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Showing results for tags 'cetacean'.
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Identification of Whale/Dolphin/Cetacean fossil skull fragment
bluefish1766 posted a topic in Fossil ID
Hi all I purchased this cetacean skull fragment from a person who collected it in South Carolina many, many years ago. She said that she found it specifically in the ACE basin (Ashepoo, Combahee, Edisto Basin) while diving. I want to see if anyone can help me identify the species. I figure it's a cetacean skull, likely from an odontocete (?sperm whale or relative), and possibly consists of the premaxillary bones (with the large fossa for the melon) and others. I've included a number of photos. It measures 16 in long, 8 in wide, and 7 in tall and weighs over 13 lbs. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Hi folks. I found this in a river in south Georgia where there are miocene/eocene fossils. Cetaceans are found here fairly regularly. The flat portion is broken in a weird way, but I'm thinking maybe this is part of a scapula? Thanks very much for looking at it.
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Hi all, I found these bones at Bayfront Park/Brownies Beach on my most recent trip. The formation is the Calvert Formation, Miocene, approximately 18-22 million years old. Here are my best guesses: #1: Piece of cetacean rib bone #2: Some part of cetacean flipper/hand? #3: Cetacean digit/phalange #4: Piece of sirenian (dugong) rib bone If there are any bone experts willing to lend a hand in these identifications, I would very much appreciate it. Even if you're not an expert, please let me know if you have a better idea about what these truly are. Thanks in advance.
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And so I return with another question about a particular, probably cetacean, bone. In my last adventure, we ascertained that a piece of bone, with cylindrical resemblances, was from a rib. With how little curve it had along it's length, I suspect it was from a large creature. I also have another interestingly shaped/textured bone fossil from the same general, Miocene, area in Bakersfield. As you can see, the glued specimen is a bit over 150mm in length, and sits about 70mm wide(tall?). One side is very flat along the length of the piece. Since it has what appear to be termination points, I figure that a general ID for body position might be possible. This is where I again go to thinking a possible jaw part. Like perhaps the rear portion of a mysticete lower jaw? I know, there I go again. As I said, the texture is not smooth like the rib I was given. It's got a lot of bumps and shallow crags around the curved portions. Thanks ahead of time for any input on possible ID. Cheers.
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Greetings, all. Recently a friend gave me a rather large chunk of fossil bone from the Shark Tooth Hill area of Bakersfield. While originally we thought it might be a rib bone, I now think that it being so straight for the length it is, as well as the larger radius, that it might be a piece of a jawbone. Perhaps a partial jaw of a Miocene baleen. Mysticete? Perhaps there's no way to tell? Any opinions are appreciated. Thanks ahead of time. Cheers.
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Hey all, The Calvert Cliffs have been falling left and right recently. Countless cliff slides have led to plenty of new material becoming accessible on the beaches, but the unstable cliffs also call for extra caution. I decided to return to my favorite winter hunting location, Bayfront Park, to try and take advantage of the cliff falls. I thought it would be a good opportunity to film my first YouTube video, which I have been wanting to do for a while, so I brought my new handheld camera mount. Peak low tide was exactly at sunrise, so I woke up at 4 a.m. in order to arrive at the beach before then. Early mornings can be rough, but if you're getting up to do something you love it's a whole lot easier. When I got to the parking lot, it was still very dark and I actually had to use my phone's flashlight to hunt for the first few minutes before the sun began its ascent into the horizon. It was a very cloudy day, so unfortunately I wasn't treated with one of the gorgeous Brownies sunrises. Within 10 or 15 minutes or searching, I found one of the biggest teeth I've ever found at Brownies, a huge 2 inch mako in perfect condition. That's when I knew it was going to be a good day. Not too long after that, I stumbled across a circular object slightly covered by sand. It looked like it could be some kind of vertebra or possible a "cookie" (dolphin epiphysis), but there was only one way to find out. When I tried pulling it out, it didn't budge. I pulled harder. As it still wouldn't come out, I realized it must be much larger than it appeared on the surface. Throwing aside the rock next to it, I finally pulled out a beautiful cetacean vertebra! I've always wanted to find one, especially after running into a guy who found a dozen of them on my last Brownies trip, so I was ecstatic. I continued finding some very nice teeth. I also found another cetacean vertebra, this time a very different shape but in very good condition. Despite the harsh temperature and dangerous cliffs, there were quite a few other hunters out on the beach. At one point I ran into a man who had found two perfects Megs, each one about 2 inches. I hoped to find one for myself, but had no such luck. Regardless, I was extremely content with everything I found and began to make my way back to the car. This trip was one to remember, not only because of the awesome finds, but also the fun experience of filming the video. I kept this trip report rather short, because the video covers the detail I usually go into, and then some. Anyway, I've wanted to become a fossil hunting YouTuber pretty much ever since I began hunting, but I just never really got around to it until now. I love watching YouTubers like @addicted2fossils, and I hope others will find my videos to be entertaining and educational as well. I've posted the link to my video below, and I would really appreciate it if you would take a second to like the video, leave a comment, and subscribe to my channel. I'll be putting out many videos like this in the future. I have some very exciting trips coming up, including hunting at a private creek site and going to the annual Aurora Fossil Festival in NC! Stay tuned. Hoppe hunting!
