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Here is a series of five images showcasing some of my finds from the first hunt through the Merritt Island matrix. I have just begun to study the fossils in this intriguing matrix, and hope that I haven't got too many wrong. There are so many possibilities when you find a bone in this stuff. It might be mammal, or reptile...amphibian, or even fish. The variety is one thing I wanted to showcase. Of course, the amphibian fossils are the really exciting finds, but they are the most difficult to identify. These images will be featured on episode 5 of 'Fossil Hunters'. continued in next reply

Could this be a bat molar?

I don't even know what to say to describe this one. The only think I could think of is come kind of scute/scale.

Surprise, surprise, surprise...I'm at a loss again! I'm guessing jaw part or fish spine of some sort? As always, your assistance is GREATLY appreciated. Lori

More from Sacha's Merritt Island micro matrix...anyone out there know what this is? Thanks much!

Hi all, Here is another fun find from Sacha's Merritt Island matrix. As usual, I don't have a clue as to what kind of tooth it is (or maybe it's a claw?). The area around the base of the tooth reminds me of something you'd see at the base of an antler. Sorry parts of the specimen are a little blurry in the photo. It was hard to decide what part to focus on. I looked up every carnivore I could think of and came up with nada. Any help would be greatly appreciated! As a side note, I would like to extend a special thanks to Julianna, Marco Sr, Tony, and PA Fossil Finder for posting all your wonderful photos. It is super helpful!

Just started going through the Merritt Island matrix I received from Sasha, and came across this odd little bone. It is broken on one end, but I hope there is enough here for an ID. I looked through older posts, but didn't see anything similar. Any ideas?

Julianna's (Old Bones) and Marco Sr's threads which included photos of their finds from the Frog Toe matrix, were brought to the attention of Richard Hulbert at the University of Florida. He was very interested and indicated that he would like to review a sample and, in fact, had a member on staff who dealt only with vertebrate micro fossils. I sent him a medium flat rate box for review and he quite quickly afterwards responded. John, it was as good as advertised. Quite a few good Sigmodon teeth, although predominantly with heavy wear, as well as one good Peromyscus tooth. There were a number of vole/muskrat teeth but they were all broken. Also a few lizard jaws and plenty of rodent postcranial bones. Collection information was provided to him so he could catalog the finds into the university system. I sent the last box of matrix I currently have for additional review. I'll keep passing samples to the University as long as they request it, but they have asked if they could visit the site and perhaps take a class there. I have not had a chance to collect more matrix, but intend to do so as soon as weather and schedule permits. I have every intention of making some of this matrix available to FF members later in the year when these investigations either reach maturity or interest wains.

Pleistocene ray, fish, salamander, frog, snake, lizard and mammal specimens from matrix from the Melbourne Bone Bed from the Indian River, Florida. I want to thank John Sacha for supplying the matrix. This matrix was basically shells with fossil specimens. This was an extremely interesting matrix to search because of the large number of mammal and small reptile specimens. It also contained a good amount of amphibian specimens which I haven’t seen before in matrix. There were marine specimens also like fish specimens but the shark teeth were pretty beat and there were only a couple of ray specimens. Julianna has made extensive posts on Merritt Island micros. This post does contain some additional/different examples of specimens from the matrix. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/57198-merritt-island-florida-pleistocene-fossils/ http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/59507-merritt-island-florida-pleistocene-fossils-part-2/ http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/60385-merritt-island-florida-pleistocene-fossil-photos/ If you mouse over the pictures you will see the file name which has the specimen size and my best effort at identification. If you can identify anything further or you see id errors please contribute to this post. Below is a gem jar display which shows some of the nicer specimens that I found. Clique the photo to see an enlarged version. The gem jar cups are 1.75 inches in diameter for size reference of the specimens. This is what is in each gem jar: 1 Lizard and snake vertebrae 2 Lizard and snake vertebrae 3 Interesting specimens that I need to id 4 Lizard jaws, mostly anole 5 Salamander vertebrae 6 Mammal teeth 7 Mammal teeth 8 Amphibian jaws (or don’t look like lizard) 9 Frog specimens 10 Mammal bones 11 Crab claw tips 12 Fish specimens (jaw fragments, teeth, scales, otoliths, and vertebrae) 13 Claws 14 Scales/Diodontid tooth plates 15 Ray tooth and barb 16 Scale/turtle shell fragments Below are some pictures of some individual specimens Ray: I found a single Dasyatis tooth: Fish: Otolith: Drum Tooth: Fish jaws/plates: Continued in the next reply. Marco Sr.

Sacha has sent me a new matrix to search. He collected it from a spoil island in the Indian River near Merritt Island, Florida. It is Pleistocene. This nice claw is just one of the finds I have made so far. It is much different from my mole claw from the Peace. Whose claw is it?