New Members SolFire Posted March 17, 2020 New Members Share Posted March 17, 2020 (edited) My grandparents own land on the Devil’s River in west Texas and I’ve been hunting fossils with them there since I was six years old. When I was younger I thought that these might be fossilized dinosaur bones, but I doubt that now. My grandparents think that they’re plants but I also doubt that. I’ve been thinking maybe they’re some sort of tube worm, or a coral, but I have a feeling that they’re something I don’t know of at all. So, I figured it would be good to ask here with hope that someone will know more than we do. I read this morning that the devil’s river limestone is Cretaceous. The fossil in the bottom left of this picture is a nice cross section of what I’m interested in. The distinct segments or chambers remind me of the structure of an ammonite or a nautilus, which made me wonder if they could be a shelled cephalopod. They seem to be hollow (at least some of them): I found this piece today and was happy to see such a nice cross-section of the intricate wall structure: Edited March 17, 2020 by SolFire 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creek - Don Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 It resembles petrified tree trunk with bark. I also see some white crystal mineral on the second image that are associated with petrified trees or plants. That area is Salmon Peak Limestone (early Cretaceous). You and your grandparents found petrified Cretaceous tree. Very nicely preserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members SolFire Posted March 17, 2020 Author New Members Share Posted March 17, 2020 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Creek - Don said: It resembles petrified tree trunk with bark. I also see some white crystal mineral on the second image that are associated with petrified trees or plants. That area is Salmon Peak Limestone (early Cretaceous). You and your grandfather found petrified Cretaceous tree. Very nicely preserved. We find them in the same rocks as many different types of shells, could they be plants that grew in the ocean? Most of the shell fossils we find have crystals within them. Edited March 17, 2020 by SolFire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creek - Don Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 15 minutes ago, SolFire said: We find them in the same rocks as many different types of shells, could they be plants that grew in the ocean? Most of the shell fossils we find have crystals within them. Probably resembles more like this Cretaceous environment 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 Could these be rudists? 6 Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 23 minutes ago, Uncle Siphuncle said: Could these be rudists? I agree. These are rudists. 5 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quer Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 I agree with rudists, too. Elevator-type rudists can form successive chambers: 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members SolFire Posted March 17, 2020 Author New Members Share Posted March 17, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, Uncle Siphuncle said: Could these be rudists? I think so! I just found these pictures detailing the structure of the rudist shell. They even use the same terminology to describe it. Edited March 17, 2020 by SolFire 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members SolFire Posted March 17, 2020 Author New Members Share Posted March 17, 2020 3 hours ago, Quer said: I agree with rudists, too. Elevator-type rudists can form successive chambers: This makes me even more sure! Thanks for the photo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 Yup. I was seeing rudists as well. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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