Phoenixflood Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 http://www.geotimes.org/aug04/WebExtra080504.html That's what I was thinking! It most likely is a whale bone but it has been eaten away at by worms. Perhaps even before it was fossilized. There are two easy ways to find out if it is or not. 1. tap it against a stone or your teeth and it is clicks and sound like a rock, bingo, fossil. 2. Get a match or a lighter and burn a small end, just a little bit, if it smells like burning hair it's not fossilized. The soul of a Fossil Hunter is one that is seeking, always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Osedax spp. Leave a very distinctive pattern in the bone, and not like the piece from Bolinas. The cross sectional shape of the pores in that chunk are round, unlike that of cancellous whale bone, where they are often angular, and polygonal; also, the pores are usually not that large. There's no way its whale bone - I'll try to find a picture of the tubeworm species that produces that material. It may "look" sorta kinda maybe like whalebone... but its rather easy to pick them apart after seeing a LOT of each on beaches. Bobby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryland Mike Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 I don't really have a guess at what it is, but two tests might help lead toward identification. You might do a hardness test to see where it is on the Mohs scale. Also put a few drops of vinegar on an inconspicuous spot. If it bubbles and reacts that may be an indication that there is some calcium in it and may be organic in origin. Of course, if it is fully fossilized all the calcium may be gone, so this test still doesn't rule out organic origin, but might confirm it. Carpe Diem, Carpe Somnium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eero59 Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 two tests might help lead toward identification.You might do a hardness test to see where it is on the Mohs scale. Also put a few drops of vinegar on an inconspicuous spot. If it bubbles and reacts I did think of that, no fizz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Thompson Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 Bobby & Ron are right; those are colonies of polychete tube worms that calcify together (calcium carbonate), not fossilized or whale bone (calcium phosphate); washes up often here on the CA coast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 I also think recent invertebrate. I found a similar piece years ago south of Balboa Beach, CA, however I assumed that it was a colonial filter feeding gastropod mass similar to Vermicularia recta Olsson & Harbinson, 1953 that was commonly found in the Pliocene Pinecrest at the APAC pit in Sarasota, FL. "A problem solved is a problem caused"--Karl Pilkington "I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit." -- Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bear-dog Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 If you analyze individual "cells" of the specimen, it doesn't make sense that worms did it. Unless of course they were worms on drugs. I don't know anything about the type of worm alleged to have been at work here, but I've studied Serpula worm tubes, and I'm creative enough to imagine how I would do things if I were a worm, and I wouldn't do them like that. Then again, if I were a bone, and just trying to grow strong structurally, but still keep enough porosity inside to keep my buoyancy up and be able to absorb and dissipate gases, then I might grow like that. So for me, the answer is pretty simple. It's a Swiss sponge. P.S. - If you find yourself trying to understand how a guy must think to post stuff like this, give it up. If you could understand, then you'd be like me, and you don't want to go there... Fossil worm.. Bear-dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 I got it! Western scaled worm-shell (actually gastropoda) - Serpulorbis squamigerus (Carpenter, 1857) http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/Molluscs/WormShell.htm "A problem solved is a problem caused"--Karl Pilkington "I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit." -- Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Thompson Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 Nice work Mike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted November 26, 2010 Share Posted November 26, 2010 I absolutely have to weigh in on the side of the worm voters. I have collected my share of both fossil whale bone and recent/fossil worm tube aggregations in CA and feel very sure the original posted fossil represents worm tubes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 I absolutely have to weigh in on the side of the worm voters. I have collected my share of both fossil whale bone and recent/fossil worm tube aggregations in CA and feel very sure the original posted fossil represents worm tubes. Genus and species of worm? "A problem solved is a problem caused"--Karl Pilkington "I was dead for millions of years before I was born and it never inconvenienced me a bit." -- Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 I wish I could say - I'm more of a vertebrate guy, myself. I'd go with serpulid, though. Genus and species of worm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cole Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Osedax spp. Leave a very distinctive pattern in the bone, and not like the piece from Bolinas. The cross sectional shape of the pores in that chunk are round, unlike that of cancellous whale bone, where they are often angular, and polygonal; also, the pores are usually not that large. There's no way its whale bone - I'll try to find a picture of the tubeworm species that produces that material. It may "look" sorta kinda maybe like whalebone... but its rather easy to pick them apart after seeing a LOT of each on beaches. Bobby The first thing that crossed my mind when I saw this was a tube worm colony. I live on the east coast far from where it was found, but here on the atlantic side I come acorss this stuff all the time. I dont have rocks to bust open to find my fossils so 99% of my hunts are on the beach. Everytime I walk the beach I find objects similar to this. They dont seem as heavy or as solid as coral would be. I would try to crush a peice. I dont think you can crush whale bone in your fingers, but tube worm colonies are very brittle and will crumble in your hands most of the time as they are thin-walled structures. Bobby would not blow smoke...he knows his whales. Cole~ 1 Knowledge has three degrees-opinion, science, illumination. The means or instrument of the first is sense; of the second, dialectic; of the third, intuition. Plotinus 204 or 205 C.E., Egyptian Philosopher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cole Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Also, a sideview would be great. Knowledge has three degrees-opinion, science, illumination. The means or instrument of the first is sense; of the second, dialectic; of the third, intuition. Plotinus 204 or 205 C.E., Egyptian Philosopher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 (edited) Looks like coral to me. Bone is porous as well, but not THAT porous. very well said. yeah, this looks coralish. Or worms. When it comes to whales Bobby is always right. (Dude, you owe me one for that). Edited November 27, 2010 by jpc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 It sounds like ya'll are starting to come around to my theory of a Swiss sponge. I doubt they have any Swiss sponge at Berkeley for comparison, however, because Berkeley is not in Sweden. What if it ends up really being some kind of a worm colony that lives in whales? ...and now its my turn to get bent out of shape. I like tracer's comments on this forum... he makes me laugh and his train of thought is way out in left field (i.e. brilliant), but being of Swiss decent, I must clarify for all those paying attention (or not), that Swiss means from Switzerland... not Sweden. Yes, I know this sounds trivial, but the semi-educated people out there might be surprised how many times I get asked if I speak Swedish like the Swedish Chef, or if I know the Swedish Bikini team. I'm Swiss goshdarnit. The fully educated people out there will just ignore this rant, and the non-educated have just been edumacated. I like to think tracer knows the dif, but... Thanks for listening to this version of my rant...This Swedish/Swiss thing lost its humor when I was about 6 yrs old.... 1967 If Switzerland had a Bikini team, I'm sure they would give Sweden a run for their money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 well, it took two and a half years from the time i set the trap in the post, but now YOU have become part of the entertainment.... wie ich Sie vorstelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 I'll try to be quicker next time... nice horsey..., he says with a Swedish accent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdevey Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Sorry about bringing back this old thread, but I came across a photo of the same material. Im sure it is because I have a sample myself, but in the middle of the photo you can realy see it is a worm colony. Here it is, sorry cant post it, its copyrighted...link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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