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Fossil Gum Ball?


LBI

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Found this yesterday. Not perfectly round, but really close. Very smooth except the “eyes”. There is a pattern of sorts that looks like a crab, maybe. Diameter is the same as a penny. 

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3BBC11A9-00AE-4903-A4C0-E0521ECF7FD5.jpeg

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It feels light for its size, like it’s not very dense. It’s also very hard. I tried scratching it with a fingernail first, then a pocket knife. I didn’t try REAL hard with the knife, but it did not scratch. It’s actually pretty impressive. Does anyone have any ideas on what it is or was?  

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It could be media from a ball mill. Does it seem like it could be ceramic?

"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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Your photos seem focused on the background. Move the camera away until the subject is in focus, then crop the excess after shooting. Use a small ruler in the photo as a size reference, preferably metric so the whole world can relate. I would love to see more detail. I don't think it's deburring or polishing media.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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38 minutes ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

I don't think it's deburring or polishing media.

Are you thinking algal fruiting body?

"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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9 minutes ago, Auspex said:

Are you thinking algal fruiting body?

That's a possibility. I'm more interested in the "eyes" as they seem to protrude slightly above the surface of the spheroid.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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I noticed that. I seem to remember seeing ball mill media with a similar feature, but my wayback machine has lost a step or two...

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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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Maybe a clay or ceramic marble?

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:popcorn: John

I had a friend once, but the wheels fell off. Sad, very sad. - Nightwing

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I'm thinking cystoid.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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I don't see a cystoid here at all. :headscratch:

I get a man made vibe from this thing. 

Milling ball was my first thought.

 

balls-elektroporcelan-louny (1).jpg

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Non-IDs:  Cystoid (wrong age), crab (wrong features overall), Porocystis (wrong color, wrong surface detail, would only have 1 attachment point or “eye”).  Otherwise stumped.  Not familiar with anything of organic origin that looks like this from the area.

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Grüße,

Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas

"To the motivated go the spoils."

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The eyes do protrude slightly. Also, they are a different texture. Gritty, like fine grain sand, and you can see what might be quartz crystals in them. I’ll try and get a shot of this as well. 

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Here are some more pics. In the first pic it looks like an eye in the middle of something like a spider’s abdomen?  Next pic looks like a spiders abdomen without the eye. It’s tough to describe, but it really does look like a crab carapace wrapped into a ball. I hope I can capture some of the details. The closeup of the eye shows the coarseness of it, the rest of it is smooth. 0F4904B6-2DFC-42E2-A2AA-822389C1CFEC.thumb.jpeg.b877eb36fffe938113b88cdd7bc0a769.jpeg

98F0A3FD-8397-45F2-A4BF-427CE5FC8CDE.jpeg

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I give up. I don't think it's man-made material. The shape, possibly, but not the material.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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3 hours ago, LBI said:

The closeup of the eye shows the coarseness of it, the rest of it is smooth

Sort of like polishing grit packed into a void in the sphere?

"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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On 8/6/2019 at 5:03 PM, LBI said:

Found this yesterday.

 

Generally, where?  What was the context of this find?  

The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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11 hours ago, JohnJ said:

 

Generally, where?  What was the context of this find?  

San Antonio, TX. Near downtown. Found in black clay in an excavation spoils pile. Black clay holds to 6-7 ft, then turns to a marled green, yellow, brown clay.  In this layer I’ve found several oyster shells.  Exogyra Costada I believe. 

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Thanks.  Try to get some better focused images.

The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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2 hours ago, LBI said:

San Antonio, TX. Near downtown. Found in black clay in an excavation spoils pile. Black clay holds to 6-7 ft, then turns to a marled green, yellow, brown clay.  In this layer I’ve found several oyster shells.  Exogyra Costada I believe. 

The Corsicana and Kemp formations overlie downtown and produce oysters as mentioned, but are seldom exposed.  I’ve hunted both formations not too far away, and never seen a fossil or object in original context that looks anything like this.  One of the close up pics reveals a grain structure that doesn’t strike me as sedimentary in origin.  Did you find anything else in association, fossil or artifact?

Grüße,

Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas

"To the motivated go the spoils."

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34 minutes ago, Uncle Siphuncle said:

The Corsicana and Kemp formations overlie downtown and produce oysters as mentioned, but are seldom exposed.  I’ve hunted both formations not too far away, and never seen a fossil or object in original context that looks anything like this.  One of the close up pics reveals a grain structure that doesn’t strike me as sedimentary in origin.  Did you find anything else in association, fossil or artifact?

Yes, numerous other fossils. The main reason I think it’s crab related is because I’ve found several other fossil crabs. Well I haven’t had these positively identified yet, so it is solely based on my assumptions. In one of the pics thee are a few other pieces, I cracked into one like the big one in the pic, I just haven’t had the chance to finish and submit pics. Here’s a pic of one I picked up this morning. 1D70E3BC-926C-4838-9C71-218FE19AAC91.thumb.jpeg.30916cbe1d6e425a8e69bc7cd1befaeb.jpeg

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