A Study on a Possible Carboniferous Human Femur Fossil
             Last update: Jan. 25, 2009
               By Lin Liangtai
Summary

Mr.Ed Conrad, the discoverer of the subject material, has claimed he
has found thousands of “fossils” in the Mahanoy City and Shenandoah
region of Pennsylvania, USA. Before this study, the author has studied
over 20 different specimens of those “fossils” and found they are all
animal fossils –some human-- well preserved down to the microscopic
level. The subject material was still partially embedded in an immense
piece of slate in the Carboniferous rock layer when it was first
photographed. The author found it was a fossil because it contained
Haversian canals, which are found only in animals’ compact bones. It
belonged to a mammal because it possessed plentiful remains of
scarlet, round, anucleate and concave cells, which were red blood
cells found only in mammals. It was possibly a fossilized human femur
bone because it displayed the following features: (1) It is nearly
straight, round and quite slender, with maximum length estimated at 52
centimeters, and mid-shaft diameter of 3.3 centimeters; (2) It bears
close resemblance to a right femur of a Peking Man and to an
educational model of human femur; (3) It possesses plentiful round,
anucleate and concave red blood cell remains as large as eight
micrometers in diameter. Only human femur bones fully meet the above
three features. The author has searched various fossil records and
data banks, but found no other mammals possessed a bone that displays
the above three features or the first two features in the case of an
extinct mammal. So, it could be a femur of a new species of
Carboniferous mammal with human calvarium.

Introduction

The author found on the internet a photograph showing an object
claimed to be a Carboniferous human femur fossil embedded in slate
near Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania. As the discoverer of the object did
not present detailed evidences for his claim, the author contacted the
discoverer and asked for a specimen of the object in order to examine
it in details. The discoverer sent one half of the object to the
author by post for study. Before this study, the discoverer, Mr. Ed
Conrad, has claimed to have discovered thousands of Carboniferous
animal fossils—some human-- in the same area in the past 28 years
(note 1). The author has studied over 20 different specimens of those
objects and found they are all animal fossils, well preserved down to
the microscopic level.

Material and Methods

(A)     Material found in situ

The object (Fig.1-1-1)was discovered in situ by Mr. Ed Conrad, who had
lived in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, USA for over 30 years. He
discovered the object over 20 years ago in the suburb of Mahanoy City,
a few kilometers from Shenandoah, where he lived. When he first
discovered the “femur fossil”, it was still partially embedded in a
rock, which he claimed had been dumped there by a coal mining company
during  surface-mining operations. He took three pictures of the
object before removing it from the surrounding rock. A veteran
Pennsylvania policeman, who is a polygraph expert, conducted a
polygraph examination on its discoverer and issued an examination
report (Fig. 4-4-5).The report proves the discoverer showed “no
deception” when asked if he found the majority of the questioned
objects in the Mahanoy City/Shenandoah region (note 2).

Mr. Ed Conrad advised the author in writing that the object was 17.5
inches long while still embedded in rock.To demonstrate its length, he
put a measuring tape and a 16-inch educational model of human femur
beside the object before he took the three pictures of the object.
According to the geological map published by the Pennsylvania state
government, the area around Shenandoah and Mahanoy City is situated on
the rock layer of the Carboniferous age. The Pennsylvania state
government’s geological unit also confirmed in writing to the author
that fossils discovered in those areas are all 307 (+/- 5) million
years old. Figures 1-1-1 to 1-1-4 show the object was partially
embedded in the rock. This point was supported by visual examination
of the object’s surfaces, as the object’s under-ground surface had
turned into black coal while its above-ground surface did not turn
into black coal (Figure 1-3-2).

(B)     Material received for study:

The specimen received by the author measures 22 centimeter long and
3.3 centimeter in diameter at the mid-shaft (note 3) (Fig. 1-2-3). The
author had the specimen that he received from the discoverer cut at
the mid-shaft for the specimen’s transverse section by Mr. Liang at
the Department of Geology, National Taiwan University. The transverse
section was further cut into two equal parts and ground into two thin
sections (Fig. 2-4-1), which were then covered with glass slides for
viewing under light microscopes. The two thin sections are never
stained with chemicals to change their original colors. Later, the
specimen was cut again transversely at mid-shaft and another sample
was obtained for viewing with Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The
SEM sample was ground and coated with a thin layer of wax as required
for SEM viewing. For orientation purpose, the SEM sample was marked by
the author with a felt pen and a diamond-tipped pen. The SEM sample
and the two thin sections were variously viewed with a
stereomicroscope, a digital microscope, a transmitted-light
microscope, and SEM (Hitachi S3400). Images were captured with a
camera (Canon EOS 350D), SEM (Hitachi S3400), or a digital microscope
itself. Finally, the specimen was sent to Alberta Research Council (in
Canada) for three-dimensional scanning with their Computed-Tomography
imaging system. All figures mentioned in this article are displayed
and explained in an on-line album at: http://www.wretch.cc/album/album.php?id=lin440315&book=21
Photos in the album are mostly arranged in the order of big material
to small material in the photos.

