Concretion challenge

[Chamfer]

I'm kind of sure this is something, though I don't have a clue what. To make matters more difficult, I'm not certain where I got it. It has been in my collection since way before I kept any kinds of records. There's a pretty good chance it was in northern Illinois, roughly in the Mazon creek area, but I don't think it's a Mazon nodule - It's a flat piece of rock.

I know what you're thinking... could I be more vague?

I honestly don't expect an identification, but the folks here have pretty amazing eyes and knowledge, so it's worth a shot.

Thanks.

[Plantguy]

Thanks for the question.

I'll admit my eyes are pretty old but from what I can see I'm not picking up anything that strikes me as being a trace or actual fossil remains. The rock seems to have a bit of a rind or rim around the exterior of the specimen due to weathering/oxidation and has some rust colored perhaps iron staining which is very common in nodules of that area and many other rocks/places. Maybe one of the local ff members here can offer something more as there are some interesting subtle examples/traces of organisms in the Mazon Creek flora/fauna that are not always obvious.

Good luck.

Regards, Chris

[Chamfer]

I'll admit my eyes are pretty old but from what I can see I'm not picking up anything that strikes me as being a trace or actual fossil remains.

So... you're saying you don't see a scorpion, wearing a fedora, with a tattoo of Elvis on its carapace?

Perhaps my imagination got out of hand. That happens from time to time.

[Plantguy]

Hey Chamfer, Dont sweat it. Could be a superman tattoo! Just teasing.

On a more serious note---I do bring all kinds of things home that look interesting geologically and otherwise and keep em. I will however admit to no longer having the piece of asphalt that I brought home one night in the past year. I also still have a pseudofossil that I swore when I found it that it was something clammy that I picked up in 1969 that I still like.

Keep looking/picking things up....again there could be something there in your specimen that I just dont recognize. I was just discussing with Jeff today that I went thru some shark teeth last night that I picked up over a year ago...were now thinking one of them is a small great white that I overlooked. They are rare down here and it was simply my looking at some old finds with fresh eyes that I noticed something different and special.

Keep after them. Collecting rocks is definitely ok and you learn lots from picking them up and looking at them closely--I got lots of them!

Regards, Chris

[Rockwood]

If I had it under a jeweler's loupe I'd look for a tiny ray fish. It's just a thought though. The odds are probably against finding it.