Well, I have experience in invertebrate fossils and that looks like coral to me. I've found some of it near Coon Creek in Tennessee, and even some recent specimens in the Gulf of Mexico. That life form hasn't changed in all that time, but whatever works, right?
A coral has an opening to its stomach at the base of each polyp where the epithelium produces a calicle--a hard, calciferous ring that grows with each successive year. These rings grow up and into the polyp and when the coral is threatened, the the polyp jerks back into complete cover of each calicle/calyx, which in turn, by the extent of numbers, forms a solid and encompassing exoskeleton. Each one of those rings contains six points for growth, and that is what makes me think it's coral. It's that hive-like aspect that gives it away.
That's just my two cents worth...Lin--On Wed, Nov 13, 2013 at 8:19 PM, <cgptsnaz@yahoo.com> wrote:
Really. Like a dinosaur perhaps or a early elephant like animal? It sure was different from anything I have seen around here. Did not see any other pieces of the formation anywhere, tho being in a creek bed other sections could be still buried in the land around or eroded away.
There are also fossilized oyster beds in the White Cliffs formation and ancient ripple marked stone. Also lots of petrified wood. I found one about a little bigger than a bowling ball last spring and know of one the size of a old fashioned hay bale or 2x4 feet in area. Biggest I have seen in the wild outside Petrified Forest NP in Arizona.
The White Cliffs around my home are 1100 feet thick for what is exposed. Orderville sits in Long Valley and the cliffs are surrounding it. Zion NP is 20 miles west, Bryce NP is 60 miles north and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is 100 miles south, about 200 miles east is the Colorado River canyon.
---In geology2@yahoogroups.com, <john@...> wrote:hopefully someone with a background in vertebrate paleontology will come along. looks like it might be a fossil exhibiting the skin/scale pattern of a large animal.
JohnOn Wed, Nov 13, 2013 at 8:23 PM, <cgptsnaz@...> wrote:
[Attachment(s) from cgptsnaz@... included below]Hello, I am a new member here. I love the outdoors and spend much of my off duty hours in it. A few days ago I was hiking on top of the White Cliffs near Orderville Utah 20 miles east of Zion Nat Park, the White Cliffs are part of the Grand Staircase Nat Monument. I found this sandstone slab with the unusual imprint on it shown in the picture I took. The slab was 3 feet wide and tall and the round dips were about 2 inches wide and very uniform as it looks.
Any idea's what formed this? In all my years hiking around this area I have never seen this before.
--
John Atwell Rasmussen, Ph.D., AJP
Rasmussen Gems and Jewelry LLC
"A Time to Stop Living at Work; A Time to Start Working at Living."
--
John Atwell Rasmussen, Ph.D., AJP
Rasmussen Gems and Jewelry LLC
"A Time to Stop Living at Work; A Time to Start Working at Living."
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