jpwill Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Hello Fellow Fossil Enthusiasts, I'm excited to have the chance to share these photos with you. I know that it is beyond rare to come across the anomaly of a Petrified Mushroom. The attached pictures show what I hope to be a Petrified Mushroom Cap, but I am no expert. I was hoping to get your opinions and advice on how to go about getting this fossil properly identified. Being new to this, I'm not sure where to start. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Well, it is certainly suggestive of a mushroom cap, except that the purported 'gills' don't come near enough to the edge, leaving a thick rim. I speculate that it could be a stream-worn, split cobble that that used to contain the end impression of a horn coral. This idea is imperfect, too, given its unusual (almost man-made) symmetry and the long odds against it wearing and breaking just so. It would also have had to have been a really big horn coral. I just can't conceive of what kind of man-made artifact it could be, either, but that concept should be a contender too. Let's see what everyone else thinks! "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...
Herb Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 my best guess is a cross section of Siphonophrentis sp. mushroom gills could not be preserved like that under any imaginable conditions. "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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Im thinking this is a man made object. ~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...
Harry Pristis Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 (edited) It is remarkably symmetrical. The exterior looks like half of a ceramic ball from a ball mill. I have never seen one of those balls halved. Edited February 13, 2015 by Harry Pristis http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taogan Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 The texture is slightly sugary, my gut feeling here is a piece of carved alabaster, maybe a decorative finial from something. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 There are a lot of carved mushrooms out there:https://www.etsy.com/market/marble_mushroom Here too:https://www.google.com/search?q=marble+mushroom&biw=1280&bih=929&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=9OLdVN3IEoT0yASIw4DoAg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#tbm=isch&q=stone+carved+mushroom&imgdii=_ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Russell Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Do we know where it was found? Finding my way through life; one fossil at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I am going to the "man-made decorative" side of speculation on this. The material looks like metamorphic, non-foliated, recrystallized carbonate rock. The only way it could have assumed its symmetrical shape and details is by having been carved. 1 "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...
Meri Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Yes, this looks like a petrifed mushroom. I find this image that is similar than your photo. Meri Meri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Meri, im sorry but your image that you have posted is also not a petrified mushroom. What you stated is true, "...it LOOKS like a petrified mushroom". But looking like something and actually being that something is completely different. Proof is in the details. ~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...
jpwill Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 I found my petrified "specimen" in a limestone quarry I'm only an enthusiast and not an expert, although this is not a man made object. Thank you for the interest by the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 The texture is slightly sugary, my gut feeling here is a piece of carved alabaster, maybe a decorative finial from something. It sounds more and more like a ceramic ball from a ball mill. The ceramic is high-fired bisque (not glazed). When they are broken after pounding the ore (limestone, in this case), they are discarded. Often, the discards are in better shape, and are mistaken by the finder for Native American game balls. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I have no skill in identifying specimens, but I noticed the first image is unbroken around the whole periphery. Yet in image 2 and 3 there is a large chunk missing, big enough that it seems it should show up on image 1. Is it just the angle? Maybe another photo? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John K Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I see a piece of marble garden sculpture that was broken off something larger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I see a piece of marble garden sculpture that was broken off something larger. That's exactly what i was thinking too. ~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...
squali Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Maybe the answers to a couple of questions could help. What is the age of the limestone? Location; State or region? What fossils are found there? What was the quarry used for? agriculture and construction lime can be pulverized with the Suggested 'balls'. If the material was processed on site you should find more of them. It's hard to remember why you drained the swamp when your surrounded by alligators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest11596 Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 (edited) Hello Fellow Fossil Enthusiasts, I'm excited to have the chance to share these photos with you. I know that it is beyond rare to come across the anomaly of a Petrified Mushroom. The attached pictures show what I hope to be a Petrified Mushroom Cap, but I am no expert. I was hoping to get your opinions and advice on how to go about getting this fossil properly identified. Being new to this, I'm not sure where to start. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!! You could familiarize yourself with the fossil record of fungi. Even just reading the abstracts of the papers below would increase your understanding... Currah, R.S. & R.A. Stockey. 1991. A fossil smut fungus from the anthers of an Eocene angiosperm. Nature 350: 698-699. Hibbett, D. S., Grimaldi & M.J. Donoghue. 1997. Fossil mushrooms from Miocene and Cretaceous ambers and the evolution of Homobasidiomycetes. Amer. J. Bot. 84: 981-991. LePage, B.A., Currah, R.S., Stockey, R.A. & G.W. Rothwell. 1997. Fossil ectomycorrhizae from the middle Eocene. Amer. J. Bot. 84: 410-412. Taylor, T.N., Hass, H. & H. Kerp. 1999. The oldest fossil ascomycetes. Nature 399: 648. Taylor, T.N., Remy, W. & H. Hass. 1992. Fungi from the Lower Devonian Rhynie chert: Chytridiomycetes. Amer. J. Bot. 79:1233-1241. Edited February 13, 2015 by middevonian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 What is it with fossil mushrooms anyway? I'm going with the man made theory to more I look at the pix. Looks like some kind of mold? I do not think a mill ball would have internal features? "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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 That internal donut surprises me, too, Herb. It may be that the ball was molded around an iron ring to give the ball more heft in the mill drum. The accounts of these balls in the artifacts forums often note how heavy the balls are. As I said earlier, this is the first one I've seen broken in two. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 That thing is 3 or 4 inches across........I have never seen ball mill balls that large???? Brent Ashcraft ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Well then, a hardness test is in order! Separating marble from fired ceramic should be pretty simple: a ceramic tile is 7.0 on the Mohs scale, marble is about 3. "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...
RichW9090 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 I'm supporting a man-made object now as well. The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 (edited) That thing is 3 or 4 inches across........I have never seen ball mill balls that large???? Brent Ashcraft You can do a search for 'alumina balls' or you can go to this site to see sintered alumina mill balls, of diamond hardness, up to 95 mm in diameter. http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/92-high-alumina-ball-0-5_598889334.html Edited February 14, 2015 by Harry Pristis http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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