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Fossil Identification


Pickle42

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I have had this rock for a number of years and have often wondered whether it was an just oddly shaped or a fossil, if anyone would be able to help it would be very appreciated :) thank you

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Im no expert by any means but I was thinking of a bivalve mollusk or some kind of gastropod.

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The rock is flint. This was formed during the Cretaceous era in a chalk sea. Flint only formed in the upper chalk so I am confident to give it an age from 70 - 90 million years old. I am pretty sure you have a cross-section through an echinoid (sea urchin) called Echinocorys scutata. Could you send some more photos of a side-on view of the specimen to look out for confirmation (or exclusion) details?

Many thanks,

Thomas

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I think Thomas has it.

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen

No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go.

" I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes

"can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks

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Urchins are fairly common along the South coast, in flint is rarer than in chalk, but not all that rare.

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Echinocorys is a very common (and important) echinoid found throughout the White Chalk above the Terebratulina lata zone. Here is one of my specimens preserved in flint which is worn but shows the plates well.

post-4683-0-24754000-1396727852_thumb.jpg

Best regards,

Thomas

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