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| On 09/29/2011, while walking a wash along the western side of the access road up near Lovell Canyon, I found this rock specimen with several conical-like shells imbedded within it. (click to enlarge). Though several others in our group have found some rock specimens containing impressions of small shells and plants, I believe this is one of the largest specimens we've found. Fossilization is an exceptionally rare occurrence, because most components of formerly-living things tend to decompose relatively quickly following death. In order for an organism to be fossilized, the remains normally need to be covered by sediment as soon as possible. However there are exceptions to this, such as if an organism becomes frozen, desiccated, or comes to rest in an oxygen-free environment. | ||
What is a fossil? Quite simply stated, a fossil is the remains or evidence of any creature or plant that once lived on the Earth. Most often it is the remains of a dead animal or plant or the imprint left from the remains of such. Though I certainly don’t know enough about this subject to know what classification this fossil would fall into, It appears that one of the more common finds, as in this case, is the hardened shell of some type of ancient invertebrate. If you take a careful look of a close-up on the right, you will notice two things. At the left edge you get to see the curvature of the outer portion of the shell, giving you a 3-D effect of what the shell was actually like. Looking at the center of the specimen you can actually make out the inside “ribs’ of the shell.
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