Snake, lizard, or dinosaur?

[christinatron]

Hi! I'm Christine and I'm new to the group! How is everyone? & What type of species is this? I know it's a reptilian genome, but I cannot identify exactly what species it is. It may be extinct. It reminds me of the Komodo dragon but that's not it... It seems like a snake, but it has flare on the bottom of the mouth. I cannot place it. I believe it's extinct. I cannot find it anywhere online. I found it in Sparta NC, in my own backyard with hundreds of others . Mostly petrified snake heads and other flying fish-snakes/ fish eels, and snake heads, etc  that are long extinct. Anyone know? I've also got petrified gold found all over with pyrite and quarts, but I also have petrified fingers (10 found) that some are in perfect form and mostly turned to gold .... So as to describe the area... it was all found on my Mountain in the Blue Ridge in NE North Carolina. Any guesses? 

 

pan widgepan widget

[Tidgy's Dad]

'Tis a lump of rock. 

Metamorphic, possibly. 

[mr.cheese]

We will see what others say but I am afraid I only see a suggestive shaped rock. Though I do see what you see too!

[christinatron]

Thank you for your input!

[Troodon]

Welcome, skulls are typically not solid unless then are encased in matrix, rock.   Either way you should see the individual elements that make up the skull.  A good example is this skull of a Komodo Dragon where you can see those elements and detail.

 

[christinatron]

 Yes , thank you much! but I believe that they were petrified in salt water, so not all petrified species became petrified in saltwater prior to being eaten and decayed per say, so in essence, I believe not all petrified organisms are petrified the same, due to different elements prior to petrification. They were petrified in whatever state they were in so some of them will have flesh on them and perfectly preserved, and those are the ones that probably and most likely died from the flood periods. Like this skull that I have in many others that I have that are petrified, they were petrified immediately after death and most likely petrified from the flood. However we see many boulders and many others that have resemblance of snakeheads that were cut off. There's always the flat side to the rock and then there's the flat underbelly of whatever the species was... When the animals long deceased before the flood and has probably been eaten and disintegrated by the bugs, and the critters, you'll see petrified bones of decayed skulls and decayed bodies etc but some things on this planet were petrified into stone that were once living organisms. Like reptiles &  humans, and I believe also, giants. ...

[christinatron]

So essentially, I believe petrification occurred at whatever time, i.e. the flood, and in whatever physical state that the animal was in.. & preserved as it is.

[christinatron]

They were petrified slithering either to the left or to the right whenever they died. That's the only two options, and that's all I see amongst hundreds in my collection.

[Troodon]

I dont plan to get into a discussion on this subject since you seem to be pretty rigid and fixed in your thinking.  Forum members here have a wealth of information so I suggest you take your rocks to the nearest museum for their input.  

 

All I ask is that you look at this crude video on how the fossilization process occurs for ALL animals

 

 

[christinatron]

Yes I suggest that you watch the video and this one as well. Really informative.. I think that one would need to understand that it's the salt in the water that preserves through chemical process by the saltwater being a preservative factor. And yeah it's something I've already known. Either the organism has already depleted its meat, or the organism and its meat are perfectly preserved. It depends on how the body was preserved. Until you understand it may be muddy... perhaps you need to have a better explanation of that to show you how fossilization occurs. And perhaps many need to understand the properties of the chemical change by means of salt in the water and how it reacts by soaking once living organisms for forty years with a hardness level over six and a half. It helps to identify the rocks if they were or weren't a petrified organism. It's a waste of time sometimes to convince ppl but it's a optimism many cannot comprehend. But it's ok. To those interested,

 

A good watch:

 

[Randyw]

Sorry but it's just a rock. No flesh, bones, teeth etc....

[Harry Pristis]

This is a science-based forum.  We do not entertain magical thinking or superstitious explanations for natural phenomena (e.g. forty-year saltwater flood to produce Mohs 6.5 hardness).   

[Al Dente]

1 hour ago, christinatron said:

soaking once living organisms for forty years

How did you determine that these were soaked for 40 years in salt water?

[JohnJ]

1 hour ago, christinatron said:

I think that one would need to understand that it's the salt in the water that preserves through chemical process by the saltwater being a preservative factor. And yeah it's something I've already known. Either the organism has already depleted its meat, or the organism and its meat are perfectly preserved.

 

1 hour ago, christinatron said:

So essentially, I believe petrification occurred at whatever time, i.e. the flood, and in whatever physical state that the animal was in.. & preserved as it is.

 

1 hour ago, christinatron said:

They were petrified slithering either to the left or to the right whenever they died. That's the only two options, and that's all I see amongst hundreds in my collection.

 

You've posted an interesting rock above.  But, thinking this is a skull is a matter of belief; it is not based on scientific observations or conclusions.  

 

Everyone is free to believe as they wish; but as Harry mentioned, unscientific ideas will not get any traction on this Forum.

[Ludwigia]

It's a rock. Excuse me for asking, but are you really serious with your assumptions and comments or are you just having your fun with us?

[christinatron]

Fossils have been frequently cited as the main evidence for evolution. The evolution/uniformitarian worldview postulates that the slow and gradual processes we see operating today are responsible not only for the death and extinction of plant and animal types but their burial in sediments which will eventually harden into sedimentary rocks. Uniformity’s slogan, “the present is the key to the past,” reflects their view of the origin of the features in the rock and fossil record. I think the great Flood of Noah’s day is a better explanation.

