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Real fish fossil?


indominus rex

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I recently bought this fish fossil from a seller in France thinking it was 6 cm. I was completely wrong and it is a whopping 15 cm, it is in really bad shape and seems real. The only problem is that the Rock is super light, I was not expecting a rock of this size to be this light. I want to know if it's real and if it is, what species it is. P.S. There are also a lot leaf fossils on it.

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Life started in the ocean. And so did my interest in fossils;).

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Sorry, I forgot to upload pics:P, there now there are.

Life started in the ocean. And so did my interest in fossils;).

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I think it looks pretty real. I'm not familiar with fish from that location so I can't help with ID. Did it break during shipping? I see it's pretty beaten up. 

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2 minutes ago, Bone guy said:

I think it looks pretty real. I'm not familiar with fish from that location so I can't help with ID. Did it break during shipping? I see it's pretty beaten up. 

Well the small fragments are during shipping but the head and body was always broken.

Life started in the ocean. And so did my interest in fossils;).

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The fish seems to be real, and with some glue could turn out to be a nice one. I have had similar experiences, but I think the plate isn't very thick and hasn't a very high weight that way. 

 

Nice fish, is it from France?

 

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A fishy jigsaw. I hope all the main pieces are there.

Yorkshire Coast Fossil Hunter

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But is it normal that it weighs so light. Like almost as light as cardboard?

Life started in the ocean. And so did my interest in fossils;).

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It could be some kind of diotomatious rock?  Not sure how to spell that, but that kind of rock can and is very light compaired to other rock.

 

RB

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It all depends on the type of matrix, and the thickness of the matrix. 

I think Ron is on the right track with Diatomaceous matrix of some sort.  

Volcanic sediments from ashfall can be very light.

 

Where was it found? This information, combined with better pictures might give us a clue. 

I think without the head and fins, it is difficult to ID this. 

Dapalis macrurus is the only fish I know of from france. It is Oligocene in age, which would fit with the leaves. 

Maybe @nala can have a look at this. 

 

 

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I think it's a mudstone. These can be pretty light sometimes. 

Yes, it's real and rather a nice fish with a bit of work. :)

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

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I agree that it’s a real and awesome fish (and would be better with a little glue). Sorry I can’t help with the ID.

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

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Fish (and plants remains) on 'diatomite'(in french)

can come from St Bauzile (Ardèche) where a huge quarry exploits this rock.

In this museum    http://www.museum-ardeche.fr/  you can see fishes, insects, plants, snakes, Hipparion , frog, …. From ‘montagne d’Andance, St Bauzile'.  (site not accessible to the public for excavations!)  

the age is upper Miocene; the rock settled in lacustrine conditions in a volcanic environment.

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Not seen this site before - very nice material! Diatomite was my first thought, though; I've collected from similar deposits in the Czech Repblic (Bechlejovice, where there are plants, amphibians, etc - see oilshale's post in the gallery: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/collections-database/chordata/amphibians-reptiles/palaeobatrachus-diluvianus-goldfuss-1831-r720/), and it's the geological equivalent of balsa!

 

Why, you might ask? Diatoms are basically tiny little opal boxes. Make a rock out of them, and there's a lot of empty space in it. Diatoms only really got going in the Cretaceous, though, so you don't get diatomites before the Tertiary...  but there are quite a few deposits like this in the Eocene. They should be better known, I reckons. 

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There are a couple of fossils from St Bauzile in oilshale's gallery. Mainly leaves and insects, but also a 30cm Barbus sp and a small Leuciscus demasi. Just browse for Ardèche, Bauzile or Privas . 

 

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