sixgill pete Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I found these two items yesterday, 22 Mar 2013 at the Martin Marietta Quarry in Belgrade (Maysville) NC. The Quarry has deposits from the Belgrade Formation (Late Oligocene? early Miocene and the Trent (River Bend) Formation (Oligocene). There are also overlying Miocene/Pliocene and Pleistocene layers. Both od these items came from piles that more closely resembled the Belgrade material, but these piles can be mixed. The first one, to me, looks like a piece of crinoid stem. Never heard of crinoid parts and pieces from here, but I had neither at another local quarry until I found a comatulid cap there about 18 months ago. So who knows. the second item I have no idea, never seen anything like it. But, it sure looks like something. any help will be greatly appreciated!! Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masonboro37 Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I have no idea, interesting specimens. The first one does look 'stem like" or an internal mold to something maybe. Process of identification "mistakes create wisdom". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted March 24, 2013 Author Share Posted March 24, 2013 Thanks for taking a look Libby, and to everyone else who has. I thought for sure someone would have some ideas. Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 I have no idea, but to my eye its appearance has the look of a small egg. 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...
Rob Russell Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 I'm not seeing any of the tell tale signs of a crinoid stem in the first picture. The second looks "coralish" to me. With that said... I have no idea on either piece. Finding my way through life; one fossil at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
araucaria1959 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 A picture from the lower side of the second specimen may help. Without it, it remains open whether the structure is broken off there and the upper fragment of a longer structure, or whether it ends there like a sea urchin (though I don't believe it's a sea urchin) or an egg. I also considered egg as a possibility. araucaria1959 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted March 24, 2013 Author Share Posted March 24, 2013 never considered egg for the second item, just does not have that look to me, but then I have never seen a fossilized egg of any sort. I am going to clean it up some and take some new, hopefully more detailed pics from all angles. Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 never considered egg for the second item, just does not have that look to me, but then I have never seen a fossilized egg of any sort. I am going to clean it up some and take some new, hopefully more detailed pics from all angles.Egg was just a wild guess. The last picture reminds me of the Hadrosaur eggs from China that I have prepped. - on a smaller scale of course. I think it's the "cracked" looking mosaic appearance with the whitish mineral film that's making that visual link for me. Anyway it's a cool and mysterious piece. Thanks for posting it. 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...
Plax Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 first one looks like some sort of burrow, second one has the look of a concretion perhaps after coprolite, have seen that netlike patter on the latter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmerlin Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 (edited) second kind of looks like a very worn crinoid calyx Edited March 26, 2013 by ckmerlin "A man who stares at a rock must have a lot on his mind... or nothing at all' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 I think there is only one stalked crinoid species in the Tertiary of North Carolina. It is Democrinus simmsi from the Castle Hayne Formation. The columnal sections are unusual when compared with Paleozoic crinoids. They are tiny and eliptical, not round. They are very common at the Martin Marrieta quarries. Here is a picture of a typical Democrinus columnal. It is 2 or 3 millimeters long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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