Fossil Find

Oh gosh, fascinating!

Interesting. It could be a Bryozoan ... Membranipora or a close relative ?

Sorry no idea, but amazing...

i've got a not so close relative................

you could try sending pics to the natural history museum

Thanks everyone for your interest. Maisie, the NHM website is a nightmare, tried that.

Wow Hywel, going off to Google now, thanks

Looks like part of an crockodile fossil to me ... Imprint of outer skin.

Hi Loosestrife, we thought that too, although it would have to have been a very small croc or maybe a lizard, or are those bumps hair follicles? We may never know.

I really believe it's a Bryozoan Dawn.
They are minute animals that live in colonies, and in your specimen you can see the holes that each individual pokes it's tentacles out of.

Or keeping to the vegetative side it could be a Lepidodendron fossil.

Where we live an almost complete Pleiosaur was dug up from the lime pits (many years ago)...its in a museum now and affectionatly known locally as the kipper ?

gosh Hywel must google it too.....

look at. coasttocoastam.com. theres an image on there from Alabama almost identical

I put fossil in coal into google images and amongst the ferns was that!

as its was from a coal seam it is more likely to be one of the fern species that went to make up the swamps at the time. remember no proper trees at the time.

My brother worked down the pits and he once bought me a coal ball home.

Now that is intriguing Dawn, and what a puzzler....!

Fascinating. Hywel seems sure, so definitely worth looking up his suggestions. My only thoughts were Fern, seeds, eggs. I have no clue, but that is amazing...can't wait to find out what it turns out to be!

A fern makes more sense now that I realise it's in coal.
But you said it was in stone Dawn, so that threw me a bit ... sorry lol :)

It resembles a piece of jewelry but I'm the last one who'd know.

You might have luck inquiring at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. If anyone could help, they would...

http://www.si.edu/Contacts

try lycopodium or as loosestrife said lepidodendron, they produced stem patterns like this.

the lycopods were one of the largest groups of vascularised plant tissue at the time 360 million yrs ago give or take! closely related to modern day club mosses. the larger prehistoric specimens were known as scale trees. There are some wonderful fossil trunks in Sheffield botanic garden [if that's its proper name]

How interesting, I will be occupied for hours now checking out all the possibilities, anything of that nature I have always had a fascination for, thanks Dawn, if I were you I'd go through all the cupboards now to see what else you have hidden away, lol...

The geology dept at the World Museum in Liverpool might be less busy than the Nat. Hist. museum and as able to help?

Could it be part of an ancient honeycomb , Dawn ?
All very interesting .
I wrote an essay entitled "My Collection of Fossils" for the 11# , all made up of course , I'd seen some in the coal in the coal-house whilst filling the coal-bucket !

With one of the top geology departments 'on your doorstep' try an email to geology@le.ac.uk

I took my fossil to the local Museum when they had a
'Finds Day.' The County expert came. Took its photo to send to an expert.

He identified it as a Galathae Shell, or Squat Lobster. Dated it 20,000 million years old.
Then spoilt my fun by saying several have been found in this area, preserved in the Lias clay deposits.

So I am not so special after all ! Ha ha.

Oh Diane...I think thats still very special! Imagine having so ething that old in your hands! Wow!

I really hope you find out what it is Dawn it's fascinating when I saw your photo the first thing that crossed my mind was a piece of Monkey Puzzle tree bark with the spiky bits missing but then it was pointed out of the lack of trees at that time . Good luck with it,please let us know if you find out what it is :o)

I have asked the Museum if they would like to have it in a small glass case, with a note where I picked it up in Geddington Woods. No reply.

Fascinating. Hope you'll find out .

I'd love to hear your feedback from the pros. To me, it looks like links on a chain. I though maybe from a piece of jewelry made from wooden beads which have decayed.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I've just been on the phone to my uncle, he worked down the coal mine too. He was a 'Header' which means he cut out tunnels with a huge machine through stone. Through the stone were coal seams which they mined. He came across a fossil in the roof of a crocodile type creature about seven feet long, the coal fell and left an imprint in the stone ie the fossil. They also came across a 30 feet long snake type fossil, on the end was a flipper, which was probably a tenticle from an octopus type creature, so fascinating.

Fascinating.

When I get chance, I'm going to go through all your suggestions and advice. Thank you all very much.