NSRaddict_1 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Found this at NSR as usual , looks like mushroom , any ideas if it is or not . Thanks in advance ! Hunting fossils is fun , but discovering is better ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramo Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 That is weird!!! Is it rock or clay, or what? For one species to mourn the death of another is a new thing under the sun. -Aldo Leopold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSRaddict_1 Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 Rock , same reaction I have gotten from several people "that is weird" . Hunting fossils is fun , but discovering is better ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 I don't know what it is, but I'm virtually certain it is not a mushroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N.AL.hunter Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Well I must admit that this one REALLY does look like a fossil mushroom, but it also looks like a man-made item, perhaps from some school children's art project or someone's garden sculpture. If this is a naturally formed item, then it is really neat, but I seriously doubt it is a fossil mushroom. But that does beg the question, when did the fungi start producing fruiting bodies like this? HMMMM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreekCrawler Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Hmmm.... that is very unusual! Is is the same material as the red-bed stuff there? I hope someone can give a positive ID on that. I have seen some very old looking man made bricks that have washed down the river that were red. Maybe when they used to mine the material for bricks back in the old days someone fashioned a mushroom out of the material. I'm sure there are very old schools that have come and gone from that area as well,so N.AL hunter may be right about kids fashioning the object. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 My first impression is man-made. The only thing in nature (that I can think of) that looks like that is a mushroom, and they just don't lithify; they don't even last long enough to form a mold (no pun). "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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Very unusual. IF it's not manmade, is it some form of sponge? KOF, Bill. Welcome to the forum, all new members www.ukfossils check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSRaddict_1 Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 Don't think it is man made , and it the same material as the red bed in the NSR , matches the other pieces of Ammonites and Gastropods we have . Is there some way to test and see if it was man made or natural ? Hunting fossils is fun , but discovering is better ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreekCrawler Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Hi, I think we can rule out mushroom for sure! I did a little research online and the only mushroom found to date in the cretaceous was found in Oregon encased in amber. It kinda looks like a part of the male anatomy"if ya know what I mean" I wonder if any of the male cretaceous creatures from the formations there ie; mosasaur, X-fish,sharks etc, had a reproductive organ like that. "just fishing here"! Barry Well actually I think I just answered my own question, as the softer parts of the original animal usually do not fossilize. Oh well I tried! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiphactinus Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Have you tried a magnet on it? I sure looks like metal. My first thought was a high caliber bullet that had mushroomed, but not sure that is it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Is there anything in that formation for which this could be part of an internal mold? "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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyguy784 Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 My first impression is man-made. The only thing in nature (that I can think of) that looks like that is a mushroom, and they just don't lithify; they don't even last long enough to form a mold (no pun). Cudos Chas. that's a classic line. Still laughing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Follow this carefully, if it is a mold I believe that the cylander portion of it is the actual mold which was inside something, and the part that looks like a mushroom hood is actually the build up of some substance, outside the fossil. Kind of like pushing putty in the barrel of a gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jax Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Pretty cool. I dont think a mushroom would be able to fosslize because of how soft they are. Did you find any fossil Knomes in the area?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roz Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Looks like the red bed stuff at the river. Rudist coral can have some very strange shapes, and most of it different. Seems to be no standard for it. It's possible but I am not sure. Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack the Collector Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 Look at the base of the stem in photo #1 & 2.Very similar to crinoind stem star patterns,hmmmm I wonder ? We are all merely curators for the next generation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSRaddict_1 Posted August 23, 2008 Author Share Posted August 23, 2008 Look at the base of the stem in photo #1 & 2.Very similar to crinoind stem star patterns,hmmmm I wonder ? That was my first thought . I don't think it a mushroom either , but was there any creatures that attached to the floor some how , base not top , inverted ? I did a scratch test , on the shroom and a piece of a Amm we have both are very similar in that test (not real scientific) . Hunting fossils is fun , but discovering is better ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N.AL.hunter Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 This thing is one of the most interesting items for ID to be posted. Maybe sending the pictures to the Smithsonian would help (but my experience is they do not reply to often). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kauffy Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 what about a solitary coral, that has landed up with a crinoid stem in the middle? not impossible? "Turn the fear of the unknown into the excitment of possibility!"We dont stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 The wear is pretty evident; it's been rolled around and rounded off. Trying to make sense of what it looked like before that happened: does it look like the "rod" or "column" passed through the "collar", and was worn to a matching contour? I don't know where I'm going with this (grasping, basically), but it almost looks like there's a "seam" around the "collar". "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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramo Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 If it weren't for the stem, it looks a lot like a ptychodus tooth. But I've never seen a ptychodus tooth with a stem. For one species to mourn the death of another is a new thing under the sun. -Aldo Leopold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSRaddict_1 Posted August 23, 2008 Author Share Posted August 23, 2008 The wear is pretty evident; it's been rolled around and rounded off. Trying to make sense of what it looked like before that happened: does it look like the "rod" or "column" passed through the "collar", and was worn to a matching contour? I don't know where I'm going with this (grasping, basically), but it almost looks like there's a "seam" around the "collar". No , it does not look as if the column passed through the top , I have examined it with a 20x loupe , it does have a texturing reminiscent of a sponge or coral , the piece is not segmented base and top are as one . Will try and figure out how to zoom in on the piece and enlarge a section , the D40x is probably capable but need a macro lens . Hunting fossils is fun , but discovering is better ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted August 23, 2008 Share Posted August 23, 2008 Have you attempted any test to determine it's mineral composition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSRaddict_1 Posted August 23, 2008 Author Share Posted August 23, 2008 No , open for suggestions of what kind of test to try . What is the "red bed" in NSR composed of ? If anyone is local , we will be at NSR tomorrow and you are welcome to examine the piece in person if it would help . Hunting fossils is fun , but discovering is better ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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