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Badlands Fossil- Unidentified- just looking for any info


K. Sinning

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Hello, I recently found what I believe is a fossil at an antique shop in central South Dakota. It was in with various rocks including granite, quartzite, sandstone, and even some petrified wood. I am a novice and only really know what I have read the past couple of weeks. So here is what I do know. The store owner was late seventies. Selling rocks his father had found in his farm many years ago near the Badlands in SD. This particular piece stuck out do to it's layers and pourous ends. It is 14"*6"*4.5". It is 15.6 lbs. I am just looking for any info or tips anyone may have for me to know more about what I'm looking at.

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Certain angles make me think it could be bone that's embedded in matrix with the porous features along with the smoother looking surface, we'll see what others think.

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All I can say is there does seem to be something somewhat porous on some sides. Bone does have porous features but I don’t own or have ever collected fossil bones to recognize the subtle features....so I’ll let a bone expert see if they can make any connections. It a cool rock either way with a neat story! 

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3 hours ago, ynot said:

Welcome to TFF!

Looks like a mineralized vein. Not seeing a fossil.

I agree with Tony here on this one. 

...I'm back.

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I see the porous structure, but I think that's more due to weathering than that it's bone. Also see some dendrites which could be mistaken for a plant fossil and a couple of small concretionary structures which could be taken for burrows. In my opinion however, I would also have to agree with ynot and Raggedy Man that this is purely rock/mineral.

 

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The (partially filled) porous structure is typical for bone. However the pictures are not detailed enough to tell if it is or not. Weathering structures might be, but imo for this the structure is to equal over the whole piece. Let's see what the local collectors will tell....

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heavily mineralized bone for me. Bones are often fairly rotten when preserved leaving cavities that fill with minerals etc. The pink areas have definite haversian? pattern to me. Am agreeing with Carl.

We all state what we think fossils are, based on our experience. The original poster should be aware of this. He should also be aware that we are guessing at what we see and our opinions are subject to refutation by more experienced authorities. This includes my opinions of course:)

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2 hours ago, Carl said:

That reddish, 'poprous' area looks a lot like bone to me.

I agree with Carl.  If you ever get to Rapid, bring it to the museum at the School of Mines and hopefully someone there can have a look-see.  This is a tough one to get anywhere close to an ID from pix only.  

 

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I'm agreeing with bone that has sediment infilled cavities. I don't know if this will help but I was given a bone (said to be dinosaur, provenance unknown) which seems to share some features with this, the reddish areas in particular.

 

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I am in the unsure camp tending to go with fossil bone.

I would give it a good soak in vinegar for a few days and give it a good scrub.

Check a few time to ensure its not damaging the actual fossil.

Your 5th photo is not fossil.

Once that is done soak in water for at least as long.

Should not harm the fossil but will remove some of the grime from the surface and may show what is suspected as being fossil in rock a lot better.

 

Mike

 

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3 hours ago, jpc said:

This is a tough one to get anywhere close to an ID from pix only.  

I agree with this statement.

I can see some areas that have a bone like structure, and could be a poor state of preservation or a weathered mineral structure.

The best way to be sure of this one is to take it to a professional paleontologist for an in hand examination.

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Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

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I also agree with a weathered bone with dendrites.

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Thank you all for the responses. I appreciate your time and effort. I will let you know if I am able to find out any more from a physical examination.

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