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by: Steve Montes
I was using my metal detector in the foothills of Tucson, Arizona. As luck would have it, I never find what I am Seeking. As the day started to come to an end. I was walking back to my truck with the metal detector resting on my shoulder.
I caught sight of an unusual looking rock laying on the ground. After picking up the rock I dusted the rock on my pant leg and noticed a fossilized baby bird just off center of the stone. I turned the stone over to reveal more of the bird’s body on the back of the stone.
After showing the bird off to some of my friends, I decided to take the stone to the University of Arizona. I wanted to learn more about what I had found.
My first stop at the U of A was at the American History Museum. I was told to take my stone to the Paleontology Department across the lawn in front of where I was. When I got there I saw a professor in his office. I asked him if I could talk to a Paleontologist. He asked why, so I handed him the stone and preceded to tell him how I had found the stone. His eyes got big with excitement as he examined the stone while we walking down the hallway to another office. Soon theirs were several professor and people looking at the stone in awe over my good fortune. As they talked, I listened.
The rock I found was secondary sedimentary solidified black limestone. Which is not indigenous to this area. I was told the rock could have come from Canada, Montana, Kansas, China, or even from South America.
The baby bird fossil was 150 million years old. This period in time is when birds evolved from reptiles. Another professor pointed out to me other inclusions that were in the stone like plant matter, twigs, and other foreign objects not identifiable to him. A professor stated that there was proof that this rock was found on the top of the ground the impact marks etched into the rock as the rain hit the front of the stone for thousands of years while it lay on top of the ground. The marks were small circular pockets about the size of a pencil eraser grouped together. It was also mentioned that there was once other bones near the chest of the bird that had fallen out over time but the imprint of the bones are still visible. They could not identify the species of bird, as there is nothing on record, to compare it to.
I was asked by one of the professors if I wouldn’t mind waiting for one more professor who was still in class to come see the stone. He stated that this professor was part of their group and they wanted his opinion of the stone.
As he approached, I handed him, the stone. He looked at it for a moment and stated that this stone was an artifact that had been carved by primitive man into a tool used to scrape the flesh away from the hide of game killed for food. It turned out that this mans background is in the field of Archeology. A silence fell on the people gathered we listened to information being given about this rare find.
(continued...)
150-Million Year Old Baby Bird Fossil/ W Hide Scraper!
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About The Author
Steve Montes
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