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Showing results for tags 'cetacean'.
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I found these in a creek in Summerville SC. I’m still new at this and not sure what they are exactly. Any help I’d appreciated.
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Hi found this vertabra on a beach near Los Angeles. Even though it is not a fossil I was wondering if anyone can ID it for me, I was thinking dolphin or porpoise but I’m not 100% sure. Thanks
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Found this bone over a week ago. When I pulled it up out of the river I wasn't sure it was even a bone. I did think it had enough interesting features to take it home and investigate further. After soaking and softening up sand and pebbles lodged in small openings I was able to clean it up a bit. At that point I started to see characteristics that made it look like another ear bone. A search of the web turned up what looks like a good comparison from the Charleston Museum website. They have a photo of an "undescribed mysticete cetacean" whale ear bone, an auditory bulla (object ID: PV2433). Here is their photo: The following photos are of the specimen I retrieved from the Peace River. It measures 58mm x 57mm x 20mm (thick) Seems like I have been asking @Boesse for his input on just about every post lately. I hope he can find the time to opine once again. Thanks in advance. Jim W.
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Neutron scanning results of suspected sperm whale teeth in concretion (10+ teeth)
mamlambo posted a topic in General Fossil Discussion
A while back I found a concretion containing some rather large teeth. The area was a mid-Miocene coastal deposit here on the South Island of New Zealand. These were my largest teeth yet so I was rather excited, tempered a bit by the fact that it was in a very, veeery hard concretion. I got in contact with Dr Joseph Bevitt at ANSTO where they had a nuclear reactor and are able to do neutron scanning. The instrument is called the Dingo: https://www.ansto.gov.au/our-facilities/australian-centre-for-neutron-scattering/neutron-scattering-instruments/dingo Neutron scanning is needed as it would be able to penetrate this rock where x-rays would have a harder time giving an image with enough contrast. From their website: After getting a temporary export permit from Heritage NZ, I sent the concretion over to ANSTO where it was scanned and then had to sit in a special vault for the radioactivity level to get back to a safe level. The result of the scan was a very cool video (link further below) as well as a stack of TIFF images which can be used to reconstruct a 3D model of the teeth inside the rock! Crazy!! One of the frames from the neutron scanning result: I tried to create the 3D model myself but didn't have the necessary skills, and this is where Andrew Cuff stepped in. He spent hours creating the 3D model which he sent to me. I then loaded the 3D model of the teeth into Blender and combined it with a 3D model (made with a RevoPoint 3D scanner) of the tooth concretion. The result is that you can see exactly where the teeth are INSIDE the concretion!! This is going to make prepping it so much easier. Also, check out Andrew's fossil hunting and prep videos: https://www.youtube.com/@dinoskool/videos Below is an image but have a look at the second video I linked below to see it in 3D, the 2D image doesn't do it justice Here is the video of my finding the concretion, getting it scanned and the resulting video clip: https://youtu.be/BllRDIIsPbw A video of the 3D model fitted into the concretion digitally showing the position of the teeth: https://youtu.be/SIfSAO39I3M
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Picked up another inner ear bone last week that looks to me like it could be another parietobalaena, (baleen whale). I have had the good fortune to have two Id'd by @Boesse. One in 2019 and one just last month. In comparing it to the 2019 find I think it is a match. I am hoping the good Doctor has the time to provide an ID on this one. If anyone else has an idea as to an ID their input would be appreciated. Thanks! First up the 2019 find: Now the latest, found last week. It measures - 40mm x 37mm x 29mm or 1 9/16" x 1 1/2" x 1 1/8"
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These are from multiple trips between 2022-2023. all from Calvert cliffs, each trip has something unique I would like assistance in identifying so for convenience's sake, I will refer to the items in alphabetical order relative to the numerical trip order. 1A 2B etc. Trip 1 1A pretty sure it is a crocodile tooth, Thecachampsa sp? 1B this is a bone that i found on the beach, im not sure if it's a cetacean atlas or skull fragment. but it's got this weird hole in it on one side. 1C clearly a cetacean vert. probably a juvie dolphin. i think so bc it doesn't have any fused epiphysis. id like to know what part of the spine this would have been on the animal. 1D maybe the wing of a vert? 1E is this anything? or just concretion 1F biggest fossil I've found yet by far! this massive chunk of whale jawbone. I am going to make a separate post in fossil prep to see about the best ways to clean it. 1G maybe a rib? i believe its a bone of some sort. i need to paleobond this one back together. Trip 2 2A definetely a tooth of some sort. not sure if its a croc or a cetacean since the enamel is worn 2B maybe a rib? or vert wing? 2C I think this might be a turtle shell, because its texture is not pronounced enough to be a cookie fragment. 2D maybe a skate osteoderm? 2E 2F 2G Sand tiger shark 2H crab claw with some sort of borehole? any other comments or ideas are as always, appreciated!
