Dinosaur Gem Bone - SOLD 3.17" Morrison Formation
Dinosaur Gem Bone - SOLD 3.17" Morrison Formation
With massive necks to reach the trees and huge legs to roam the land, Sauropods were an iconic class of dinosaur at the Morrison Formation. Over millions of years, their fossils were filled with beautiful agate gemstone, preserving the bone's internal structure.
This specimen is a 3.17" polished dinosaur "gem bone" from the Morrison Formation in Utah. It dates back 150,000,000 years to the Jurassic Period and the original bone is preserved with brilliant red agate.
Fossilized Dinosaur Gem Bone
These beautiful showcase fossils are dinosaur bone cross-sections which have been preserved for millions of years and infused with a brilliant agate.
Due to the nature of fossilization, each specimen will have a unique mix of pattern, color, and shape. The pattern seen here was formed from the internal cavities of the dinosaur's bone, which once allowed blood flow. The cavities were filled with vibrantly colored minerals, which differentiates them from the darker bone structure.
The specific pattern on each fossil is a one-of-a-kind identifier of the prehistoric material. Every specimen the amazing mineral matrix in its own way, like a Mesozoic-era thumbprint.
This specimen is a sauropod gem bone fossil recovered on private land in the Morrison Formation in Utah. This geologic formation is 150,000,000 years old and one of the best-studied deposits of Jurassic material.
Since this fossilization process is dependent on groundwater minerals, the geologic makeup of each fossil is different depending on where it was formed. The red colors of this material indicate that oxidized iron or "hematite" may have been present at the time of fossilization.
Each specimen comes with a display stand and a certificate of authenticity. You can see all currently available gem bone and Morrison Formation specimens in the collection below!
More About Fossil Agates
The stunning pattern seen in these fossils is a combination of biologic and geologic processes over the course of millions of years. A dinosaur begins the fossilization process after its body is buried by sediment. Over time, groundwater can seep into empty spaces within the organism's body, such as the internal structure of a bone.
This groundwater carries minerals that fill in the gaps, eventually leaving up a buildup of geologic material. This occurs over an extremely long period of time, millions of years at least. Since the process is so gradual, small and delicate details can be preserved in stone, such as the spongy inside of a dinosaur bone seen here or even the gaps in the cell walls of fossil plants.
This material is also known as "gem bone," as the agatized nature of the fossil makes it both an amazing look into the past and a breathtaking mineral to admire.
Further Reading
Prothero, Donald R. 1998 .Bringing fossils to life : An Introduction to Paleobiology. New York: Columbia University Press.
Mustoe, George. “Wood Petrifaction: A New View of Permineralization and Replacement.” Geosciences, vol. 7, pp. 1-17, 2017.
Dumont, Maitena, et al. "Long bone cortices in a growth series of Apatosaurus sp.(Dinosauria: Diplodocidae): geometry, body mass, and crystallite orientation of giant animals." Biological journal of the Linnean Society 112.4 (2014): 782-798.
McHugh, Julia B. "Evidence for niche partitioning among ground-height browsing sauropods from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of North America." Geology of the Intermountain West 5 (2018): 95-103.
Taylor, Michael P., et al. “Were the Necks of Apatosaurus & Brontosaurus Adapted for Combat?” PeerJ Preprints, 3:e1347v1, 2015.
Weishampel, David B., et al. (eds). The Dinosauria – Second Edition. University of California Press, 2004.
Wedel, Matt. “A Giant, Skeletally Immature Individual of Apatosaurus From the Morrison Formation of Oklahoma.” 61st Symposium on Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy - Programme and Abstracts, 2013, pp. 40–45.
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