Possible fossilized egg

[AfroRaptor]

My grandfather found this specimen in a river bed at Escalante, Utah.

My family since then believed it was an egg after having a professor at our local university look at it.

I'd love to know if that's true and if so what creature it came from.

 

 

[FB003]

All I can really offer, based on these pictures, is that the exterior does not have the eggshell texture I see on the variety of egg pieces I have.

[AfroRaptor]

43 minutes ago, FB003 said:

All I can really offer, based on these pictures, is that the exterior does not have the eggshell texture I see on the variety of egg pieces I have.

I imagined with many different species eggs and the different conditions that lead to fossilization would affect the texture of them. How could I positively identify it?

[FB003]

This is a good place to start.  You'll see shell texture is rather standard for the most part with some exceptions.

 

 

[Fin Lover]

The "shell" is also too thick.

 

What kind of professor and what did he/she say?

 

Edited November 26 by Fin Lover

[Fossildude19]

@CBchiefski

[FB003]

1 hour ago, Fin Lover said:

The "shell" is also too thick.

 

What kind of professor and what did he/she say?

 

I actually have a shell that I think is about a 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. I’ll have to check that if I remember tomorrow.

[AfroRaptor]

1 hour ago, Fin Lover said:

The "shell" is also too thick.

 

What kind of professor and what did he/she say?

 

He was a geology professor at SUU. He offered at the time to have it tested and such. But my family refused not trusting that theyd ever see it again

 

[AfroRaptor]

I did do the acid test with it. The outer shell barely reacted. Only small amount of tiny bubbles but the inside foamed like crazy. The acid was shortly after neutralized. 

[doushantuo]

The cracks on a thin(nish) curviplanar surface with a calcitic mineralogy (e.g. "egg *) would look different, I think.

 I don't think this is an egg.

Funnily enough , the cracks I DO see remind me of mudcracks, somehow.

 

[Mahnmut]

In addition to the links about eggs posted above I recommend reading about -and searching for pictures of- concretions.

Best regards,

J

[AfroRaptor]

28 minutes ago, Mahnmut said:

In addition to the links about eggs posted above I recommend reading about -and searching for pictures of- concretions.

Best regards,

J

I have been. It doesn't match what the links say what would indicate a concretions. And I just read an article that recently paleontologists have found a new collection of fossilized eggs up in Escalante. Showing eggs can be found there. I need to find a way to look a the shell and a thin fragment of it to see if it has the characteristic of the shell like that air tubulals and layers. 

[Ludwigia]

I would suggest that you take this to your nearest Natural History Museum or university geology department for assessment.

[Advantage]

I`m in the concretion not an egg camp.

[AfroRaptor]

8 hours ago, Advantage said:

I`m in the concretion not an egg camp.

But from what I've read those are suppose to be sooth often perfectly round with only thin banding layer while this has a defined layers of shell like material encasing a matrix that matches the rock it was found it

[jpc]

Concretions come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and smoothnesses.  

 

Eggshell is consistently the same thickness.  Yours has very variable thickness.  Another feature of eggshells is that the crystal structure is visible in the cross section, and the pattern will be perpendicular to the surface of the egg.   I see none of that.  The "shell" on this thing is also way too thick for an egg this size.  

 

 

[AfroRaptor]

35 minutes ago, jpc said:

concretions come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and smoothnesses.  

 

Eggshell is consistently the same thickness.  Yours has very variable thickness.  Another feature of eggshells is that the crystal structure is visible in the cross section, and the pattern will be perpendicular to the surface of the egg.   I see none of that.  The "shell" on tis thing is also way too thick for an egg this size.  

 

 

If concretions can look any way they like then why do the articles I've been given to read have said they wouldn't be textured like that. And idea how I can take a sliver section of the shell to examine closer?

Would acid damage the Chrystal structure of the shell?

[FB003]

If you are unconvinced by what the eyes can see, you can invest in a cheap USB microscope to look even closer if you really want to. Or, as mentioned earlier, you can take it to a local museum. I'm sure there are quite a few in Utah.  Sometimes earth makes convincing things.

[Fin Lover]

I'm not sure what "articles" you are referring to but, if you Google concretions, the majority of the photos show texture, bumps, etc.  

 

What did the geology professor say and what were they offering to test it for?  It would be quite concerning if a geology professor didn't know what this is.  

[Randyw]

Im also in the concretion camp and for the reasons given. Here are images of concretions from a 2 second google search of concretions. They show they can be many shapes, sizes and textures a few on the first page look similar to yours if it was split. Concretions are often mistaken for dino eggs etc….

[AfroRaptor]

2 hours ago, FB003 said:

If you are unconvinced by what the eyes can see, you can invest in a cheap USB microscope to look even closer if you really want to. Or, as mentioned earlier, you can take it to a local museum. I'm sure there are quite a few in Utah.  Sometimes earth makes convincing things.

I will. I'll let everyone on here know what comes of it. I'll be meeting with the geology department at my local university. They last time it was looked at there was back in the 80s when my grandfather found it. Would be a shame if it is just a concretion especially since scientists recently discovered new prehistoric bird eggs in the same river lol

[Fin Lover]

High hopes leave a lot of room for disappointment.  I remind myself of that frequently when I fossil hunt.  

[jpc]

Are the new discoveries in the Escalante River itself or in the Bears Ears / Escalante National whatever it is called? 

That Escalante is a huge area. that has been producing a lot of very exciting fossils in the past 20 years.    

[AfroRaptor]

6 hours ago, jpc said:

Are the new discoveries in the Escalante River itself or in the Bears Ears / Escalante National whatever it is called? 

That Escalante is a huge area. that has been producing a lot of very exciting fossils in the past 20 years.    

I believe I said it was near the grand stair case. If you look up Escalante utah new fossilized eggs and it should come up

[AfroRaptor]

7 hours ago, Fin Lover said:

High hopes leave a lot of room for disappointment.  I remind myself of that frequently when I fossil hunt.  

Very wise