# can you identify this (maybe) fossil? Peace River Florida **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 5, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099 "2017-02-05T20:49:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/1 "2017-02-05T20:49:00Z")
I was recently on the Peace River and found this piece. It was in association with some bone fragments. I don’t know what it is, but think it could be a tusk or tooth of some kind. It might be just a rock, but I don’t think so…it was much blacker in color than any of the other rocks and fairly dense. Can someone confirm for me if it is really a fossil, and if so, some idea of what it might be. [[Album] fossil? Peace River Floriday ![](https://i.imgur.com/exe216t.jpeg?fb "fossil? Peace River Floriday") ](https://imgur.com/a/cixKb) ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/2 "2017-02-05T21:02:50Z")
Hard to say, i’m no expert and have definitely not studied florida geology Its very round, but it has been heavily weathered, hence the nice polished look. Could be just rock, but the color does seem kind of off for this area. Fossilized gator turd? I never have much luck finding fossils here, except the ocean variety because everything rots in this climate, and the ocean ones get boring because the entire state is a big crumbling lump of dead coral and small sea life ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/3 "2017-02-05T22:49:48Z")
Looks like Jet ( a petrified wood stone ) rather than a fossil, although very smooth. Jet ornaments and jewelry, was popular since at least Roman times and naturally folded into Victorians’ passion for mourning; the most famous source is Whitby, Lincolnshire, on the same coast Count Dracula settled in his famous visit to England. But: \*Deposits of jet were discovered in other countries beyond Britain, including Spain, Germany, China, Turkey, and Siberia. In the United States, jet has been found in Virginia, New Mexico, Utah, and Alaska. None of these locations produced jet that had the same working qualities and beauty as the jet found near Whitby. In the 1920s, jet beads became very popular in the United States. Waist-length beaded necklaces made from jet were very popular. These necklaces were much lighter in weight than necklaces made from agate, jasper, or quartz beads with twice the specific gravity.\* **[Geology.com](http://geology.com/gemstones/jet/)** Come to think of it somewhere there is an Italian rosary I had from a child, though not a catholic, and the carven beads look just like that: I had assumed it was coal… ---
**Author:** ![neofishboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neofishboy/32/444_2.png) [@neofishboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neofishboy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/4 "2017-02-05T22:55:30Z")
I showed my wife, an archaeologist, and while she said she couldn’t really be sure without holding it, her first guess was that it was a piece of [slag.](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/slag) ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/5 "2017-02-05T22:57:16Z")
It looks pretty close to what I have > **[Bone ?](http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?%2Ftopic%2F52714-bone%2F)** > > Is this bone? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/6 "2017-02-06T04:44:12Z")
It doesn’t really look like Jet (too vitreous) or anything bone-derived (no visible pores or cavities, and not usually “fairly dense”) - slag would be a good guess. Or something else anthropogenic. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/7 "2017-02-06T06:05:13Z")
Oh, I forgot to add - a heartfelt “thank you” from this geologist for including a scale ruler with your pics. ---
**Author:** ![pete66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8c91f0/32.png) [@pete66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pete66)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/8 "2017-02-06T08:26:26Z")
I was always told they were whales teeth fossils. We would find them on the beach in Florida occasionally. [https://www.google.com/search?q=shark+teeth+fossils&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjb06i0hfvRAhUD8CYKHYexCvsQ\_AUICSgC&biw=1600&bih=766#safe=off&tbm=isch&q=whale+teeth+fossils](https://www.google.com/search?q=shark+teeth+fossils&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjb06i0hfvRAhUD8CYKHYexCvsQ_AUICSgC&biw=1600&bih=766#safe=off&tbm=isch&q=whale+teeth+fossils) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/9 "2017-02-06T10:57:17Z")
> [@pete66](#): > > I was always told they were whales teeth fossils. We would find them on the beach in Florida occasionally. > > [shark teeth fossils - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=shark+teeth+fossils&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjb06i0hfvRAhUD8CYKHYexCvsQ_AUICSgC&biw=1600&bih=766#safe=off&tbm=isch&q=whale+teeth+fossils) Whale tooth fossils generally tend to have [pronounced texture](https://www.indiana9fossils.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/pliocene-scaldicetus-whale-tooth-4a.jpg) in cross-section - layers and radiating structure. The OP’s find is quite amorphous - not _completely_ impossible depending on the mode of fossilization , but highly unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/10 "2017-02-06T11:30:45Z")
Definitely a fossil, probably a small section of rib, probably too small to ever get an answer what animal it is from. The hole (and possibly the long groove) may be feeding damage. ---
