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Pseudofossils, Pareidolia, And Other Rorschachery

Pilobolus

By Pilobolus
in Is It Real? How to Recognize Fossil Fabrications

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ynot Regular Member

ynot

Posted
Posted

Oh man. My dive buddies and I are always finding triangular bits of coral and bone that feel like monster megs. These are universally thrown away in frustration when they come under the scrutiny of our dive lights, so I don't have any pics.

I wonder how many times You find the same fake meg.

Me thinks a new species of trunked azhdarchid..

OH boy-- Do I get to name it? How about "Hairyles calciteus"?

Tony

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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ynot Regular Member

ynot

Posted
Posted

OK - Here are a couple of petrified "mushrooms". These came from an igneous fire agate site in southeast Arizona called the Black Hills.

post-16416-0-01116500-1468471326_thumb.jpg

Tony

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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ynot Regular Member

ynot

Posted
Posted (edited)

I was just looking at the picture in the first post and noticed this "baby mastodon" in front of the head. And it has antlers! Is that the coolest fossil ever?

post-16416-0-85517100-1468471739_thumb.jpg

They just keep jumping out of that rock!

Tony

Edited by ynot

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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Lori LuvsFossils Regular Member

Lori LuvsFossils

Posted
Posted

post-11638-0-80955800-1468502236_thumb.jpgpost-11638-0-66353300-1468502273_thumb.jpgpost-11638-0-87102800-1468502180_thumb.jpg

My newly discovered bird foot from Wyoming.....or a broken fish tail.....or.... no it's a fish tail

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JohnJ Regular Member

JohnJ

Posted
Posted

'Aliens geodized skull' :P

post-420-0-43202300-1468507179_thumb.jpg

(chert nodule with quartz vugs)

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The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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Fossildude19 Regular Member

Fossildude19

Posted
Posted

My Florida beach find "bone". ;)

Pseudofossil

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    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."
John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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ynot Regular Member

ynot

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hey Tim,

That is a good one!

Thanks for contributing to this thread!!

I could not get this one into the truck, so I had to leave it there.

A petrified battleship in eastern Utah.

They even named this one "battleship rock"

post-16416-0-80260800-1468525573_thumb.jpg

It also has the permian - triassic boundary at the bottom of the "ship".

Tony

Edited by ynot

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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tmaier Regular Member

tmaier

Posted
Posted

About 20 years ago I posted this one on the web as a possible coprolite. Then a couple people contacted me that it was a concretion. Sure looks "poopie" to me. :P

post-16101-0-21465800-1468540217_thumb.jpg post-16101-0-74195000-1468540273_thumb.jpg

Actually, maybe it is a tiny petrified space ship!

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Pagurus Regular Member

Pagurus

Posted
Posted

I posted this in another thread some time ago but since Tony's egging us on I hatched a plan to re-post an old photo instead of just winging it:

post-6366-0-71377800-1468538304.jpg

I was positive it was a fossil duck but a certain avian-loving moderator assured me it was really a baby penguin. Other TFF members appreciated the rarity of a smoking bird and the incredible preservation of the fossil smoke. I'm rather proud of it.

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Start the day with a smile and get it over with.

 

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ynot Regular Member

ynot

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hey hi guys,

tmaier- nice space ship, I bet that is why Johns alien ended up getting fossilized, He was stuck here after You took its ship.

Pagurus-- Nice duck.petrified with the smoke coming out, that has to be a rare find indead.

Thanks Guys for contributing to this thread.

Tony

Edited by ynot

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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ynot Regular Member

ynot

Posted
Posted

Just to add a twist to the story... here is one that goes the other way! It was found in a tertiary river gravel bed near Lodi California.

Looks like a simple iron concretion, but look closer....

post-16416-0-74527400-1468729295_thumb.jpgpost-16416-0-07299500-1468729315_thumb.jpgpost-16416-0-57390900-1468729325_thumb.jpgpost-16416-0-30518300-1468729346_thumb.jpgpost-16416-0-62453500-1468729352_thumb.jpgpost-16416-0-87947000-1468729362_thumb.jpg

Can You guess what it is?

Tony

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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ynot Regular Member

ynot

Posted
Posted (edited)

Here is another, although not so clear :head scratch: -- I can see an animal head of some sort. :thumbsu: a very fuzzy one. It is rare to have the hair fossilize isn't it? :rolleyes:

post-16416-0-23669000-1468729974_thumb.jpg

Maybe John's alien had a pet? :P

Petrified wood burl from a tertiary river gravel bed, near Colfax California.

Tony

PS I know there are more of these type of rocks out there! Will You please post Yours?

PSS Hey Pagurus, how is that for "egging them on"? :rofl:

Edited by ynot

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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DPS Ammonite Regular Member

DPS Ammonite

Posted
Posted (edited)

A true funny story... a Dallas Paleontology Society member was diving for fossils in the ocean in Florida when he found a really large megalodon tooth. The tooth felt too light and when turned over it read "Made in China". The fake tooth was placed in a conspicuous location as a joke by a fellow diver. Sorry... no photo.

Edited by DPS Ammonite

My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned.   

See my Arizona Paleontology Guide    link  The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere.       

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ynot Regular Member

ynot

Posted
Posted

A true funny story... a Dallas Paleontology Society member was diving for fossils in the ocean in Florida when he found a really large megalodon tooth. The tooth felt too light and when turned over it read "Made in China". The fake tooth was placed in a conspicuous location as a joke by a fellow diver. Sorry... no photo.

I hate april fools jokes. :(

But that sounds like a good one! :rofl:

Tony

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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JohnJ Regular Member

JohnJ

Posted
Posted

Umm...my 'dinosaur eye'. You can clearly see what it is with a mirror image next to it. :P

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(jasper from South Texas)

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The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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ynot Regular Member

ynot

Posted
Posted

A couple more...

branching coral

post-16416-0-96335300-1469075369_thumb.jpg

Dendritic manganese in agate from Luna New Mexico.

A cat head in agate...

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Montana moss agate with a crystallized center from the Yellowstone river Terry Montana.

Tony

  • I found this Informative 1

Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys."

Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough."

 

My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection

My favorite thread on TFF.

 

 

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JohnJ Regular Member

JohnJ

Posted
Posted

"Dragon soft tissue fossil 'cause I see the veins and my doctor thought it looked like veins, too. That rock spit fire when I broke it."

;)

post-420-0-35559300-1469078372_thumb.jpg post-420-0-56085800-1469078371_thumb.jpg

(high magnification of a freshly broken chert nodule)

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The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true.  -  JJ

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fifbrindacier Regular Member

fifbrindacier

Posted
Posted (edited)

I was so glad to have found a fossil of shrimp.

post-21013-0-83722900-1469343050_thumb.jpg :wacko:

Edited by fifbrindacier
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"On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

"We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes."

 

In memory of Doren

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