Birm171 Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 Hi TFF, thanks for having me. I frequently find fossils all over the Las Vegas area, but usually things that came from the sea: shells, small organisms, coral. On one of my last outings, I found this horn. I find many Rugosa, coral horns, in the exposed limestone on the peaks around Mt. Charleston area. This example looks very different to me. It is about 8 inches, 20cm long, and is very heavy, like stone and rock. It appears to me that the outer shell "horn" is partially intact, though long turned to rock. The core is a different texture and color as well. It was found on an exposed limestone ridge a mile or two south of Charleston Peak, ~11,000 ft elevation, partially buried in scree. My first thought was it was some sort of tusk from a sea animal, due to other sea fossils in the area. The bison examples I compared it to on the web could be a match to my untrained eye, but none of them to be as "petrified" or stone-like as this one. I thought I'd share, as it seems like a rare find for the area. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Birm171 Posted September 10, 2019 Author Share Posted September 10, 2019 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
digit Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 Always difficult when trying to make an assessment purely from photos but to me this looks like the result of geological instead of biological processes and the resemblance to a horn (bison or otherwise) may be just coincidence. Tony is probably busy digging out at his claim but we'll see if he chimes in when he's back at his computer. @ynot Welcome to the forum! Lots of great info (and members) to be found here. Cheers. -Ken 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fossildude19 Posted September 10, 2019 Share Posted September 10, 2019 Welcome to the Forum. Sorry, but I agree, I see no evidence of bone or keratin. No textures, other than rock. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Birm171 Posted September 11, 2019 Author Share Posted September 11, 2019 Sorry, the pictures aren't great. It feels as if it's either heavily petrified, or like you said, just a neat rock I'll see if I can take a video of it tonight so you can have a fair shot at it. Its hard to see in the pictures but there seems to be a hollow horn shaped "shell" that has been filled with minerals. The shell is about a quarter inch thick all the way around the circumference. I appreciate your help, bummer though. Ill hang on to it and see if I can find someone here in Vegas to look at it for a 2nd chance. Thanks again! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Harry Pristis Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 Keratin doesn't survive as a fossil. I don't see a horn core either. For comparison: 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Birm171 Posted September 11, 2019 Author Share Posted September 11, 2019 (edited) There is no sign of keratin, like you are saying. I searched for more horn coral images and im fairly confident it is rugosa, a horn shaped coral. Thanks for setting me straight! Ill see what else I can find for you out here. Edited September 11, 2019 by Birm171 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fossildude19 Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 There are no septa, growth lines, etc. This is just a sediment filled geologic wonder. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Birm171 Posted September 11, 2019 Author Share Posted September 11, 2019 Its MY sediment filled geologic wonder! Thanks fossildude. I found this in the same vicinity, maybe a mile away. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Birm171 Posted September 11, 2019 Author Share Posted September 11, 2019 And this guy, same area. Are these both rugosa? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
digit Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 Yup. You are definitely onto something with those last two. I really like the cluster in the second one. Cheers. -Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FossilNerd Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 Agreed. The last two are corals. The first appears to be a cool rock, which I think is neat enough to keep on my geological/non-fossil shelf. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mark Kmiecik Posted September 11, 2019 Share Posted September 11, 2019 Nice finds including the really cool coral-shaped rock in the first photo. I would have collected that one too. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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