# Big ol' Swirly Fossil



## swizzle (Jun 29, 2011)

I really wasn't expecting my best find of the day to be a fossil while grubbin' around for old bottles. Then again its the unexpected that adds that little bit of spice to the digs. I'm no fossil expert by any means but I can say this is the coolest fossil I've ever owned or seen in person. Maybe one of you can fill me in on this stone critter. At the widest point he's 2&3/4" wide. At first I thought it was a cement souvenir but this thing hasn't got a seam on it anywhere's. While enough talky talky, here's the pics. Swiz [8D]


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## rockbot (Jun 29, 2011)

Cherry Swiz, I'd be stoked .Looks like a ammonite.


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## kwalker (Jun 29, 2011)

Wow, way cool! Fossil collectors pay big bucks for complete examples of finds so if you're interested I bet an archaeology forum would give you information and maybe a few interested buyers as well. It's pretty big from what I can see in the picture. It seems New York is quite popular with fossils too. A lot of people I know that live up that way have a few fossils they've found tilling soil or romping in the creeks.


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## GuntherHess (Jun 29, 2011)

> ammonite


 
 ya, looks like a cephalopod of some sort.
 Did you find it in a creek?  Not a bad find.


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## RICKJJ59W (Jun 29, 2011)

Ammonites are first known in the late Silurian and early Devonian  periods - about 400 million years ago. All ammonites became extinct at  the end of the Cretaceous, 65.5 million years ago, so without knowing  what sort of ammonite fossil you have, it could be any age between about  400 million years old and 65.5 million years old. 
  BUT - if you can identify the type (species) of ammonite we can give a  much narrower age range as ammonites evolved very quickly and individual  species can have an age range of just a few millions of years.

  If you have a picture of the ammonite you have, or you know what species  it is already, then repost, with a link to a photo, or with the species  name It will then be pretty easy to look up the age range for that  particular ammonite

 If thats real  its crazy[]
 Here are a few pix that look like yours


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## RICKJJ59W (Jun 29, 2011)

Another


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## GuntherHess (Jun 29, 2011)

> about 400 million years ago


 
 hey now, everyone knows the earth was created 6000 years ago. That funny shaped rock was put there by Satan to fool you.


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## swizzle (Jun 29, 2011)

Those are probably the best pics I can get for you. It may look bigger because my 8 year old son is holding it. I can try to get better pics tomorrow in natural light outdoors. How would I go about finding what type of 6,000 year old funny shaped rock that I have? [] This was dug under some rusty crusties in the dump I've been digging. I was pulling out solid chunks of rusted junk the size of cantaloupes and volleyballs when this just popped right out. Hopefully there's more in there. Maybe someones personal collection of fossils. Maybe I'll pull out a T-Rex skull, a Mastodon tooth, or another bromo. Swiz


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## myersdiggers1998 (Jun 29, 2011)

Thats a pooh fossil found in privys and dog parks,and some older dumps...[8D][8D]


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## RICKJJ59W (Jun 29, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  swizzle
> 
> Those are probably the best pics I can get for you. It may look bigger because my 8 year old son is holding it. I can try to get better pics tomorrow in natural light outdoors. How would I go about finding what type of 6,000 year old funny shaped rock that I have? [] This was dug under some rusty crusties in the dump I've been digging. I was pulling out solid chunks of rusted junk the size of cantaloupes and volleyballs when this just popped right out. Hopefully there's more in there. Maybe someones personal collection of fossils. Maybe I'll pull out a T-Rex skull, a Mastodon tooth, or another bromo. Swiz


 
 Keep looking on the web I am sure you will find someone.


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## GuntherHess (Jun 29, 2011)

Might of been something a person brought home and then threw out in the dump.
 I once found a large quartz crystal about 4" long in an 1890s dump. 
 Obviously from nowhere near where the dump was located.


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## LC (Jun 30, 2011)

Could be an  Ammonite . Where is my blasted fossil book when I need it !


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## cordilleran (Jun 30, 2011)

Didn't know you were a paleontologist. Good investment in higher education, Ricky!


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## LC (Jun 30, 2011)

I love paleontology Cord , have hunted trilobites for years . I think I have too many hobbies , have been selling some things off over the past couple of years and trying to stick with bottles .


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## cordilleran (Jun 30, 2011)

Paleontology and mineralogy were my first gigs. Aged eight on. Garnered a masters degree in geology from the University of Utah (1978). Know of a proustite deposit in a primitive area. Haven't gone back after fire assay indicated 26-percent return on short ton. Dug piles of _elrathia kingi _ species trilobites(late precambrian) in the Wheeler formation, some nearly eight inches in length. This knowledge is meaningless in a putrifying civilization. The circus maximus is nonpariel. Gotta love Rossane Barr as the hallmark of civility (alumnus, Utah State Mental Hospital). Go tramps!


