JohnJ Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 After inquiries with a few other members, I'm still trying to solve this ID. It is from a Texas marine strata - lower Campanian Upper Austin Division near the transition to the Taylor Group. It was possibly eroded to some degree in its paleo environment, but was found in-situ. The bryzoan makes a nice decoration on this 5.5" "twizzler". Thoughts? The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Man, I hope it's a burrow fill... How was it oriented relative to the bedding plane? Too cool! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 Man, I hope it's a burrow fill... How was it oriented relative to the bedding plane? Too cool! It was in two pieces - one piece was parallel to the strata and the other was down-slope a couple feet. More photos: The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOROPUS Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 some sort of fish spine? A decapod leg piece? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 What if...it's an urchin spine!? "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 What if...it's an urchin spine!? That would be cool to find an urchin spine that big; but this is not one. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Hi. ... A coral internal mold??? Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Not 100% sure because the preservation is different, but I think that is part of the pen of a giant squid. I've found several in the Niobrara chalk of Kansas. Here's a closeup of a fragment: http://oceansofkansas.com/Invertebrates/BitnSquid1999.jpg More info: http://www.tonmo.com/science/fossils/cretaceousGS.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Well, that would be FOTM material! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squalicorax Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 looks fishy My Flickr Page of My Collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79424101@N00/sets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 i'm 100% willing to accept the premises of the specimen as a squid stick and johnj as fishy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
non-remanié Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 resembles cylindracanthus rostrum, but i have only seen small pieces, no idea if they can get this large. ---Wie Wasser schleift den Stein, wir steigen und fallen--- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archimedes Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Very Nice Fossil, something not usually preserved I imagine Thank You for posting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Refer to this other post... If it's not an urchin spine, I don't know. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php/topic/17712-edwards-mysteries/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordpiney Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 i'm 100% willing to accept the premises of the specimen as a squid stick and johnj as fishy. now that's funny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 now that's funny! yeah, well smell isn't everything..... The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 John- Did you ever get this identified? I was searching Cylindracanthus in the search engine and found this post. I'm fairly confident it is a fossil gorgonian. These are fairly common in the Eocene Castle Hayne Formation of North Carolina. Here are a couple illustrations. The first is from "An alcyonarian from the Eocene of Mississippi", the second from "Danian cold water corals from the Baunekule facies, Faxe Formation, Denmark: A rare taphonomic window of a coral mound flank habitat". 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 On 1/17/2017 at 7:59 AM, Al Dente said: John- Did you ever get this identified? I was searching Cylindracanthus in the search engine and found this post. I'm fairly confident it is a fossil gorgonian. These are fairly common in the Eocene Castle Hayne Formation of North Carolina. Here are a couple illustrations. The first is from "An alcyonarian from the Eocene of Mississippi", the second from "Danian cold water corals from the Baunekule facies, Faxe Formation, Denmark: A rare taphonomic window of a coral mound flank habitat". Eric, sorry for the late reply. Yes, I did eventually receive the suggestion this might be a late Cretaceous gorgonian. The Eocene specimen in the diagram you posted is remarkably similar. Thanks for the additional reference images. Here are few quick images I put together yesterday. @Al Dente 1 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 I would guess this is a rare find. Such a cool piece...thanks for the additional images. "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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