Search the Community

I found this in the Aurora Fossil Museum dig pits, so it’s likely Pungo River formation (Miocene), although there’s a chance it could be Yorktown formation (Pliocene). Any idea what it is? My best guess is some sort of jaw bone, maybe from a fish.

I found this bone in reject dirt of the North Carolina Nutrien Mine. It’s most likely Miocene Pungo River material, although Pliocene Yorktown formation could be possible. I think it’s a skull fragment of a cetacean, but it has some unique prominent ridges that I think may make it identifiable (or perhaps it’s not). I’m really curious as to what this ridges are, haven’t seen anything like it before. Any ideas?

I posted this originally in the “questions and answers” forum, but I think it fits better under fossil hunting trips since it discusses finds: What are some of the best fossil bones people have dug out of the Aurora Fossil Museum Pungo River dig pits? The actual reject pile DIG PITS, not the mine before it closed. There are some nice fossils to be found there, but I’m curious if anyone has ever managed to find for example a complete rib, or a vert. with all its processes, or a full-on cetacean jaw bone, or by some miracle an entire skull. Most fossils from the pits are somewhat beat up at a minimum, just curious what the ceiling for quality is from the dig pits for bones.

This past summer I found this bone at the Miocene Pungo River dig pits of the Aurora Fossil Museum. The bone matches the shape of the end of a crocodile pubis from what I have seen online. Crocodile material isn’t common from there, but I know it’s occasionally found. Does this look like a correct ID? The bone doesn’t match anything cetacean that I’m aware of, too thin to be a limb bone or rib head, not the right shape for a phalanges or vertebral process as far as I can tell.

Soooo a few days ago new material was dumped at the Aurora Fossil Museum. Well, I made the trip there before the Saturday crowds, and was well rewarded!!! These were the best finds of the day =p btw the stuff underneath the shark verts are 2 stingray spines, a filefish vert, a burrfish bone, a beat up dolphin jaw bone, and what I think is some type of fish skull cap

2017 AURORA FOSSIL FESTIVAL AND TFF MEMBER MEET UP The 24th Annual "Aurora Fossil Festival" will be held this Friday through Sunday, May 26 - 28, 2017, in Aurora, NC. There will be a parade down Main Street at 1100 am on Saturday morning, educational displays at the Community Center from 1000 am - 4 pm Saturday, Paleontology Lectures going on throughout the day Saturday AND fresh piles of overburden from the Lee Creek Mine dumped around town, ripe and ready for screening and fossil hunting all weekend. Multiple piles of "FRESH" matrix will be near / adjacent to the Aurora Fossil Museum. There will also be a Live Fossil Auction starting at 3 pm on Saturday, lasting until........... If you have never been, you should definitely plan a trip. If you have never had the "privilege" of hunting Lee Creek Mine matrix, this is your chance for FRESH / VIRGIN material. (Items up for auction can be seen at the Aurora Fossil Museum's Facebook page, link below.) In addition, numerous TFF Members will be attending / displaying / speaking at the festival. It's a great time to put a face with the screen name. Here is what you need to know: Aurora Fossil Museum - Facebook Page and website: https://www.facebook.com/Aurora-Fossil-Museum-344894278856425/ http://aurorafossilmuseum.org/ I will have my laptop and camera with me and will be updating this post in "semi"-real time with photos and information from the Festival. Any TFF Members at the Festival can stop by and see me on the porch of the Community Center and I will let you use the camera and laptop to log in and post your own photos / info. If you see someone walking around in a T Rex costume, that should be Mrs. SailingAlongToo. For those Members who can't make it, check back on this post regularly on Saturday for the updates. I for one am looking forward to Dr. Perez's talk on Cookiecutter Sharks!!!! Hope to see / meet as many TFF Members as possible!!! Cheers, Jack