A Study on a Possible Carboniferous Human Femur Fossil
             Last update: Jan. 18, 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, well preserved down to the microscopic level. The
subject material was still partially embedded in a 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 and round, with maximum
length estimated at approximately 57 centimeters , and mid-section
diameter of 3.3 centimeters; (2) It bears close resemblance to a right
femur of Peking Man; (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 bank, 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 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 a rock
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 in the same area in the past 28 years. 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  mining operations. He took three pictures of the object before
removing it from the surrounding rock. A Pennsylvania policeman
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 1).

Mr. 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, Mahanoy City and Hazelton 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 2) (Fig. 1-2-3). The
author had the specimen 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. 4-1-4  show Haversian canals, which
are found only in a compact bone's osteons. Fig. 3-1-3 shows remains
of soft blood vessels 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 and round (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. 3-4-4, Fig. 3-1-4).
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. 2-2-3, 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 57
centimeters approximately according to the following calculation:
Maximum length of the femur = the sum of (A), (B), and (C ) below:
(A) the length of the material found in situ;
   (B) the length of the missing head and neck at its proximal end;
   (C) the length of the missing condyle at its distal 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 head to the base of the neck.
   C: 5 centimeters, as measured from the above-mentioned femur model,
for the length of the condyle.

   Hence, the maximum length of the femur should have been 44+8+5=57
   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 author
expanded Fig. 1-1-4 by 500% and still saw ...

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