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Found land site. Wondering if it's possible to tell the species of whale? Thanks!
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Finally able to get back out on the Peace River, FL after the flooding has started to subside. Hunting with a friend earlier in the week and he came up with what I think is a caudal vertebra. Looking at numerous photos on line and in reference materials that is the closest I can come to an ID. Based on size I am thinking large mammal or whale. I'm not sure there is even enough of it left to allow for an ID. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The specimen measures 3 3/8th" wide x 3 1/2" long x 1 7/8th" tall.
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Here we go again! found in the same conglomerate facies of the Vaqueros is this weird tooth(?). To be honest I’m not even sure its tooth, could be a small piece of bone. BUT it does have an distinct piece of enamel(?) near one of the tips. Unfortunately rarely any teeth here have been found whole. But I will keep looking! hoping you people with more experience can help solve another mystery!
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I have found a few gator teeth in the past, but they have all just had a slight curve. Found one yesterday that curves up and to the side. Is this pathological, is it normal and I just typically don't see that much root, or could it be a croc? I know there is currently only one crocodilian native to South Carolina, and that is Alligator mississippiensis, but I can't find anything saying if there were crocs here in the Oligocene or Miocene, which is mainly what I find represented in this creek. It has two carinae, which I believe could mean gator or croc. I read that croc is more curved than gator, which is my only reasoning for that possibility. New tooth: Next to my "typical" gator tooth: Thank you!
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Found this in the water near the fossil beach of Westmoreland State Park in Va. Seems like a whale / dolphin bone, but what part? Is it a vert piece? As always, thanks for the help.
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Swimming with the the mega-toothed sharks of NJ
steviefossils posted a topic in Fossil Hunting Trips
Hello everyone. I'm making my rounds across my different groups and forums, so if anyone has seen these photos before you'll have to suffer through them again. From June through the end of August I locked in on a concentrated area of sand tigers, makos, and my favorite mega-tooth shark: Otodus auriculatus. I didn't find one every trip out, but my most plentiful day gifted me 3, and my last trip out provided me with the largest tooth I have ever recovered from the garden state. I battled minuscule mosquitoes and a horsefly that was every bit horse as it was fly. Despite nature's best attempts to discourage me I persevered and wound up with 10 Otodus auriculatus teeth, a few decent makos, one whole and one half O. chubutensis, and a particularly nice cetacean tympanic bulla (ear bone). For anyone new to collecting there is disagreement over whether to classify the genus as otodus vs. carcharocles, but whether you go by O. auriculatus vs. C. auriculatus, we are discussing the same species. I enjoy collecting them not only due to their size, but because of the wide variation in shape, as well as their wicked serrations. You will find a picture of my rics down below. Additionally you will see a picture of a cetacean inner ear bone, either a whale or dolphin (as an aside dolphins are whales! but I digress). From my reading, there is no correlation between the size of a cetacean ear bone and the size of the animal it came from, still, my one and only mammal fossil that I am proud to have found. These finds are the culmination of many hours out in the field, and many more reading papers, talking with my friend, and my back begs me to reiterate, many, many hours in the field. While better quality and larger teeth have been found (many by my friend) they've given me hope that I may be able to find some exceptional pieces in the future. I've included a close-up of my larger ric as it shows its color with greater accuracy. The smallest ric is the most well preserved of the group, as smaller teeth often are. Thanks for viewing, Steve
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Was at flag ponds today looking for fossils in the Calvert formation. This looks like a cetacean rib fragment? Dolphin/porpoise? Thanks all.
