Cookiecutter Creek micromatrix

[Monica]

Hello there!

 

Last year, Ken @digit generously gifted me with a bag of "Cookiecutter Creek" micromatrix and I finally found the time to search through it once!  The items are really small, but I did manage to find some stuff, and I'm looking for some help with identifications.  I don't think I found any cookiecutter teeth, but I did find some other interesting items - please let me know what you think - thanks!

 

Monica

 

I found quite a few "regular" tiny shark teeth, but here are two larger and more interesting ones:

 

Item #1: no idea

 

Item #2: Great white?

 

More to come...

 

[Monica]

I found quite a few ray plates and teeth, but here are a couple of different items that I'm assuming are still ray-related:

 

Item #3: The shape reminded me of a horse tooth, but it's way too tiny, so I'm assuming this is a worn ray plate.

 

Item #4: sting ray barb?

 

More to come...

[Monica]

Item #5: fish scale?

 

Item #6: alligator tooth?  or fish tooth?  It's not easy to see because it's so small, but there is a slight depression inside the tooth where the root would be.

 

More to come...

[Monica]

Item #7: no idea

 

Item #8: barnacle?  If so, it would be my first!

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

[grandpa]

10 minutes ago, Monica said:

Last year, Ken @digit generously gifted me with a bag of "Cookiecutter Creek" micromatrix

That @digit fella sure is a fine fellow! 

[digit]

Aw, dontcha go makin' me blush now.

 

CC Creek micro-matrix is some really magical stuff. I've found (and continue to find) some novel items from that locality and has provided me many a mystery to solve. When you find your first Cookiecutter Shark (Isistius triangulus) tooth, you'll know it. They are very flat and have square roots with a slot up the middle leaving it bilobed. There is a small nutrient pore (the "button hole") on the lingual side. On reasonably complete specimens, the thinner edge where the teeth overlap each other to form an interconnected tooth set should be visible as well. Often times the teeth are split from the tip to the base leaving just a left or right half and some times only the enameled crown is found. The crown is quite nearly the shape of an equilateral triangle (the source of the scientific name). Thin enamel along the edge is often transparent and sometimes shows fine serrations. When you come across potential specimens of this species, we eagerly await photos.

 

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/collections-database/chordata/sharks-rays/cookiecutter-shark-tooth-r336/

 

I've seen a lot of the micros from CC Creek and have a reasonable idea of what most things are but I too am still learning. Many micros look like miniatures of larger better known fossils (and some are just juvenile forms) but in many cases the resemblance may be nothing more than convergent evolution of form and function. Here's my best at identifying the items found so far:

 

#1: These pleasingly curved teeth which have symmetrical and slightly convex sides are barracuda teeth. There is also a form which have a bit of an S-curve to them and a pronounced bulbous tip. Do some internet searches for "barracuda teeth" and you'll see some toothy examples of fishes with the teeth still in place.

 

#2: Would be really cool to find a Great White tooth less than a centimeter but this is likely just the broken tip of a larger Carcharhinus tooth (like a Bull Shark or similar species). They are devilishly difficult to discern from complete teeth and likely impossible from a partial.

 

#3: I can see how the overall shape of these somewhat Pez Candy shaped items might also resemble the elongated shapes of horse molars with their ridges and furrows that make them almost look extruded but your assumption of ray pavement teeth is, in fact, correct. This is likely a worn pavement tooth from a myliobatid species of eagle ray. Curved tooth plates (usually broken) from eagle rays in the genus Aetobatus can sometimes be found but usually the straighter and smaller pavement teeth with the beveled ends forming a sort of stretched and elongated hexagon are the ones that turn up. This specimen is well worn and polished from tumbling around but you'll soon find more complete specimens where the flat and smooth upper (occlusal) surface can be distinguished from the root surface which is patterned with shallow furrows perpendicular to the length of the tooth giving it an almost "brush-like" appearance. In your specimen the wider surface is the occlusal crushing surface and the more narrow is the root side.

 

#4: Is indeed a barbed fragment of a stingray spine. These must be pretty fragile since they are always found as smaller fragments. The barbs along the edges of tail spine are angled away from the tip.

