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Any Thoughts (mammoth tooth section?)?


DVL

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Any ideas as to what this is?  I'm a novice.  Thought it might be part of a mammoth tooth but the roots-if that's what they are-look kind of distorted and not as uniform as what I've seen.  Maybe some sort of trace fossil? Found in a stream bed in N. NJ.

Thanks!

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Looks like some kind of metamorphic rock with calcite.  It also sorta looks like a mammoth tooth also.  Hopefully someone with more knowledge can help

A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.

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I'm tentatively with Lori. It looks very different from any NJ brook corprolite I've seen, but there's still something bout it...

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On 1/29/2017 at 11:30 AM, RandyB said:

Not seeing anything resembling a tooth, looks like an interesting geologic specimen to me.  

Thanks RandyB,

 

It's that white inclusion with the black outline that led me to think it was a tooth fragment.  Definitely interesting.

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On 1/29/2017 at 2:04 PM, GeschWhat said:

Could be phosphatic, possibly a coprolite. 

 

20 hours ago, Carl said:

I'm tentatively with Lori. It looks very different from any NJ brook corprolite I've seen, but there's still something bout it...

Thanks Lori and Carl,

 

Coprolite would be a first for me.  I'll post some close-ups soon.  I honestly don't know what to look for if it's a coprolite.

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20 hours ago, Carl said:

I'm tentatively with Lori. It looks very different from any NJ brook corprolite I've seen, but there's still something bout it...

By the way- this is Northern NJ.  So Newark Supergroup Triassic/Early Jurassic.

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Great close-ups, but I still can't say what it is. Fascinating! And thanks for the locality update: I was definitely thinking southern NJ Cretaceous.

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52 minutes ago, DVL said:

Thanks RandyB,

 

It's that white inclusion with the black outline that led me to think it was a tooth fragment.  Definitely interesting.

That is just a mineral deposit. What makes me think coprolite is the texture. Think of a freshly dropped cow pie. The forced of gravity can produces folds like those in your specimen. The composition looks like apatite (calcium phosphate) which is the primary mineral found in carnivore coprolites (and bone). Without visible inclusions, it is really hard to say for sure if this is coprolite. I would just put this one down as possible coprolite. 

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If this is from the Newark Supergroup, then it must be a geologic. 

The only coprolites that I know of found in the Newark basin are all found in shale, mudstone, and sandstones. 

This has a bit of a sandstone look to it, but I think with all the quartz inclusions, that it is geologic in nature. 


The only coprolites I've seen from the Newark Supergroup are either tiny silverish blobs, or carbonized/coalified nodules. :unsure: 


 

These are from New Jersey - Late Triassic Lockatong Formation: 

 

gallery_2806_718_3137108.jpg      gallery_2085_2235_587101.jpg

 

This one is from Connecticut, Jurassic Shuttle Meadow Formation:

 

gallery_2806_718_1215885.jpg

 

Sorry, but I am definitely in the geologic camp here.

Regards, 

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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2 hours ago, Carl said:

Great close-ups, but I still can't say what it is. Fascinating! And thanks for the locality update: I was definitely thinking southern NJ Cretaceous.

Thanks Carl,

 

Found in the Watchungs.

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2 hours ago, GeschWhat said:

That is just a mineral deposit. What makes me think coprolite is the texture. Think of a freshly dropped cow pie. The forced of gravity can produces folds like those in your specimen. The composition looks like apatite (calcium phosphate) which is the primary mineral found in carnivore coprolites (and bone). Without visible inclusions, it is really hard to say for sure if this is coprolite. I would just put this one down as possible coprolite. 

Thanks Lori,

Interesting info. That white mineral deposit seems to repeat itself- there's another one with a different shape, and the rough bulge looks to be made of the same material.  Not sure if that means it's more likely geologic.

By the way I just looked at your website- very informative (and funny!).

 

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2 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

If this is from the Newark Supergroup, then it must be a geologic. 

The only coprolites that I know of found in the Newark basin are all found in shale, mudstone, and sandstones. 

This has a bit of a sandstone look to it, but I think with all the quartz inclusions, that it is geologic in nature. 


The only coprolites I've seen from the Newark Supergroup are either tiny silverish blobs, or carbonized/coalified nodules. :unsure: 


 

These are from New Jersey - Late Triassic Lockatong Formation: 

 

gallery_2806_718_3137108.jpg      gallery_2085_2235_587101.jpg

 

This one is from Connecticut, Jurassic Shuttle Meadow Formation:

 

gallery_2806_718_1215885.jpg

 

Sorry, but I am definitely in the geologic camp here.

Regards, 

Thank you Tim,

 

I'm learning a lot today!  The rock is mostly sandstone (or limestone?) but as you mention the white quartzy looking parts and the intermittent seams are crystals that interrupt the sandstone.

Still an interesting piece for this area.  I'll have to keep an eye out for anything similar to your photos.

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4 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

If this is from the Newark Supergroup, then it must be a geologic. 

The only coprolites that I know of found in the Newark basin are all found in shale, mudstone, and sandstones. 

This has a bit of a sandstone look to it, but I think with all the quartz inclusions, that it is geologic in nature. 


The only coprolites I've seen from the Newark Supergroup are either tiny silverish blobs, or carbonized/coalified nodules. :unsure: 


 

These are from New Jersey - Late Triassic Lockatong Formation: 

 

gallery_2806_718_3137108.jpg      gallery_2085_2235_587101.jpg

 

This one is from Connecticut, Jurassic Shuttle Meadow Formation:

 

gallery_2806_718_1215885.jpg

 

Sorry, but I am definitely in the geologic camp here.

Regards, 

Thanks for sharing your photos, Tim. Love the one from the Shuttle Meadow Formation, Tim. It looks to have some nice fish scale inclusions! I only have one from the Lockatong Formation. It came out of the old Granton Quarry. 

IMG_7299.JPG

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2 hours ago, GeschWhat said:

Thanks for sharing your photos, Tim. Love the one from the Shuttle Meadow Formation, Tim. It looks to have some nice fish scale inclusions! I only have one from the Lockatong Formation. It came out of the old Granton Quarry. 

 

Thanks Lori. :) 

That is where the first two are from. ;) First one is mine, second is njfossilhunter's. 

 

I have to go through my boxes at some point  this spring - if I find one similar to the Shuttle Meadow Formation example, ... I'd be happy to send it along. 

Regards, 

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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