chele Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 I have found a lot of baculites here in eastern Montana. Most are pretty small, 1/4" to 3/4". I ran across a site that had some large ones 4" to 6" in diameter. Now I have a few questions about the large ones. One of my big ones has some strange markings on the outside. Are these normal or are they burrows from another creature?. Second question is how can there be ammonites on the inside of them. The big baculite had an ammonite on one end and one that is still in the other end. There are some gastropods and some other things inside also. Could this be what they ate? Chelebele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 the things you found are internal molds of the shells of the animal. as burrowing things do, other marine creatures burrowed in the mold. so it has nothing to do with the original animal, which was long gone when the other things took place. and the little thing you mentioned as an ammonite looks like a piece of a mold of a gastropod, but not sure. the point is, what you're looking at was a part of the carbonate "mud" on the seafloor, that just happened to be inside an empty shell of a straight-shelled ammonite, and lots of activity was still going on with other animals burrowing and having a grand old time, which serious people call "bioturbation", but i call invert hoopla. a party by any other name is still a party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chele Posted November 26, 2011 Author Share Posted November 26, 2011 Thanks Tracer. I pulled a 2" ammo from the one end. The other end still has a 2-3" ammo still in it. I forgot to take photos of the imprint of the one I pulled out and the one that is still embedded. The photo that I took is only a partial shot of the one end that has the gastropod. The shadow to the left of the gastropod is where I pulled the ammonite out. Chelebele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 maybe a bunch of shells were jumbled together on the bottom when the great mud flood hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 (edited) 4-6" in diameter?? You dont mean length? That's a pretty big Bac, didnt know they got that size. Edited November 27, 2011 by Wrangellian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chele Posted November 27, 2011 Author Share Posted November 27, 2011 (edited) 4-6" in diameter?? You dont mean length? That's a pretty big Bac, didnt know they got that size. My biggest is 6" in diameter. The ones in the photos above are 5" and 3" in diameter. I wonder how long these would have been? Edited November 27, 2011 by chele Chelebele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missourian Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 ..... and lots of activity was still going on with other animals burrowing and having a grand old time, which serious people call "bioturbation", but i call invert hoopla. a party by any other name is still a party. I'd call it a critter condo. I love pieces like it that tell a story. Context is critical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chele Posted November 27, 2011 Author Share Posted November 27, 2011 A lot of the bigger Baculites I found have other stuff in them. It is mostly Ammonites that are with them. I usually find the Baculites just on the surface, and sometimes I find them wrapped in a dark red rock or gray rock. The ones found in the rock are much better. They still have a bright white shell. Some of the shell comes off easily. I have to be very careful when working with these. Chelebele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 the problem is that the shell was orignally aragonite, but that mineral isn't stable and it converts over millions of years to a leached, powdery, chalky form of CaCO3 but then the other issue that i see in some of your rocks is freeze/thaw cracks because of the temperature variations in your part of the world. nothing can really be done about either issue except try to field stabilize a piece if it looks really good before you touch it. which would be good practice for next summer, when you'll be up to your earlobes in....wait for it....DINOSAURS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts