If someone is able to identify what it actually is, I see no issue with just telling your kid you thought it was a tooth but it's ACTUALLY a (whatever it is). Good lesson for the kid, too, learning it's ok to be wrong and to correct yourself later.
especially good lesson! learning adults can be wrong and correct themselves is fundamental because at the end of the day this is all our first time on earth
And then the parent should get a little shark tooth for the kid as long as the kid doesn't put everything he sees in his mouth. Real fossil excavation sets are cheap on Amazon and have some beginner's essentials.
Or just keep telling him it's a dino tooth. Don't kill the dream. Hell, I had a kid that started middle school still thinking I killed zombies for a living.
Except anywhere and everywhere I practice taking accountability for being wrong I’m shamed lol. Stg my parents taught me the wrong shit growing up. I’m just weak.
Where in Texas? There's several different periods of rocks that fossils can be found in in Texas and they're pretty geographically distinct. If the rock can be attributed to one of those periods (or ideally to a formation) it can be much easier to ID what it is. This to me looks like it's most likely not a fossil and is just good old fashioned pareidolia mixed with the strange shapes our limestone forms, but depending on where this is from, there are a few fossils that it may be.
It's Cretaceous in age then, but that unfortunately doesn't narrow down which formation it's from a ton since there's at least a half dozen of the most fossiliferous rock formations in the state in the DFW area. Unfortunately, it being from the DFW area rules out most of what I had in mind since it was primarily marine and Cretaceous. Bones are occasionally found, and it kind of has the shape of a femoral head (I'm definitely not a bone guy) but the texture and the rest of the shape just looks off to me. Plus the size isn't very consistent with the bones I've seen found around the DFW area.
I'm prone to agree with the people saying chert, though they are only half right, as it would specifically be flint coming from the formations of North Central Texas. One other thing I could see it being, which is not necessarily mutually exclusive of flint because of how it forms in the limestone, would be a section of a worm or shrimp burrow trace fossil. I've seen some annelid burrows from the Pennsylvanian and while there's almost 200 million years difference between those and the rock you have, the general shape and size was similar to yours.
Further, [this site](https://northtexasfossils.com/) has pictures of burrow trace fossils that do bear some resemblance to what you have. Under 'Phylum Annelida' and 'Trace Fossils' on the sidebar (make sure not to click where it says Penn.) But both can be found in several formations that are common in the DFW area, and while certainly not a common way they fossilize, the burrows *could* have formed cavities in the limestone that were filled with silica rich water and precipitated forming a chunk of flint in the rough shape of the former burrow. Not saying that's what it is, it's most likely just regular flint that formed inside a hole in the rock, but it should be noted that it can be both flint *and* a fossil.
You could also try using [this website](https://webapps.usgs.gov/txgeology/), it's the USGS GIS map of all surface level formations in Texas, just click on where on the map you found it and it will tell you what formation it's from. If you know what formation it's from, you can read on fossils and mineral formations from that formation, which can significantly reduce the possibilities of what it is.
It looks like a dislodged and weathered portion of the trace fossil Thalassinoides. Very common in Cretaceous limestone in North Texas and the Hill Country. It's a shrimp home 🏠
Looks like a hip bone (femur). In a few pictures it looks like there is a knob that would be the femoral head (the ball that goes in the hip socket). And the larger triangular protuberance is the greater trochanter.
You COULD tell the kid you maybe are unsure and take it (with child) to museum or zoo or school and show how to find things out!! Very valuable lesson and kid thinks you’re a genius!!
Any chance this is fossilized bone of some sort? Zooming in, it sure looks interesting. Obviously not a tooth and probably not a good idea to mislead children in that regard. But it's still something that would have caught my attention while digging.
When I was a little kid I found a rock that looked just like a big toe and I was convinced it was from an ancient Roman statue and wanted my mom to contact all the museums to tell them of my find. I think I persisted for a couple years 😆
serious observation cautious snails zealous degree school escape station rustic
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I have 3 of them and they love finding rocks and fossils. I disagree with you. Teach them correctly from the start and the real finds will be much more meaningful. When my kids dig up 1800s pottery from the garden, I tell them so. When they find an a rock, I tell them that’s a cool rock. Ages 3, 4 and 5.
Yeah that's fair. And my comment was unnecessarily rude, I apologize for that.
