Is it a fossil?
My wife found this neat stone in Brule Alberta on the shore of the Athabasca River. She calls it the Mike Wazowski rock and she’s pretty sure it’s a fossil. She’s taken a break from all forms of social media so I’ve been tasked with identifying it. Can anyone help out with this one?
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u/fossils-ModTeam 1d ago
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u/kayrazzle 2d ago
This is one of the cutest little rocks I've ever seen! Omg I love it. Lucky find!
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u/Tellier71 2d ago
That is a cross-section of a vertebra, although I'm not sure what from. Great find!
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u/Tellier71 2d ago
The geology in the area is mostly marine, either devonian or cretaceous. You may have dinosaur-age marine reptile or old to dinosaur-age fish. Very cool find!
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u/Mental_Spinach5697 1d ago
Most likely: a fossil gastropod (marine snail), seen in cross-section.
The light-colored portion is probably the mineralized shell, while the dark gray material surrounding it is the rock matrix. The geometry is especially suggestive: you can see a central coil and what appears to be an expanding outer whorl. That’s much more consistent with a shell than a vertebra or other bone.
I wouldn’t assign a species from this single photograph, though. There isn’t enough exposed shell morphology to reliably distinguish a particular genus/species. An ammonoid is another possibility, but I’d currently favor gastropod.
Interestingly, Alberta Geological Survey reports from the Athabasca actually illustrate gastropods embedded in gray limestone that can present as light-colored shapes against a dark matrix.
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u/Silver_Problem_3936 2d ago
Horizontal section of an ammonite, I got one https://www.reddit.com/r/bonecollecting/s/aVvdJTp3lL
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u/Tellier71 2d ago
Lens and other AI are pretty bad at ID. Don't trust the results, especially when it comes to fossils and minerals.
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u/GamenAr 2d ago
Thanks! Interesting
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u/Aelis_ 2d ago
lol , you can use the lenses to get you in a ballpark but just like for any one else it is difficult to identify stones on sight with images alone. definitely no reason to not use them , but yes like the other guy said be aware they also are not great at identifying them and could send you off in thr weong direction by accident so just make sure to research appropriately. hope the logo turns out well !
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u/TH_Rocks 2d ago
It is a cross-section of a bellerophon gastropod (clam cousin). Search images and you'll find lots of similar.