Found these in Colorado Springs today. Any idea what kind of fossils they are?
Dan

I accidentally posted this to the wrong forum.
Can anyone identify these fossils?

The first one appears to be a tooth with a broken tip. The root is rough.

Hi coloradorocket,

I merged your posts all into this thread from the other section and left all the pics since there were different shots for close up.

Nice finds and I was thinking tooth of some herbavore as well for the first one.
No clue on the second but the blue color is striking. Who else has any ideas?

Hello Dan, Interesting pics and thanks for sharing,

I have done a fair amount of fossil hunting in my time but by no means considered an expert. So everything here after is only speculation on my part;

The first item could very well be a tooth but it seems to be missing the enamel. The outer layer of teeth is very hard and preserves extreamly well. Usually it is highly polished and shinny. The inside of teeth is where you find the layering that looks like bone. Also this rough layering effect is what one would find on the root of the tooth. It is difficult to tell from the pictures but I see a vague line that could represent the transition from root to enamel. If that is the case then this tooth has been preserved in a solution that leached the smooth surface and did not preserve well.

Also I Will extend myself further out on a limb and say that what you have is a tooth from a carnivores marine reptile , very similar to an Ichthyosaurs or Plesiosaurus. There are many different sub-critters within these two groups and the size/shape fits the bill nicely. "“about 1 ½ inches in length, well rounded, lacking serrated edges, and found in material bearing aquatic fossils”".

That last part is a very important piece. I think that these are aquatic fossils by your other two items;

In an ocean or stream sediment and material is collected and carried for perhaps long distances. Often it can displace material far away from its original location and therefore it looks out of place. I have commonly found pebbles and small stones mixed in with the fossil matrix that look identical to your pictures. The stones sometimes have odd indentations or shapes to them and this is from the way they formed. They were deposited before they were completely cooled and still soft enough to take on the shape of whatever they landed on. Think of a ball of hot tar being thrown into the air and then landing on a bed of crushed rock. After eons of time spent washing around in the waves most of the pebble is smooth. However the indentation portions still show irregular shapes to them. I find these quite common and think they are very interesting.

Think about it for a minute, you are holding a rock with fossils in it and therefore must be very old. But hold on, there is also rocks in my fossilized rock! That makes these little bitty pebbles some of the oldest material on earth.

Sorry for the long “101” class but hope this helps, Woody.

Thanks everybody. From the pictures of teeth on the Internet, it definitely resembles a Plesiosaurus tooth.

I'm going to get a better picture of the dark fossils. The impressions have a V shape to them, which seems unusual.

I'm going back today to see what else I can find!

My daughter found this awesome 8 inch piece of petrified wood.

The second pic might just not be a fossil but rather hematite, magnetite, psilomelane or even slag from bloom making. Open one of them up to see a fresh surface.

The smooth stones are what are known as Gastroliths...... stones that were held in the stomach of dinosours and it helped them grind or digest food. We used to find lots of them around the Moab area and they were always near Dino bones. Here is a link http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&a...EziE8YXiECglBaA

I did not think they were Gastroliths.

The possibility did cross my mind but I opted to go with the ocean dewelling creatures. Normally when I have found "Gut Stones" they were quite evident. By that I mean you would suddenly come accrossed a section of ground and there might be 40 or more polished stones just lying there. The stones were all about the size of a plum, not much varriation to them. Absoluty correct about them being an indicator to look for other bones. When I was a kid I hunted Dinos with my Grandfather and he always got excited when we found a patch of gut stones.

You could be right. I would like to see them in person. Woody.

Probably not gastroliths, at least not the original rocks. Both have V-shaped fossils embedded in them.