Petrified Peach?

[donapplianceman]

Here are some pics of the "petrified peach"

[donapplianceman]

picture 2

[donapplianceman]

picture 3 What these pictures don't show very well is the outer layer which looks thicker in the picture but in reality is a thin edge that is curling inward.

[JohnJ]

I've found chert nodules that look very similar with differential erosion. The outer and inner layers appear to be chert or flint.

[Fossildude19]

I have cropped and brightened your pics which, clearly , at least to me, show a concretion.

It looks like the outer rind looks like chert or agate of some sort, but a concretion, none the less.

Sorry, not a peach.

Regards,

[donapplianceman]

While the "pear" does look like such on the outside, it lacks seeds or a core. I admit I'm not an expert on what a fossil pear should look like on the inside, but it seems like the seeds should have been preserved. There are some very interesting striations and what looks like it could have had a soft body. No it doesn't look like a sponge :-)

[donapplianceman]

Thank you for help with the pics. I still disagree with the concretion assessment and an internal look at the center will tell for sure. I'm still looking into the best way to do that. If does turn out to be a concretion after that, I will stand corrected

[ReeseF]

While the "pear" does look like such on the outside, it lacks seeds or a core. I admit I'm not an expert on what a fossil pear should look like on the inside, but it seems like the seeds should have been preserved. There are some very interesting striations and what looks like it could have had a soft body. No it doesn't look like a sponge :-)

For the "pear", the right/top right of the third picture looks like a sponge's structure.

Edited February 1, 2015 by ReeseF

[jpc]

Well, it sure does look like a fossilized pear, but I will also say it is a chert nodule. It is obviously broken in half, but I see patterns on the "yummy peach fruit' portion that show very typical chert concoidal fracturing.

I'll tell you why a lot of us will say it is not a fossil... not only have we seen a lot of fossils in our trips around the block, but many of us have seen a lot of chert nodules. Chert nodules come in all sizes, shapes and colors. They are a lot like clouds in that way. Just cuz you see a unicorn in a cloud doesn't mean it is a real unicorn. We make that decision based on our knowledge of clouds, and unicorns. Here we are looking at this rock and basing our educated guesses on our knowledge of rocks and of fossil fruits.

Heckuva pseudofossil, though. Keep it.

[Rockwood]

Thank you for help with the pics. I still disagree with the concretion assessment and an internal look at the center will tell for sure. I'm still looking into the best way to do that. If does turn out to be a concretion after that, I will stand corrected

I don't understand your argument. Are you saying that you don't believe the texture that would make it look like a pit has been exposed yet ? Without something like that it's going to be hard to argue that it's not the stone core of a concretion.

[fossilized6s]

I agree with a chert like concretion. It is almost impossible for the flesh of a fruit to be preserved and fossilized. (And the "pear" was a joke guys. Im pretty sure Mtskinner knows it's not a pear.)

Im willing to bet that the back of this mystery piece ripples inward.

Can we get a photo from the back as well please?

[Plantguy]

Hi Don, thanks for the photos. Yeah unfortunately I'm not seeing a peach either in your specimen but I'd hang on to it as a non-fossil cool example. There are some wild rock examples/features out there and concretions are just one of the groups that have strange likenesses to all kinds of things. Sometimes in the center cores you'll find something fossilized but many times not. The "pear" example also shown in this thread appears to be another example of not being what it appears. Very cool forms though.

Thanks for taking the time to share. I like seeing the stuff that folks are finding and trying to figure out. Keep looking and picking things up as you just never know what you might run across.

Regards, Chris

[donapplianceman]

The backside is picture #2.The center does not ripple inward and is outwardly 3D, although it is slightly eroded. The outer layer is agatized. The middle layer is a lighter agate with a mineral coating over it. Observe the top 1:00 position of picture #2; it is chipped and you can see the lighter agate. I will try to get a good side view of this and perhaps a closer view of the chipped part.

[squali]

Thanks for the pictures. Of course you can call the object a fossil peach or plum or apricot . That's your prerogative.

I'm going with rock.

[amour 25]

Yep looks like a concretion to me also, used to be gray ones found where I used to collect Trilobites ,that had what the local Geo guy, that wrote the book on the place, said contained fish brains, as organic.

But no way is that a piece of fruit.

