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Matrix finds quandary


caldigger

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I and others have been finding these in the matrix I've been collecting about a mile East of the Ernst Quarry in Bakersfield, California.  Mid. Miocene, Temblor Formation.

I have never found them from the Sharktooth Hill matrix I used to collect. 

Items all average about 3mm in diameter. Some sort of dermal denticle or fish scale?

I hope the phone picture is adequate. Any ideas?

20200112_182354.jpg

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Looks a bit like Discinisca, though i'm sure it's not and is probably some sort of denticle. 

I think i have a form of brachiopod pareidolia. 

What does the reverse side look like? 

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Fish otoliths maybe?

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Not really finding anything that is a good match in the otoliths department of Google images. These are more round shaped as opposed to the oblong shapes I am finding online.

I would think if they were that common from fish, I would have found some from the STH location as well, which I haven't.

These seem like they are the consistency of small shells or something. However, I don't recognize them as such. :headscratch:

 

 

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Carrier shell (xenophoridae), ostracod, limpet or false limpet ? The picture is blurry to me, but it looks like a shell

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5 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Looks a bit like Discinisca, though i'm sure it's not and is probably some sort of denticle. 

I think i have a form of brachiopod pareidolia. 

What does the reverse side look like? 

I agree with Discinisca. Here’s one I’ve found from the Round Mountain Silt. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/27790-tertiary-brachiopods/&tab=comments#comment-306661

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The reference Al Dente has presented is spot on!!  Strange though that I had never found one from my matrix over at Ernst Ranch.  I've collected from Slow Curve, East and West Quarries in the past and had never spotted one.

My new location, I seem to find them a lot.  Thanks for the assistance everybody!

 

 

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Hmmm... My immediate reaction before reading anything else was that they were busted shark vertebrae. We see them preserved like this in the Cretaceous of NJ sometimes. The struts that connect the two articular faces of the vert weather first leaving you with the shallow cone of the articular face and the rough opposite site from within the vert. This also makes more sense for the locality.

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