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From the album: Fin Lover's South Carolina Finds
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So went back to the dry dig site today, hoping to find a 3”+ Meg. Did not find one. Did find 3 Megs, all under 2” though. And loooots of whale stuff. Tooth, ear bones, small verts. Also found some great Hemis, some horse teeth (3-toed? Pre-Equus? Not sure). Anyway, here we go: To start off, the Megs and Frags, happy with the complete Megs today, despite being small: Now all the Whale stuff! Tooth, ~3”, which is super cool: 2 ear bones: Allllll the bits of verts: Next up, the massive chunks of turtle shell I found: The horse teeth: Gomphothere teeth fragments: Misc Shark Teeth (+ Ray mouth plate that was multi-layered) I liked a lot, including a perfect, 1.6” Hemipristis Serra: And finally, the rest of the teeth I found: All in all came away with a bunch of fossils I really like, so a very productive day!
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Beyond thrilled at days 2&3 along port royal/beaufort area. Way more sharks teeth and bones
boonefrog posted a topic in Fossil ID
Here are my best guesses on the sharks teeth (1st 9 pics): (1) Hemipristis serra uppers pretty sure (2) all gray sharks? (3) tiger? (4) and (6) lemon/lower gray/others? (5) tiger-like? (7) ray (8) ??? (9) & (10) may include a major and lower snaggletooth but mostly stumped (11) most sand tiger with maybe a lower snaggletooth? (12) upper great white and 2nd is maybe an upper narrow or giant white because no serrations? (13) may not be able to ID (14) (15) (17) ??? (16) megs! For the bones (last 10 pics), I know much will be unidentifiable. I think there are some interesting shapes here and there. Pieces that look like a twig, ribs, some very wood-like stuff, etc.
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Found this tooth yesterday. I was thinking it could be dire wolf based on the root, just looks similar to a canine i found and the nutrient groove. But then the surface of the tooth isn't smooth, feels rough-ish so then was thinking cetacean maybe. Found in sarasota county. Any help is appreciated, thank you!! Pictures attached
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Greetings! I spotted this pair of Moroccan cetacean teeth for sale online. They are both labelled as being "Basilosaurus", which is likely the case for the thinner incisor , but I'm not so sure about the other, darker tooth. I'm thinking possibly Pakicetus due to the shape of the crown and the dual root. Probably a "cheek tooth" Thoughts? As for quality, the incisor looks probably frankensteined, Thoughts? Thanks for any assistance!
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Got back to the Peace River Fl yesterday. When I set off in the kayak at 0820 am it was breezy and a chilly 53* F. The wetsuit was definitely needed if I was going to stand in the river all day. The water was crystal clear and with the sun out it made for a beautiful day. I took some photos after the sun had risen enough to clear the overhanging trees and light up the water. I got back to the gravel bed I have been working on my last few visits and found it undisturbed. Its not off the beaten path and with the water so clear I had feared others might have noticed the gravel and started digging through it. It wasn't long before I came up with what was enough to make my day - a nice dolphin tooth! As usual I was getting many small shark teeth in every screen and this always keeps me encouraged as I dig for the next nice find. On this day that turned out to be a nice Armadillo Osteoderm. I was satisfied that if I found nothing more than small shark teeth for the rest of the day it was a great day on the river. But, alas, it was not to be. A little later a horse molar came up, then a dolphin periotic, followed by a camelid tooth. After a lunch break and a chance to warm up in the sun I got back to digging and came up with a tapir tooth crown, another horse molar, several turtle and tortoise leg spurs, four large chunks of giant tortoise shell, a small armadillo osteoderm, a large chunk of a limb bone, a cetacean vert, what may be a piece of tusk or horn, a possible astragalus and a couple of unknowns I will be trying to ID. Some photos of the overall finds: And some close ups: Camelid tooth Dolphin periotic- Tapir tooth crown: Cetacean Vert: The possible astragalus - if anyone thinks otherwise or can offer an ID as to species please chime in. The ruler is showing mm. A good and satisfying days work that left me tired, sore and happy I have the chance to do this as often as I like!
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Hello, I recently found this specimen on the California coast near Malibu. I was hoping someone could identify it for me. Thanks for your time!
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North Carolina Cretaceous or Pliocene Reptile or Cetacean Bones?
fossil_lover_2277 posted a topic in Fossil ID
So, I found these 5 bones, and firstly, I need to know if they are cetacean or not. If not cetacean, then they are likely crocodilian, mosasaur, or I guess possibly turtle. They come from North Carolina, either from marine Cretaceous Black Creek group deposits, or there is a chance they could be marine Pliocene (hence why I would like to either confirm or rule out cetacean if possible). The area they come from is mostly Cretaceous, but I have found a few Pliocene shark teeth there, and stratigraphic maps show nearby Pliocene stratum, so I’m not totally sure (the area is in Cretaceous stratum on the map, but Pliocene is close by). These bones have distinct shapes so I think they may be IDable...but on my own I’m lost. Thank you for any help you can provide!!!!! Bone 1 (pretty sure it’s a rib): Bone 2: Bone 3: Bone 4 (I think this one is a rib too): Bone 5:
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Found in Green Mill Run in Greenville, NC. Anyone have any ideas?
nature_tim posted a topic in Fossil ID
I feel like the larger is a cetacean, turtle, or *possibly* mosasaur? The little one I really have no clue.