**Author:** ![pete66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8c91f0/32.png) [@pete66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pete66)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/11 "2017-02-06T12:16:45Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Whale tooth fossils generally tend to have [pronounced texture](https://www.indiana9fossils.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/pliocene-scaldicetus-whale-tooth-4a.jpg) in cross-section - layers and radiating structure. The OP’s find is quite amorphous - not _completely_ impossible depending on the mode of fossilization , but highly unlikely. Thanks MrDibble. I was not aware of that. Now im curious as to what that is. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/12 "2017-02-06T12:54:33Z")
> [@pete66](#): > > Thanks MrDibble. I was not aware of that. Now im curious as to what that is. It _might_ be a [dugong rib](https://www.google.co.za/search?q=dugong+rib&num=50&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjP3K-4wfvRAhVQFMAKHRz-AO8Q_AUICCgB&biw=1863&bih=917) or similar, but even there I’m not happy that it has enough internal structure/texture. Otherwise (and this is my thinking) it’s just a [pseudofossil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudofossil). ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/13 "2017-02-07T06:32:35Z")
Looks like basalt polished by being in the river. More black and shiny than chert or flint, Not as glassy as obsidian. basalt shows small dots on white crystals in it. The shape may have come from a flow of lava penetrating into a crack in surrounding rock. Then the lava melts away a tube and so the resulting basalt is of a tube shape. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/14 "2017-02-07T11:29:18Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > Looks like basalt polished by being in the river. More black and shiny than chert or flint, Not as glassy as obsidian. basalt shows small dots on white crystals in it. > > The shape may have come from a flow of lava penetrating into a crack in surrounding rock. Then the lava melts away a tube and so the resulting basalt is of a tube shape. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. Small bits of black fossilized bone are dead common on the US East coast. You’d have to be not looking to _not_ find some small black chunk while at the beach. The trick is to find something big enough to identify. What you do not find on the US East coast is volcanoes. You are looking at a pigeon and saying that it might be a phoenix. As I said before, this is probably a segment of rib, and probably unidentifiable beyond that. Could be a dolphin, a matinee, a horse, a tapir, pretty much anything. What it is _not_, though, is volcanic. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/15 "2017-02-07T14:52:08Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. > > Small bits of black fossilized bone are dead common on the US East coast. You’d have to be not looking to _not_ find some small black chunk while at the beach. The trick is to find something big enough to identify. What you do not find on the US East coast is volcanoes. You are looking at a pigeon and saying that it might be a phoenix. > > As I said before, this is probably a segment of rib, and probably unidentifiable beyond that. Could be a dolphin, a matinee, a horse, a tapir, pretty much anything. What it is _not_, though, is volcanic. I’m pretty confident it is a fossil and not geologic in origin. It was on the Peace River, well known for fossils, I found it in conjuction with several other small black oval cross sectional pieces in gravel that was clearly different. And I found several bone fragments right next to them. Plus the images I found online seem to confirm the shape form and color. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/16 "2017-02-07T19:49:34Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. > > Small bits of black fossilized bone are dead common on the US East coast. You’d have to be not looking to _not_ find some small black chunk while at the beach. The trick is to find something big enough to identify. What you do not find on the US East coast is volcanoes. You are looking at a pigeon and saying that it might be a phoenix. > > As I said before, this is probably a segment of rib, and probably unidentifiable beyond that. Could be a dolphin, a matinee, a horse, a tapir, pretty much anything. What it is _not_, though, is volcanic. Florida is quite literally a chunk of African volcanic basalt that stuck to N. America during the breakup of Pangea, covered with eons of sedimentation from rising and receding seas. Cite: [http://www.dep.state.fl.us/geology/geologictopics/geohist-2.htm](http://www.dep.state.fl.us/geology/geologictopics/geohist-2.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/17 "2017-02-07T20:14:51Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Florida is quite literally a chunk of African volcanic basalt that stuck to N. America during the breakup of Pangea, covered with eons of sedimentation from rising and receding seas. And can you find citations for segments of basalt from volcanic vents being recovered from tertiary sedimentary deposits in Florida? I’ll be waiting right here. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/18 "2017-02-07T20:24:58Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Florida is quite literally a chunk of African volcanic basalt that stuck to N. America during the breakup of Pangea, covered with eons of sedimentation from rising and receding seas. Irrelevant, since those volcanic rocks don’t appear on the surface. The entire peninsula is sedimentary on the surface. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/19 "2017-02-07T20:39:24Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > I’m pretty confident it is a fossil and not geologic in origin. It was on the Peace River, well known for fossils, I found it in conjuction with several other small black oval cross sectional pieces in gravel that was clearly different. And I found several bone fragments right next to them. Plus the images I found online seem to confirm the shape form and color. BTW, you might be interested to see [my own mystery fossil](http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/56299-fossil-fragment-likely-from-skull/) (from South Carolina) that nobody has been able to identify for me. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099/20 "2017-02-08T07:11:13Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > I’m pretty confident it is a fossil and not geologic in origin. Those are not the only two options… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-identify-this-maybe-fossil-peace-river-florida/779099.md?page=2)