Gorlow Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 (edited) Hi! I found this fossil near the Harpeth River in Nashville. I located it near the foundation of a long abandoned 19th century building. It appears to be a vertebra. It is about 5 inches across. Does anyone know what it could possibly be from? Thanks! Edited December 24, 2018 by Gorlow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SULLY Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Don’t know what it belongs to, but it’s definitely cool looking! Congratulations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Pretty sure it's a sponge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Here is a post to look at while we wait. brooksellas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorlow Posted December 25, 2018 Author Share Posted December 25, 2018 This is a human vertebrae for comparison. It is very similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorlow Posted December 25, 2018 Author Share Posted December 25, 2018 Rockwood, I looked up some sponges and it’s not too dissimilar, but I’m still leaning toward vertebra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captcrunch227 Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 Definitely not human. But I'm leaning towards sponge over vert as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daves64 Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 +1 for sponge Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 2 hours ago, Gorlow said: Rockwood, I looked up some sponges and it’s not too dissimilar, but I’m still leaning toward vertebra. I would prefer that the foramen in my vertebra go all the way through. I know from experience that it is extremely painful when one is even impinged. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorlow Posted December 30, 2018 Author Share Posted December 30, 2018 (edited) No, look at the symmetry of this. This is no sponge. You cannot see down the foremen because we are looking at the posterior of this vertebra. Edited December 30, 2018 by Gorlow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 @Gorlow Could you post additional clear closeups of this find? 1 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramon Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 As already pointed out, this specimen is too symmetrical to not be a vertebrae. "Without fossils, no one would have ever dreamed that there were successive epochs in the formation of the earth" - Georges Cuvier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 2 hours ago, Ramon said: As already pointed out, this specimen is too symmetrical to not be a vertebrae. Even if it were symmetrical (which it's not) it's just not shaped like a vertebra. The texture is not that of bone even. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 According to the Generalized Bedrock map of Tennessee, the geologic age of outcrops around Nashville is Ordovician. 485 mya to 443 mya. Much too old for any type of vertebra of that size. Also, there is the lack of bone texture, making this less likely to be a vert. Any resemblance to a vertebra is coincidental. Sponge is a good possibility, but better, close up, detailed pictures would help. 3 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...
KimTexan Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 The shape sure looks very similar to a vertebra. However, the formations near Pegram are predominantly Silurian, Devonian and Mississippian. From what I know of the area it is mostly a marine environment in those eras. I would not expect to see a large vertebra in the area. There are some large sharks in the Mississippian, but that is not a shark or fish vertebra. Would this be from the river near Chapmansboro? There are Quaternary deposits there. The Quaternary can contain ice age mammals. It could be from that. May we see closeup pics of this area? I think I see bone texture on the left. Is this the general area? The light greenish yellow is Quaternary. The other 2 colors are Mississippian. Your specimen is very interesting! Please do share more pics. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 It looks more like coral or sponge texture, than bone, to me. 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...
KimTexan Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 33 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said: It looks more like coral or sponge texture, than bone, to me. It’s hard to tell. That’s why I asked for a closeup pic. @Gorlow Are there any other fossils in the matrix? It looks like there could be some marine type stuff there. Those could also help with an ID. Have you found other fossils in the area? It being a vertebra seems unlikely, but I want to be open minded. Especially since there is Quaternary in the area, if that is the right area in the map pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 @TqB may be able to help with this texture ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Closeup with scale needed but I'm in the sponge camp, maybe chaetetid, or just possibly a narrow corallite tabulate coral. Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 The mystery sponge is: Brachiospongia Wilson, C.W. & Wilson, J.M. 1962 The occurrence of Brachiospongia in the Ordovician of Tennessee. Tennessee Academy of Science, 37:117-118 text and figures from: Treatise (E) Porifera 2004 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 55 minutes ago, piranha said: The mystery sponge is: Brachiospongia Wilson, C.W. & Wilson, J.M. 1962 The occurrence of Brachiospongia in the Ordovician of Tennessee. Tennessee Academy of Science, 37:117-118 text and figures from: Treatise (E) Porifera 2004 I'm not sure - the external morphology looks right but the internal structure doesn't seem to fit. Brachiospongia has a spicule mesh rather than the parallel walled tubes that appear to make up this one. 1 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 31 minutes ago, TqB said: I'm not sure - the external morphology looks right but the internal structure doesn't seem to fit. Brachiospongia has a spicule mesh rather than the parallel walled tubes that appear to make up this one. Could diagenetic alteration explain those features? If it quacks it must be a Brachiospongia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 28 minutes ago, piranha said: Could diagenetic alteration explain those features? If it quacks it must be a Brachiospongia I don't think so but we need someone like @Spongy Joe if he's still around. And a closeup... Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 I'm in the sponge camp, seeing these features: Better pictures are needed for a more precise ID. " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted December 30, 2018 Share Posted December 30, 2018 Brachiospongia specialist Dan Phelps said the striations appear to be zooecia and the specimen is an interestingly-shaped bryozoan colony. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now