expat Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Very interesting forum. Any help would be appreciated here, clearly I know nothing about fossils. I found this in UK, its a piece of flint, around 7cms at longest point, the 'thing' is in a hollow void which is strangely symmetrical. I've always wondered. Thanks in advance any ideas? Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Exactly where in the UK did you find this? Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Welcome to TFF! I think it is a peace of crinoid stem. Thanks, Izak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) I agree with mould fossil of crinoid stem. The symmetrical shape is actually a cast of the lumen in it's center. Edit: Just figured out that Ludwigia may be holding out for contextual evidence of an alternate stalked echinoderm. There were a few. Edited March 22, 2015 by Rockwood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expat Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 Thank you so much for your help guys. In my naivety I always thought it to be a piece of spine from some creature, far more exciting than a plant stem I feel! Clearly my collecting interests lay elsewhere. Ludwigia, it was found around 50ks above London in Buckinghamshire. As a builder I would often sift through the huge piles of stone that were delivered to be poured below drains in house construction. This was from one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) If the flint was quarried in the area, then it's probably either from glacial or cretaceous deposits which would then speak for a crinoid stem mold as the others have suggested. That was also my first thought. Edited March 22, 2015 by Ludwigia Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 ... I always thought it to be a piece of spine from some creature, far more exciting than a plant stem... Plant stem? Nae! 'Tis a section of 'stalk' from a starfish relative. A truly ancient lineage, persisting in our oceans today! Pretty exciting, I say! "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...
expat Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 Ah thank you. Not so bad after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drizzt0000 Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 Yup thats what I thought since I find them ALOT in kansas looks like crinoid to me too but I could be wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 (edited) I agree with the others, crinoid stem. A lot of aggregate comes from quarries in Oxfordshire. This piece of chert is highly likely to have originally formed in the Cretaceous chalk (therefore technically flint, but I like to call these chert as it has been redeposited and become part of the geology of fresher sediments). Edited March 23, 2015 by Kosmoceras Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyT. Posted March 23, 2015 Share Posted March 23, 2015 We're all agreed on crinoid and in chert/flint is even more interesting than the usual matrix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howard_l Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Thinking a crinoid was a plant is not to far off. Crinoids were animals that lived like plants attached to the bottom of the ocean and use their arms to filter food out of the water although some floated freely. They are even called Sea Lilies. They are still alive today in the Pacific Ocean and are related to as previously noted starfish and sand dollars. Howard_L http://triloman.wix.com/kentucky-fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expat Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 Thank you so very much all of you for your expertise in identifying my 'thing'. Plant or animal, I love it even more now that I know a little bit about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 ...I love it even more now that I know a little bit about it. Funny how that works... "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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