Results

Major findings in the study of the material include:

1.      Fig. 1-1-4 shows the object was discovered exactly as in the
picture, still partially embedded in the rock. The object articulated
to the “rock”, which might be other remains of the same limb.
2.      Fig. 1-1-5 , Fig. 4-1-1, Fig. 4-1-2  show Haversian canals, which
are found only in a compact bone’s osteons. Fig. 3-1-3 shows remains
of soft blood vessels, an osteocyte and a Haversian canal.
3.      Plentiful scarlet red blood cell remains were found on the
transverse sections of the specimen (Fig. 4-2-3, Fig. 4-2-4, Fig.
4-2-5). The red blood cell remains are round, concave and anucleate,
some as large as eight micrometers in diameter
(Fig. 4-2-1).
4.      The subject material is nearly straight, round and slender (Fig.
1-1-1, Fig.1-3-2), measuring 3. 3 centimeters in diameter at mid-shaft
(where the specimen was cut for making thin sections, Fig. 2-2-4). Its
surface shows remains of soft tissues
(Fig. 1-4-2), such as a tendon ( Fig. 5-2-2, Fig. 3-1-4, Fig. 3-4-4).
SEM Fig. 3-1-4 show the transverse side of the tendon with fascicles
containing bundles of collagen fibrils. Such soft tissues are also
found on a femur bone of a Java Man (Fig. 2-2-5)

5.      The top side of the specimen (the superior aspect, the terminal
surface at the uncut end) (Fig. 2-2-3) contains plentiful remains of
hyaline cartilage cells (Fig. 3-3-1, Fig. 3-3-2) near its center and
edges. Those cell remains point to a growth plate (Fig. 3-2-1, Fig.
3-1-5) that was still active before the bone died. The subject
material also bears close resemblance to the proximal end of a right
femur of Peking Man ( Fig 2-3-1). The previous figure also shows the
Peking Man’s right femur has no head at the proximal end. In fact,
dead femurs of adolescent animals are often found broken at the growth
plates, as those growth plates were less rigid and not completely
ossified before adulthood.

6.      A femur’s lesser trochanter was found at the uncut end of the
specimen
(Fig. 2-1-2, Fig. 2-2-2, Fig. 5-4-1). Based upon findings mentioned
above, the author identified the subject material as part of a right
femur with a mixed-color posterior surface( Fig. 1-1-1) and a black
anterior surface(Fig. 1-3-2). The anterior surface is smooth while the
posterior surface is covered with a thin layer of soft tissue
remains.

7.      The maximum length of the femur before death should have been 52
centimeters approximately according to the following calculation:
Maximum length of the femur = the sum of (A) and (B)
(A) the length of the material found in situ;
   (B) the length of the missing head and neck at its proximal end;

   A: 44 centimeters ( 17.5 inches as measured by its discoverer)
   B: 8 centimeters, as measured from an educational model of femur
from the top of the femur head to the base of the femur neck.

   Hence, the maximum length of the femur should have been 44+8=52
   centimeters.

Discussion/Questions and Answers

1. Could it be a rock, a plant, a collection of microbes, pollens,
invertebrate animals in origin?

   No. Micrographs of the object show numerous rings of 6-8 microns
across ( like erythrocytes). Minerals at that size are called silts,
which are all flaky (in 3-dimension) and angular (in 2-dimension), not
rounded like red blood cells. The cells of plants are usually
rectangular in shape and much larger in size (about 20-30 microns
across). Microbes are smaller in size (about one to five microns in
length). Pollens are much larger, over 80 microns across. Invertebrate
animals don’t have Haversian canals, which are found only in compact
bones.

2. Could someone bury it there recently?

   No. The environment surrounding the object is shown on the object’s
surface, no matter it was above ground or under ground. The ...

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