Possibly Claws ???

[marcltetreault]

Hi Everyone, still working on finding a true worthwhile Fossil… 

Here are two pictured but I have maybe 3 or four that look very similar.
All have some sort of groove on the underside and what look as if an attachment point.    Hopefully this will help the odds. 

Collected at Big Brook Preserve Monmouth County, NJ.

From river bed sifting 

 

[Randyw]

I’m sorry. All I am seeing are rocks. No claws..

[marcltetreault]

 I can’t win….  Thanks Randy

[IsaacTheFossilMan]

@marcltetreault this looks like an ironstone concretion with the phosphatic coating like before, unfortunately.

 

 

Note the cracking of the phosphate layers that coalesce in a black shiny coating.

 

 

This here is the texture of an ironstone concretion, but coated in phosphate again - for reference, some ironstone concretions:

 

[marcltetreault]

I definitely see what you are pointing out and see the resemblance of the texture of what we talked about last evening, but how do we explain the very similar look to 3 or 4 pieces? And the actual anatomy of a claw?   
Not really disagreeing but trying to understand how it’s possible.  But if it is what you guys say I will take as gospel and move on.  Your much more versed in this than I will ever be.  
Thanks

[marcltetreault]

Will all mistaken “fossils “ be black like this?

[A.C.]

Unfortunately I agree with the above IDs. Big Brook you have to remember was a Cretaceous sea. As such the chance of finding claws is so so slim. Additionally while your rocks do look like claws on first glance the rocks at big Brook tend to easily play tricks. Keep hunting at big Brook and eventually you’ll find true fossils and then be able to tell the difference with relative ease 90% of the time.

[A.C.]

2 minutes ago, marcltetreault said:

Will all mistaken “fossils “ be black like this?

Not necessarily. The iron concretions at big Brook tend to be the darker color but some may be a more brown color

[marcltetreault]

Thanks, AC

[marcltetreault]

Now I see why buying Fakes is such a problem. 

[A.C.]

There are some really good websites that post IDs of fossils you can expect to find in Cretaceous marine exposures of NJ. The majority being teeth from sharks. Of course there are rarer marine reptile and even dinosaur material present but those ID sites will show you what you can expect to find.

[Plax]

10 minutes ago, marcltetreault said:

Now I see why buying Fakes is such a problem. 

Google "fossil claws" to get an idea of what an actual claw looks like. You have found plenty of shark teeth I assume.

[marcltetreault]

I have found and searched many of them before  asking here.   These are ones that looked promising to my untrained eye.  Disappointed but will push on….. On the positive side I am getting a wealth of information that hopefully one day will help me find the “gold”

[marcltetreault]

1 minute ago, Plax said:

Google "fossil claws" to get an idea of what an actual claw looks like. You have found plenty of shark teeth I assume.

Some…. I would not say plenty.  And none to write home about.   

[Fossildude19]

The brooks can be quite frustrating with the amount of suggestively shaped concretions in them. 

We've all been there.

[marcltetreault]

It’s amazing how much of nothing I have collected 

I’ll bring to the beach and let kids stretch their interests.