AllentheBear Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 Hello, I just acquired this specimen. It was listed online as dinosaur skin by the seller who found it on their property at the base of the rocky mountains in Colorado. I recently took it to online fossil retailer to try to get it identified but they couldn't give me a straight answer. One of their staff members thought it looked like Siderite but also said some aspects of it didn't line up with that kind of mineral. I also reached out to the Burke museum in Seattle and they said without more context (Formation, age, lithology) it is hard to say what the specimen you attach might be but they are still looking into it. Let me know if you have any thoughts on what this might be! Link to post Share on other sites
Rockwood Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 In the area at the bottom in these photos there appears to be a break in the texture. It's hard to tell if a single layer of the texture can be seen or the shapes continue into the center of the piece. A single thin layer would be a positive indication. Without knowing the context where it was found in it might still be hard to say for certain though. Link to post Share on other sites
Ludwigia Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 I can't answer your question directly, since I'm not familiar enough with the subject, but it might help narrow things down for you if you knew the exact provenance of this specimen. I mean particularly the precise stratigraphy. Did you get this information from the seller? Or did he just pick it up from the ground without knowing its exact origin? It's always important for the validity, especially for dinosaur fossils, to have such information. Link to post Share on other sites
Tidgy's Dad Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 I am not saying it isn't skin, don't know much about that, but the specimen does resemble some of the iron minerals I have seen; haematite, marcasite, or pyrite. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Rockwood Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 However, I'm afraid this might effectively list the materials that are likely to compose fossilized reptile skin. Link to post Share on other sites
RJB Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 Being that dino skin is extremely rare and this having zero pattern on it, I am going to go with it being geologic RB 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Rockwood Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 46 minutes ago, RJB said: Being that dino skin is extremely rare and this having zero pattern on it, I am going to go with it being geologic RB Having no pattern would greatly reduce the potential area on the body that would look this way. It would seem that some places where a high degree of flexibility is needed the pattern might be naturally weak. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Randyw Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 Unfortunately I'm going to go with mineral. If you blow up the middle picture where the break is it appears to be a repeating pattern under the top layer down into the piece. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Rockwood Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 1 hour ago, Randyw said: Unfortunately I'm going to go with mineral. If you blow up the middle picture where the break is it appears to be a repeating pattern under the top layer down into the piece. Good point. Even if the color is different the pattern would be a problem. Link to post Share on other sites
Frightmares Posted August 19 Share Posted August 19 I agree with it being more mineral-like Link to post Share on other sites
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