FossilHunter037 Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 Hello to all of you, I am new to this community. To to make the story short, I live in Lebanon (on the east mediterranian sea) and found few interesting stones in my family summer house. The story behind them is that my grand father found them somewhere near Mount Lebanon +- 1000m of altitude some 50 years ago. To me they really look like a dino's head, at least half of it (the other half probably having decomposed). Also note the shell like fossils that are incrusted on it and the tooth sockets. What do you experts think? Any clue on the species? It weighs +- 3kg and it is rock solid I have two more pieces to share with you folks later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 Welcome to the Forum. Unfortunately, this is not a skull of any kind. No bone texture, and no actual skull morphology. This looks like an oddly eroded piece of limestone with shell fossils attached. 7 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...
FossilHunter037 Posted December 18, 2021 Author Share Posted December 18, 2021 It might be a petrified fossil in witch case i read that you lose the bone structure but only keep stratigraphic fossils such as the small shells. For the morphological part if you look at pic nr 3 that could be half of the skull with the orbital cavity and the maxillary branch of the bone under it. Then in all logic if you look underneath in the pictures 4 and 5 you see the tooth sockets with the larger ones to the front as in most animals… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyw Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 I’m sorry but i’m with fossildude. While it’s a cool looking rock It’s not a skull or even the cast of one. Theres no sutures, bone, or any of the anatomical features you would expect to see on one. IE nasal passages etc all skulls are made up of multiple individual bones not one solid piece. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 18 minutes ago, FossilHunter037 said: It might be a petrified fossil in witch case i read that you lose the bone structure but only keep stratigraphic fossils such as the small shells. For the morphological part if you look at pic nr 3 that could be half of the skull with the orbital cavity and the maxillary branch of the bone under it. Then in all logic if you look underneath in the pictures 4 and 5 you see the tooth sockets with the larger ones to the front as in most animals… Welcome. Unfortunately, your hope that this is a skull will be disappointed. I'm not sure what you are reading, but I know of No large bone fossils that "lose the bone structure but only keep stratigraphic fossils such as the small shells". 1 1 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilNerd Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 As others have said, it’s definitely not a skull, but it does have some interesting looking inclusions. Possibly shell fossils as previously mentioned. So while you don’t have a skull fossil as you hoped, you still may have something neat. Shell fossils are cool too! 2 1 2 The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. -Neil deGrasse Tyson Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilHunter037 Posted December 18, 2021 Author Share Posted December 18, 2021 Too bad I had already given it a name.. Ok thank you for your knowledge and explanations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilHunter037 Posted December 18, 2021 Author Share Posted December 18, 2021 So as long as we are at it, i also found what I suppose to be two petrified vertebrae that have merged together.. Also a mirage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleorunner Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 I also see a limestone rock, in which there are fragmented shell remains. The one with an elongated shape in this photo, what could it be? numulites maybe? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleorunner Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 14 hours ago, FossilHunter037 said: So while we're at it, I also found what I assume to be two petrified vertebrae that have fused together ... Also a mirage? Yes ! they are still rocks, very beautiful to decorate aquariums, and gardens. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 Not vertebrae at all. Again, no real bone texture or morphology. 1 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...
Mahnmut Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 14 hours ago, Paleorunner said: I also see a limestone rock, in which there are fragmented shell remains. The one with an elongated shape in this photo, what could it be? numulites maybe? Now that is a cool fossil. I would like to find one of those myself. (though admittedly not as much as I would like to find a Dino head) The bonelike structures you see are produced by karst erosion, you and me are not the only ones to be mislead by that kind of thing. Your specimen is one of the more convincing looking, but still not a skull as far as I see it. Although it is theoretically possible to have the hollow shape of a bone replaced by sediment including shell fossils, it is much more common that the sediment including shells is eroded to resemble bones. Mine only had bivalves, nothing as nice as the ones above. Best Regards, J 1 1 2 Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilHunter037 Posted December 22, 2021 Author Share Posted December 22, 2021 Thank you for the details! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 It's a piece of art. Don't know who is the maker, Mother Nature or Men? " 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...
abyssunder Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 On 12/18/2021 at 6:34 PM, Paleorunner said: I also see a limestone rock, in which there are fragmented shell remains. The one with an elongated shape in this photo, what could it be? numulites maybe? If the geological age is Cretaceous (and probably is) your idea/ID could be right. 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...
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