Shell imprint in chalcedony with bryozoan?

[Lactaniac]

Hello all! 

 

I am new to this forum and just started getting interested in rocks and fossils. I went out to Wyoming last weekend and found a lot of really nice agates and fluorescent minerals but I also came across what look like some pieces of chalcedony with these white tubular inclusions in them. I first just saw the shell imprint in the rock so I pocketed it, but later when I looked closer noticed the white webbed tubes. I posted these pictures on reddit in r/fossilid and got a few responses telling me that they are Bryozoans. I looked this up and it looks right to me!

 

My question is this...all of the pictures of fossilized bryozoans I have seen look very traditional (in sedimentary rock). Is it usual to find them embedded in silicate like this? I cannot find one other example of this on the internet which makes me think that maybe this type of specimen is called by a different name and that I am just not searching for the right thing. Anyways, any help and insights would be much appreciated! I am going back out to Wyoming this weekend to search some more and would love to know exactly what it is I am looking for! 

 

Thanks in advance for any responses! 

 

Erik

Edited June 13, 2019 by Lactaniac
Title misspelling

[Al Dente]

Nice pictures. It is most likely chert. The material was originally limestone and got replaced by chert, preserving some of the fossils. 

[Carl]

Gorgeous! These are indeed hard to find on the Web but not too hard to find in Nature, if you're in the right place. And it looks like you are. Go find more! And welcome to the Forum!

[FranzBernhard]

This is a super-nice specimen! Congrats and thanks for sharing!

Franz Bernhard