winnph Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 I took the kids down to the beach at low tide today, and the strong winds earlier today at high tide had shifted the gravel beds pretty significantly, exposing a stretch of the Blakeley formation that's usually covered up. These immediately caught my eye as a possible vertebrate skeleton, but I don't really have any experience identifying fossil bones. I don't want to call this one in to the local paleontologist authorities unless that's what it is. I'll attach what I can here and a few more photos in thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnph Posted April 14, 2019 Author Share Posted April 14, 2019 More photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevonianDigger Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 Unfortunately, those look like concretions to me. Either way, interesting find! Jay A. Wollin Lead Fossil Educator - Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve Hamburg, New York, USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevonianDigger Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 Well, I should say the last picture does. Some of the others look interesting. Jay A. Wollin Lead Fossil Educator - Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve Hamburg, New York, USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnph Posted April 14, 2019 Author Share Posted April 14, 2019 That was my thought initially, but if you look in the second photo where it has been broken, it looks like marrow to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevonianDigger Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 1 hour ago, winnph said: I took the kids down to the beach at low tide today, and the strong winds earlier today at high tide had shifted the gravel beds pretty significantly, exposing a stretch of the Blakeley formation that's usually covered up. These immediately caught my eye as a possible vertebrate skeleton, but I don't really have any experience identifying fossil bones. I don't want to call this one in to the local paleontologist authorities unless that's what it is. I'll attach what I can here and a few more photos in thread. The bottom pic here shows some promise! Jay A. Wollin Lead Fossil Educator - Penn Dixie Fossil Park and Nature Reserve Hamburg, New York, USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnph Posted April 14, 2019 Author Share Posted April 14, 2019 I'm wondering if fossil bones sometimes have a concretionary "crust" on them? This was another one where it doesn't exactly look like bone inside but I don't know what it does look like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidgy's Dad Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 It all looks like a conglomerate to me, where pebbles from an older sediment have been preserved in the newer matrix. Being harder than the matrix these pepples have been exposed by erosion. There also seem to be cracks filled with calcite here. Life's Good! Tortoise Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 I agree with concretions, but a better picture of the broken area may change this opinion. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnph Posted April 14, 2019 Author Share Posted April 14, 2019 I'll try to get out there again at low tide tomorrow to take better close-ups. The thing that caught my eye initially was how many of them looked symmetrical, kinda like vertebrae or something. But if they are bones, they definitely have some kind of concretionary layer over them. This one in particular seemed to have 4 symmetrical knobs, and in the wider shot many appear to have 2 similar bumps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 Nothing there that looks like a bone shape and they do not have a biologic symmetry as for as I can see. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnph Posted April 14, 2019 Author Share Posted April 14, 2019 24 minutes ago, ynot said: Nothing there that looks like a bone shape and they do not have a biologic symmetry as for as I can see. I'm sure I was just seeing patterns where none existed, but I'll try to get down there for more photos tomorrow, especially of that long cylindrical one that looks porous on the broken end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnph Posted April 15, 2019 Author Share Posted April 15, 2019 I'm not sure whether these are really "better" but I took them from a couple angles at least? The gravel had shifted back over most of this area, but luckily not this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 I think there is definitely bone in there but couldnt tell you if all of the concretionary masses contain the same...my radar goes off that something is going on... Did you happen to look closely at the upper right arrow for a similar porous/inner boney texture--looks like it may be a fresh exposed end/chip/fracture in your photo? Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnph Posted April 15, 2019 Author Share Posted April 15, 2019 1 hour ago, Plantguy said: I think there is definitely bone in there but couldnt tell you if all of the concretionary masses contain the same...my radar goes off that something is going on... Did you happen to look closely at the upper right arrow for a similar porous/inner boney texture--looks like it may be a fresh exposed end/chip/fracture in your photo? Regards, Chris I did not look at that part closely on the first visit, and it was in the area covered with sandy gravel today. This layer is a very soft mudstone that's almost like hardened clay more than stone. The layer immediately above it is a massive, well-cemented sandstone, so this layer is eroding a lot faster and is usually buried in beach sediment. As evidence of the high organic content of the layer below, check out the chunk of fossil wood in the lower right corner of the photo (has the consistency of soft coal). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnph Posted April 15, 2019 Author Share Posted April 15, 2019 I just went through my other photos and this was the only other cylindrical concretion that shows an area that looked relatively freshly broken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted April 15, 2019 Share Posted April 15, 2019 Sorry, but I do not see any bone in these pictures. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 19 hours ago, ynot said: Sorry, but I do not see any bone in these pictures. I understand. Gonna need some sharp closeups with no glare to determine anything further. The concretions I used to find with bone in them when water worn tended to blur seeing any bony structure clearly especially with sun glare on a wet surface...unless you got your face close and had magnification. This last photo does show some interesting textures...some very small elliptical diamond like structures in the left and the middle has what almost looks like a gastropod cross section and the area on the right that I circled has a layering that would be good to look at more closely and photograph clearly. Not sure if any of these are simply surficial marks/remnants/mineral deposit or actually the internal structure... Regards, Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winnph Posted October 13, 2019 Author Share Posted October 13, 2019 2 hours ago, pnwAdam said: Hey you must be close to me...did you find this on WS where Blakeley is visible? Yes! It's in a city park where collecting is not permitted, but since it is the only spot in West Seattle with exposed bedrock it's still an interesting place to roam around at low tide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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