Fishkeeper Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 I got this at a place that sells bulk rocks. It was in a batch of rocks meant to be stepping stones, and I have no idea where in the world it's from. I know it's too messed up to ID well at all, I'm just wondering what general category of animal this is. My best guess is it's the outside of a large fish skull. There's nothing inside the slab, and the area in the right side of the pic looks like a shattered gill plate to me. It's about 8" across, and the rock it's in feels harder than most limestone I've come across. I didn't see any other fossils in the other slabs, and I doubt the stepping-stone-store is selling rocks from a rich fossil site. Any idea? I'd be happy with just "yeah, that's definitely a fish" or something similar. It's staying outside as a stepping stone, as I'm of the opinion that all stepping stone paths should have a large and interesting stone to stop on, and it's definitely not in good enough shape to be worth displaying. It's neat, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Pictures? Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeeper Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 Whoops, my bad. Added one in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Hard to say what that was. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 I was thinking fish or trilobite. Reminds me of a blown up Isotelus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Maybe an inoceramid valve. Inoceramus 4 " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 6 minutes ago, abyssunder said: Maybe an inoceramid valve. Inoceramus That's a real good possibility. Here's a Cretaceous inoceramid I found this summer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
izak_ Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 I'm definitely seeing an inoceramid. The shell texture is very similar to what we find at Richmond QLD, and you can see the shape: 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeeper Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 I think you're right about it being an inoceramid. The texture in some spots is a bit weird for bone, it's rough and almost like a serration across a plane, and it feels exactly like the texture on that big specimen in the photo. That also explains the lack of features that would suggest an eye socket or jaw hinge, and that oddly shaped bit to the left of the photo. It looked like the hinge tip of an oyster to me, but I've never seen a fossilized shellfish go that dark in such light rock until that photo. Must be something in the shell that makes it go that color. I wonder if that means there's another half in the rock? I'd almost be tempted to go digging for it if the visible portion wasn't so badly smashed up. If I somehow managed to get all the fragments out, I'd just have a bad puzzle, it's probably not worth the effort. The rest of it probably went with the other half of this slab, too bad I didn't find that piece. This is a much more specific ID than I was expecting, thanks! And almost cooler than a fish skull, I didn't know bivalves got that big. It's like an oyster that serves as your table and stew pot at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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