Fossil With Trail.....of A? I Think It Has Eyes. (Have No Idea, Im A Rookie)

[Jay01]

I went fossil hunting in Cincinnati, Ohio. I found some neat stuff but I am not sure what this is. I think I found it in the Bellevue Formation, inside a slab of shale. I had a small wedge and slow pride the slab in two, when i pulled the two apart, I found this. It looks like it has two eyes (I guess) and a body with plant sprouts, legs or fins...there are about 5, but its hard to see them as some of it is still covered with thin layers of shale and dirt. I am not sure how to go about cleaning it. Also, its not an impression - whatever it is, is actually there.

Thank you

-Jonathan

[mikeymig]

looks like fossilized bioturbation. I get a lot of that here in the shales of NY. All kinds of marine critters crawl, slither, and plow through seafloor sediment. Some leave behind trails that fill in and become fossils.

[Jay01]

interesting. Is there a way to identify the critter? Its still in mine, lol.

[Ludwigia]

First of all, welcome to the forum.

Don't let your imagination run away on you, although a bit of fantasy sometimes helps in identifying such mysterious structures. As Mikey has already mentioned, there is not only one critter, but rather the remains and/or tracks/burrows on the ancient sea floor of many of them. One can make out other remains on the slab. Your photos are unfortunately not sharp enough, so it's impossible to make out any fine details. That which you assume to be one critter is in all likelihood a burrow which has been filled in with sediment and crystallized.

As far as cleaning it up is concerned, if it's soft, use a brush and then soap and water in stages, if it's hard, try a steel brush under running water.

Edited December 16, 2011 by Ludwigia

[Carl]

Maybe you're a coin collector, too? The quarter in you photo is a silver one before the introduction of silver clad quarters. Keep that, too!