ID this fossil please...

[placerman]

I found this rock in a creek bed in central NC in 2002.

I have showed it to several fossil hunters both amateur and professional and although there are a few theories, no one really knows for sure.


What do you think?

 

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[Harry Pristis]

Interesting! They appear to be impact craters on soft, wet, fine-grained mud. My guess would be hail.

 

[placerman]

I forgot to add.

I had a sample sent to a University in Massachusetts and they couldn't identify it but they did say the rock itself was 400 to 550 million years old. This does correspond to the time when central NC was a chain of volcanic islands off the coast of Africa.

The holes were tested to see if there was any kind of insect or worm in them and they found nothing.

 

[Tylocidaris]

Very cool rock. Have you identified the geologic formation it originated from? Do you know the type of rock? Last, could you take some close-up photos of some of the holes (including the ones on the lower right of the top photo)? Thanks.

John