Justin.s.floyd Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 I am new to this forum and was hoping for an ID on a fossil I found as a child. It was discovered as a polished beach stone already displaying this level of detail, around 20 years ago in the Gulf Islands of BC Canada. I look forward to your expertise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Hello, and welcome to the Forum. What is the size of the item? Any chance of a bigger/better picture from right over head - looking directly down on it?? Maybe from a few angles as well? Also - is there anything sticking out from the other side of the rock? 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...
mikeymig Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Hello and welcome to the FF. What you have (I'm sorry to say) is not a fossil. Black shales like this beach stone often contain pyrite in some form or another. That's what your specimen has on it. The first fossil I found as a child was a water worn section of a common horn coral but I thought it was the coolest and 30 years later, I still have it. Mikey Many times I've wondered how much there is to know. led zeppelin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin.s.floyd Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 I am still hoping this is a fossil but I will see what another photo might do for ID purposes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin.s.floyd Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 (edited) Nothing out of the other side of the rock since the rock itself is a half a centimetre thick. Also the "fossil" in question is raised ever so slightly from the surface of the rock. Perhaps the thickness of two human hairs. Edited November 8, 2012 by Justin.s.floyd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Is the matrix actually black shale? It almost looks like basalt. "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...
Justin.s.floyd Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 It is more likely than not shale, since basalt is not terribly common in the region. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 Good; it would have been harder to explain the inclusion were the matrix igneous. I propose that what you have might be an in-filled burrow, from an invertebrate tunneling in the mud. It is not uncommon for such traces, due to the action of bacteria on the organics entrained in such burrows, to become harder than the host shale and be more resistant to erosion (hence the raised aspect of the specimen). "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...
Justin.s.floyd Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 Interesting hypothesis. It would certainly be a valid explanation. Thank you for your input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 To me it looks like a pyrite burrow/inclusion in black shale. Not uncommon in black shales. "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...
Justin.s.floyd Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 I will certainly leave it to the experts here. Thank you all for your continued input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleecan Posted November 9, 2012 Share Posted November 9, 2012 It does look like a pyritized burrow, ichnofossil.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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