Snake instantly fossilized while eating lizard. Soft tissue intact, including skin.

[Medussa21]

I think an extremely rare finding and I look forward to hearing your information.   Thanks ! 

[Top Trilo]

There appears to be some invertebrate marine fossils here but no lizard or snake unfortunately.

[Mainefossils]

Welcome to the Forum, @Medussa21! 

 

Unfortunately, I don't think that this is a petrified lizard eating a snake. Such finds are incredibly rare, and a pair in such a position is even more so. Soft body preservation in a 3D fashion is nearly unheard of - generally they are preserved flat. Your fossil does not show any of the morphological features of a snake or a lizard. I think that you are seeing this because of pareidolia, the tendency of the human mind to find significancy in random objects. 

 

On the other hand, I do think that this is a fossil. In the picture below, I have circled the part I believe is a fossil; it appears to be a partial brachiopod, possibly a spiriferid. Closer pictures, and location and stratigraphic data is essential for a better assessment of your find. Some scale would also be helpful, preferably in millimeters. @Tidgy's Dad might be able to help with the identification of your find. 

 

Happy Hunting! 

                                               

[Tidgy's Dad]

I agree. 

This would appear to be the internal mold of a brachiopod pedicle valve, most likely a spiriferid. 

[Top Trilo]

Other than the brachiopod, there appears to be cross sections of smaller fossils in the rock.

[Fossildude19]

I agree with the others - Your item:

 

 

From the internet:

Google search : Spirifer internal mold.

 

 

 

both from Views of the Mahantango

 

 

From Geologic Enterprises

[Tidgy's Dad]

The OP PMed me with more photos, stating that this was a snake's head with fangs and the roof of it's mouth preserved and a lizard tail in the mouth but that not everyone could see it. 

I reiterated my position. 

She has not yet responded. 

Edited November 13, 2021 by Tidgy's Dad

[Ludwigia]

Pity. All she needs to do is adjust her point of view slightly.

[Tidgy's Dad]

1 hour ago, Ludwigia said:

Pity. All she needs to do is adjust her point of view slightly.

Yeah.

For once it actually is a fossil, and quite a nice one at that! 

[Medussa21]

2 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

The OP PMed me with more photos, stating that this was a snake's head with fangs and the roof of it's mouth preserved and a lizard tail in the mouth but that not everyone could see it. 

I reiterated my position. 

She has not yet responded. 

I am going reply with saying that I understand the depth of what I am claiming But the pictures do no justice.  There are eyes of the snake on both side with fangs inserted into the lizard. The lizard is sideways in the snakes mouth showing the back, hind legs, and like I said the skin of the lizard is intact just rock, you can feel the many small bumps on the skin.  When you look inside the mouth of the snake you see the ridges of a roof of a mouth. It’s extremely obvious in person. And it’s not a seashell. Found in Oklahoma 

[hadrosauridae]

13 minutes ago, Medussa21 said:

I am going reply with saying that I understand the depth of what I am claiming But the pictures do no justice.  There are eyes of the snake on both side with fangs inserted into the lizard. The lizard is sideways in the snakes mouth showing the back, hind legs, and like I said the skin of the lizard is intact just rock, you can feel the many small bumps on the skin.  When you look inside the mouth of the snake you see the ridges of a roof of a mouth. It’s extremely obvious in person. And it’s not a seashell. Found in Oklahoma 

 

There is no snake fossil in this rock.  I'm sorry that you cant accept this fact.  

[digit]

16 minutes ago, Medussa21 said:

But the pictures do no justice.

The pictures show very well exactly what you have. We can see the object just fine and recognize the telltale shape of the internal cast of a brachiopod. The eyes and fangs (and the snake and lizard) are not actually there but are you are seeing features that are leading you to believe that they are there. Have you read about pareidolia? It is a phenomenon produced by the pattern matching parts of our brain.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Randyw]

22 minutes ago, Medussa21 said:

Found in Oklahoma 

Oklahoma was under water during the cretaceous period….the following is copied from wikipedia. Im sorry but i have to agree with the others. Theres no snake or lizard here. Just some shell pieces and an internal mold….

Most of Oklahoma was submerged under the Western Interior Seaway during the Cretaceous.^[10] Early Cretaceous life included "immense" ammonites, echinoids, and pelecypods. These fossils were preserved in Love and Marshall counties. The Late Cretaceous rocks of Bryan, Choctaw, and McCurtain counties bear abundant oysters like Exogyra and Ostraea.^[7]

 

[Fossildude19]

The area of Wagoner County has mostly Pennsylvanian aged bedrock, with some Quaternary sediments exposed as well.

 

 

Animals do not fossilize instantaneously, nor do they generally come preserved with soft tissues intact.

The photo speaks for itself - you have an internal mold of a spiriferid brachiopod.

Yes, it is a shell.

 

Obviously, we can do nothing to change your mind. We already have our minds made up as well.

Further debate is redundant. Topic is now locked.

 

Please take your item to a local museum or university to have them look at it.

We wish you the best of luck.