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## LC (Jun 30, 2011)

You have been blessed with finding some great specimens . Here in Ohio we have the big dog , the Isoteulos Gigas , I have seen them in the twenty inch lengths , one close to thirty inches , but was never lucky enough to find one of them in the prone position . I have a few enrolled ones , but they are not in very good condition . Mostly what I have found are the Flexacalymine and the Retrosa species , not sure if I spelled that right . I have a nice selection of some of them in the prone position , mostly the Retrosa species in a display case in the garage . Again , too many interests and no place to display them all . Here is a container I have in the house where I throw the enrolled ones in when I find them .


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## madman (Jun 30, 2011)

great finds!


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## RICKJJ59W (Jun 30, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  GuntherHess
> 
> Might of been something a person brought home and then threw out in the dump.
> I once found a large quartz crystal about 4" long in an 1890s dump.
> Obviously from nowhere near where the dump was located.


 
 The "Dump God" probably  lost that[]


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## RICKJJ59W (Jun 30, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  myersdiggers1998
> 
> Thats a pooh fossil found in privys and dog parks,and some older dumps...[8D][8D]


 
 Hahaha  now that you mention it I have found them in crap holes [8D]


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## RedGinger (Jun 30, 2011)

Looks like a Nautilus, or something in that family.  I'm going to guess that before I read the other responses.


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## RedGinger (Jun 30, 2011)

We have a lot of fossils here. It's fun to go looking for them.  You never know what you'll find.  Joe has one with what looks like a tiny footprint in it.  I like to go to creeks and look for fossils and arrowheads.  Never find any arrowheads, though!


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## carobran (Jun 30, 2011)

thats a BIG snail,wonder how many of them were in a plate of escargo(probably didnt spell that right)


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## swizzle (Jun 30, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  RICKJJ59W
> 
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> 
> ...


 
 Lipstick guys ancestors?

 Hey Red, I'd love to find more indian artifacts myself. this area has been heavily picked over for years. I've found broken points in KY and that's about it. Swiz


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## GuntherHess (Jun 30, 2011)

> thats a BIG snail,wonder how many of them were in a plate of escargo


 
 A cephalopod such as an ammonite was more of a squid type critter so closer to calamari...


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## GuntherHess (Jun 30, 2011)

A good place to look for arrowheads is on powerlines where people ride dirt bikes and erode the soil.
 Also hilly trails in the woods are good where there is erosion.
 Plowed fields are best but not always easy to get access to.
 This area is so rocky its really tough to find much.


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## carobran (Jun 30, 2011)

> ORIGINAL: GuntherHess
> 
> 
> A cephalopod such as an ammonite was more of a squid type critter so closer to calamari...


 interesting,why people want to eat squid,octopus,and snails ill never know[X(]


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## RICKJJ59W (Jun 30, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  carobran
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> ...


 
 cuz they are  Gooooooooooooood!!!! thats why [8D]


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## GuntherHess (Jun 30, 2011)

> cuz they are  Gooooooooooooood!!!! thats why


 
 agreed. bounty from the sea....


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## carobran (Jun 30, 2011)

you want to eat them things ,thats your business,think ill stick to mcdonalds


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## GuntherHess (Jun 30, 2011)

McDonald's "food" is only one step above Soylent Green[]


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## carobran (Jun 30, 2011)

well,at least its a step above and not a step below[:-][]


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## RedGinger (Jun 30, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  GuntherHess
> 
> A good place to look for arrowheads is on powerlines where people ride dirt bikes and erode the soil.
> Also hilly trails in the woods are good where there is erosion.
> ...


 
 Thanks, Gunth.  I knew some of those tips, but not all.  Does it have to be in an area you knew there were Indians?  I guess they were everywhere.


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## Gunsmoke47 (Jun 30, 2011)

Laur, any place there was live water. Creeks with springs. Look for very big, dead trees. Just because there is no water there now doesn't mean there wasn't hundreds of years ago. Look for the *BIG* dead trees. If there are terraces on the creek check the 2nd one up from the creek as this would be out of the flood plain. Just a few tips for starters. Kelley


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## RedGinger (Jun 30, 2011)

Thanks, Kelley.  Good tips, guys!


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## GuntherHess (Jun 30, 2011)

The American Aborigines (pretty sure they werent from India) hunted game all over the east coast as long as the area wasnt under water. So you can find points and tools most anywhere. You just have to get down to the level that they would be buried at , most easy by plowing, erosion, or bulldozers. We are talking thousands of years of habitation so a lot of items accumulated.


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## RedGinger (Jul 1, 2011)

That's really cool info, Gunth.  Gives me hope!


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## swizzle (Jul 1, 2011)

I love calamari and octopus. Even tried escargot once. I think the next time I have escargot I'll try cooking it. A little chewy but its alright. Swiz


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## rockbot (Jul 2, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  GuntherHess
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
 Squid is delicious and octopus is killer if you know how to make it.
 An old simple recipe for octopus:

 Remove Eyes and beak
 Wash with sea salt
 put in pot 
 add a couple of cans of beer
 boil for about ten minute or till legs start to curl
 remove from pot
 slice in thin strips and eat.
 Winner all the time!


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## Poison_Us (Jul 2, 2011)

> ORIGINAL:  GuntherHess
> 
> McDonald's "food" is only one step above Soylent Green[]


 
 And that's why my wife loves is sooooo much!

 Ah, classic movie!


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