Help with i.d. please? Marine flora, scott co. MO find. Awesome specimen!

[AndyinMO]

Me and two friends were hunting artifacts a few months back, when I came across this. I picked it up and was very surprised. My mind instantly started thinking of things, other than a fossil, that this could be. I thought maybe a doorknob, bedpost, or shifter knob made of some kind of hardened injection molded foam material or something like that. But I just couldn't shake the feeling that it was a fossil.
I handed it to my two friends who looked at it, started to chuckle, then proceeded to make jokes about prehistoric bedposts and doorknobs, and my collecting of such rare artifacts. They didn't think it was any kind of fossil, they couldn't tell what it was, but did think my idea of injection molded foam was closer to its nature... I KEPT IT, OF COURSE!! Lol. It just seemed too organic and my knowledge of the prehistory of missouri was whispering to me.
So, I now present it to the forum for your speculation, jokeification, and identification.

[Havenhunter]

Is it heavy? At a glance it looks like bone, but without holding or feeling it & examining it more closely, I can't tell if it's fossilized. We've got some fossil experts who will likely chime in.

[AndyinMO]

It does resemble bone. It is not very heavy. Those are also reasons I'm not sure if it is fossil or not.

[Hi-Lo]

Interesting find. Thanks for sharing. I don't have a clue.

[Scorpion68]

That texture sure reminds me of bone but that shape is really unusual. Interesting to say the least. Can't think of anything funny to say about it Andy but it ain't for lack of trying.

[AndyinMO]

That unusual shape is what caught my eye while in field. I find it strange that it appears to be sheared in half but it doesn't show any tool marks and I just can't imagine a disc making such a clean cut.

[AndyinMO]

Maybe Bone2Stone can help us on this one. Anybody able to summon him to assist?

[Arti Facter]

Might be half a ball joint off a '64 Rambler.
Just kidding. I have no idea, but it sure looks like bone in the picture.

[AndyinMO]

Lmao! I hadn't considered suspension systems as a source, lol.

[AndyinMO]

Some sponges develop a calcareous skeletal system that resembles bone. I'll try to list the features that make me lean toward it being marine flora when I get a minute to do so.

[rock ON.]

It should be fairly heavy like stone if it is a fossil. Does it float in water? If so then it's definitely not a fossil.

[Bone2stone]

Porous texture of the 4th pic is definitive. This was part of a much larger bone specimen. [Not fossil just pretty old]
I would venture to say Bison, (could be just old Bovid, cows been here a long time) difficult to pinpoint as to where this particular portion "came out of" but it being
so spongey in appearance I would guess it from the joint of a femur or even small portion of hip. Part of the support system.
If you are really interested in pinpointing it's origin, some one with more knowledge about Bison/Bovid skeletal remains would be in order.
Talk to a true butcher. One who actually works in a slaughterhouse.

[AndyinMO]

Thank you for your commentary on this piece. I did find a legit, and quite large, fossil of marine flora that I will be posting in the next day or two. I just have to make it back to the site and dig it out of the creek bed.

[Bone2stone]

In your title:
Not to be a "Nit Picker" but flora is the term used to describe vegetative matter..
I think you meant fauna, that would the terminology used to describe animal remains.
Jess B.