New Members kimikuj Posted April 9 New Members Share Posted April 9 (edited) Hi y'all! Found this in Northern Phoenix area and was hoping for a potential ID. It is about 5-6in long, 3in wide, and 1.5-2in tall. Took it for a cool rock until I began seeing patterns within the pits and thought maybe it is a cool fossil instead? Also, not until I began taking photos of it did I notice it resembles a snake's head. Obviously it is most likely not that, but does really look just like one from the right angle. I can't even seem to get my brain to unsee it now that I saw it. lol!! Thanks for any thoughts or ideas you may have on this one! Edited April 9 by kimikuj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyw Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 Definitely not a snake head. There no bone texture, no bilateral symmetry, etc etc. it looks like just a cool rock 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 (edited) That is an interesting rock and easy to see how one can imagine a snake or lizard head in it. But, as you suspected, it is not a snake head. There are a couple of items in it that I could imagine might have been a recognizable fossil at one time but are now very altered. Or, more likely, they all could just be interesting mineral formations. Edited April 9 by ClearLake spelling 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members kimikuj Posted April 9 Author New Members Share Posted April 9 Yes, I know this. As I said in my post, it just looks like a snake in a few of the pictures. That is by no means what made me think fossil, that was just something I noticed after and it humored me. It is the patterns within the pits that look like possible fossils to me, but I'm no professional so just thought I'd ask! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members kimikuj Posted April 9 Author New Members Share Posted April 9 (edited) @ClearLake Right! Imagining a snake.... I was thinking, for instance, in the "nostril" I see what looks like maybe a crinnoid and within the left "eye socket" what looks maybe urchinish? Of course I could be way off, and agree with the fact it is quite weather worn. Also, may have helped if I had cleaned it prior to posting. Hindsight🤔 Regardless, thanks for your input! It is much appreciated!! Edited April 9 by kimikuj Direct 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fin Lover Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 39 minutes ago, kimikuj said: Yes, I know this. As I said in my post, it just looks like a snake in a few of the pictures. That is by no means what made me think fossil, that was just something I noticed after and it humored me. Unfortunately, we do get a lot of people who think they have a "petrified snake head", so I think it's just a habit the way we answer these. 1 Fin Lover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilNerd Posted April 9 Share Posted April 9 I see what you mean by it resembling a snakes head. I actually thought turtle when I saw it. As you say though, it’s not a snake (or a turtle). I’m more inclined to think the same as ClearLake. I’m not seeing anything identifiable as a fossil. The stuff you see in the “nostril” and “left eye” might be fossil fragments, but I agree with you in that they are too weather worn to say for sure. The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. -Neil deGrasse Tyson Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 Although we all agree that this is not a snake head, it certainly is a very interesting mineral specimen and a keeper as a conversation piece in my opinion. 1 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kmiecik Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 It's not a snake head simply because of the shape -- all wrong for snake. Google snake head and look at all the photos of real snakes then Google snake skull and that's what a fossil snake head will look like because skin and muscle and eyeballs are eaten by insects and bacteria and don't get preserved 99.99% of the time, and in the extremely rare case when they do they are very, very dessicated. Worse that prunes! Light years beyond raisin. Mark. Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 It is a piece of decomposing agate (possibly with some matrix) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahnmut Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 Hi and welcome to the forum. I agree with all of you including the OP this is no snakes or other head. It has some attributes though that are much closer to a real fossil skull than many other "snakes heads" that get posted here, first of all it got holes. Not eyeballs. As most snakes' skulls are rather filigree constructs, rather a collection of rods and teeth than a closed capsule, there are other kinds of reptile that come to mind, turtles as mentioned and others... Here are some real fossil skulls that resemble your find to some degree: https://www.karoo-information.co.za/routes/article/1185/the-famous-fossil-trail-at-the-karoo-national-park Still, I agree, this is coincidence, and the appearance that some parts of the "skull" are fossil invertebrates doesnt speak for skull either if we do not assume a "pirates of the caribbean"-setting, which I do not. Best regards, J Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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