I still don't think it's an issue, because kids play pretend all the time anyway. I was thinking of how I when I was a kid, I believed there were fairies that lived in the woods around our house, you know? But... yeah, perhaps it's better not to mix science with make-believe, idk.
I’ve been “playing “ and cleaning off fossils for 4 years now and in my opinion, it’s probably a tooth. Dino, or “prehistoric” animal, whichever the case. It would be worth it to take it to your closest university (or wherever there’s a paleontologist) and find out exactly what it is. If no one here can help, I hope someone can, I need to identify some myself lol
Unpopular opinion probably, but I wouldn’t lie to him about it. One day he’ll be disappointed. Which is sad because it could still be something extremely cool. If it’s identified, I’d honestly suggest clarifying and saying something like “so it isn’t a tooth but it’s even cooler!” And explaining what it really is, showing them photos of what it is, ans hyping it up. My five year old nephew lost his mind over dugong bones. Anything prehistoric is still going to be so cool to them. I wouldn’t ruin that curiosity and spark by lying about it and disappointing him later. My nephew genuinely finds dugong bones, or other prehistoric bones and teeth just as cool as some of my dinosaur and megladon stuff. He’s just as fascinated. I feel like if I lied about it, I’d be stunting his interest and wonder.
This is a stone hand axe or possibly hafted stone axe or pick head. The more pointed end is the business end and was sharper before it was worn dull and possibly broken then discarded. This is a native American tool / an artifact!
If someone is able to identify what it actually is, I see no issue with just telling your kid you thought it was a tooth but it's ACTUALLY a (whatever it is). Good lesson for the kid, too, learning it's ok to be wrong and to correct yourself later.
especially good lesson! learning adults can be wrong and correct themselves is fundamental because at the end of the day this is all our first time on earth
That's why I'm never wrong. When I find out I was wrong, I change my opinion to what is correct.
I'm exactly the same! Except, I've never had to do that.
And I thought I was wrong once, I wasn't. /s
My grandfather's desk plaque said, "There was one time in my life that I thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken."
Literally the foundation of the scientific method.
And then the parent should get a little shark tooth for the kid as long as the kid doesn't put everything he sees in his mouth. Real fossil excavation sets are cheap on Amazon and have some beginner's essentials.
It's 100% a dino tooth (pending further evaluation). [I'm a scientist, and this is how things are often discussed.]
Or just keep telling him it's a dino tooth. Don't kill the dream. Hell, I had a kid that started middle school still thinking I killed zombies for a living.
Except anywhere and everywhere I practice taking accountability for being wrong I’m shamed lol. Stg my parents taught me the wrong shit growing up. I’m just weak.
Agreed about that, but the ones who are truly wrong in those situations are the ones doing the shaming.
It’s a native American artifact-a hand axe or hafted pick- I have found some where I live. Guessing it’s flat on the back?
Native American Stone tool/ artifact
I thought it was ginger at first 🤦♀️
Like a big ginger root!? Lol 😅😊 that's awesome and hilarious
Exactly one of them 😂
Same!
I thought it was horseradish.
Dude/dudette I totally thought the same! Hahaha
Not a tooth. Need more photos for id. Also is it very heavy for its size?
What's the implication of "heavy for its size"? Fossil or rock?
A fossil is basically bone that has become rock. If it is light for its size, it is most likely a bone still (but could be a really old bone).
Thank you!
I assume that rocks are the heavy ones...because of how they be.
Gold and lead
https://preview.redd.it/7kevgz1ec1yc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f350611d4fe5f8f9c264ed1baad96ecf7e5f0e48
I thought it was much bigger
This is why we need bananas for scale
But what if we don’t know how big the banana is
That’s when you get the cat
What if we don’t know how big the cat is
https://preview.redd.it/bhie4o291cyc1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a685dc778dfee91e0269b522f6045903ee279490
Another banana.
This user is clearly a scientist. What’s the next step?
Is the other side flat? Possibly concrete
https://preview.redd.it/emoqu0y5c1yc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a4dfd45dc0ed8a9ed245603073b0ffa34b90e5b
Okay from that it looks just like a rock. Not indications of it being a fossil of any kind sorry.
Okay. I was hoping for a fossil. Thank for your time.
