Harry Pristis Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Who recognizes this bone? It's small, but complete. It's almost certainly Pleistocene, probably Late Pleistocene. Florida. Name the taxon to which it belongs, and you'll have a clue to the name of the bone. Identify the bone, and you'll have a clue to the taxon. It's the bone that's interesting. No guessing at the taxon based on on size alone. tag: quiz, bone, vertebrate http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Who recognizes this bone? tag: quiz, bone, vertebrate PrehistoricFlorida recognises that bone I'll bet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted July 8, 2011 Author Share Posted July 8, 2011 PrehistoricFlorida recognises that bone I'll bet Nate probably has seen a few of these bones. I have probably seen more than I picked up -- these bones are so nondescript, I'm sure that I missed an occasional example. But, that is not to say that these bones don't have a significance beyond "just another nondescript bone." There's something special about these bones. And, just because this example is from Florida, don't imagine that collectors couldn't find a homolog in Eurasia, Africa, South America, or even New York. So, keep plugging away at this. Maybe Richard Hulbert knows about such bones; or, you could look in your old college comparative anatomy textbook. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted July 8, 2011 Author Share Posted July 8, 2011 There were more than 1.9 million hits on a google search just now for this bone in this species. A similar bone from the Santa Fe River was sold on eBay in April for $12.05 plus $3.00 shipping. Here's the bone again with the equivalent bone (a homolog) from a much-earlier, not-closely-related animal. What is the bone? http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrehistoricFlorida Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 PrehistoricFlorida recognises that bone I'll bet Nate probably has seen a few of these bones. I have probably seen more than I picked up -- these bones are so nondescript, I'm sure that I missed an occasional example. I agree, these are easy to overlook. www.PrehistoricFlorida.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 I agree, these are easy to overlook. Thanks for your restraint, Nate. But, it seems no one else has an idea about this bone. Please go ahead and tell the forum what the bone is and why it is special. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 hey wait, I'll try... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Hamate bone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Ground sloth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkbyte Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 My guess is a bone from the area of the PATELLA but to what animal I am not sure. Maybe an EQUUS MAGNUM. As a second guess if the first is wrong, I would say CALCANIUM as a long shot. Again no clue as to the animal that toted it around originally. Bobby P/S The guessing game is pretty cool and educational. Especially if we see the correct answer. Post a new one when this one is cracked. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Confucius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Name the taxon to which it belongs, and you'll have a clue to the name of the bone. Identify the bone, and you'll have a clue to the taxon. Hamate from a peccary (Platygonus sp.)? "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkbyte Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Hamate from a Tapir. (PIG-HAMate part of your clue???) "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." - Confucius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 (edited) The hamate is a human-only carpal (wrist bone) known in other vertebrates as an "unciform." No, this is not a hamate, nor an unciform, nor a ham bone. The conundrum bone is a scapholunar - a carpal from a dire wolf. The scapholunar represents two bones which have coalesced into one. In the wrists of other vertebrates there are two bones: the scaphoid and the lunar. The significance of this coalesced bone lies in the fact that all modern carnivora have a scapholunar instead of two separate bones. If you find a scapholunar, you've found a carnivoran fossil. "Modern carnivora" means those fissipede carnivorans which arose in the Oligocene and Miocene from their miacid ancestors. (Miacids had the two bones configuration.) Creodonts (hyaenodonts in the Oligocene of the U.S.A. Midwest) had two bones. So, the inference is that you can find a scapholunar almost anywhere you can find carnivoran bones of Oligocene age or younger. The amphicyonid scapholunar more resembles an ursid (bear) scapholunar than that of a canid. It is one of the reasons these these animals are represented as "loping" rather like a bear runs. It is one of the features that led to calling amphicyonids "bear-dogs." Thanks to all who participated! Edited July 10, 2011 by Harry Pristis 2 http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Good information, Harry, engagingly presented. Thank you. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siteseer Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Hi Harry, I have been meaning to get photos of something for you for years. It's from the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed (approx. 15 million years old). It's the right size and shape for a scapholunar of Allodesmus, the extinct pinniped well-known from the layer. Specimen is 6.6 cm along its longest dimension @Harry Pristis Jess 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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