WT: (poking his head in the back door) Hey, Honey, I brought you
a present.
.
Willow: You did? What?
.
WT: Look at this great fossil I found down at the river!
.
Willow: Wow...I think this is the biggest one you've found, yet.
.
WT: What do you think it is?
.
Willow: Giant slug. No, not you, silly...the fossil!
Maybe my bloggies will know what it is...
This just in:
Kate Blackwell just sent me a website that includes Rugose
corals, an extinct order of coral, as well as fossilized horns, as a
possibility. I'm adding this marvelous drawing by Ernst Haeckel
of Rugosa, 1904. Thanks, Kate!
The only thing I can think of is a cow or ox horn. Do they fossilize?
ReplyDeletepart of a big, fat snake?
ReplyDeleteRoy, I thought it kinda looked like an ox or cow horn, too. I'm not sure. Do they fossilize?
ReplyDeleteTusk?
ReplyDeleteNo idea. Is the nickel there to relate the size?
ReplyDeleteLakeviewer, yes, for the size...it's a quarter!
ReplyDeleteit's the tooth of a saber tooth cat...see them all the time...lol. just kidding. no clue. but very cool.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is some sort of shell.
ReplyDeleteWithout looking at the other answers, looks like a bison horn.
ReplyDeleteOH yes, I think it is definitely a horn. Look here! http://www.uky.edu/KGS/fossils/didifind.htm
ReplyDeletewell, you know, as far as i'm concerned, it's ONE thing - and that's fantastic!!!!! what a find!! beautiful! but if it has to be more than that, maybe a unicorn???
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to agree with the consensus that it's a horn or a tusc of some sort. Excellent find though!
ReplyDeleteblessings!
I'm thinking horn, but no sure. Keep us posted if you figure it our.
ReplyDeleteIncredible drawing!! Worthy of framing.
Kate, thank you so much for that link. I added it to the post, along with the fabulous drawing by Ernst Haeckel of the extinct coral.
ReplyDeleteGypsywoman, I adore the notion of the unicorn horn. Yes, in fact, I'm sure that's what it is!
ReplyDeleteLooks a lot like a horn to me, but not sure what--certainly cow or ox-like, which could mean bison, too. Interesting!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a horn but I dunno!
ReplyDeleteI think that when that became a fossil there were no cows or ox. I think it is a sea creature. The matrix it is in has seashells surrounding it. It is a really nice specimen, Good for you guys finding it.
ReplyDeleteWow, Willow!! This is so interesting.
ReplyDeleteAnd are they Darylized or fossilized?
ReplyDeleteha!
It's a great specimen for your artifact collection! I'm jealous....
ReplyDeleteCountry Girl, good one! Haha! Anything "ized" seems to be the catch word today! It must be "Willowized"!!
ReplyDeletewow, it does look like a horn of some kind, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteWhat a story that fossil must have to tell!
Too cool! Bot I haven't a clue.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWow! That's pretty wild! Is there someone at a local school you could ask? Cool!
ReplyDeletelol I did say "definitely horn cause of the structure... very like how a rams horn is built', cow horn is smoother but sheep type things have these almost flaking layers."
ReplyDeletebut seeing kate's link I think you have it with the coral fossil... apart from it's obviously a unicorns horn as you said.
A unicorn horn? Are they lucky? You could hang it above the manor front door. Maybe it will ward off the ghosts!
ReplyDeleteVery cool, whatever it turns out to be/have been (fingers crossed for unicorn).
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of unicorn too...
ReplyDeletei do think it looks like a horn but i know nothing about fossils! you gotta love a man who will lug a big rock home as a gift! i like to bring rocks home from our adventures and my hubbie good naturedly groans along!
ReplyDeleteJulie, our property backs up to the Scioto and he loves to go down there and mess around, dragging up all kinds of treasures. Sometimes an old glass bottle or two.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a horn to me and I love the poster who suggested unicorn horn! A unicorn running free at Willow Manor would be glorious. That is an amazing fossil! Wow! xx
ReplyDeleteps I'll keep you posted on Twitter, Willow.
What an amazing find! Love the idea of unicorn, but what if it was a dragon's horn?
ReplyDeleteOh goodness! That is truly amazing and wonderful and a whole lot of other adjectives that escape my mind right now :D
ReplyDeleteI remember living in KY and finding fossils all the time in the creek in the backyard.
It's was a great experience!
Thanks for sharing your find with us.
Not sure if anyone has offered a solution yet, but this looks to me so much like a sea cucumber.
ReplyDeleteNo, no Unicorn horn:
ReplyDeleteI know for a fact that they are straight and elaborately decorated! ;-)
I would get in contact with the nearest Natural History Museum. You never know if such a find has been documentated before in your area. Scientists may be very interested in it.
I thought it was a horn. How odd and how beautiful!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks to you and WT.
Greetings from London.
I know exactly what it is - fabulous!
ReplyDeleteFantastic! I have fossil envy :)
ReplyDeleteOh heck, lets just call it the horn of a unicorn!
ReplyDeleteWhat life without imagination!
Looks like a wild buffalo's horn fossil
ReplyDeleteTV Tower on Sinhagad - Going Inside Clouds
Just been catching up om commenting Willow - life gets in the way of me sometimes.
ReplyDeleteAll posts wonderful as usual.
What did I love the best?
Your 'ancestral' poem, so moving.
The ghost story.
The eyebrows :-)
OK. This is a horn coral and I have them, but smaller, in many of the fossilized rocks we got years ago. We dug them out of a creek bed and paid the farmer $6.00 a trail load. Lots of work but well worth the effort. My kids dug them out of the stones and took them to school for show and tell.
ReplyDeleteI can almost assure you it is not a woolly Mammoth tusk. That eliminates one choice. Pappy
ReplyDeleteI like the pic but I dare not say what it might have been lol lol
ReplyDeletexoxo
That's GIGANTIC! Have never seen one that large!!
ReplyDeleteI just knew Abe had to have some of these, to go along with those fossil shark teeth! Cool!
ReplyDeleteHello Willow,
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm glad that everyone got to give their ideas before my visit! It does look like a horn but there do seem to be shell markings around it, so I'm happy to go with Abe! WT is obviously an explorer.
what a lovely present! and how intriguing too.
ReplyDeleteThe fossil is amazing and the drawing is truly exquisite.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen a fossil in real life - well, in museums and things but I've never found one. This one looks enormous.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! How exciting to be able to find something that old and mysterious...the first thing that came to my mind was a horn too...hope you can solve the mystery and let us know!
ReplyDeleteOh for a minute there I was sure you were talking about the quarter .. LOL ... nice find!
ReplyDeleteWillow,
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding my little find to your post! I'm honored! :)
I think it looks quite like a tusk...but perhaps some kind of horn is more likely. Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteI must say that I thought like Roy - it does look like a horn of some kind - maybe a ram's horn.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great find this is! I love fossils! If you like, take a look at my favourite one, a big shark tooth from the chilean desert: http://mendoncajose1.blogspot.com/search/label/Fossils
ReplyDeleteJM, that is a huge shark tooth! Wow, thanks for the link. I didn't realize you had another blog.
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious to me there were elephants roaming around during the willowstine epoch.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a ram's horn...but not really sure.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I missed this post......love it!
ReplyDelete