Dinosaur Bone Fossil Remains of Dinosaur Bones

What is Agatized Dinosaur Bone?

Agatized dinosaur bone (also known as gem dino bone) is the fossilised remains of dinosaur bones in which the original cellular structure has been replaced with natural minerals.

When an organism dies and is quickly buried in an environment starved of oxygen, the normal decaying process cannot take place. Therefore, it can remain intact for a considerable length of time.

This happened because the skeletal remains of some dinosaurs were covered with sediment or volcanic ash. Dissolved minerals carried in groundwater then slowly seeped into pores and cavities filling any available space. This preserved the original tissue structure.

Once the water evaporated, the minerals left behind slowly crystallised.

The entire process of fossilisation took place over thousands to millions of years.

Almost all fossils are bone or skeletal remains which have been buried under sediment or ash. This preserves them, sometimes in almost perfect condition, until the process of petrifaction begins.

Dinosaur bone is found mainly in Colorado and Utah in the United States. Agatized dinosaur bone, as it's also known, is a more accurate description of what it is.

The colours in the stone come from different minerals in the sediment.

As well as quartz, agate and pyrite, other minerals known to replace the cellular structure in dinosaur bone include common opal and calcite. 

Dinosaur bone is used primarily for decorative purposes.  It grades 6 to 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness.

The dinosaur bone and petrified wood in our photo are on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C. Photo by Stone Mania. The image is clickable and redirects to the original photo.

Pop-up photos: Courtesy of Captain Tenneal. The originals are here and here.