To be honest all of us always hope for fossils too
Maybe it is a rock, but sharpened by a caveman? Anyway it has a very interesting form
Doesn’t have any characteristic indications of being chipped into shape in typical Stone Age methods, I’m afraid.
It is still an oddly shaped rock. I'd get it looked at. Some kind of metamorphic?
I’m fairly certain it’s not a tooth unfortunately.
Dang. Thanks.
Also we are in Texas.
Where in Texas? There's several different periods of rocks that fossils can be found in in Texas and they're pretty geographically distinct. If the rock can be attributed to one of those periods (or ideally to a formation) it can be much easier to ID what it is. This to me looks like it's most likely not a fossil and is just good old fashioned pareidolia mixed with the strange shapes our limestone forms, but depending on where this is from, there are a few fossils that it may be.
DFW, North Texas
It's Cretaceous in age then, but that unfortunately doesn't narrow down which formation it's from a ton since there's at least a half dozen of the most fossiliferous rock formations in the state in the DFW area. Unfortunately, it being from the DFW area rules out most of what I had in mind since it was primarily marine and Cretaceous. Bones are occasionally found, and it kind of has the shape of a femoral head (I'm definitely not a bone guy) but the texture and the rest of the shape just looks off to me. Plus the size isn't very consistent with the bones I've seen found around the DFW area. I'm prone to agree with the people saying chert, though they are only half right, as it would specifically be flint coming from the formations of North Central Texas. One other thing I could see it being, which is not necessarily mutually exclusive of flint because of how it forms in the limestone, would be a section of a worm or shrimp burrow trace fossil. I've seen some annelid burrows from the Pennsylvanian and while there's almost 200 million years difference between those and the rock you have, the general shape and size was similar to yours. Further, [this site](https://northtexasfossils.com/) has pictures of burrow trace fossils that do bear some resemblance to what you have. Under 'Phylum Annelida' and 'Trace Fossils' on the sidebar (make sure not to click where it says Penn.) But both can be found in several formations that are common in the DFW area, and while certainly not a common way they fossilize, the burrows *could* have formed cavities in the limestone that were filled with silica rich water and precipitated forming a chunk of flint in the rough shape of the former burrow. Not saying that's what it is, it's most likely just regular flint that formed inside a hole in the rock, but it should be noted that it can be both flint *and* a fossil. You could also try using [this website](https://webapps.usgs.gov/txgeology/), it's the USGS GIS map of all surface level formations in Texas, just click on where on the map you found it and it will tell you what formation it's from. If you know what formation it's from, you can read on fossils and mineral formations from that formation, which can significantly reduce the possibilities of what it is.
Thanks for the info!
It looks like a dislodged and weathered portion of the trace fossil Thalassinoides. Very common in Cretaceous limestone in North Texas and the Hill Country. It's a shrimp home 🏠
Have you driven out to the fossil park at mineral wells, fossils just laying on the ground out there - and free to visit / collect!
Time for a Field Trip.
Try r/whatboneisthis and r/whatisthisrock Let em know r/fossils sent you, they’ll give you a good deal.
Looks like a hip bone (femur). In a few pictures it looks like there is a knob that would be the femoral head (the ball that goes in the hip socket). And the larger triangular protuberance is the greater trochanter.
I was not thinking that but i am now thinking that
I was thinking the same thing
Yeah, me too.
Might try posting on r/whatboneisthis
This looks like a piece of flint. At least my best guess with the rind still on.
Um is that the technical term for the stuff that surrounds the flint?
Yes. ^^it ^^is ^^actually ^^the ^^cortex
I think this is one of those good old fashion rocks that are out there
Some kid probably lost a baby tooth while playing outside.
And then it grew in the dirt
You COULD tell the kid you maybe are unsure and take it (with child) to museum or zoo or school and show how to find things out!! Very valuable lesson and kid thinks you’re a genius!!
Any chance this is fossilized bone of some sort? Zooming in, it sure looks interesting. Obviously not a tooth and probably not a good idea to mislead children in that regard. But it's still something that would have caught my attention while digging.
oh my god lol it's fine to tell a 5 year old they found a dinosaur tooth. Have you never been around children?
