Prints in rock.

[ghost surf]

One day while walking along a river, I found a part of a rock about 11' inches long by about 5' inches wide with either a human foot print, dog track and small reptile tracks ( The reptile tracks were separate tracks!). The water was rising, so I took the rock to the authoritive owners, because I felt they would never find the rock again if the river filled with water all the way. Note: I asked if I would get in trouble...the authoritive owner said no, because I brought the rock to the authoritive owners. I will say this was found in Wisconsin..But the loaction will not be given as of respect for that of the onwers and of the permission for that location.
I showed the authoritive owner the tracks and they said: wow! very cool and interesting, later I did some research and I believe the separate tracks are tracks of the first reptiles ever found in this state...They would not be dinosaur but the animals that came right after the dinosaurs disappeared, even before the indians came on the land ....as far as the other prints they say they might put the rock under glass with my name as the finder. I have pictures of the rock and I did take photos of the find as proof of the find. I will put them on soon.
I don't know what they did to the rock and that was just last month, so I will contact them sometime to see if they at least had it looked at by a archeologist or specialist in the field..I am very proud to have found this boulder and happey it will never be lost to the rising waters. I believe the particular rock I found was part of a huge area of flat layerd rock that had broken a-part from rushing high waters.

Here is the same photo:lower right side of rock.Notice the digits of the fingers of the print on the rock.The prints are the size of a nickle.

Third picture is a photo I found on the net of a foot print that looks almost just like the one in the rock I found.

 

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[ghost surf]

I think that the foot prints might belong to this reptile, but not sure of that fact:
Straight above the track there are two more of the same, but they are harder to see unless you look right at the rock itself!I believe it was walking on the rock ..so there is three separate foot prints all together plus that of the others in question. I am thinking the prints are some what layered, as what ever was there moved over the others being behind or in front of each other at one time.
The third picture is the tracks of the animal mentioned in this article.
What do you think? Maybe?
I am also wondering if the could have been brought down or followed the glaciers movement?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylonomus
http://www.reptilechannel.com/reptile-news/herp/ancient-reptile-footprints.aspx
The dog looking track is in the middle of the rock and the human looking track which might just look that way from the combination of them all together is angled from the...... lower right following up to the left top corner. A foot can almost fit into that form.
...
Anyone have any idea what else the prints could be?Because this is just speculation!

 

[Mosasaurfiend]

I can't see closeups of the areas in the rock...

 

[Solius Symbiosus]

Sorry, I don't see anything there that resembles a track.

With a description of the general area, and better pics, a more precise ID can be made.

I will go out on a limb... Ordovician trepostomate bryozoans...not trackway.

 

[Cappy Z.]

Sorry, I don't see anything there that resembles a track.

With a description of the general area, and better pics, a more precise ID can be made.

I will go out on a limb... Ordovician trepostomate bryozoans...not trackway.

This guy needs glasses. It's a perfect match to the museum photo. It's definitely a trackway!

 

[Cappy Z.]

Here's another 'verified' dino footprint. When the dino put his foot in the mud and then later it dries etc. it also 'deforms' or 'morphs' as gravity and the elements effect the original uniformity. This particular print is in excellent condition. There appears to be little flattening or spreading of the matrix. I think ghost surf is right on the money.

 

[Solius Symbiosus]

Sorry, I don't see anything there that resembles a track.

With a description of the general area, and better pics, a more precise ID can be made.

I will go out on a limb... Ordovician trepostomate bryozoans...not trackway.

This guy needs glasses. It's a perfect match to the museum photo. It's definitely a trackway!

I have glasses!

It is a superficial resemblance, at best, and not a good one at that. Compare the photo of the theropod print that you provided with the others. Now, who needs the perspective?

Since you are so sure of your ID, if I may ask, what are your credentials? Granted, mine are in invertebrate paleontology; I was educated as a geologist, but I have seen a few trackways... that does not have the characteristics of a track, e,g; it is not "mounded", and the distal regions are more shallow that the "heel" area.

Once again, not a track.

 

[Solius Symbiosus]

HERE is a release from the Kentucky Paleontological Society giving notice of some fraudulent tracks that were seen in the area. It provides a basic overview of why those "tracks" were deemed fraudulent.

The descriptions therein are very helpful in determining whether, or not, one has a track.

 

[naturegirl]

That was interesting reading. Wow, there are fakes of everything, even dinosaur tracks. Has conning each other always been a human trait? I suppose if the neanderthals conned each other, they must have had a sense of humor too.

ng

 

[Cappy Z.]

I have glasses!
Since you are so sure of your ID, if I may ask, what are your credentials? Granted, mine are in invertebrate paleontology; I was educated as a geologist...(Solius Suspiciousus)

ahh!! One of those 'credential' rank and file deliberaters! I believe the argument should be limited to the fossil...I read the brilliant book 'Lucy' about the discovery of Australopithecus Afarenes..many 'doubters' in the rank and file of academia..I mean the author Richard Leakey had such ...minimal educational credentials..not even a college degree? And yet in other theaters many a distinguished highly 'degreed' individuals turned out be total fakes. The young Bell Laboratory genius who so successfully fooled the elite until finally getting caught by the earnest digging of an unknown researcher, comes to mind.

So my good friend Solius Suspiciousus, in all fairness to you with your limited eye site, let the process continue with others more qualified before making such a 'rush to judgement'.