 

#5: Yup. Correct again! Most fish scales (cycloid and ctenoid) are made up of keratin (like fingernails) and don't generally preserve very well though I have found preserved (and delicate) ctenoid fish scales from the Montbrook site (5.5 Ma). Sharks (and other elasmobranchs) are covered with placoid scales--tiny bony toothlike projections covered with an enamel-like substance. I have found these in CC Creek micro-matrix but they are very small (~ 1 mm). The last major type of scale is called a ganoid scale. These are found in fairly primitive fishes (like sturgeons, bowfins, paddlefishes, gars, and even coelacanths). This scale type is named for ganoine--an inorganic bone salt that forms a hard glassy layer which helps to preserve these so they can be found. The rhomboidal-shaped ganoid scales found in CC Creek come from gar. They can get quite large and are one of Tammy's favorite items to spot when sifting for fossils on the Peace River or volunteer digging at the Montbrook site with the FLMNH.

 

#6: Again, a bit of convergent evolution of form and function happening here. Conical teeth work equally well for alligators and fishes to securely grasp prey items. I have found baby alligator teeth in CC Creek micro-matrix before (and they are always a welcome surprise to spot the little treasures). Gator teeth tend to be a bit more broad and they distinctively have a fine ridge running down either side of the tooth from the tip to the base of the crown on opposite sides. These "carinae" make the tooth look like it was popped out of a two-part injection mold. Your item is smaller than any gator teeth I've ever seen (though newborn gator teeth have to be pretty tiny). The lack of carinae and the distinctive enameled tip are characteristic of fish teeth. I've got a contact at the FLMNH who is slowly infusing fish tooth ID knowledge into my brain but unfortunately it is on a slow-drop IV and I have yet a lot to learn about the bony (osteichthyan) teeth that I find fossilized in CC Creek.

 

#7: Oh, there's that button that I lost--thanks for finding it for me. My colloquial name for these pharyngeal crushing teeth are "button teeth" due to the resemblance. Some of the larger ones that are often distorted out of round (packed tightly together on the crushing plate) which makes them slightly resemble corn kernels, are likely from drum fish (family Sciaenidae). An internet image search for "drum fish teeth" will return some interesting photos. Wrasse (family Labridae) also have pharyngeal crushing teeth as they too share diets of hard-shelled invertebrates. There are likely other families with pharyngeal "button" teeth that I cannot think of at the moment. I often call these (especially the larger ones) "drum fish teeth" but more properly they should likely be referred to as just "pharyngeal teeth". This is one of the mysteries I'm hoping to learn more about so I can make better identifications of the diversity of forms and sizes of these "button" teeth.

 

#8: Indeed! A tiny barnacle shell (possibly genus Balanus). Barnacles are fascinating arthropod creatures that have been described as a shrimplike animal that stands on its head and kicks food into its mouth with its feet--somewhat truthful and highly vivid description of these animals. Darwin studied barnacles after finding that not a single species had been properly defined. He toiled away for years working on these which led him to state: "I hate a Barnacle as no man ever did before, not even a Sailor in a slow-sailing ship."

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

[PaleoNoel]

#1: Barracuda tooth

#2:Either a small great white or Carcharias sp.

#3: Worn Ray plate

#4: Probably a stingray barb

#5: Gar scale

#6: I believe gar tooth (I have similar from the Hell Creek and Lance fm.)

#7: Drumfish tooth?

#8: Barnacle

[Monica]

Thanks for the identification help, @digit and @PaleoNoel!

 

So, the bad news is that I found no cookiecutter teeth during my first look through the micromatrix - hopefully my second look through will have a different result since I'd like to have a tooth for which the creek is nicknamed.   Wish me luck! 

[minnbuckeye]

Nice finds @Monica. Also excellent pictures. How did you photogragh those little "buggers"? That CCC matrix is sure fun to peek at. I look through about a handful of it a night. Any more than that results in a hurried scan. I am about half done with the matrix and have many more questions than you posed. So @digit, get ready!!!!

