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SerebraSana

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Hello Fossil Fans,

 

I found this fossil at a flea market in Paris this week. The seller said he'd gotten it from a collector who told him it was from Brazil and between 270 and 300 million years old. To me, it looks like the fish is curled up in a ball, or folded. What do you see? Any info would be great! Thanks.

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Hello, and Welcome to the Forum. :) 

 

It definitely is a fish, but I'm not sure if it can be identified any further than that. :unsure: 

It could be either from Brazil, or Madagascar. 

I would tend to say the prep marks around the fish are more like the work you see coming out of Brazil. 

If that is case, it is possibly from the Late Cretaceous Crato Formation.

What is the size of the nodule it is in?

Regards,

 

 

@oilshale

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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Hi @oilshale !

 

Thanks for replying. It's an oval 14 cm x 11 cm, so 5.5" x 4.3".

 

Any idea why the fish would curl up like that?

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One likely reason for the curled shape is muscle contraction after death. Vertebral rigor mortis can result in that arching, and this may look to have occurred pre-burial.

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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I'm Tim (Fossildude19)  - :) 

 

I was tagging oilshale as he is our resident fish expert. ;)  He might know what type of fish it is.

 

Fish sometimes curled up due to contraction of the muscles along the vertebral column, either while dying, or shortly after death.

Here is one of mine - not quite as twisted, but,...you see it happens.

 

 

 

 

gallery_2806_718_743117.jpg

 

 

EDIT - Kane is right on the money! ;) 

    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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Oh, sorry Tim! Just living up to my "newbie" status.

 

I was really surprised to see it curled up and thought for a moment that maybe it was 2 parts of 2 different fish, but looking more closely, you definitely see the vertebrae and it's just one fish.

 

I'm going to take it up to a fossil shop this afternoon, and will come back and post an update.

 

You're looks like it's sleeping peacefully. :dinothumb:

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11 minutes ago, Kane said:

Vertebral rigor mortis can result in that arching

Thanks, Kane.

I didn't know anything about that. That would certainly explain the phenomenon.

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I went to the Natural History Museum and saw they have split geodes similar to mine on display. No folded fish, though. I asked if someone could take a look at mine and they said to come back next week when the specialist will be there. 

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1 hour ago, SerebraSana said:

I went to the Natural History Museum and saw they have split geodes similar to mine on display. No folded fish, though. I asked if someone could take a look at mine and they said to come back next week when the specialist will be there. 

Just a point of geology. Your rock is a nodule not a geode. Geodes are crystal lined hollow rocks.

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

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