Is This A Leg Bone Fossil?

[Getula70]

I found this in my house and either my kids or myself found it outside here in south central Wisconsin. Looks like the head of a leg or arm bone. Hopefully the provided pics are good enough for an ID, thanks for your time.

[John K]

sorry, but you've got a quartz/chert nodule, probably a glacial erratic that formed somewhere else to the north of us and transported down in one of many glacial periods.

[Auspex]

It looks rather like a talus bone to me (a foot bone that articulates with the tibia and fibula).

Someone else who knows much more about such will have to weigh in, though, as this is far outside my meager knowledge.

[Getula70]

Thanks guys.

[Rodney]

To me it looks like bone from something.

Rodney

[Getula70]

Found in southern Wisconsin.

[frankh8147]

I'm just weighing in on this one but to me, I think it's the cruelest piece of quartz I have ever seen. In NJ, we have horrible concretions and a lot of them are quartz and other volcanic materials. It's porous, (like you would look for in bone), but the material just doesn't look right. I'm looking forward to seeing what other people say about this. -Frank

[Getula70]

Don't seem to get many opinions on this. Do I need better photos? Any help appreciated.

[siteseer]

I think you should add a few photos from different angles. Try a direct side view with the specimen in an upright position and then shoot it from the opposite side. After that, shoot it straight down at one end and then straight down the other end.

I think Auspex is on the right track but it might be a wrist bone instead. In mammals with hands there are several bones in the wrist. As fossils, and when complete, they can look like interestingly-shaped rocks. With a little water-wear they look even more like just polished rocks. It does look like it could be bone.

Don't seem to get many opinions on this. Do I need better photos? Any help appreciated.

[RichW9090]

It could be - maybe - a really water worn calcaneum. Or the very worn pisiform of a horse carpus. But it just doesn't look like bone to me.

Edited March 9, 2015 by RichW9090