Pet. Wood v. Coral v. Bone?

[Burke_Family]

Hi. We picked this up thinking it was a piece of petrified wood. But upon closer inspection we think it could be something else. Our family is still learning and this has us stumped. It was found on one of the beaches in southern Oregon, we don’t remember which one. Thanks! 

[Meganeura]

That's an interesting piece. I don't think it's petrified wood - that's an easy one to rule out. I'm certainly learning coral over bone, but a couple of the pictures make it look like a boney texture.

[Brandy Cole]

It appears to me to be a chunk of un-identifiable fossil bone where mineral has begun to in-fill the hollow spaces.  I have a few fossil pieces that resemble this.

[Fossildude19]

Looks like a chunk of bone to me. 

Not sure you can take it much further than that.

Not seeing any coralites, to indicate coral.

[Rockwood]

Son of a gun. I was always a little skeptical about this look being bone but this series does seem to support the concept. 

[Carl]

I'm absolutely seeing bone. But an ID beyond that would be nearly impossible.

[CrankyMa]

It's Toredo Wood. Ship worms at holes in the wood then the wood fossilized. It is commonly found on central Oregon coast beaches.
 

Edited October 14, 2022 by CrankyMa

[Lone Hunter]

1 hour ago, CrankyMa said:

It's Toredo Wood. Ship worms at holes in the wood then the wood fossilized. It is commonly found on central Oregon coast beaches.

It looks nothing like Toredo wood or shipworms I have.  Pretty sure Carl got the last word on that.

[Doctor Mud]

@Carl and @Fossildude19 are on the money.

 

I think where you are in S Oregon is a very similar age and environment to one of my local fossil deposits. Mid- late Miocene. 

The preservation is identical and that’s 100% a piece of tumbled bone. Maybe this was part of a skeleton in a concretion and now this is all that remains. Based on the time and environment you can say this is marine mammal - cetacean or seal. But nothing more specific. Bones from birds, fish and marine mammals have different structures and you can usually (well sometimes ) narrow it down.

 

i still enjoy finding these pieces. The fossil bone nuggets are beautiful in their own right and have that added layer of mystery. Imagining it once belonging to a whale or seal swimming around millions of years ago. 

 

Here’s some close ups of bone nuggets from 3 of my local beaches. The one most similar to yours is above. The other 2 are plesiosaur and Mosasaur! 

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by Doctor Mud
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[Rockwood]

That last one would almost pass for a Van Gogh painting.  

[sjaak]

It’s bone allright.

[Burke_Family]

21 hours ago, CrankyMa said:

It's Toredo Wood. Ship worms at holes in the wood then the wood fossilized. It is commonly found on central Oregon coast beaches.
 

Thanks… we have a different find that we think is toredo wood, and it looks different than this. The bore holes are larger and the tunnels more distinct. Photos are attached. 

[Burke_Family]

@Doctor Mud thanks for the information and the images! We learned a lot from everyone‘s comments, and the pictures you shared are great reference points for us. This has been a fun mystery for three generations of our family: grandpa, daughter, grand daughter. Thanks much to everyone who weighed in.

[Doctor Mud]

17 hours ago, Rockwood said:

That last one would almost pass for a Van Gogh painting.  

It’s my favorite of the 3 photos too. That’s from a piece of plesiosaur bone. 

[fifbrindacier]

Nice chunk of bone.