Possible large fossil, need help. Pierre Shale

[rizzobizzo]

Every year we travel to SD to visit my parents lake property. Their property sits on a fair amount of exposed Pierre shale with numerous limestone concretions. One of our favorite pastimes is to hunt for fossils. We usually find a plethora of baculite fossils, a few mollusks and numerous fish scales. I also found a nice 5'' section of attached fish vertebrae with some calcite crystals and possibly some gastroliths. Near our last day I decided to take stroll on the washouts. Something large caught my eye. It's shape was not consistent with the majority of the concretions on the property and looked very much like a large bone. It almost seemed to big to belong to any of the top tier predators of the period but alas I am not a professional. It stuck to the tongue more readily than the pieces of limestone higher up on the property. I will post a picture and if a higher resolution pic is needed please let me know. I fear with the violent storm season it will soon be lost as it was quite fragile. Any input is appreciated! Thank you for your help.

[DPS Ammonite]

Welcome to the Forum.

It looks like a piece of limestone and not a bone. I don't see the characteristic spongy texture of bone. Please show us some of your fossils that you found in the Pierre Shale.

[rizzobizzo]

Another shot for context

[rizzobizzo]

Thanks for the reply DPS. I will get some shots for your guys. Here is a pic of the section of vertebrae I believe.

[rizzobizzo]

Just a few I brought home. My friend found a couple beautiful sections of baculite with the shell coloring and patterns intact. Most of our finds remain in SD. My niece also found a small jawbone with other parts of the animal intact beneath it but she took it home with her. Beginners luck I guess.

[DPS Ammonite]

Nice vertebrae. It is unusual to find so many attached together. Maybe someone has an idea of what creature they came from...fish?

[izak_]

I think its wood... see what others think. And very nice fish vertebrae!

And if not wood, limestone. I am kind leaning toward limestone now

Edited August 5, 2016 by izak_

[Raptor Lover]

Very nice vertebrae!

[Ash]

I think its wood... see what others think. And very nice fish vertebrae!

And if not wood, limestone. I am kind leaning toward limestone now

Wood is my impression too.

[Troodon]

Nice string of vertebra. Look like Garfish- Lepisosteus sp.

[JohnJ]

Every year we travel to SD to visit my parents lake property. Their property sits on a fair amount of exposed Pierre shale with numerous limestone concretions. One of our favorite pastimes is to hunt for fossils. We usually find a plethora of baculite fossils, a few mollusks and numerous fish scales. I also found a nice 5'' section of attached fish vertebrae with some calcite crystals and possibly some gastroliths. Near our last day I decided to take stroll on the washouts. Something large caught my eye. It's shape was not consistent with the majority of the concretions on the property and looked very much like a large bone. It almost seemed to big to belong to any of the top tier predators of the period but alas I am not a professional. It stuck to the tongue more readily than the pieces of limestone higher up on the property. I will post a picture and if a higher resolution pic is needed please let me know. I fear with the violent storm season it will soon be lost as it was quite fragile. Any input is appreciated! Thank you for your help.

I don't think this is wood, and it does appear to be weathering chalky shale. I would investigate the possibility of it being the living chamber of a large baculites. They have been documented in the 5 to 7 foot range...maybe more.

[rizzobizzo]

Loving all the input! Thank you everyone. I have found a four foot section of what I think was a baculite but unless I was going to plaster it there would have been no way to get out intact. Unfortunately the piece in question was so fragile I was afraid to excavate any further until I received more info. From what I could tell the submerged side tapered uniformly giving me the impression of being a large bone. A massive baculite is an interesting suggestion. It was just so different in form from the concertions. They tend to be mostly spherical. The depth where it was at also contained much less limestone than where I was finding the other baculite fossils. I will post another pic of what may have been wood that I found in the center of a concertion. It was unlike anything I had yet to find. I really wish I could get back out there after hearing from you all!

[rizzobizzo]

This is a small piece of wood possibly? attached to the limestone. It was completely enveloped in the concretions. Unfortunately I left the rest in SD and this is the only pic i have.

[rizzobizzo]

Also of note the shale at the end leading into the hillside, surrounding it by maybe 4" was much darker and almost sticky. Different in texture than the majority of the shale. It had quite a bit of small calcite crystals within it as well.

[JohnBrewer]

Stunning vertebra, quite envious!