The Jersey Devil Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 Hey everyone, i have this interesting Croc osteoderm/fish mouth plate. I am leaning a lot more towards Croc, but this one looks pretty different than usual because of the dimples being a different shape and arranged in a row; maybe it’s just from a different part of the body. It would also be complete if it’s Croc, which is unusual. Size is about 3/4”. It is definitely not a concretion in case some pics are misleading (some bony structure is still visible on the back of the specimen when looking at it in person). @non-remanié @frankh8147 @Trevor @Plax @Al Dente @MarcoSr Thanks! 4 “You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one.” ― Mikhail Tal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilsAnonymous Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 I would tend to lean on Croc more as well. I am by no mean an expert but croc osteoderms have very deep holes/indentations like this one, and this seems very different from the traditional fish pharyngeal mouth plates. 3 On The Hunt For The Trophy Otodus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 I am an advocate for it being Croc material as well. 3 : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jersey Devil Posted February 5, 2020 Author Share Posted February 5, 2020 1 hour ago, FossilsAnonymous said: I would tend to lean on Croc more as well. I am by no mean an expert but croc osteoderms have very deep holes/indentations like this one, and this seems very different from the traditional fish pharyngeal mouth plates. 22 minutes ago, Trevor said: I am an advocate for it being Croc material as well. Thanks guys, Croc makes me satisfied 3 “You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one.” ― Mikhail Tal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hokietech96 Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 Very cool find Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoons Posted February 5, 2020 Share Posted February 5, 2020 2 hours ago, The Jersey Devil said: Thanks guys, Croc makes me satisfied I’m not sure if this helps as you already have an I’d, but I’m also currently neck deep in trig homework. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jersey Devil Posted February 5, 2020 Author Share Posted February 5, 2020 34 minutes ago, Spoons said: I’m not sure if this helps as you already have an I’d, but I’m also currently neck deep in trig homework. Haha that’s just an old formula sheet on my desk. I’m currently taking college math courses. Good luck with trig. “You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one.” ― Mikhail Tal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Sorry. Not seeing a bone there. It looks more like a regular old phosphate nodule to me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenmaster6 Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Seeing croc here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zenmaster6 Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 I was actually just about to say possible mouth plate but saw you posted that above. However with Carl saying phosphate nodule, Id trust him over me. Or anyone else who commented so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 My vote is Croc osterderm 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jersey Devil Posted February 6, 2020 Author Share Posted February 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Carl said: Sorry. Not seeing a bone there. It looks more like a regular old phosphate nodule to me. As I said in the description, it’s definitely not a concretion as there is some bony material visible in person. It is really hard to see it in the pics. However, it was probably in the stream for a while because it seems ironized. “You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one.” ― Mikhail Tal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 Looks like a well worn broken portion of a croc scute. "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 I think Carl is correct. The holes look similar to those of croc scutes, but of the many images that I checked out, not a one had half the scute without holes. Then the black rock is very characteristic of phosphate nodules. Image from the fossil guy. com 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinosaur man Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 I think it looks more like a Croc osterderm. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jersey Devil Posted February 7, 2020 Author Share Posted February 7, 2020 2 hours ago, minnbuckeye said: I think Carl is correct. The holes look similar to those of croc scutes, but of the many images that I checked out, not a one had half the scute without holes. Then the black rock is very characteristic of phosphate nodules. Image from the fossil guy. com It is very different looking from a typical phosphate rock. Yes, it is atypical for them to not have dimples in a large portion of the osteoderm, but I was thinking this is simply a species and/or positional variation. 1 “You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one.” ― Mikhail Tal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jersey Devil Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 On 2/6/2020 at 7:39 PM, hadrosauridae said: Looks like a well worn broken portion of a croc scute. It doesn’t look like it’s missing much. “You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one.” ― Mikhail Tal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Looks like you have roughly half of the scute. They are roughly symmetrical in design, and almost always have a center crest line. Yours looks to be broken just off that crest. "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jersey Devil Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 8 minutes ago, hadrosauridae said: Looks like you have roughly half of the scute. They are roughly symmetrical in design, and almost always have a center crest line. Yours looks to be broken just off that crest. I thought Crocs mostly had a smooth surface while gators have the symmetrical pattern with the crest in the middle. Or do crocs have that too? “You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one.” ― Mikhail Tal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 I'm not an expert, I just know what examples I have recovered. Late cretaceous, hell creek fm croc scutes have all had the crested, symmetrical, "swiss-cheese" design, but they have all been broken and most highly worn pre-deposition. 1 "There is no shortage of fossils. There is only a shortage of paleontologists to study them." - Larry Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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