ID needed for an odd Myrtle Beach, SC find

[BoneAndTooth]

I'm posting this for a friend who found this little oddity mixed in with broken shells on North Myrtle Beach. My first thought was vertebrae but it seems to lack an obvious center hole, although the white spot in the first picture looks like it could be a filled-in hole. I haven't seen it in person so I can't describe it any better than that, and sorry for the photo quality...not my pics. I know that's not much to go on, but any thoughts on what it could be would be much appreciated.  

[PaleoNoel]

Looks like a fish tilly bone (a hyperostotic growth, usually on the vertebra).

[BoneAndTooth]

1 minute ago, PaleoNoel said:

Looks like a fish tilly bone (a hyperostotic growth, usually on the vertebra).

I had never heard of a tilly bone until searching this forum earlier today.  That term would refer to a swollen bulge on the bone, correct? Would it be normal for that growth to be symmetrical like this?

[caldigger]

29 minutes ago, BoneAndTooth said:

Would it be normal for that growth to be symmetrical like this

Yes

[BoneAndTooth]

41 minutes ago, caldigger said:

Yes

Thank you.

[PSchleis]

10 hours ago, BoneAndTooth said:

I had never heard of a tilly bone until searching this forum earlier today.  That term would refer to a swollen bulge on the bone, correct? Would it be normal for that growth to be symmetrical like this?

I’m confused about Tilly bones myself. I found a handful of them. They are absolutely identical to each other. But everybody tells me they are deformed. So I just take their word for it. I would think deformed bones would have different shapes. Mine don’t look like this one. To be honest, I have never seen an image on the Internet that looks like one of my Tilly bones. But unless I find something different, I can’t argue ha ha

[BoneAndTooth]

7 minutes ago, PSchleis said:

I’m confused about Tilly bones myself. I found a handful of them. They are absolutely identical to each other. But everybody tells me they are deformed. So I just take their word for it. I would think deformed bones would have different shapes. Mine don’t look like this one. To be honest, I have never seen an image on the Internet that looks like one of my Tilly bones. But unless I find something different, I can’t argue ha ha

Right? It's hard enough coming up with a correct ID when they're not deformed! I'll take an educated guess from this community over my own any day though.

[Jerry W.]

Only taking a guess here since I know nothing about this stuff, but since the shape of your specimen is pretty similar to these Ptychodus teeth, perhaps what you have is also a tooth of some sort.  I'm sure someone will correct me soon enough if I am misleading you.

[Harry Pristis]

For comparison:

 

 

[BoneAndTooth]

21 minutes ago, Harry Pristis said:

For comparison:

 

 

Thanks HP. I definitely see some similarly

[Al Dente]

1 hour ago, Jerry W. said:

Only taking a guess here since I know nothing about this stuff, but since the shape of your specimen is pretty similar to these Ptychodus teeth, perhaps what you have is also a tooth of some sort.  I'm sure someone will correct me soon enough if I am misleading you.

The material around Myrtle Beach (and the rest of coastal SC) is too young to have Ptychodus teeth.

[cck]

I see a fishy skull element rather than tilly bone. 

[cck]

I have several similar from Edisto Island

[Boesse]

Agreed with @cck - many fish have thickened skull roofs that are not pathological and therefore not tilly bones. Tilly bones in particular were intended to refer to swollen vertebral spines or pterygiophores (and possibly vertebrae).

[Jerry W.]

5 hours ago, Al Dente said:

The material around Myrtle Beach (and the rest of coastal SC) is too young to have Ptychodus teeth.

Acknowledged.  I did not attempt to identify this as a Ptychodus tooth.  I suggested that, perhaps, this was a tooth of some kind based upon general shape alone.

[Pbassham]

Well that was much better than my guess that her friend killed Patrick and Spongebob was next! Seriously, had you not showed me an illustration, I would’ve thought you were making “Tilly Bone“ up just to make us all log out and hit up Google

[Harry Pristis]

15 hours ago, Boesse said:

Agreed with @cck - many fish have thickened skull roofs that are not pathological and therefore not tilly bones. Tilly bones in particular were intended to refer to swollen vertebral spines or pterygiophores (and possibly vertebrae).

 

fish tilly bones W. J. Tiffany et al. 1980. Hyperostosis in Florida fossil fishes. Florida Scientist 43(1) 44-49 (1).pdf

[Pbassham]

Perhaps an odd question, But was this cleaned with a silver wire accessory for a rotary tool?  I just ask because if the silver metallic highlights. Found similar marks when cleaning a piece I was carving

[BoneAndTooth]

1 hour ago, Pbassham said:

Perhaps an odd question, But was this cleaned with a silver wire accessory for a rotary tool?  I just ask because if the silver metallic highlights. Found similar marks when cleaning a piece I was carving

I don't believe so. I think it was just rolled around in the sand and shells. I haven't seen it in person, but I'm pretty sure the marks are white, not metallic.

[PSchleis]

On 1/31/2020 at 2:10 PM, Harry Pristis said:

For comparison:

 

That's an awesome chart. When I get to my fossils I'm gonna have to repost the pictures of the things folks here have identified as "tilly bones" because mine don't look like anything like these things. I'm convinced they are a recognizable bone if I could just find the right person to identify it.