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KimTexan

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I got off work early last Friday and had about 90 minutes to kill before picking my daughter up from school. So I decided to see if I could find anything in a local nature preserve with Rowlett Creek running through it, which consists of the Austin Chalk formation.

 

There were lots of Inoceramus clam shell fragments. One fragment that I found was over 10 inches wide, but still only a tiny fragment of what must have been an enormous clam.

 

As I was exploring I came across this rock which I though was unusual. When I first saw it I thought someone had gotten might bored and sat there hacking away at the rock to make all the hash marks, but upon closer inspection I realized the hash marks went more than surface deep. It has to be a fossil of some kind, but I’ve never seen anything like it. 

 

The only thing I can think of is maybe it is some type of a cast of a pile of shells that were together. The marks go about 4 mm or so into the Chalk so maybe it is what is left of clam fossils and the rest of the fossils have eroded away.

 

Do any of you know what kind of fossil this is? 

 

IMG_3959.jpg

 

 

IMG_3960.jpg

 

 

IMG_3963.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

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Ok I am sorry, but it won’t let me upload photos. Not even one little one that I emailed to myself to make small. Arrgh!

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@Fossildude19 @Kane

I’m not sure what to do to get pics up. I am wondering if the problem is because I tried to upload over 3.95 at first, but then it doesn’t clear what is in the buffer or something so when I try to upload fewer or smaller pics it can’t load because some residual data from the previous attempt remains. I’m not a computer tech person so pardon me if the terms I use aren’t proper. Hopefully you get the gist of what I’m trying to say.

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1 minute ago, KimTexan said:

@Fossildude19 @Kane

I’m not sure what to do to get pics up. I am wondering if the problem is because I tried to upload over 3.95 at first, but then it doesn’t clear what is in the buffer or something so when I try to upload fewer or smaller pics it can’t load because some residual data from the previous attempt remains. I’m not a computer tech person so pardon me if the terms I use aren’t proper. Hopefully you get the gist of what I’m trying to say.

This is an ongoing problem the site has been having since January 20th (cf. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/81334-photo-lag/&tab=comments#comment-858393 ). 

 

We are still awaiting a response from a service ticket with the provider. 

...How to Philosophize with a Hammer

 

 

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I've added the ones you send to your first post. ;) 

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
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19 minutes ago, KimTexan said:

7614C54F-CC6B-425C-B7AC-92325E0D6394.jpeg

An impression left when a dinosaur wearing a herringbone suit sat on a chunk of chalk.

See, some mysteries are easily explained when you think hard enough.

 

 

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They might be trace fossils, grazing traces of gastropods or chitons.

 

IMG_3959.jpg.bb4b3df5aadbe2e0fa163b88f5b3b024.jpg.c604c115f6f55e69b111332e657b55a5.jpg5a2da5279f676_M.KazmerD.Taborosi_2012.Bioerosiononthesmallscaleexamplesfromthetropicalandsubtropical-Hantkeniana73794.jpg.074ec63255b030ecab80361217628a4b.thumb.jpg.c8c86475a17dd186437c0e4bf0384e6e.jpg

 

another solution, maybe better:

5a748b01c0f39_Fig_76.thumb.jpg.f0e99b3d2f2c0bb7b3aa052beac810cc.jpg

 

 

 

" 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

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It sure looks an aweful lot like one of those. Would the marks go down into the layer a few mm?

Thank you @abyssunder It always amazes me how you come up with all these references.

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2 hours ago, KimTexan said:

Would the marks go down into the layer a few mm?

Yes, they go down a few mm in the hard substrate.

 

" Chitons (Figures 9 & 10) are some of the most obvious bioeroders of the intertidal zone; their eight-plated shell and a colourful margin of soft tissue make them conspicuous in many sites. They are armed with a radula of extremely hard magnetite-capped teeth that allow them to easily remove layers of calcium carbonate and other substrates while grazing on biofilms (Rasmussen & Frankenberg 1990). Their rasp marks are usually meandering or straight sets of parallel grooves engraved into substrate (Figure 9). "  - M. Kazmer et al., 2015

 

5a74d43a95e3d_Fig9.thumb.jpg.0c485264562cd1c27c37da14ddc9bda0.jpg

 

5a74d51c927f8_Fig.5.thumb.jpg.e8a472e03fe65fa5dd05a8c2b68d3b7b.jpg

link to source

 

 

 

" 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

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:1-SlapHands_zpsbb015b76:

" 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

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