Marjaton Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Can you help me ID this? This was in a pile of grey clay from Ottawa, IL. The rock was taken as a yard ornament then over the winter it cracked open revealing this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Oh my! That's an awesome fossil. It's the fin from a Pennsyvanian shark! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marjaton Posted May 25, 2014 Author Share Posted May 25, 2014 We thought it might be a fin. the other side has what appears to be flaked skin. Any idea about the rarity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Awesome piece! ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisalyne Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 That's pretty awesome. I'm near Ottawa. :-p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 I'd say that's pretty darned rare. A HUGE score. And it looks like you not only have the cartilaginous fin skeleton but the soft-tissue outline. Outstanding! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marjaton Posted May 26, 2014 Author Share Posted May 26, 2014 Thank you to everybody who responded. I will contact some universities and see if they want it. Someone will if it is rare to have the soft tissue. that is not an outline of it , but a thin layer of something that is flaking away. I do have both sides of this fossil. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Russell Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Niiiice! I didn't realize the Francis creek shale extended out to Ottawa. Cool find! Finding my way through life; one fossil at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFossils Posted May 27, 2014 Share Posted May 27, 2014 I am not sure that is a fish fin. To me it looks more like a section of calamites. By pure coincidence, I was out collecting near Ottawa this past Sunday in a deposit of Pennsylvannian aged black shale. Also by coincidence, I collected a shark fin (will post pictures later) along with a few other miscellaneous fish parts. Either way it is a nice find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 It could indeed be a bit of decorticated calamites bark; the bottom edge looks like a node. "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...
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