This rock appears to contain bone and teeth

[Penny_black]

I visited an estate sale close to my home. Down in south Central Texas. I picked this "rock" up because it glittered beautifully in the bright sunlight. As I studied the rock, a head began to take shape...

[Meganeura]

Unfortunately that appears to be what you first thought it was - just a crystal chunk. A beautiful one - but I don't see any fossils in it. 

[Fin Lover]

Sorry, not seeing any bones, teeth, or other fossils.

[hadrosauridae]

Sorry, those are quartz crystals, not any form or fashion of a fossil.

[RJB]

13 hours ago, Penny_black said:

 As I studied the rock, a head began to take shape...

This is a condition in the brain called pareidolia.  Its like looking up at the clouds and seeing things, but no matter what one see's, they are still clouds.  and its easy to do.

 

RB

[Penny_black]

Pareidolia was once thought of as a symptom of psychosis, but is now recognized as a normal, human tendency. 

[Troodon]

Of course normal most of us do it, but no fossils in sight.  Very cool specimen

[Penny_black]

Unfortunately my imagination does not allow me to see phenomenon. 

Perhaps you do not see what myself and others see. May I ask you to take a closer look. Enlarging the the photos could help. This "rock" is stone, I assure you. It is not for the faint of heart. It appears some sort of creature met a tragic demise. It is preserved in time. It has what appears to be dried blood in and around the side of the head that clearly indicates the skull was smashed. Bone fragments are smallest in the area that suggest the point of impact. 

Upon further study, jaw line is present and there is symmetry. 

I am baffled how"fresh" looking this is. It makes no sense. The teeth follow the jaw line all the way around neatly lined up down to molars in the back in the back of "mouth"(on both sides) to smaller pointier teeth in the front. 

Above the smaller teeth, a nose can be identified.

I did not see what this was at first either. A wealthy man, who is now deceased, spent a lifetime collecting these specimens. 

I'm sending it of to Texas a&m University for further examination. I will post an update on the findings. Thank you for letting me share.

 

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Penny_black
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[hadrosauridae]

46 minutes ago, Penny_black said:

Unfortunately my imagination did bit allow me to see phenomenon. 

Perhaps you do not see what myself and others see. May I ask you to take a closer look. Enlarging the the photos could help. This "rock" is stone, I assure you. It is not for the faint of heart. It appears some sort of creature met a tragic demise. It is preserved in time. It has what appears to be dried blood in and around the side of the head that clearly indicates the skull was smashed. Bone fragments are smallest in the area that suggest the point of impact. 

Upon further study, jaw line is present and there is symmetry. 

I am baffled how"fresh" looking this is. It makes no sense. The teeth follow the jaw line all the way around neatly lined up down to molars in the back in the back of "mouth"(on both sides) to smaller pointier teeth in the front. 

Above the smaller teeth, a nose can be identified.

I did not see what this was at first either. A wealthy man, who is now deceased, spent a lifetime collecting these specimens. 

I'm sending it of to Texas a&m University for further examination. I will post an update on the findings. Thank you for letting me share.

 

 

 

By all means, send it, but they are going to tell you same thing.  Its a regular rock, and not any way, shape, or form of a fossil.  What you THINK you are seeing in this rock, cant even fossilize the way you think this is.

[Penny_black]

Could you please tell me what the small crystals that fill in the holes and cracks are? Is this how crystals begin and do crystals grow from biological minerals? I have about five of these rocks. They all appear to resemble an animal of sorts some contain imprints and some of the surface textures resembles scales and a leathery texture. Is it possible for biological material to fossilize and retain color? Forgive me for my ignorance, I am very intrigued thank you for your time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fossildude19]

Looks like quartz, with druzy quartz covering much of the piece.

It isn't a fossil of any kind. The red color is likely mineral staining, usually red is derived from iron based minerals.

 

There is no bone texture or true skull morphology present in this item.

 

Images cropped and brightened:

 

 

 

 

[FossilNerd]

6 hours ago, Penny_black said:

Unfortunately my imagination does not allow me to see phenomenon.

Actually… imagination, by its very definition, allows one to see anything they can dream of; phenomenon, truth, lies, or otherwise.  
 

6 hours ago, Penny_black said:

It has what appears to be dried blood in and around the side of the head that clearly indicates the skull was smashed.

 

Regardless of imagination, pareidolia, or other phenomenon, science , reasoning, and experience tell us more seasoned collectors that blood does not preserve in this way. The red color which you mistakenly think is blood, is in all likelihood, mineral staining. Iron tends to stain things red for example. 
 

As Fossildude19 pointed out, the “crushed skull” that you see has no skull morphology or bone texture. 
 

Nor do your supposed “teeth” show any actual signs of being teeth beyond a vague similarity in shape. No preserved enamel or other tooth diagnostic features.

Call it pareidolia, imagination, or being a normal human.  Our brains process new stimuli by trying to match it with something we are familiar with. That’s why we see faces in clouds, the moon, or burnt toast, and why everything tastes like chicken. In your case the color of the quartz reminds you of bone. The mineral staining reminds you of blood. Then your brain says “Well that part reminds me of a skull and those bits there must be teeth!”. 

 

7 hours ago, Penny_black said:

A wealthy man, who is now deceased, spent a lifetime collecting these specimens. 

 

Our brains behaving this way is a natural thing that we all, even the most experience collector or studied scientist, fall victim to from time to time.  It affects the poor and wealthy alike. The trick is remembering that our brains naturally work in this way and doing everything we can to see past it. To think logically and scientifically.

 

7 hours ago, Penny_black said:

I'm sending it of to Texas a&m University for further examination. I will post an update on the findings. Thank you for letting me share 

 

I very much encourage you to send it to the university and report back. All of us can learn from instances such as this and we rarely get reports back from folks who take their finds to a professional. Likely because the professional told them the same thing we did or because, even after talking to a professional, the person still cannot be convinced of the truth. 

[Fin Lover]

On 10/5/2022 at 1:49 PM, Penny_black said:

A wealthy man, who is now deceased, spent a lifetime collecting these specimens. 

 

I agree with the others and would like to add that wealth does not necessarily determine what someone will have in their collection.  Whether the gentleman had money and traveled or not, people collect the items that they enjoy.  Maybe he liked rocks, minerals, crystals, etc. or maybe those were rocks that a grandchild gave to him.  You shouldn't assume that something is of great significance and/or value because someone you believe was wealthy owned it.  I would much rather get something from someone not as wealthy but knowledgeable about fossils instead.   

Edited October 6, 2022 by Fin Lover
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