# Look! I found a fossil! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 15, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-i-found-a-fossil/798977 "2017-10-15T19:43:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-i-found-a-fossil/798977/1 "2017-10-15T19:43:40Z")
Out walking on a sunny fall day and I found a fossil! I think it’s a leaf. I don’t know anything about fossils really but I imagine the blue colour has to do with oxidation or something? I also saw lots of bear poo and a pile of cougar poo :eek: but I didn’t take pictures of those. Ta-da!: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/4443/37669711296_b4782c8630_b.jpg "Fossil!") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/56821557@N06/37669711296/in/dateposted-public/) If you click on the picture, it enlarges quite a bit so you can see the detail. ---
**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:** [October 15, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-i-found-a-fossil/798977/2 "2017-10-15T20:17:56Z")
I hate to break it to you, but that looks just as likely to be manganese mineralization as a leaf fossil. The interesting bit (bottom half of the right half) is way out of focus, so it’s hard to tell… ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-i-found-a-fossil/798977/3 "2017-10-15T20:58:28Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I hate to break it to you, but that looks just as likely to be manganese mineralization as a leaf fossil. The interesting bit (bottom half of the right half) is way out of focus, so it’s hard to tell… Well that’s disappointing! Here’s a better picture: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/4499/37671203476_2d85010c0b_b.jpg "Fossil2") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/56821557@N06/37671203476/in/dateposted-public/) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-i-found-a-fossil/798977/4 "2017-10-15T21:18:22Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I hate to break it to you, but that looks just as likely to be manganese mineralization as a leaf fossil. The interesting bit (bottom half of the right half) is way out of focus, so it’s hard to tell… I think you’re right. Pseudo fossils similar to the photo below (not mine) can be found in the Mojave Desert, causing much excitement (until as in my own case, a geologist friend gently deflated my balloon). > **[Pseudofossil Dendrites from Solnhofen Limestone | Mark Steinmetz](https://marksteinmetz.photoshelter.com/image/I0000Zf.jfnTGt_Q)** > > Manganese dendrites on a limestone bedding plane from Solnhofen, Germany. These dendritic mineral crystals are formed by slow seepage of manganese-rich water into into a joint or fissure. Due to the branching nature of crystallization, they are often... ---
**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:** [October 15, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-i-found-a-fossil/798977/5 "2017-10-15T22:44:14Z")
If you’re interested in finding fossils, [this](http://northislandexplorer.com/fossilhunting.htm) may be useful based on the location in your profile. ---
**Author:** ![Plumpudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Plumpudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plumpudding)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-i-found-a-fossil/798977/6 "2017-10-15T23:41:33Z")
You could seek out an expert opinion, but that does not look like a fossil to me. Sorry, finding a fossil is really exciting. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-i-found-a-fossil/798977/7 "2017-10-16T02:40:34Z")
Bear in mind that not actually being a fossil doesn’t make the specimen any less pleasant to look at. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-i-found-a-fossil/798977/8 "2017-10-16T02:47:26Z")
By “fossil” one might mean various things (although I suppose real fossil scientists might be very particular about the terminology). It could be a mineralized (petrified) or otherwise preserved specimen of an actual ancient living entity; or it might be some preserved secondary evidence like an impression of a shell in a rock. (Is the latter properly called a “fossil”?) Hiking in low-lying coastal hills, one can easily find lots of rocks with shell impressions in them – if you don’t see any immediately, try picking up smallish rocks and breaking them open. When I used to hike in the coastal hills in San Luis Obispo County area (central California coast area), I found those all the time. Sometimes one encounters an entire boulder in a hillside full of shell impressions. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-i-found-a-fossil/798977/9 "2017-10-16T03:04:42Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > By “fossil” one might mean various things (although I suppose real fossil scientists might be very particular about the terminology). It could be a mineralized (petrified) or otherwise preserved specimen of an actual ancient living entity; or it might be some preserved secondary evidence like an impression of a shell in a rock. (Is the latter properly called a “fossil”?) A fossil can be anything from the past, whether an actual artifact or just an impression. The famous [Laetoli Footprints](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetoli#Hominin_footprints_from_site_S) are certainly considered fossils and they are “just”, well, footprints. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-i-found-a-fossil/798977/10 "2017-10-16T03:49:41Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > If you’re interested in finding fossils, [this](http://northislandexplorer.com/fossilhunting.htm) may be useful based on the location in your profile. Thank you - that’s a great link! > [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Bear in mind that not actually being a fossil doesn’t make the specimen any less pleasant to look at. Very true! ---
**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:** [October 16, 2017, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-i-found-a-fossil/798977/11 "2017-10-16T05:37:16Z")
> [@FloatyGimpy](#): > > Well that’s disappointing! Here’s a better picture: > > [Fossil2 | Or not?? | cowardmelissa | Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/56821557@N06/37671203476/in/dateposted-public/) Yeah, I’m not seeing any clear evidence it’s a fossil, not a mineral stain. Sorry again. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2017, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/look-i-found-a-fossil/798977/12 "2017-10-16T05:47:10Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > (Is the latter properly called a “fossil”?) Yes, but what you’re describing isn’t (usually) \*just \*the \*impression \*of a shell, like the shell was pressed down and then moved away - often there \*was \*a shell, but it’s been replaced by other minerals - this is called a [cast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil#Casts_and_molds). But yes, even resting impressions, feeding traces and burrows can fossilize - these are known as [trace fossils](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trace_fossil).