Bone or limestone?

[I_know_nothing]

[I_know_nothing]

[Sberebit]

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say the one on the bottom is a marine fossil. Looks like coral to me. I cannot see the others well enough to make an ID. I will now let the professionals tell you more :).

[I_know_nothing]

That's sorta where I was leaning on that one. I have such a limited amount of time to dedicate to this otherwise I would post them individually. Some have bone shape. I am curious if it is bone could they be from when the POTAWATOMI indians lived in this area or later/earlier. How can you tell if it is bone or limestone

[daves64]

Plain old vinegar. Put a drop or two on them & see if they fizz. Bone wouldn't fizz, but limestone should. Vinegar, being a dilute acetic acid, dissolves the calcium carbonate in the limestone & fizzes. To neutralize it after, just put some baking soda on the vinegar, then rinse it with water.

[FossilNerd]

Your second photo does appear to be a coral fossil. Possibly the calyx end of a horn coral or maybe a broken chunk of favosites? (Depending on which way I hold my head  ) More pictures would help to confirm.

 

I don’t think any of the others are bone, but do any of them have a spongy porous look to them? Maybe on some of the sides not in the picture?

 

Here is a link that explains the basics of what to look for when wondering about fossilized bones and what to look for.

 

http://www.uky.edu/KGS/fossils/fossilbones.htm

 

Hope this helps!  

 

[Mark Kmiecik]

How do you get familiar with the structures common to bone. Get some bones from your local butcher (many people do this to make soups and broths). Inspect them. Imagine how much more each could weigh as a fossil rock. Break some open to see how they look inside. Use magnification to view both outer and inner surfaces. Visit your local library -- there's tons of literature written about bone structure. Read about how broken bones heal and bone diseases like arthritis. You'll be amazed to find out how many dinosaurs have been diagnosed with broken ribs or severe arthritis. Read about bite marks and how they look. Once your curiosity takes over the wormhole deepens; the only problem is that you may like it.

[FossilNerd]

2 hours ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

You'll be amazed to find out how many dinosaurs have been diagnosed with broken ribs or severe arthritis. Read about bite marks and how they look. Once your curiosity takes over the wormhole deepens; the only problem is that you may like it.

If you want to take a quick trip down the wormhole, Troodon has an old post with some examples of diseased and injured Dino bones. Very interesting.  

 

 

[I_know_nothing]

@daves64 I tried the vinegar on all of the items in the picture and none of them fizzled. They do look porous in places. I will take more detailed photos and post

 

Update....i didnt listen close enough. Some do fizzle ever so faintly. 

[I_know_nothing]

[I_know_nothing]

[Pemphix]

Only Pic 2 is a fossil (most likely marine invertebrate), others are all (lime-) stones IMO.