and I find geodes too. I included the one identified as a crinoid at the top. If it looked like the crinoids I find i wouldn't have wondered why it actually looked like some scaled creature. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 Tis a different type of crinoid calyx to your usual finds, methinks. Rather a nice one, too. 1 Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercydarko13 Posted July 29, 2021 Author Share Posted July 29, 2021 35 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said: Tis a different type of crinoid calyx to your usual finds, methinks. Rather a nice one, too. I put it in a group the same size. Definitely out the norm for any crinoid I've found and completely different. I picked ones close to size and unfortunately the comparisons are geodized because they are all I have ever found. A petrified snake is of course stretching it but a crinoid never crossed my mind. Thanks to all for your input. I appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 Yes, a petrified snake's head is not a possibility here, they don't preserve like this. A smidgin of, pareidolia, one gently suggests. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 Snake heads can certainly become fossils. And although I know of none with the scales preserved, this is certainly not an impossibility based on the spectrum of lizard fossils. That said, this is not a snake. I was seeing a coral, maybe something like Favosites, but I haven't seen enough crinoid calyces to argue for or against that ID. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted July 29, 2021 Share Posted July 29, 2021 18 hours ago, abyssunder said: Crinoid calyx, I agree, but I'm not sure if it goes to the well known geodized category, although it is very close to that. I agree that these originally may have been crinoid calyces, perhaps inflated during the geodizing process (accretion is not limited to the size of the seed fossil). If "geode" doesn't work for you, these specimens may be called "pseudomorphs after crinoid calyces." Similarly, the agatized corals from the Tampa Silex Beds (Florida's state gemstone) are pseudomorphs after coral as well as (usually) geodes. 1 1 http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercydarko13 Posted July 30, 2021 Author Share Posted July 30, 2021 13 hours ago, Carl said: Snake heads can certainly become fossils. And although I know of none with the scales preserved, this is certainly not an impossibility based on the spectrum of lizard fossils. That said, this is not a snake. I was seeing a coral, maybe something like Favosites, but I haven't seen enough crinoid calyces to argue for or against that ID Due to a snakes structure fossilization is a process that takes too long from my understanding but they can be petrified. It's a rare occurrence but possible. The defined scales are the thing that bothers me most about it. A person can think they see something in a rock and it's just that... Stuff they see and no one else does but the scales on this are so blatant that you almost think you could pick one off of it. That is my one hold out in completely agreeing that it isn't reptilian in nature. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daves64 Posted July 30, 2021 Share Posted July 30, 2021 I agree with the calyx ID, but I can see how the snake head idea came to be. My first thought was crinoid, but I could also see the resemblance to a snakes head. It always amazes at how nature can create so many different shapes & images that can boggle the mind. But without them, life would be so very dull. 1 Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bthemoose Posted July 31, 2021 Share Posted July 31, 2021 On 7/29/2021 at 10:31 PM, Mercydarko13 said: The defined scales are the thing that bothers me most about it. A person can think they see something in a rock and it's just that... Stuff they see and no one else does but the scales on this are so blatant that you almost think you could pick one off of it. That is my one hold out in completely agreeing that it isn't reptilian in nature. Here's a photo of a fossilized crinoid calyx from the British Geological Survey along with their description: "The calyx is made of polygonal plates, arranged differently in different groups of crinoids." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercydarko13 Posted August 1, 2021 Author Share Posted August 1, 2021 On 7/30/2021 at 10:40 PM, bthemoose said: Here's a photo of a fossilized crinoid calyx from the British Geological Survey along with their description: "The calyx is made of polygonal plates, arranged differently in different groups of crinoids." That was a very good in depth read on Crinoids. Thanks for sharing that as I bookmarked the whole site. The one thing different where I am located is only finding them in the silicified or geodized state. They are in my creekbeds. Here's a little info. https://www.mindat.org/mesg-545970.html The Indiana geological survey took notice of my crinoids as some of the best they have seen via my Instagram so I'm going to find that post and see if they could offer a little more insight on the why that crinoid is so different from the others. Your post really provided me with the best info so far. Thanks so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifbrindacier Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 That's a nice calyx, i agree with the others. "On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry) "We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes." In memory of Doren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opabinia Blues Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Since we have an ID I’d like to add for educational purposes that snakes can indeed become fossils, and they have a pretty well-documented fossil record. Most of what is known is vertebrae, but skulls have been found as well. Pictures: Najash, Upper Cretaceous Patagonia. Source: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/11/eaax5833 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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