Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 13,013
|
Post by Tommy on Jul 9, 2020 12:02:14 GMT -5
I'm more of a cutter than a specimen keeper so here are some coprolite cabochons I've made and sold.  |
|
|
|
Post by oregon on Jul 9, 2020 12:34:24 GMT -5
So you're telling me this rock I just happened to grab & cut the other day from my stash is really a turd? Any idea where it might have come from? Learn something every day.... |
|
RWA3006
Cave Dweller 
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,700 
|
Post by RWA3006 on Jul 9, 2020 12:36:04 GMT -5
would this be coprolite? got it in box of rocks. it appears to be a translucent brownish agate all the way thru. dont think be very interesting cut but maybe can remove outer rind and polish it without losing much of shape. any thoughts?    I'd have to say not coprolite, but agate nodule. The whitish rind is a good clue. |
|
RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,700
|
Post by RWA3006 on Jul 9, 2020 12:41:01 GMT -5
So you're telling me this rock I just happened to grab & cut the other day from my stash is really a turd?  Any idea where it might have come from?  Learn something every day.... It certainly has that "look." Hard to tell just by looking on my phone screen, but I'd say it is. Pretty one too. Can you see any gastroliths in it? |
|
RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,700
|
Post by RWA3006 on Jul 9, 2020 12:47:13 GMT -5
I'm more of a cutter than a specimen keeper so here are some coprolite cabochons I've made and sold. Tommy, those cabs are outstanding. Each one has classic coprolite structure and great color and patterns. Unquestionably are coprolite. |
|
|
|
Post by oregon on Jul 9, 2020 15:01:45 GMT -5
It certainly has that "look." Hard to tell just by looking on my phone screen, but I'd say it is. Pretty one too. Can you see any gastroliths in it?
Had to google that - for others, they're stones swallowed to help with grinding food in the stomach. When I cut it I remember thinking some of the center 'blocks' look like different material... Certainly looks like the other specimens, kinda fun. Might have come with a couple dino bone pcs, not sure but probably some estate rockhounding... Thanks.
|
|
RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,700
|
Post by RWA3006 on Jul 9, 2020 17:03:24 GMT -5
It certainly has that "look." Hard to tell just by looking on my phone screen, but I'd say it is. Pretty one too. Can you see any gastroliths in it? Had to google that - for others, they're stones swallowed to help with grinding food in the stomach. When I cut it I remember thinking some of the center 'blocks' look like different material... Certainly looks like the other specimens, kinda fun. Might have come with a couple dino bone pcs, not sure but probably some estate rockhounding... Thanks.
Yes, gastroliths, aka gizzard stones are rocks that are ingested to aid in digestion. Many dinos had gizzard-like structures that acted something like a tumbler that ground up plant matter. Fossils have been found of entire undisturbed dinosaurs that had conspicuous piles of rounded stones in the digestive area indicating gastroliths. Most gizzard stones I find in my collection are match head to pea sized. Some get to egg size. Largest I've found is fist size. |
|
|
|
Post by knave on Jul 9, 2020 18:55:36 GMT -5
If you ever run out of things to be thankful for, be thankful you don’t have to deal with gastroliths.
|
|
RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,700
|
Post by RWA3006 on Jul 9, 2020 22:02:18 GMT -5
This photo shows gastroliths like what I usually encounter. They are small and usually are made of red jasper.  |
|
RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,700
|
Post by RWA3006 on Jul 9, 2020 22:04:22 GMT -5
This closeup shows them better. I think I can count six of them.  |
|
RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,700
|
Post by RWA3006 on Jul 9, 2020 22:08:00 GMT -5
Once in a while I find a truly stony turd. This one is extraordinary in the quantity of gizzard stones embedded within and jutting out of the surface.  |
|
RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,700
|
Post by RWA3006 on Jul 9, 2020 22:09:05 GMT -5
|
|
RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,700
|
Post by RWA3006 on Jul 9, 2020 22:10:08 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by knave on Jul 9, 2020 22:10:44 GMT -5
Very interesting. Thanks for the info, it pays to know your DS.
|
|
|
|
Post by knave on Jul 9, 2020 22:11:35 GMT -5
Maybe they’re extinct from internal bleeding.
|
|
|
|
Post by rockjunquie on Jul 10, 2020 6:59:17 GMT -5
Once in a while I find a truly stony turd. This one is extraordinary in the quantity of gizzard stones embedded within and jutting out of the surface.
Holy crap! I would have thought that was some kind of pudding stone.
|
|
|
|
Post by rockjunquie on Jul 10, 2020 7:01:08 GMT -5
Are they more valuable with gastroliths? Or, is it just a curiosity? I can see where they can help with ID.
|
|
RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,700
|
Post by RWA3006 on Jul 10, 2020 8:19:02 GMT -5
Are they more valuable with gastroliths? Or, is it just a curiosity? I can see where they can help with ID. Good question Tela. I doubt there's a consensus among collectors but in the back of my mind I assign more value to it because a specimen might be considered to be more "complete" with gastroliths. Certainly, the weirder and more exotic is more desirable in my opinion. The best one I've ever seen is a specimen my pal Denny Hammer has. The large gastrolith is a cobble of petrified wood. Upon close inspection it became obvious that the gastrolith had already become a petrified wood fossil before the critter ingested it! Denny and his wife Elaine have published articles on the subject and the last one I recall was in Rock and Gem about a decade? ago. I caught the coprolite addiction from them. |
|
|
|
Post by rockjunquie on Jul 10, 2020 8:24:56 GMT -5
Are they more valuable with gastroliths? Or, is it just a curiosity? I can see where they can help with ID. Good question Tela. I doubt there's a consensus among collectors but in the back of my mind I assign more value to it because a specimen might be considered to be more "complete" with gastroliths. Certainly, the weirder and more exotic is more desirable in my opinion. The best one I've ever seen is a specimen my pal Denny Hammer has. The large gastrolith is a cobble of petrified wood. Upon close inspection it became obvious that the gastrolith had already become a petrified wood fossil before the critter ingested it! Denny and his wife Elaine have published articles on the subject and the last one I recall was in Rock and Gem about a decade? ago. I caught the coprolite addiction from them. Very cool! That was really thinking outside the box that a fossil could contain an even older fossil. How strange. |
|
RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,700
|
Post by RWA3006 on Jul 11, 2020 10:13:15 GMT -5
Saturday morning eye candy.  |
|