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Hello everyone I found this small tooth yesterday diving in a SE US river spot that has only produced Miocene era materials so far: Shark Teeth-Megalodon, Carcharadon Hastalis (no Carcharadon Carcharias yet), Hemipristis Serra, etc.) and plenty of whale bone, verts, ear bones and teeth. I think this is a small dolphin tooth but I haven't seen one with a root that is pretty much perpendicular to the tooth like this. I've also attached a couple pics of the other stuff found yesterday for reference. Thanks for looking. Let me know if there is another angle that may help with ID.
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Hi All, It's been a while since I have posted, let alone gone collecting but I just had a really good trip down to the Matoaka Beach Cabins in St. Leonard, MD. Here you can pay $5 ($10 on weekends) to access their beach which gives you about 1/3 of a mile to explore. I went down on Tuesday the 14th since I had some time off from work. It coincided with an extremely slack tide which directly led to many of my best finds. No shark teeth unfortunately, except for two pieces that were just roots with the toothy part broken off. I did however clean up on Ecphora sp. and Cetacean bones as well as a couple of mollusks that are hard to collect. A view of the beach with a fall from last year. It's about 1/2 the size it was last year and will likely be even further reduced by this time next year. Such is the life cycle of the cliffs. A view of the cliffs straight on. I'm not positive but I believe the shell bed exposed is the Shattuck zone 18, Drumcliff member of the Choptank Fm. Above that is zone 17 which is the St. Leonard Member. Both are Miocene in age. I'm still digging into the ID of what I found so please correct me as needed. A specimen of Dosinia sp. with some of the original shell coloring preserved. I'm not yet sure who this is, but they are hard to collect intact as the matrix is very crumbly and so are the shells. I suspect this is from the St. Leonard Member of the Choptank F,. This is a small razor clam and is another tough one to collect because the shell is very thin so it doesn't erode out intact. Typically it just falls apart. Ecphora sp. in the water that you could see thanks to the slack tide. I found a bunch of these in different sizes and surprisingly intact. I found 3 Cetacean vertebrae in the shallows of the low tide with the largest one about 4" across (6" of you include the "wings") Oh yeah, then there was this odd limb bone, but I posted more pics of that over in Fossil ID. I also managed to get over to the Potomac and walk along the banks at Purse Creek Park. Nothing spectacular, but it was still fun. Maybe if the weather cooperates I can get another trip in before it gets too cold. Thanks for viewing! Dave
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Hello everyone I've got a collection of some random mammal (probably) bone/teeth IDs that I'm stumped on. The brown ones are from a southeast US river and the black ones are from dredge spoils from a different southeast US river. Both produce beat up isolated cetacean bones, ice age mammal bones and shark teeth. I find bones and teeth from the Miocene to modern. I always enjoy seeing what others find and try to guess what they are. Any guesses would be appreciated. Trying to get better at ID'ing fossils found out on trips and am curious how close I am. Attached are group photos of 10 bones that I'm guessing on (starting at the top going left to right) #1 Baleen whale jaw fragment? (Brown and thick) #2 Broken half of a mammal or alligator jaw fragment? (Grey/Black and thin with apparent different size/shape teeth sockets) #3 Fragment of giant sloth claw? (Black and thick with a curve) #4 ? (Brown and thick with a curve) #5 Horse Incisor? (Black and thin) #6 Fragment of Cetacean skull? (Brown and thick-originally thought was part of a mammoth tooth until I got a good look at it) #7 ? (Brown and thick) #8 Tiny Mastodon tooth fragment? (Brown and thick) #9 Fragment of Cetacean skull? (Black and thick) 10# Deer antler stump? (Black and thick) Thanks a bunch. If anything looks interesting enough for more photos, let me know. There are overall photos and then closer-up photos of the bones in groups of 2-3 by row.
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