I wish I could find the rest of this

[watercolor]

I found this over the weekend and was hoping for a few thoughts on what this might be.

It was found in a glacial moraine area in northern Illinois so unfortunately, it's point
of origin is probably hundreds of miles further north. My initial thought on this is that it
may be a fossilized bone fragment embedded in a sandstone matrix.

Thanks for looking!

 

[bravowhiskey]

I'm no pro, but I think you got it.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Odd specimen! A mammal or reptile bone of this size would have a center of cancellous bone, the spongy-looking bone that contains the marrow.

A fish bone might be uniformly dense, but this would be an enormous fish. It does not have a fishy look to my eye.

I think you have a "vein" or stringer of chert that filled a void. The void may have been a worm or shrimp burrow.

Fossilized burrows are fairly common. They are referred to as "trace fossils" or "ichnofossils."

 

[watercolor]

Odd specimen! A mammal or reptile bone of this size would have a center of cancellous bone, the spongy-looking bone that contains the marrow.

A fish bone might be uniformly dense, but this would be an enormous fish. It does not have a fishy look to my eye.

I think you have a "vein" or stringer of chert that filled a void. The void may have been a worm or shrimp burrow.

Fossilized burrows are fairly common. They are referred to as "trace fossils" or "ichnofossils."

Harry, I think you're right-on with your ID. . . I just received a reply from the University of Chicago and they said "trace fossils" as well

Thanks

 

[Lowbatts]

Geez and I was looking forward to running wild in the hills of Northern Illinois looking for dinosaur bones! Or at least petrified wood...

Still tops on the unusual finds list Mark!

 

[naturegirl]

That's wild looking! Wish I'd found it.

ng