Dinosaur Fossil ID help needed

[Ben Mitchell]

I am a not a fossil hunter or collector, just happened to find this by luck in my yard in mid Michigan.  I can only tell you this fossil is highly magnetic, and appears to be a baby of some sort.  The surface is quite detailed, you can see the skin in detail with a magnifying glass.  Id just like to find out what it is I've found, any info would be great.  I will do.my best to answer any questions.  Thank you

Edited September 2, 2018 by Ben Mitchell

[Kane]

Welcome to the forum. 

 

Geologically, I’m not sure dinosaurs can be found in Michigan. This looks to be a piece of slag, which might account for it being magnetic, and the bubbling texture.

[Fossildude19]

+ 1 for slag. 

[Ben Mitchell]

4 minutes ago, Kane said:

Welcome to the forum. 

 

Geologically, I’m not sure dinosaurs can be found in Michigan. This looks to be a piece of slag, which might account for it being magnetic, and the bubbling texture.

 

[Ben Mitchell]

I do agree looks like slag, yet highly confused as to why it appears as such. A little more backgound is i had a bunch of rock trucked in for landscaping purposes, some of it lava, could it be lava rock? I am not great with geology, but do have a degree in wildlife biology so am quite familiar with animal physiology.  I was limited in how many pictures i could post due to size but can tell you this clearly displays skin, jaw, nose eye, and skull. I just cannot make the connection between what I see and how its formed from slag.  As a rookie that may be a dumb question but im not afraid to ask, just want to figure out what im seeing.  Thanks again

[PaleoNoel]

It never hurts to ask! But I would have to agree with my fellow forum members that this is a case of fossil pareidolia.

[LordTrilobite]

Sorry, but this is not a dinosaur fossil. It has a few suggestive details that only make it look like a fossil. I agree with the others that it's likely a piece of slag.

[Kane]

Just a few other points to add: 

- soft tissue preservation occurs in very exceptional cases

- if it were reptilian skin, for example, it would be appear more textured and not likely smooth with pockmarks and bubbles. Most preserved skin is subject to some degree of dessication, which causes crackle texture, if not also shrinking a bit to reveal teeth for example.

- as you likely already know from animal physiology, there would also likely be visible symmetry, which is not apparent in this piece judging by the photos

- the area that looks reminiscent of an eye would not preserve an eye bulge, but instead as an empty socket (or possibly filled with sediment). In this case, the interior of the "socket" is the same material as the rest of the piece.

- if this were a skull, you would be able to make out clear and distinct bone texture, which is not something I am seeing here in these images.

 

As for how it formed this way, slag tends to cool in a wide variety of shapes, some of them fairly convincing mimics of other things.