 

Mike

[Monica]

10 hours ago, minnbuckeye said:

Nice finds @Monica. Also excellent pictures. How did you photogragh those little "buggers"? That CCC matrix is sure fun to peek at. I look through about a handful of it a night. Any more than that results in a hurried scan. I am about half done with the matrix and have many more questions than you posed. So @digit, get ready!!!!

 

Mike

 

Thanks for the compliments, Mike!  There was no sun at all here yesterday, so it wasn't the ideal time to take fossil photographs, but I managed.  I used a windowsill for the photo shoot, and I used my Sony Cybershot camera set to "Superior Auto" and voila - decent photos of really small fossils! 

 

As for searching the CC matrix - because I'm on school holidays right now, I was able to dedicate much of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to the search.  I'm sure I missed some items so I'll be gong through it again - perhaps then I'll find a CC tooth? 

[digit]

Have you been through your entire bag of CC Creek micro-matrix once already? It is possible to miss things on the first pass but since I have access to more (though it is a long round-trip drive) I don't usually spend the effort to re-search previously picked gravel. Let me know if you have gotten to the bottom of your Cracker Jack box and haven't found the prize yet.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Monica]

18 minutes ago, digit said:

Have you been through your entire bag of CC Creek micro-matrix once already? It is possible to miss things on the first pass but since I have access to more (though it is a long round-trip drive) I don't usually spend the effort to re-search previously picked gravel. Let me know if you have gotten to the bottom of your Cracker Jack box and haven't found the prize yet.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

Hi Ken!

 

Yes, I have gotten through the contents of the entire bag, but I still have a week of Christmas vacation left, so I'm planning on looking through it once more.  I'll keep you posted...

 

Monica

[Monica]

I have some great news to share!!!

 

Ken was amazingly nice and sent me some more CC creek micromatrix on Monday and it arrived today, so as soon as I got home after watching The Nutcracker with the kids, Viola and I began searching it.  After a few platefuls of micromatrix, this is what I found:

My first Cookiecutter shark tooth!!!  I'm so happy!!!

 

Thanks SO much, Ken @digit!!!

[Randyw]

Congratulations! Nice looking specimen!

[digit]

Can't have someone putting in all that work and not scoring an Isistius triangulus. Glad this batch is proving more productive than the last. There have been Cookiecutter Shark teeth in all of the places in the creek I have sampled but rather than being very uniform in distribution they can be oddly "clumpy". I can go for some time without spotting one and then get several in a single plateful. None of these clusters of finds are in any way associated as they have had too much random shuffling in creekbed float to believe that related teeth maintain any proximity.

 

Glad you are finally part of the Cookiecutter Club. I'll be PMing you about the secret meetings and handshake.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[Monica]

Hey all (especially Ken @digit )!

 

I'm happy to say that I've found another whole Cookiecutter tooth and a half of one, so I'm up to 2.5 CC teeth - yay!!!

 

Here are a few more finds from the second batch of CC creek matrix that I received...any/all input is much appreciated!

 

Monica

 

First up - a couple of photos of Viola and William helping me search through the matrix - William now says that he likes shark teeth, so perhaps he'll end up being a fossil hunter, too ():

 

On to the finds...

 

Specimen #9: a fish vertebra?

 

Specimen #10: a dermal denticle from a ray?

 

Specimen #11: another fish scale?

 

More to follow...

 

[Monica]

Specimen #12: another fish scale? (this one is only shiny on one side, so it's a bit weird compared to the others)

 

Specimen #13: no idea - another fish tooth?

 

Specimen #14: a piece of bone?

 

Thanks so much!!!

[RuMert]

Micropaleontology is a whole world. Pity I'm too absent-minded to delve into it. I get lost in all those particles

Seems like Viola is much more interested in fossils

[digit]

Very nice! There may yet be hope for corrupting William. The kiddos look like they are having fun.

 

#9: Yup. Looks like a worn fish vert. I find many of them under my camera-scope that are only a millimeter or so across.

#10: Very nice ray dermal denticle--these always bring a smile to my face when I find them.

#11: Slightly broken (at the attachment point) ganoid gar scale doing a great impression of the world's smallest projectile point.

