Reference Collection

I learned from Dr Parris at the NJ State Museum that having a reference collection is a very useful tool in identifying bones. The museum has an extensive reference collection of modern bones. Every time I take a fossil in for identification the first thing Dr Parris does is go to the basement and bring back bones which may be similar. Usually after a few minutes of careful comparison we arrive at a reasonable conclusion as to which kind of animal the bone belonged. He's also an expert at spotting new bone which may look old and I haven't been able to fool him yet.

This area is rural and the woods provide a good assortment of animal bones. Deer and ground hog bones are very common as well as racoon and possum, cat and dog. The turtle shell in the photo I found under the crawl space of the back of the house built about the time of the Civil War, also the deer antler well chewed by mice and rats. The deer skeleton is of a young deer about a year old.