 

[Tylocidaris]

So, my good friend, Solius, please bear in mind these observations that I've made about our good friend, Cappy Z. He hails from "Atlantis"......as an Artful Master of Deflection, a title not easily achieved because most there never rise above journeyman of Defensive Sarcasm. He has no rivals in his unmatched ability to beg all questions in camoflauging humor. All we can do is bow before the statue of the Great Red Fish which honors his wisdom. I intend no disrespect; I'm just trying to stay on the narrow "tracks" in discussion before us and defer to the senior member of this forum.



(oh yeah; ghost surf, it's not raining on your parade if someone explains the accurate identification of your rock. With that "new" knowledge you are better armed on future trips in the field. It's been my experience that knowing accurate information is far more useful than entertaining wishful fantasies contrived from the combination of "exclusive" facts. In other words, hey man, based on the info you've provided, I think you found a rock with some interesting fractures, but not a fossil track. Yet, I'll bet there's a good chance you could find some real fossils in your area on future trips. ....just my uncredentialed opinion)

 

[Cappy Z.]

Tylocidaris.....Merry Christmas Happy Hanukkah and Fabulous Festivus!

Do you have an eye for Moose Tracks? They can be found in the frozen food section of better grocery stores.

 

[Solius Symbiosus]

I have glasses!
Since you are so sure of your ID, if I may ask, what are your credentials? Granted, mine are in invertebrate paleontology; I was educated as a geologist...(Solius Suspiciousus)

ahh!! One of those 'credential' rank and file deliberaters! I believe the argument should be limited to the fossil...

Right! So you start of with an ad hominem.

I read the brilliant book 'Lucy' about the discovery of Australopithecus Afarenes..many 'doubters' in the rank and file of academia..I mean the author Richard Leakey had such ...minimal educational credentials..not even a college degree?

... and you didn't even get that right. "Lucy" was written by Donald Johanson and Tim White. Though, your are right that Richard Leakey lacks formal education, but he was taught under the tutelage of two of the greatest anthropologists to put pen to paper; his parents.

Ooh, a little clue for you. I knew Dr. Johanson when he was at Cleveland.

And yet in other theaters many a distinguished highly 'degreed' individuals turned out be total fakes. The young Bell Laboratory genius who so successfully fooled the elite until finally getting caught by the earnest digging of an unknown researcher, comes to mind.

Your claim of "many" is unsupported. It is one of the tactics employed by anti-intellectuals in an attempt to validate a bogus claim... but I'll play along. BTW, THIS is a good book that illustrates why tactics such as this have become so prevalent in this society.

In Logic, that is what is know as a non sequitur if you will. It has no bearing on the validity, or not, of whether the original poster has a track. It appears to be a combination of, at least, a couple of different fallacies. I'll leave it to you determine which fallacies you presented.

So my good friend Solius Suspiciousus, in all fairness to you with your limited eye site, let the process continue with others more qualified before making such a 'rush to judgement'.

Rather than address the issues that I provided in my first post, you chose to reply with a bunch of illogical non-sense. Trying to cloud the issue, huh?

 

[Cappy Z.]

This guy needs glasses. It's a perfect match to the museum photo. It's definitely a trackway!

I stand by my comment.

 

[Harry Pristis]

"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' "
--- Isaac Asimov, column in Newsweek (21 January 1980)

 

[Tnmountains]

"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' "
--- Isaac Asimov, column in Newsweek (21 January 1980)

What Isaac and Harry said.

 

[Cappy Z.]

"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' "
--- Isaac Asimov, column in Newsweek (21 January 1980)

What Isaac and Harry said.

Not that I don't enjoy a good read, but Isaac wrote 'fiction' primarily..science fiction. I suspect he could have been talking about the Republican party by his comment...Was it not Colon Powell who sat before the United Nations claiming irrefutable proof for WMD's? So much expertise....

 

[Tylocidaris]

So, my good friend, Solius, please bear in mind these observations that I've made about our good friend, Cappy Z. He hails from "Atlantis"......as an Artful Master of Deflection, a title not easily achieved because most there never rise above journeyman of Defensive Sarcasm. He has no rivals in his unmatched ability to beg all questions in camoflauging humor. All we can do is bow before the statue of the Great Red Fish which honors his wisdom. I intend no disrespect; I'm just trying to stay on the narrow "tracks" in discussion before us and defer to the senior member of this forum.



.....

I stand by my comment too.... ....and, I detect more sign that a blind hunter could follow.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Not that I don't enjoy a good read, but Isaac wrote 'fiction' primarily..science fiction. I suspect he could have been talking about the Republican party by his comment...Was it not Colon Powell who sat before the United Nations claiming irrefutable proof for WMD's? So much expertise....

"Asimov, who died in New York [April 6, 1992] at 72, ultimately became this century's most recognized one-man encyclopedist -- with 477 published titles by his own count.

Long before the advent of the Information Age, Asimov was a singular information processor. "Isaac Asimov is the greatest explainer of the age," said Carl Sagan, the Cornell University astronomer.

Such a feat was accomplished by an extraordinary combination of imagination and intellect: an imagination that allowed him to soar into the future matched with an intellect that allowed him to roam in the past and present, searching for explanations of anything and everything."

 

[Tylocidaris]

Harry, we can always use more well understood "explainers" in our world. Those that "cloud" an issue are just in the way of learning.


Ghost Surf, having gone back and read many of your posts, I think Asimov is welcome on your thread. However, just to clear up any previous confusion, are you referring to the area I've circled in blue? If so, I still think you are dealing with the random, eroded fracturing of the bedrock along the stream. To give you further understanding, try to get an ID of the bedrock geologic formation. Knowing the rock can tell you what is probable to find. (For instance, you won't find many marine fossils in volcanic rock. )