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Weird critter?


UndercoverN

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Hi everyone, I was looking in my rock collection and found this rock I've not really seen before and it appears to have some kind of animal in it. No idea on age or locality it was found in. It appears to have been tumbled or polished at some time

20190203_020626.jpg

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The critter was a stalked echinoderm. Most likely a crinoid. It's a mold of one of the ossicles that made up it's stalk. 

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8 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

The critter was a stalked echinoderm. Most likely a crinoid. It's a mold of one of the ossicles that made up it's stalk. 

This really doesn't appear to be a crinoid columnal to me. 

It's missing the edge ridges normally seen.

 

_020626.jpg

 

 

That combined with the fact that it is in agate or chert makes me question whether it is actually a fossil, or a strange erosional artifact. :headscratch:

This looks like it was a dome that is missing the top, rather than a flattened columnal.

Also the center dome is actually off to one side. :unsure: 

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    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

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I agree with Tim, I think this is a chert nodule with an unusual fracture and/or erosional feature.

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160-1.png.60b8b8c07f6fa194511f8b7cfb7cc190.png

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I agree that the glass is half empty, but think it's half full too.

A calcite columnal would likely be in poor shape by the time it was buried in chert, and if it originally was fossilized as a section of stem and later reworked, the lumen mold would be the surface in the best condition. The circular shape centered in the missing top of the proposed dome looks like a hole which could represent the axis of the lumen to me. 

Either explanation requires a certain amount of chance.

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If it's the right age, the circular object could be an impression of a single spine boss from a cidarid echinoid. Plenty of these in Cretaceous flint for example, disarticulated plates are common.

 

5c56db4d949f4_Screenshot2019-02-03at12_11_28.png.0cf8742f76e5b1f7f3217c7ccf517b4b.png

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Tarquin

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Unfortunately, age and location are unknown.

So, ... maybe a crinoid or echinoid fragment, or geological feature. :shrug:

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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What an interesting feature; it would have stopped me in my tracks, too!

After viewing enlargements, and considering the known occurrence of fossils in flint, I have not cemented an opinion...
I lean toward it being a conchoidal spall, but look forward to more observations and thoughts by others.

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"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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@UndercoverN Is the rock a normal weight for that size, or is it very light?

Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties.

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It looks like a piece of chert with an hydrated "skin" (lighter parts).

The object that Y'all are talking about looks like an internal view. I agree with it being a echnoid part. It does not look like any type of fracture that I have seen in cryptocrystalline quartz.

I also see a bryozoan(?) in the hydrated area (below the unknown part).

 

The glare from the flash is making it hard to determine what is there. 

Can You please take pictures of that area under better lighting, so Your flash does not go off?

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

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

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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@daves64 it seems to be normal weight but I'm going home now and I will double check. @ynot I will take a few pics when I get back.

I believe this Rock came from washington state. Thanks everyone. 

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Just out of curiosity, does the white area in the last pic look similar to parts of this pic? You pic is a bit too fuzzy to tell. 

5c0ec31fc509d_Cloudy4.jpg.3d94059315537ccc984e7d88d2adda9f.jpg

Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties.

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32 minutes ago, UndercoverN said:

No @daves64 it looks like the inside of a whopper candy. 

Ah Ha !

The impression is the button from a pair of jeans stuck to the inside of the dryer. :D

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48 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

Ah Ha !

The impression is the button from a pair of jeans stuck to the inside of the dryer. :D

Of course! :doh!: Why didn't anyone else see that? :shrug:

Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties.

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6 hours ago, UndercoverN said:

I have one more I'm trying to post

If the picture is under 4 meg You can try refreshing the page.

Thanks for the additional pictures.

Unfortunately they add little to what can be determined on this piece (at least by Me)

Still think there is more than just the "button impression" in the piece, but not sure what it is.

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

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

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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