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Hello all, So i've recently come into the possession of this chunk of bone, and based on the size, porosity, and locality (York River State Park) I believe it's a whale bone (Miocene-Pleistocene in age, likely a mysticete). My question is, which bone exactly is it? It seems to have some fairly distinctive features that seem to lend towards identification, but after around two days of research i'm stumped. I'm thinking it could be anything but some vertebral element, but i'm not sure. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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1. Isurus desori: Awesome Mako, just shy of two inches. One of my largest teeth from Bayfront Park. Found within 10 or 15 minutes of stepping foot on the beach. 2. Notorynchus primigenius: Very nice cow shark tooth. Small ding on the first cusp, but mostly complete and a decent size. 3. Cetacean Vertebra: My first whale vert! This lumbar vertebra was completely buried in the sand, with only the very top exposed. 4. Hemipristis serra: Really cool snaggletooth with nice colors and perfect serrations. Could be either an upper or lower, hard to tell. Most likely upper. 5. Cetacean Vertebra: Another whale vert! This one is an atlas vert, and like the first was found almost completely buried. Very much intact, maybe even museum quality. Please cast your vote! The poll ends at 1:00 p.m. EST. Also, if you haven't already, be sure to check out my YouTube video so you can see these fossils as they were found! The link to the video is in my most recent trip report, titled "Bayfront Park 03/02/19: First YouTube Video"
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I found this a few days ago along the Virginia side of the Potomac River along a miocene cliff. It's mostly if not all Choptank formation. Any ideas about a genus? Grid is in inches. Looks like maybe mature dolphin tailbone, but it's so small???
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Fossils on Wheels got our first donations of fossil materials for our education program this week. My son and I have donated some of our fossils and loaned the rest. Since we are applying for a 501c3, we have to keep careful track of our fossils. IF they are paid for by Fossils on Wheels money, they belong to Fossils on Wheels. If they are purchased with our money, we donate and loan. Donations belong to Fossils on Wheels, not my son and I. I think that clarification is a good thing to let people know about because donations come from our new friends private collections and they are given with the intention of being used for education and given to the kiddos we educate. My son and I do not sell fossils. Fossils on Wheels will not be legally able to sell fossils. We will also not be trading donated fossils. They are strictly for education purposes. If you do donate fossils, we can track how they are used and verify where they end up. We had two donations this week and we want to thank our donors. The first donation was from @JBMugu and included a lot of shark teeth and mammal bones from Sharktooth Hill a.k.a Round Mountain Silt. Most of the teeth will be given to students from Paradise and Chico schools. A small number will stay in the program for shark tooth ID labs. A couple dozen of the teeth are headed to the Gateway Science Museum as a separate donation. The mammal bones will be used in our intermediate school education programs that focus on classification and evolution. All of these fossils, except for one ear bone, will be used for hands on exploration of fossils. The ear bone, I think it is from a small Odontoceti, will be used as a presentation piece for the evolution lab. We also got a donation of some super cool shark teeth from @caldigger and information explaining some of the differences in the fossilization process and why different fossils from different locations look different. We do want to explore the process of fossilization and how geology lets us learn about the natural history of the planet. This donation included a super cool split tooth that shows in the process perfectly. These teeth are for the presentation and the kids will get to handle a few of them in ID labs as well. We just wanted to thank our donors and to let our fellow TFF members know how much these donations help us with our goal is bringing fossil education to our local children. The first picture is various verts from STH. The large one, bottom left, is a cetacean. It looks very similar to a couple of Tiphyocetus verts from STH that i have. There is another large one which I would think would be cetacean. The smaller mammal verts I am not sure about. There is also a shark vert. Second picture is STH shark teeth. There C. hastalis, planus, plus a few tiger sharks and a few I am unsure about right now. Some still have STH dirt on them and I am thinking about having kids clean them during a lab. The third picture is the shark teeth from @caldigger including our first Pygmy White Shark teeth from morocco, some beautiful mako teeth and a few others that I need to ID.
