Share your favorites on Show & Tell

Fossilized Pliosaur Humerus Bone with Pyrite Displacement

In Animals > Fossils > Show & Tell.
pops52's loves623 of 10258An arty glass vaseCinnabar Snuff Bottle
27
Love it
0
Like it

WatchsearcherWatchsearcher loves this.
ho2cultchaho2cultcha loves this.
AnikAnik loves this.
JImamJImam loves this.
kyratangokyratango loves this.
PoirePoire loves this.
packrat-placepackrat-place loves this.
BensallrightBensallright loves this.
vetraio50vetraio50 loves this.
EfesgirlEfesgirl loves this.
Midnight1208Midnight1208 loves this.
pops52pops52 loves this.
f64imagerf64imager loves this.
OneGoodFindOneGoodFind loves this.
martikamartika loves this.
NevadaBladesNevadaBlades loves this.
auraaura loves this.
Rick55Rick55 loves this.
GillianGillian loves this.
SEAN68SEAN68 loves this.
walksoftlywalksoftly loves this.
iggyiggy loves this.
CaperkidCaperkid loves this.
racer4fourracer4four loves this.
fortapachefortapache loves this.
TassieDevilTassieDevil loves this.
blunderbuss2blunderbuss2 loves this.
See 25 more
Add to collection

    Please create an account, or Log in here

    If you don't have an account, create one here.


    Create a Show & TellReport as inappropriate


    Posted 8 years ago

    rniederman
    (343 items)

    In addition to early wood and brass photographic apparatus, did I also mention a fascination with fossils? Shown here is a large, cut and polished section of a pliosaur humerus. Fossilized dinosaur bones are not overly rare but, as with anything, really great gem grade material (i.e. agatized specimens) is difficult to find. At the rare end of the spectrum is bone fossilized with pyrite. While pyritized fossils such as ammonites are commonly found, dino bones are the exception.

    This nearly five inch pliosaur bone fragment is special because portions of it were pyritized over the course of millions of years of fossilization. Careful cutting and polishing brought out incredible detail from what would otherwise look like a plain rock.

    Although about 150 million years old (probably late Jurassic), it has beautifully preserved cells (the irregular shapes). Most of the fossilized tissue is calcite while others are pyrite. The marrow (oval formation shown at the right) was completely displaced with pyrite. The second image is a close up of the cells showing the incredible detail of pyrite and calcite in the fossilized tissue matrix.

    This example was found many years ago in the Ulyanovsk Volga region of Russia. A small cache of good quality pyritized bones were discovered in a few rock layers while some, like this specimen, were loose along the river.

    logo
    Fossils
    See all
    Lonchodomas rostratus (Sars, 1835)
    Lonchodomas rostratus (Sars, 1835)...
    $235
    Authentic Prehistoric Fossilized Petrified Wood Specimen Sculpture 23.7lb NR
    Authentic Prehistoric Fossilized Pe...
    $51
    MUSEUM GRADE! Ultra Inflated Bathyurus extans RARE Trilobite Fossil, Ontario
    MUSEUM GRADE! Ultra Inflated Bathyu...
    $742
    Large, Polished, Hubbard Basin, NV Petrified Wood Round
    Large, Polished, Hubbard Basin, NV ...
    $176
    logo
    Lonchodomas rostratus (Sars, 1835)
    Lonchodomas rostratus (Sars, 1835)...
    $235
    See all

    Comments

    1. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 8 years ago
      Man of many facets !
    2. fortapache fortapache, 8 years ago
      Very cool. I am a dinosaur (and other prehistoric reptiles) fan myself.
    3. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks, Thomas!
    4. kyratango kyratango, 8 years ago
      Absolutely stunning!
    5. Rick55 Rick55, 8 years ago
      Amazing!!
    6. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks, BB2!
    7. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks, valentino97!
    8. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      racer4four
      fortapache
      TassieDevil
    9. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      iggy
      Caperkid
    10. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      Sean
      David
    11. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      Gillian
      ho2cultcha
    12. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      aura
      Rick55
      kyratango
    13. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      OneGoodFind
      martika
      NevadaBlades
    14. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      Efesgirl
      Midnight1208
      pops52
    15. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks!
      Bensallright
      vetraio50
    16. rniederman rniederman, 8 years ago
      Thanks, packrat-place!
    17. rniederman rniederman, 7 years ago
      Thanks, Poire!
    18. rniederman rniederman, 7 years ago
      Thanks, JImam!
    19. rniederman rniederman, 5 years ago
      Thanks, Anik!
    20. ho2cultcha ho2cultcha, 5 years ago
      What a great post! When i was a kid, some pyritized brachiopods were found in some metamorphic schist near our home along the Connecticut River. A friend of my dad's brought some to show us and they were really cool - but also very distorted due to the metamorphic processes. Those were much older and so pyritized over many hundreds of millions of years.
    21. rniederman rniederman, 5 years ago
      Thanks, ho2cultcha! Any pyritized fossil is great. FWIW, earlier this year I picked up another pyritized ichthyosaurus vertebra fossil. It is one of the largest at roughly 5" in diameter … with vascular markings radiating out from the center like a star sapphire.
    22. rniederman rniederman, 4 years ago
      Thanks, Watchsearcher!

    Want to post a comment?

    Create an account or login in order to post a comment.