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Bone Fossil SW Montana


Ckam123

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I recently found this specimen near a river in SW Montana.  It was partially buried in an area that was know to be a popular area for Native Americans to hunt/camp.  
It looks to be the bulbus end of a bone or epicondyle, but I am no expert.  A smooth gray inner layer is surrounded by a brown porous outer layer that is smooth in spots but rough & eroded in others. 
It could be just a strange rock formation, but it was found in an area that had mostly old river rock and this stood out like a sore thumb.  Its location also made it a very odd find.    

 

Anyone have any insights?  Thanks!

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It's strange looking, but looking closely I do not get a bone vibe from it.

The massive cavities under (and breaching) the surface are not like any bone I have seen.

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I think it is a product of geology, not biology.

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I agree, not a bone.

“...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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Maybe a speleogen mineral structure like "Boxwork"?

 

5b510cb3a381d_08NaturalBridgeBoxworks2010.jpg.f1493acf367364673986d8d3a8ddb6b0.jpg

picture from here

 

 

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The blue-gray material is interesting. Is it just a thin layer? Does it have any particular features under magnification?

(not seeing bone either)

"Journey through a universe ablaze with changes" Phil Ochs

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19 minutes ago, Innocentx said:

The blue-gray material is interesting. Is it just a thin layer? Does it have any particular features under magnification?

(not seeing bone either)

 

1 hour ago, ynot said:

Looks like an iron concretion with a little limestone in the middle.

 

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Yes, I saw your comment. I'm still curious about it's particulars.:)

"Journey through a universe ablaze with changes" Phil Ochs

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After all your comments and a good scrubbing of the specimen, I do believe its a rock.  But still a very interesting one. 

 

The inner blue-gray material seems solid, it is like its the core and the outer layer formed a near identical shape around it.  It is relatively soft like, could be limestone... 

Interesting piece either way.        

 

Thanks for all the input!  

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5 minutes ago, Ckam123 said:

The inner blue-gray material seems solid, it is like its the core and the outer layer formed a near identical shape around it.  It is relatively soft like, could be limestone... 

Interesting piece either way. 

I agree, it is interesting. The inclusion makes it especially so.

"Journey through a universe ablaze with changes" Phil Ochs

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Funny thing is I was out hunting yesterday morning in NW Arkansas in the Ordovician and came across rock that looked very much like that. The rock was limestone with chert, to flint like and chalcedony inclusions which appeared to be some marine life form. In my case I think they were stromatolites or sponges.

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when I first saw where this rock/fossil was from, my first thought was that here was something that had laid in a stream and was covered with a film of glacial flour.  Perhaps all of it has worn off except in the relatively protected area of the center.  As you can see from the photo, it is not very thick.  Just a thought....

 

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flour.JPG

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  • 2 weeks later...

Late to the game here. I had relatives in from out of town so I couldn't play on the forum much. This could also be a coprolite formed from fecal matter that was degraded prior to fossilization. Check to see if the soft, light-colored material is sticky if you touch it with wet fingers (or when touched to the tip of your tongue if you are brave :P). If it is, I'd say you are the proud owner of fossilized feces. Coprolites from prehistoric floodplain environments can often be coated in the reddish siderite present on your specimen. The gray material could be mineral veining or an inclusion of some sort. 

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