Squid beak?

[mikecable]

Stone City Fm. Whiskey Bridge locality.  Scale marks are mm.

[MarcusFossils]

Can we get a few more pictures? 

 

Marc

[RJB]

I dont know what it is, but it is not squid beak.

 

RB 

[MarcusFossils]

5 minutes ago, RJB said:

I dont know what it is, but it is not squid beak.

 

RB 

 

Agreed, this item bears no similarities to the squid beaks on Google Images 

 

Marc

 

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P.S.   Here's a squid beak:

[mikecable]

I'm stumped.  

[mikecable]

BELOSAEPIA FOSSILS

[mikecable]

Eocene sepioid cephalopods - Belosaepia

[Al Dente]

It has the appearance of Belosaepia but the tube running across it makes me think it isn't.

[ynot]

Looks like 2 things cemented together with calcite.

[mikecable]

The tube is what is throwing me as well. It almost looks man made--like a piece of PVC pipe.  But everything else about it screams fossil, including the bits of the interior structure that are visible. Most of my Whiskey Bridge finds are fairly easy to identify.  But I keep going back to Belosaepia. For lack of any other thoughts.

[mikecable]

Perhaps a small segment of Dentalium scaphalopod  in conjunction with a cuttlefish beak? As ynot suggests. Lots of Dentalium in the mix.

 

[sagacious]

This item appears to be the umbo (hinge) of a clamshell, and the calcareous tube of a tube-worm, cemented together with an algal holdfast or a similar encrusting organism.

[sagacious]

2 hours ago, MarcusFossils said:

 

Agreed, this item bears no similarities to the squid beaks on Google Images 

 

Marc

 

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P.S.   Here's a squid beak:

 

Just a friendly cephalopod anatomy fyi: That google photo has the beak upside-down.

 

Below is a Dosidicus gigas beak for comparison, with the correct orientation.  The smaller beak actually goes on top.

 

 

[BobWill]

Crushed/burned  PVC joint in resin? See if it burns.

[doushantuo]

here's some more "cephalopod buccal mass"

Uyenocepjalop_Kier_2005.pdf

[Sagebrush Steve]

14 hours ago, BobWill said:

Crushed/burned  PVC joint in resin? See if it burns.

That was my thought, too.  But it seems to be attached to something else that I can't make out.

[mikecable]

The tube has an inner diameter of only about 0.5 mm.  I've never seen PVC that small.

 

[abyssunder]

Another guess would be a gastropod fragment, the siphonal canal part which goes to the aperture.

 

[Plax]

this thing is only 3 or 4 mm; right? Am swayed by every respondent!

[mikecable]

Yes 3-4 mm

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[BobWill]

We can't let this thing kick us around like this! How about some end views? Can you tell anything about the yellow (orange?) coating? Is it a familiar mineral? Any similar colored rocks seen where you found it?

[mikecable]

Yes 3-4 mm

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abyssunder has it.  The shot taken from the end held the secret. Siphonal canal fragment of a gastropod cemented together with a scaphopod fragment.  A bit disappointed, but I had fun with it.  Thanks for all the help.

[Arizona Chris]

Looks like two pieces of plastic pipe or tubing epoxied together.  What is the white material made of?  can you do a hardness test with  a scribe to see if its soft like plastic, or hard like calcite?  That would be helpful.  Also, some acetic acid on the components will help illuminate thier composition if they bubble.  

[mikecable]

Already been run through mild acetic acid for cleaning.  Too small to do a hardness test without destroying it.  Less than three mm in length. Definitely fossiliferous.  Just not a cuttlefish beak.

 

[mikecable]

Almost looks like an otolith is trapped inside the gastropod fragment.