Opalised bone?

[Aussieopal]

Hi all the imaginative one back again 

 

This time I am curious as to wether this could be a fossil replacement opal?

 

The photos are not very good because it is quiet small, possibly about the size of a pea.

 

The play of colour in this little thing is absolutely amazing! Every single colour on the spectrum from common blues and greens to beautiful orange, red and yellow. 

 

It was found in lightning ridge Australia in a $5 lucky dip bag my kids got.

 

To me it looks like a piece of spine or tail bone but once again i love to imagine! 

 

Very excited to hear what you all think...

 

 

They may say that I am a dreamer....

But I am not the only one! 

[mr.cheese]

If you take the photo from a little further away and tap on the phone screen to make it focus on the 'pea' you can then use edit to zoom in a little better. Doesn't always work and I hope I don't sound condescending as that isn't the idea!

It does definitely look like opal though so will be interesting to get more of an idea of its shape. Looks at the minute to be just a piece of opal, I say just, that is a pretty awesome find and in a lucky bag too!

[digit]

17 minutes ago, Aussieopal said:

They may say that I am a dreamer....

But I am not the only one! 

Indeed. We have lots of dreamers.

 

There is some nice color in there for $5. Lightning Ridge is well known as a source for Black Opal (opal on a darker quartz background which allows the colors to saturate and pop more spectacularly). I once had the opportunity to fossick around in Coober Pedy for some Light Opal--and a lot of potch (worthless opal-like microcrystalline quartz with little or no color).

 

28 minutes ago, Aussieopal said:

To me it looks like a piece of spine or tail bone but once again i love to imagine! 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=pareidolia&tbm=isch

 

Once again you have demonstrated that your pareidolia is well developed.  Pareidolia is a very interesting phenomenon produced by the advanced pattern matching circuitry of our brains. It's what allows us to interpret any manner of fantastic animal shapes in clouds or perceive faces in rock profiles. Combined with a smidgen of wishful thinking it presents itself here on the forum with a number of requests for confirming speculative identifications. Sadly, I'm not seeing any indication of a recognizable fossil in your lucky dip prize. Most opalized fossils tend to be marine creatures (mollusks, crustaceans, and yes, plesiosaurs). The Addyman Plesiosaur in the South Australia Museum is a wonder to see.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=opalized+fossils&tbm=isch

 

Check the Australia section of this forum, research fossil locations online, and search for any fossil/rock clubs near your area. Australia is a big place with lots of interesting rock formations. Hopefully, you'll locate some cool fossils soon that you can share with us. Till then keep searching.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Aussieopal]

Thank you so very much for your help!!

 

I have spent quiet a few hours now watching some amazing YouTube videos on lighting ridge fossils hence my extreme desire to find something special myself.

 

I live 2 hours from lightning ridge and am going to visit the opal centre on my next visit so hopefully they will be able to shed more light on what I should be looking for.

 

I did think I could just be a very pretty interestingly shaped "nobby" opal but just wasn't sure so thank you again for clarifying.

 

I have 2 other small pieces to ask about once again they are most likely not of significance but rather then create a new thread I will post some photos here.

 

1. I have no idea?? Tiny thin rod of potch opal with a black centre running through 

 

 

2. Coprolite?? This isn't opal and what ever it is it's hard (can't scratch it with a pin) 

 

 

Fingers crossed Off to a very rocky start