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Found a bone piece, maybe 2 1/2" at its longest, solid and heavy for its size. The 'bottom' is partly "stippled" (not part of the atlas vertebra, as I learned here recently). Different textures on different sides, the small protuberance is remarkable for the number of holes and channels (for blood vessels? nerve bundles?), at least one passing straight through. @Boesse you seem to be the acknowledged expert here. Do I have enough and are the photos (sorry!) clear enough to guess at an ID?
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This is a fossil of unknown origin, it was allegedly found burried in sand near the shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia; or possibly on the banks of the James River. The previous owner believed it to be an intervertebral disc of some kind of whale. It is clearly fossilized and has some areas encrusted with a sand like mineral. It also has a few spots where a shiny black mineral has been deposited. Can anyone provide an identification and possible an estimated age?
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My friend found a couple of interesting bone pieces while digging at Ernst Quarries last weekend. In the same hole, she found what may be two small cetacean periotic bones, as well as a small dolphin tooth. All three are included included in associated images. She wasn't digging a particularly large hole, so I can't help but wonder if they are all from the same animal. While there may be no way to tell, the possibility is intriguing to this newbie's mind. Of course, I may even be wrong about my ID of the bones. Any input regarding the donor species, etc., is greatly appreciated. Cheers.
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From the album: Calvert Cliffs
Choptank Formation Virginia Miocene Photographed exactly as found, with brilliant, polished surface when dry! Collected on private property with permission. -
Guessing a dolphin?
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- cetacean
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Hi Folks, I rediscovered this jaw fragment in my Collection recently and I thought You all on the forum may be able to ID this robust specimen. It measures in at 3.40” and is quite wide at about an inch. I found it at Brownies beach a few years ago as float material down here Calvert County MD. Regards Cliff Dweller
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Hello everyone. Recently I went down to a fossil site in Beaumaris Australia and came home with some nice pieces of cetacean bone. As I was about to head home I found quite a large piece sticking out of the sand. When I took it home I tried cleaning it with hot water and a sponge, removing some of the junk off of it but not all of it. How should I go about removing the white algae/plant junk on it? The fossil is very sturdy. Thanks, Daniel
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Again in an own thread because I couldn´t add tags to old thread New print from the same source as this https://3d.si.edu/model/fullscreen/p1b-1474716020541-1478115462584-0 Odobenocetops! I planned to reconstruct all missing parts but stoped after the tusks because anything postcranial would become even more speculative than the missing skullparts. I´ll leave it as a fossil replica rather than a recontruction. Painting will follow.
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Any thoughts? Found on a beach in Rhode Island. 6 inches long. Worn pretty smooth but some areas showing what may be cancellous texture. Thank you!
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As request by WhodamanHD, here is a post of my recent sperm whale tooth find from Brownies Beach over the weekend and some other cetacean teeth. I also included a very cool red squalodon tooth I found at Stratford hall along with another tooth which I believe is also Squalodon. I like how the Squalodon tooth is split in half, I wouldn't have found it if I didn't notice what looked like a root of a tooth underwater. I also included a cool dolphin vertebrae I found at Stratford Hall
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Found today, near the peace river in Arcadia, my guess is whale tooth? *Sigh* one day, I may find a whole one?
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I possess three vertebrae from Calvert county (I think they are all from plum point which I believe is Calvert formation, miocene) all cetacean. One of them is strange to me and I was wondering if anyone knew the answer to these questions: •why does it have such a large spinal cord opening (pardon my lack of anatomically accurate terms) is this because of placement or species? I vaguely remember it being called a porpoise vert. • the other two possess a channel at the bottoms but this one dosent, why is this so? The first picture is the vert I speak of. Thanks!