#12: Ditto. The gar scales tend to have a very shiny enamel-like outer surface.

#13: Nice root on that one. It's a porgy incisor. Do a search for "porgy teeth" and be prepared to be freaked out. Some of the "button" pharyngeal teeth likely come from this fish as well.

#14: I'd agree with that assessment--looks to be the end of a long bone.

 

If you still have the previously searched first batch, I'd consider going over it under magnification as more bits may reveal themselves. I often miss a bit but spot it at the last minute when it turns over to an angle that reveals its true nature. I've heard of folks doing a full second pass on micro-matrix and finding many missed specimens (though, hopefully, not as many as were found in the first pass).

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[fossilsonwheels]

Awesome. The CC micros are so much fun. Ken sent us some and the students loved it.    I love seeing your kiddos being put to work lol 

[Monica]

8 hours ago, RuMert said:

Micropaleontology is a whole world. Pity I'm too absent-minded to delve into it. I get lost in all those particles

Seems like Viola is much more interested in fossils

 

Viola is indeed much more interested in fossils than William, but hopefully he's turning over a new leaf - he was just as interested in searching the micromatrix as Viola was (which was a shock to me! )

 

5 hours ago, fossilsonwheels said:

Awesome. The CC micros are so much fun. Ken sent us some and the students loved it.    I love seeing your kiddos being put to work lol 

 

Viola and William were indeed working, but they were working for themselves since I said they can keep whatever they find, so they were pretty motivated.  We still have a bunch more micromatrix to go through so I'm sure they'll find lots of stuff to put into their respective baggies 

[Monica]

6 hours ago, digit said:

Very nice! There may yet be hope for corrupting William. The kiddos look like they are having fun.

 

#9: Yup. Looks like a worn fish vert. I find many of them under my camera-scope that are only a millimeter or so across.

#10: Very nice ray dermal denticle--these always bring a smile to my face when I find them.

#11: Slightly broken (at the attachment point) ganoid gar scale doing a great impression of the world's smallest projectile point.

#12: Ditto. The gar scales tend to have a very shiny enamel-like outer surface.

#13: Nice root on that one. It's a porgy incisor. Do a search for "porgy teeth" and be prepared to be freaked out. Some of the "button" pharyngeal teeth likely come from this fish as well.

#14: I'd agree with that assessment--looks to be the end of a long bone.

 

If you still have the previously searched first batch, I'd consider going over it under magnification as more bits may reveal themselves. I often miss a bit but spot it at the last minute when it turns over to an angle that reveals its true nature. I've heard of folks doing a full second pass on micro-matrix and finding many missed specimens (though, hopefully, not as many as were found in the first pass).

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

Thanks once again, Ken!  

 

I still have the first batch of micromatrix, and I plan on going through it one more time - perhaps over the March Break, when I have more me-time to exploit.

 

As for the fresh batch you sent - so far, there have been 2 sets of eyes that have searched the matrix because Viola has looked for stuff that I have missed, and I have looked for stuff that the kids have missed.  I will confess that the second whole and a half of the CC teeth I have found came from checking over William's plate of matrix after he was done with it.  Normally, I just add what I find to the respective kid's stash, but I just couldn't do that with the CC teeth so I kept those for myself.  Don't tell William  

[Monica]

On 1/3/2020 at 7:32 PM, Randyw said:

Congratulations! Nice looking specimen!

 

Thanks Randy!  I'm very happy with these cute little CC teeth! 

[Monica]

On 12/29/2019 at 1:30 PM, grandpa said:

That @digit fella sure is a fine fellow! 

 

He sure is!!! 

[digit]

On 12/29/2019 at 1:30 PM, grandpa said:

That @digit fella sure is a fine fellow! 

 

He sure is!!! 

 

 

 

Shhh! That's supposed to be a secret--it will (un)ruin my reputation.

 

 

I'm glad William has found the type of fossil hunting that sparks his interest. The boy's got a good attention to detail and maybe the other fossils were just too big and obvious for him.

 

If your husband suddenly start showing an interest in fossils, I'll suspect that there is something contagious going 'round.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken