Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology => Topic started by: rgk134 on 21/12/2010 00:47:39

Title: Is this a Fossil? How can it be identified?
Post by: rgk134 on 21/12/2010 00:47:39

Hello all,

New here.  I was wondering if I could get your expertise to determine if this is a fossil or not and what it could be or how I could find out what it was.  I found this in the mountains in north central Pennsylvania.

(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FvsZs2.jpg&hash=6f4a8d4e71be89e372801eb0cb3076e1)
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F7rnon.jpg&hash=7c3586b210c167c84564b609689b444b)

A full gallery is here: http://imgur.com/a/gBTg7/2

Thank you for your help!

Ryan

Title: Is this a Fossil? How can it be identified?
Post by: Don_1 on 21/12/2010 08:30:09

It does have the appearance of a skull. Fossils of Tetrapods have been found in shale and limestone sedimentary rock in the Pennsylvania mountains which date from the Devonian.

I have to say that I am a little skeptical, however. It is not as streamlined as one might expect of an animal recently emerged from the Devonian seas. This could be just a coincidentally shaped piece of rock.

You could take it to a local museum for a proper evaluation.

Title: Is this a Fossil? How can it be identified?
Post by: RD on 21/12/2010 08:37:25

The "eye socket" circular hole looks geological rather than biological (fossil) origin ...

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Title: Is this a Fossil? How can it be identified?
Post by: JimBob on 23/12/2010 02:41:04

It is a chert nodule. In the second picture posted by you, Ryan, the dark gray sides  at the bottom and on the side were broken from the whole when there were, what appears to me, to have been two blows struck on the nodule. The pitted, irregular places are where the blows landed.

I suspect some paleo-indian was intending to begin making flint tools and found the chert within the nodule too soft to make into tools.