cwilliams563 Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwilliams563 Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 (edited) I know I posted all the pertinet infomation in the initial post but it doesn't seem to show up for me at all. The overall size of the "egg"in question is 3-1/2" Long x 2-3/4" Wide and 9-1/4" Diameter width x 10-1/4" Length (about the size of a LARGE lemon) and only weighs 4.25 OZ. It seems very hollow and has got to be a prehistoric egg at this weight/size perameter. Any help and info is superbly appreciated! Thank you, Chris Edited October 28, 2012 by cwilliams563 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 A geode, I think. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwilliams563 Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 I wish it was this easy but even a geode is at least twice as heavy as this broken in half and this is still full sized. We've found plenty of geodes around here and MUCH heavier in comparison to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painshill Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 (edited) Hi Chris Don't know where the rest of the information disappeared to.... you might like to re-post it here. I really don't think you can rely on weight as a determining factor for geodes, fossils or anything else. It's really gonna be dependent on how the item mineralised. But I also doubt it's a geode. It doesn't have the shape associated with eggs (particularly not because of the projections at either end). Also, egg fossils are not usually hollow. They normally fill with concreted material or some other form of solid mineralisation. Are you finding anything marine in the area(?), because it looks to me like it might be a concreted sponge. Welcome to the forum BTW. Edited October 28, 2012 by painshill Roger I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who [Rudyard Kipling] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Hi Chris, and welcome to the Forum. I have to agree and say this is not an egg. I see not texture that would indicate eggshell. My thoughts lean more towards concretion or geode with this specimen. Or as Painshill mentioned, it could be a fossilized/concreted sponge. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 IPFOTM -- MAY - 2024 _________________________________________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Thanks Chris for the extra comments on the object's weight. Its "lightness" is what initially suggested, geode to me. I hope you will get an answer as to an absolute positive ID. It's fun to have a mystery object, but even better to find what it actually is. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trilobiteruss Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I have had a bunch of dinosaur eggs over years in my collection (all traded now for trilobites these days) but not sure this is a dinosaur egg. Like others I think Chris that this is an interesting fossil. The pinched ends really remind me of something I have seen before and I am wracking my old brain cells to try and remember. It will be interesting if we can help you figure out the identity of this cool find. Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 I favor the geodized sponge idea. "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...
Roz Posted October 28, 2012 Share Posted October 28, 2012 Have you thought about the freeze/thaw method to see if anything could be inside? Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwilliams563 Posted October 28, 2012 Author Share Posted October 28, 2012 Thanks for the responses all. This was next to a wash in some flood plains so it's possible it was in water or around years ago. It seems to be very hollow as I mentioned and tapping on it indicates a very thin hollow shell of some sort. For comparison a regular sized grade AA egg weighs 2 oz +- .15oz or so. Minus the growths on it, it seems fairly ovalish and egg shaped. ROZ, I'm not sure what that method is but I'll google it. We'll ask around here and see if we can get an answer as to a positive ID. We'll check into the sponge and geodes as well. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Chris, when you make progress as to an ID, please don't forget to post. I would love to know what it turns out to be. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwilliams563 Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 (edited) Just an update. My buddy didn't seem to have much patience in trying to identify this object so he cracked it open. He said it was just some small multiple pieces of grass looking stuff in there and thinks it may have just been some fossilized poop LOL! Possibly an old nest. I haven't seen it yet but I think he tossed it and said it was kinda gross! Thanks for all the responses. Edited November 13, 2012 by cwilliams563 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobWill Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 (edited) Bovine hairball. Cows can't vomit so they only appear after death and scavengers don't eat them. They can seem as hard on the outside as chalky limestone and are light colored. Edited November 13, 2012 by BobWill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PetrolPete Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 could it possibly be magmatic in origin? like a lava bomb? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THobern Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 A bezoar doesn't seem out of the question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indy Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 SE Arizona is a large area. It would be interesting to have more specific collecting locality information including the time period. When I first saw this post ... before the size was posted I said to myself ... Looks identical to the pebble size shark/fish coprolite I find in the Pennsylvanian here in Missouri. Again ... It would be interesting to know more specific locality information and or, at least, the time period. Flash from the Past (Show Us Your Fossils)MAPS Fossil Show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painshill Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 A bezoar doesn't seem out of the question. The interior description is indeed consistent with a “bezoar” (also suggested by BobWill). Think of those as mineralised “stones” formed around a mass of something indigestible trapped in an animal’s gastro-intestinal system or oesophagus. The interior is commonly hair, fur, woody plant material or occasionally denatured milk protein. Most animals produce them but they are common in cattle and also horses (where they create a condition known as “choke”). These are bovine bezoars (with apologies to the owner of the copyright for this picture … I don’t remember where it came from): Most usually these things show evidence of a concretionary structure and although they are quite hard (from deposited calcium minerals), they are prone to delamination. I didn’t see that in the original pictures though. A little historical footnote here. Bezoars have a long history as a cure-all for various ailments, and particularly as a treatment for snakebites and poisoning. They would usually be ground to a powder and swallowed. The principle of “caveat emptor” (buyer beware) was established in English law in 1603, arising from the sale of an allegedly fraudulent bezoar stone which did not provide the claimed medicinal properties. Do keep us posted. Roger I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who [Rudyard Kipling] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 The interior description is indeed consistent with a “bezoar” (also suggested by BobWill). Think of those as mineralised “stones” formed around a mass of something indigestible trapped in an animal’s gastro-intestinal system or oesophagus. The interior is commonly hair, fur, woody plant material or occasionally denatured milk protein. Most animals produce them but they are common in cattle and also horses (where they create a condition known as “choke”). These are bovine bezoars (with apologies to the owner of the copyright for this picture … I don’t remember where it came from): Most usually these things show evidence of a concretionary structure and although they are quite hard (from deposited calcium minerals), they are prone to delamination. I didn’t see that in the original pictures though. A little historical footnote here. Bezoars have a long history as a cure-all for various ailments, and particularly as a treatment for snakebites and poisoning. They would usually be ground to a powder and swallowed. The principle of “caveat emptor” (buyer beware) was established in English law in 1603, arising from the sale of an allegedly fraudulent bezoar stone which did not provide the claimed medicinal properties. Do keep us posted. Those are really cool!. Never heard of anything like that. Learn something new every day. Thanks for the pix.; "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THobern Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 I should have been clearer; I was responding to Bob. I can't take any credit for the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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