Ammonight Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Does anyone jnow if this is a coral fossil or just a coral skeleton? "The first fossil you find will always have a special place in your heart. You will hold it dear to you, as it is the beginning of a pathway of adventure and discovery." - Nathan Tan @Ammonight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 This looks like a modern coral, to me. Someone's aquarium decoration, maybe? 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Please provide a location. To my eye, it looks like it could be modern. If it is light, then it is likely modern. 1 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Where was it found? Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ammonight Posted April 3, 2018 Author Share Posted April 3, 2018 I don't know, someone handed me a bag with it inside. "The first fossil you find will always have a special place in your heart. You will hold it dear to you, as it is the beginning of a pathway of adventure and discovery." - Nathan Tan @Ammonight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ammonight Posted April 3, 2018 Author Share Posted April 3, 2018 1 hour ago, Kane said: Please provide a location. To my eye, it looks like it could be modern. If it is light, then it is likely modern. I guess you're right. "The first fossil you find will always have a special place in your heart. You will hold it dear to you, as it is the beginning of a pathway of adventure and discovery." - Nathan Tan @Ammonight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunterc123 Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Looks like star coral. It doesn't look modern to me due to the smoothing all around it. I find most of my fossils in river stones and it looks really similar. If it were modern the stars would be fully shown, but you can see some have been partially eroded. 2 hours ago, Ammonight said: Does anyone jnow if this is a coral fossil or just a coral skeleton? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 @FossilDAWG @TqB @MikeR @digit Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 A worn scleractinian, looks modern but could be a bit older if that suited the unknown locality (e.g. Pleistocene, Pliocene...). Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FranzBernhard Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Modern: Less than 10.000 years old. Enough time for erosion, tumbling, smoothing etc. Unfortunately, we do not know from where it is. Franz Bernhard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Could be modern and worn, I don't think it takes very long for that kind of rounding to occur once a chunk of coral gets loose on the beach and the waves roll it around on the rocks and other chunks of coral... then some beachcomber comes along and picks it up for their aquarium or aquarium supply business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 I know that coral ID is fraught with difficulty but check out Astrhelia images for example. Plenty of modern looking ones that can be Palaeocene onwards, including many from USA Miocene... Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 If you don't know where this actually came from and it was handed to you with no context, then I'd bet on modern. I've walked on hundreds of tropical beaches around the world and seen surf-tumbled corals that wash up with the shells and shell hash at the high tide line. People from the higher latitudes when visiting beaches often pick up worn coral cobbles while beach-combing. Likely, that is where this piece came from. As coral skeletons are stone to start with (calcium carbonate) they don't really "fossilize" like other familiar fossils where bone is slowly replaced with a more stable mineral so it is difficult to make any estimation of the age of these pieces if they are not in situ in a formation of a known age. It's a nicely smoothed piece and would probably look good as a pendant if a hole was drilled in one end and a loop attached. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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