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Paleontology, also spelled palaeontology[a] or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossils to classify organisms and study their interactions with each other and their environments (their /c/paleoecology. Read more...
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My son and I found this next to a reservoir in a super crumbly wall. We gave it to the rangers (we weren't allowed to keep, since it was on public land).
We also found this,but have no idea what it is:
I've asked a couple paleontologists and they also weren't sure.
Who took a bite thinking it was a brownie?
Fancy something you got there.
We had to give them to the rangers. I doubt any paleos have even seen them officially.
Re: the mystery piece- My paleontologist buddy says "You’re on the Cretaceous right? That is a Baculite. A cephalopod. Related to belemnites and modern squid. Nice piece. Good find."
I figured he'd know. It looked similar to a belemnite and that's his thing. He goes out there a lot.
Oh wow! That's amazing! Given the 4 or 5 chambers in the top picture I figured was something interesting. I forgot to get a picture of it in-situ, but the sediment layers curved around it which I thought was interesting.
Is your buddy in Colorado as well?
I think it's Cretaceous (especially given the ammonite we found), but the geology in that State Park is very wonky. All the sediment layers are perfectly vertical where I found the piece.
Nah, he's over here next to the Jurassic Coast. One of his sites, though, is out there. I think he's comparing belemnites. He gave me a bag of them! :) I am envious of those sediment layers. I wish a quarter of my holocene sediments were so nice lmfao.
Ah, a Brit! My son read a biography of Mary Anning when he was younger, and now is obsessed with Jurassic/Cretaceous aquatic reptiles! I'll post a fun thing in that regard soon.
As for your holocene (well, Pleistocene in this case I guess) itch, my son and I just visited Hot Springs, South Dakota a couple weeks ago:
I am a layman with no expertise, so guage this guess accordingly:
Fossilized bone or a fossilized aquatic tubeworm/sea cucumber thing.