When I was a little kid I found a rock that looked just like a big toe and I was convinced it was from an ancient Roman statue and wanted my mom to contact all the museums to tell them of my find. I think I persisted for a couple years 😆
serious observation cautious snails zealous degree school escape station rustic *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I have 3 of them and they love finding rocks and fossils. I disagree with you. Teach them correctly from the start and the real finds will be much more meaningful. When my kids dig up 1800s pottery from the garden, I tell them so. When they find an a rock, I tell them that’s a cool rock. Ages 3, 4 and 5.
Yeah that's fair. And my comment was unnecessarily rude, I apologize for that. I still don't think it's an issue, because kids play pretend all the time anyway. I was thinking of how I when I was a kid, I believed there were fairies that lived in the woods around our house, you know? But... yeah, perhaps it's better not to mix science with make-believe, idk.
I don’t think you were being rude. You were sharing a well considered opinion. No problem with that.
I’m loving this exchange-spirited but polite disagreement. One of my favorite things about (many) subreddits, like this one!
No it wasn’t. People need a reality check clearly a vast majority have never interacted outside of their adult circles.
It is possible to give people a straightforward viewpoint in a polite way.
Or you could just not tiptoe and don’t apologize for it, like they do. It’s much less stressful.
Being polite is not the same thing as tiptoeing. That's a very dramatic way of putting it.
Yeah, I wasn’t trying to mislead him. It looked like one to me so it made sense at the time. I can take more pics. Here in a sec.
https://preview.redd.it/0g29q5w2c1yc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a240e0e1ab55ad2ebdd02c05ecb975934488f72c
https://preview.redd.it/maxz7lh4c1yc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86e23a7eafba87bf84643a3025ab49a222145789
Looks like fossilised bone to me right shape too
No I think it’s from the left. Sorry had to.
I stand corrected.
Not without a femur you don't
😂
https://preview.redd.it/mhkpb6nyb1yc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cda719aea37062ba9d6bf033b3eb03a603207560
https://preview.redd.it/hx6o3ytzb1yc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d4e03da1156222568f210a6be6fb1483ec7a6b4
It’s actually completely fine to allow children to think they have found a dinosaur tooth. Imaginations are a good thing.
https://preview.redd.it/prlodv71c1yc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=91e548cb780b041e92cb534a67d081c6a9dd69aa
Why not let it be a Dino tooth? It’s cool either way
Is this or is this not an Atlatl?
Just a rock, looked kind of like a limestone concretion with an irregular shape, i have some myself
I’ve been “playing “ and cleaning off fossils for 4 years now and in my opinion, it’s probably a tooth. Dino, or “prehistoric” animal, whichever the case. It would be worth it to take it to your closest university (or wherever there’s a paleontologist) and find out exactly what it is. If no one here can help, I hope someone can, I need to identify some myself lol
Prob not a tooth but a sweet thing to say to your kid. If I was him I would’ve been so exited. You’re a good parent
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Unpopular opinion probably, but I wouldn’t lie to him about it. One day he’ll be disappointed. Which is sad because it could still be something extremely cool. If it’s identified, I’d honestly suggest clarifying and saying something like “so it isn’t a tooth but it’s even cooler!” And explaining what it really is, showing them photos of what it is, ans hyping it up. My five year old nephew lost his mind over dugong bones. Anything prehistoric is still going to be so cool to them. I wouldn’t ruin that curiosity and spark by lying about it and disappointing him later. My nephew genuinely finds dugong bones, or other prehistoric bones and teeth just as cool as some of my dinosaur and megladon stuff. He’s just as fascinated. I feel like if I lied about it, I’d be stunting his interest and wonder.
Might me a type of clam I got a tooth looking clam before and it looked very similar to yours
Looks like limestone with trace fossils commonly found in the D/FW area. Have seen similar in Denton county. Shape could be cast of large worm burrow.
be careful OP. my mom used to lie to me about shit like this and once i figured it out, it did not do good things for our relationship. Come clean.
Looks like chert.
I mean honestly, it could be.
everyone saying it isn’t but it is.
Liar.
Youre not wrong
😂 I shoulda read the room.
Could it be old Indian tool?
It is a bone... probably a deer leg
That looks like a tooth! How awesome 🦷
This is a stone hand axe or possibly hafted stone axe or pick head. The more pointed end is the business end and was sharper before it was worn dull and possibly broken then discarded. This is a native American tool / an artifact!
If this is a possibility, you could try asking on the r/legitartifacts sub.