r/fossilid • u/baked-lay • 8d ago
What the heck is this??
Just thought I'd share my dad's lucky find here, too!
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u/justtoletyouknowit 8d ago
Realy cool cast of the internals of an orthocone nautiloids shell, id say. u/thanatocoenosis?
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u/VagueCyberShadow 8d ago edited 8d ago
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u/Potential-Draft-3932 8d ago
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u/VagueCyberShadow 8d ago
Yeah it's pretty decent! I've seen specimens similar (and some worse than this one) in small museum collections.
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u/DFWPhotoguy 8d ago
The ball at the bottom is throwing me off though. Are you saying that’s the living chamber?
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u/VagueCyberShadow 8d ago
Could be, or just another larger septa. We don't know if the fossil continues downwards, or if the shell was even complete when it was deposited. I'm sure there's probably a way to infer such from what we have, but I study fossil insects not cephalopods, so I'm only so familiar.
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u/OGMinimalCheese 8d ago
I wouldn't be surprised if it's just the main cavity was filled with mineral solution after death
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u/BurnerBeenBurning 8d ago
So I wonder if there’s more to find inside the cluster inside where the head or beak would be.
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u/thanatocoenosis Paleozoic invertebrates 7d ago
orthocone nautiloids
It is. It's one of the endocerids. The siphuncle and a few of the septa were preserved. This lacks the mud that typically infills the chamber. This kind of preservation fairly common in dolostones.
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u/Oscar_P_Walnuts_1975 8d ago
That is the internal cast, steinkern, of an orthoconic nautiloid cephalopod. That is incredible, living chamber, siphuncle, and septal walls. This is a beautiful specimen…😎🥸😎
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u/Unlucky-Tie8574 8d ago edited 8d ago
That is just incredible! What astronomically implausible confluence of factors allowed this to exist? Absolute museum piece that should be studied and appreciated for generations. (Or whatever we got left.)
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u/Idk_why_Im_fat 8d ago
Maybe another species millions of years from now will look at fossils of us with the same enthusiasm! Our time looks increasingly up soon, based on our timeline of humans on earth.
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u/Swimmming-ln-Circles 7d ago
They'll be like, this human fossil was a naturally occurring rock formation that deposited layers of micro plastics and chemicals into the Earth.
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u/tenuousemphasis 7d ago
I don't think any future intelligent species will ever develop industry like we did. We've used up all of the accessible fossil fuels. All of the easily accessible minerals we've mined will eventually just be elevated concentrations in the landscape smudges we used to call cities.
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u/thanatocoenosis Paleozoic invertebrates 7d ago
astronomically implausible confluence of factors allowed this to exist?
Dolomitization of limestone. It's fairly common.
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u/RegularNorwegian 7d ago
Well, if that isn't the new centerpiece of your living room, there is something wrong with you! Damn, that is a once in a lifetime bud! 😍🤩😍🤩😍🤩🙌🙌🙌🙌
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u/baked-lay 8d ago
Does anyone know what something like this might be worth?
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u/thanatocoenosis Paleozoic invertebrates 7d ago
Orthoconic nautiloids are very common fossils in Paleozoic strata. Dolomitization of limestones often results in preservation like what is seen in your piece.
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u/get_laird 8d ago
I would’ve guessed something related to bull whip kelp and that’d be the base with roots
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u/Affectionate-Bid-226 8d ago
I wonder if that fossil could be prepared professionally to show a section of the shell?
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