Any geologists about?!

[Throwaway1066]

My son found an unusual stone (?) in the garden (cotswolds). It’s in 3 parts, perfectly cylindrical and quite flaky. Inside are rings like a tree trunk.

Any ideas?!

photos attached

Not a geologist (I'd have to wait till he gets home) but it looks like a Belemite fossil to me

Ooo, that did come up on google images when I image searched! I thought surely not in my garden 10 year old garden suburbia!

Or a crinoid stem if it’s in segments..

It was one whole piece….the aforementioned son was experimenting with how hard it was….

He will be very excited to hear if it’s a fossil. We have a fossil hunting holiday planned in October!

Looks belemite ish to me too. Not a geologist but mother of future palaeontologist so have now been subjected to fossils for many years.

Belemnite with the top pointy bit missing.

Yep, it's a belemnite. Bit like a squid when it was alive, with this solid piece inside the body. If you're near Oxford, the Natural History Museum runs Saturday morning sessions (11-1) with experts where you can talk to them and they'll show you some hooks from inside a belemnite's mouth!

It's definitely a belemnite. It's the fossilised, recrystallised internal shell of an ancient squid like creature.

The original was a silicate structure, much like you'll find in modern squid - the glassy bit you find when preparing them. Over millions of years, it attracted silicate out of the water and grew into the flinty fossil you have now.

It's not a crinoid, the Cotswolds are predominantly Jurassic, whereas crinoids are more typically Carboniferous and found further North / Northeast.

Aww I was hoping it was going to be a fossilised poo

Ooh cooool! Thanks everyone! You have made a 9yr old boy very happy 😁

That’s awesome about Oxford, we’ve done the museum before but had no idea about that.

Thanks!