Can anybody tell me what this is please? It looks like a giant flea!

[catherine]

We're complete novices, but we found this last week on the Isle of Skye & it looks rather interesting - like a giant parasite. Could anybody identify it for us please? Many thanks, Catherine

[fitch]

Heya Catherine,

It does look like a flee, doens't it? Unfortunately chances are bigger it's a print of a kind of shell/scallop or ammonite.

Could you get a sharper picture please (try daylight outside), it's the only way to be sure.

Dries

[catherine]

Thank you - does this help at all? Regards, Catherine

[fitch]

Hi Cath,

Ah, it seems to be a print (negative) of a bivalve to me.

Better luck next time (allthough if you found a real flea, I'll send you some champagne )

Dries

[Frederik]

I agree this might be a negative imprint of a bivalve. It looks a bit weathered. It might even be 'just' a weathered crack, a pseudofossil.
In any case, the similarity to a giant flea is striking! At least, this shows you have a keen eye for patterns that are out of the ordinary. In such a case, to take the rock with you and to ask for advice is the right thing to do. Sometimes, like once in a hundred, it might actually be something very, VERY special.
Keep looking, the real treasures are out there, to be found by curious people like you.



[Editted by Frederik on 01-09-2014 at 14:45 GMT +1]