Fossils, look what i found... Wait what is this???

ok i just moved in to a house out in Colorado. well i was walking around the 40 acres and found some weird looking rocks on the side of a hill that had been washed out by the rain. i dug a few rocks out and the 3 pics is what i got. there are more in the ground that i can get to as well. there is also another hill right next to it with the same fossil looking rocks in it.

a little back ground on my property i found these at, there was an old house here back in the late 1800 but it got washed away with a flood. now i was thinking they could be cow bones but i think they would be a lil big for that.


right now i only have a few pics of the fossils but i will get more when this snow clears.

my question is this, what do you think they are from? how old could it be? should i take them in to Colorado Springs to have them looked at further by some one who knows about this kind of stuff?










i am kind of clueless where to start so i figured i would toss it out in here to see what you all think. let me know if you need better pictures and i will get them posted. thanks

That one in the middle looks like a drill core. I can't quite tell if it's really round from that angle. And I can't tell if this is really a fossil or if it's just mineral/ Was there any mining on or near your property? I know Colorado has tons of mining over the years.

Originally posted by schuyler
That one in the middle looks like a drill core. I can't quite tell if it's really round from that angle. And I can't tell if this is really a fossil or if it's just mineral/ Was there any mining on or near your property? I know Colorado has tons of mining over the years.

I was away to say the same thing, looks like a drill bit when they take samples.

reply to post by NISMOALTI


Those are interesting, may be an artifact of some sort. Be careful some areas have strange laws on removing civil war era or fossils.

If there is a university near you you could contact someone there to check it out they usually know the proper channels. Nice find!

reply to post by schuyler


Having lived in the area I would have to agree with schuyler. They look like core samples or drill cores that have been removed for blasting either from the tunnels there in Manitou Springs or one of the strip mines in the area. As for fossels I found quite a few so I wouldn't discount you have or will find some. Thars Gold in them thar hills. There is a lot of iron and quartz and where you find those you find gold so keep an eye out.

reply to post by schuyler


well there was no mining on my property that i know of, but we do have a well down in the bottom where i found these at. the only thing is its every bit of 200 yards away. the rocks are oval in shape i will try to get a better pic of one i have in my house.

also to add the white material on the out side of it is kind of a mother of pearl in color and flakes off

pics of the 2 rocks i brought up to my house.

i know they look wet well that's because they were covered in snow.

Originally posted by NISMOALTI
pics of the 2 rocks i brought up to my house.

i know they look wet well that's because they were covered in snow.

edit on 20-2-2013 by NISMOALTI because: spelling lol

It's called "Opalized Wood" ..Google it.

Images: images.search.yahoo.com...
www.fossilmuseum.net...

reply to post by RocksFromSpace


it dosnt really look the same to me, the inside of the rock that i have looks like this

It does look like petrified wood that has become opalized. If it is wood you should be able to see rings and grain in it. It could also be what is called a limb cast where the wood has been displaced by mineral.

reply to post by grayeagle


yeah i dont see rings in the wood. i will check out the limb cast and see if it matches up with what i got


this image


looks like it fits in to this one

Boy, that's some really old Italian sausage you got there Probably hard as a rock.

Kinda looks like a core from some sort of drilling operation but I do see fossils in a piece you had a picture of.

Try dinosaurhome.com there are a few helpful people there that know fossils and some of the marine life. It really does not look straight enough to be a drill core, they are usually pretty true, I have a few of them outside by a tree. It could be really old and weathered though, mine are less than fifty years old.

I just had the thought that because they are not really uniform like most core samples they could be a mastodon or mammoth tusk.

Originally posted by rickymouse
Boy, that's some really old Italian sausage you got there

Probably hard as a rock.

Kinda looks like a core from some sort of drilling operation but I do see fossils in a piece you had a picture of.

Try dinosaurhome.com there are a few helpful people there that know fossils and some of the marine life. It really does not look straight enough to be a drill core, they are usually pretty true, I have a few of them outside by a tree. It could be really old and weathered though, mine are less than fifty years old.

edit on 20-2-2013 by rickymouse because: (no reason given)

lol i dont think i want to take a bit to find out.

thats what a few other people said, drill cores but like you said i would think it would be a little straighter than it is. i will check out dinosaurhome.com.

i also have a friend back in kansas who knows a retired geologist, shes going to send some pictures his way as well.

It's just an old spent uranium rod, nothing to worry about. Have you noticed if your eyes glow yet? We'll need a picture of your eyes if they do.

Looks like fossil vegetation to me, probably trees or some type of fleshy, large limbed plant.

The opal or mother of pearl outer could be from the plant being submerged and colonised by marine life depositing minerals in a low oxygen environment.

Interesting images, thanks.

I bet you're chuffed to have found these things whatever they are?

Please update if you find anything out about them. I just love this kind of stuff!

i hope its not a spent uranium rod, i will be sure to get the glowing eyes if it is lol.


i think i am leaning towards some kind of vegetation as well.

you better be leave when i get this looked at and have a defiant answer as to what it is i will post it up here. as for me being stoked on this find in my back yard you better be leave i was jumping around wondering what it is

ok so my friend got back to me they seem to be baculites. well time to research what these things are

Fossil Type: Cephalopod (Subclass Coleoidea) Name: Baculites sp. Formation: Pierre Shale (probable) Age: Upper Cretaceous Location: Along the Cheyenne River, Okaton, Jones Co., South Dakota Notes: Baculites is in the subclass that includes squid and cuttlefish, but is an extinct form. Note the iridescent mother-of-pearl shell material that is not unusual in Cretaceous mollusks. Beneath the exterior shell is the complex suture pattern. This pattern provides an identification to species. This 9 cm long specimen is from the Jean & Gordon Unger collection of the Falls of the Ohio State Park. Date Posted: July 10, 2012

link

that looks about like what i got right here