Jeff

[paleoflor]

Please take a look at these concentrically banded chert nodules/concretions, especially the first example given, which has a similar structure to your specimen due to differential weathering. Now look at the anatomy of a peach (you have to scroll down for the cross-sectional view). In your specimen, where would be the depression associated with the point of attachment (the stalk)? Given the direction of elongation of the "pit" in your specimen, I would say you'd expect to see this feature exposed. Like Rockwood, I'm curious what kind of additional evidence you expect to gain from an x-ray image, for the "pit" is already quite well visible. A three-dimensionally preserved fossil of a peach including the soft tissue would have been a wonderful thing to see here on the forum, but unfortunately I can't say I think this is one. On the other hand, it is an interestingly shaped concretion worth keeping.

[paleoflor]

The "pear" is not what it appears to be also.

[TyrannosaurusRex]

Definite concretion or chert nodule. Fruit does not ever fossilize like that. I'm sorry that it isn't a fossil.

[painshill]

I’m with the naysayers. I see nothing… absolutely nothing… in the way of detailed morphological features which would lead to a conclusion that it’s a fossil fruit. The only thing suggesting that is the overall shape at a macro-level. You might just as well claim it to be a fossilised egg on the basis it has “shell, albumen and yolk”. Neither of those claims would reflect the contradictory evidence arising from the fact that the appearance goes against everything we know about how such items fossilise when it does happen.

Here’s a Prunus (plum) fossil (image source as indicated in the picture):

Here, we have the endocarp (the pit) and the seed within it. What we don’t have is any sign of the mesocarp (the flesh) or the exocarp (the skin). The exocarp on peaches (which I would stress again are modern fruits) or other more ancient members of the Prunus genus is thin. It certainly wouldn’t have the ability to create a thick fossil rind as seen in your pictures, nor provide any protection against compression in anything other than the shallowest of sedimentary burials. That’s not conducive to the need for the deep anoxic burial conditions usually required for anything soft and watery to escape predation and/or putrefaction before it has had a chance to mineralise. Equally, it shows no evidence that it rapidly dehydrated (in a prune-like manner) to harden up in a way that might have improved its chance of fossilisation.

On the other hand, every feature that it does have is consistent with it being a chert concretion (in fact, what is usually known as “double-concretion", formed in at least two distinct geological phases).

Edited February 1, 2015 by painshill

[Mtskinner]

Sorry for any misunderstandings that my post may have portrayed. I was merely trying to lighten the mood and post something that I just happened to have in my unknown bucket that matched the topic. I continue to maintain that I have no clue what it is and that it doesn't come close to matching anything else we find in our bowl of cretaceous soup. I was simply stating that it appears to be a pear by myself and anyone else that has seen it, even though im pretty darn confident that it isn't. With that said, I really would like to know what mine is.

As far as my specimen goes, it is definitely not stone. Its very light considering its size, and once I find a needle you will all know what it smells like!

Thanks,

Terence

Edited February 1, 2015 by Mtskinner

[Herb]

I believe mtskinners specimen is a sponge also, very nice. It might look really cool polished.

Edited February 2, 2015 by Herb

[Herb]

:)Peach of a thread!

[Auspex]

From re-reading the past thread and now this one, my conclusion has come to you having a tendency for finding the wrong sorts of people to show the "specimens" to.

Some photos would be appreciated, they do not necessarily have to be uploaded to TFF - you could use an image hosting site if all other attempts fail. However, concretion also comes to mind.

Let's not confuse "Donapplianceman" (the starter of this and the prior topic) with "dinolol", who hijacked his previous attempt at getting answers to his mystery.

[DeepTimeIsotopes]

Donapplianceman, where did this fascinating specimen come from (i.e. geologic formation, age, area, circumstances)? This will tell us if its from an ocean environment or land. It will also tell us if certain plants were around at that time. Nonetheless, that is a very interesting find and no doubt is a good conversation piece!

[donapplianceman]

In response to the last post:

Thanks for the encouraging words and open mindedness. I have a friend that owns a second hand store. About three years ago, a gentleman came into his store with a collection of rocks and fossils he had. He said he travelled around the world and picked specimens that interested him. At that time he was no longer traveling and didn't have an interest in collecting anymore. He decided to sell his collection because he needed money. When I came into the store this piece immediately caught my eye. I bought it and put it in my collection. At that time, I didn't have a rock and fossil shop, and just thought it was a really cool piece. Now I do own a rock and fossil shop in which I have all sorts of cherts, and concretions (none of which look like this piece. the outer two layers ARE agatized and the inner core is pitted and looks just like a peach or avocado pit. It is too big to be an apricot(2 5/8" in diameter) I've never seen a agate concretion. I still fully intend to find out what in the center of the core without damaging it. When I do find out I will let al of you folks know. It IS an interesting conversation piece and I had no Idea it would generate this kind of response. It's like I touched a sensitive nerve or something. If it does turn out to be nothing I will be the first to admit it to you.