First note that very few fossils are forming today and then only in the case of rapid burial by water. For instance what happens to a fish when it dies? It either floats to the surface or sinks to the bottom where it decays and is eaten by scavengers. Yet many fish fossils are so exquisitely preserved that even the scales and organs are preserved. Obviously there was no time for decay and bacterial action. We can certainly say that something extraordinary happened to form the fossils.

Furthermore, most fossils occur in huge fossil graveyards where things from different habitats are mixed together in a watery grave. The predominant type of fossil is that of marine invertebrates but these are found on the continents within catastrophically deposited rock units.

Of the several different kinds of fossils, each one requires rapid burial and circumstances which are seldom, if ever, at work today. Processes of fossilization include:

Mineralization: This happens by partial or entire replacement of an organism by minerals, usually one molecule at a time as the organism decays. Time is involved but not time before burial. Petrification occurs when the replacing mineral is silica.

Carbonization: Living things consist of high carbon content, and under extraordinary circumstances only the carbon remains. This includes the thick coal bands as well as thin carbon residues left in the host rock. Rapid isolation and heating are required.

Impressions: These common fossils occur when the entire organism is replaced by the same material as the host rock leaving only the form of an organism. The detail preserved indicates no time for decay.

Ephemeral markings: These common markings include worm burrows, animal tracks, coprolites, and rain-drop impressions. All are extremely fragile and need rapid lithification to be preserved.

Hard parts: Bones and shells are found but these are usually broken. For instance, limbs ripped from dinosaurs, found in fossil graveyards, are the rule.

Soft parts: Obviously these will only last for a very short time without rapid burial. These include flesh, feathers, skin, scales, plant tissue, color, and even smell.

Frozen parts: These imply extremely low temperatures which trapped and froze the organisms quickly. Certainly this is not happening now on any scale.

These fossil types (and other subcategories could be mentioned) require extraordinary circumstances of a rapid and catastrophic nature. The great Flood of Noah’s day which destroyed a world full of life is the best explanation.

 

[piranha]

31 minutes ago, christinatron said:

Fossils have been frequently cited as the main evidence for evolution. The evolution/uniformitarian worldview postulates that the slow and gradual processes we see operating today are responsible not only for the death and extinction of plant and animal types but their burial in sediments which will eventually harden into sedimentary rocks. Uniformity’s slogan, “the present is the key to the past,” reflects their view of the origin of the features in the rock and fossil record. I think the great Flood of Noah’s day is a better explanation.

First note that very few fossils are forming today and then only in the case of rapid burial by water. For instance what happens to a fish when it dies? It either floats to the surface or sinks to the bottom where it decays and is eaten by scavengers. Yet many fish fossils are so exquisitely preserved that even the scales and organs are preserved. Obviously there was no time for decay and bacterial action. We can certainly say that something extraordinary happened to form the fossils.

Furthermore, most fossils occur in huge fossil graveyards where things from different habitats are mixed together in a watery grave. The predominant type of fossil is that of marine invertebrates but these are found on the continents within catastrophically deposited rock units.

Of the several different kinds of fossils, each one requires rapid burial and circumstances which are seldom, if ever, at work today. Processes of fossilization include:

Mineralization: This happens by partial or entire replacement of an organism by minerals, usually one molecule at a time as the organism decays. Time is involved but not time before burial. Petrification occurs when the replacing mineral is silica.

Carbonization: Living things consist of high carbon content, and under extraordinary circumstances only the carbon remains. This includes the thick coal bands as well as thin carbon residues left in the host rock. Rapid isolation and heating are required.

Impressions: These common fossils occur when the entire organism is replaced by the same material as the host rock leaving only the form of an organism. The detail preserved indicates no time for decay.

Ephemeral markings: These common markings include worm burrows, animal tracks, coprolites, and rain-drop impressions. All are extremely fragile and need rapid lithification to be preserved.

Hard parts: Bones and shells are found but these are usually broken. For instance, limbs ripped from dinosaurs, found in fossil graveyards, are the rule.

Soft parts: Obviously these will only last for a very short time without rapid burial. These include flesh, feathers, skin, scales, plant tissue, color, and even smell.

Frozen parts: These imply extremely low temperatures which trapped and froze the organisms quickly. Certainly this is not happening now on any scale.

These fossil types (and other subcategories could be mentioned) require extraordinary circumstances of a rapid and catastrophic nature. The great Flood of Noah’s day which destroyed a world full of life is the best explanation.

 

 

This article cribbed from the Institute for Creation Research is very unlikely to indoctrinate any new 'believers' from The Fossil Forum.

 

Wikipedia LINK

[digit]

Thank you for your creative and imaginative "explanations" of your understanding as to how fossils form. There are lots of social media sites where you can toss out all sorts of interesting theories and beliefs but unfortunately this is a science-based forum. This means we believe in established facts, logic, and proven scientific theories. We find them more useful when discussing fossils than creating fictional origin stories for how rocks that (vaguely) resemble something were created by methods not supported by logic, physics or chemistry. Feel free to take your non-fossil rocks to a museum to show to a paleontologist (who will repeat exactly what we have told you here) or post your images and "theories" of formation to some other forums where you might get more of the response you were looking for.

 

Sadly, joining the forum and posting non-fossil rocks for ID and then "schooling" us on how you believe fossils form is not a great way of making friends here. We welcome new members with all levels of fossil experience and knowledge and have a great diversity of members with deep experience in many types of fossils. Expounding Creationist explanations of how fossils are created will get you no traction here as I mentioned we are science-based and tend to believe things that can be scientifically proven.

 

We wish you the best but this topic will likely degenerate into argument that will serve no useful purpose and so it will be locked from further input. Please take your rocks to someone else if you want a second opinion.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken