Hunting with Sacha

[Shellseeker]

No, not Sacha from Disney's Peter and the Wolf,  no, not Sacha from Casablanca.....

@Sacha

So we went hunting yesterday meeting up with a couple of other fossil seekers in a location that has been very, very good to me in the last decade, but has taken a lot of hunting pressure and is not what it once was... However I can always hope to catch lightening in a bottle... or in my case, a fossil in the sieve.

Nice day, a little cool, but 3 of us had wet suits on and I was comfortable. There was a younger guy from Minnesota, who was hunting in his bathing suit!!! I used to be young once!!

I was hunting maybe 15-20 feet from Sacha and we carried on an ongoing banter,  what we were finding, previous hunting successes, other likely locations and most important what was the other guy finding.

One topic we discussed was how many of the numerous unknown bones you find, do you keep.. Sacha tends to toss and I keep almost everything to be tossed, if necessary , at some later date!!!

I was finding mostly small shark teeth, but some were in good shape and big enough to encourage me to keep on hunting that hole I was digging. Sacha stayed at the same spot the whole day, whereas I stayed in one spot for 90 minutes, wandered around digging potholes for 90 minutes and eventually returned to my original hole , digging deeper and deeper, maybe because it was easier to carry on the conversation..

So here are my finds.

 

What you see at the bottom are small shark teeth.  Broken to the left worth $10 a pound that I donate to a fossil friend and relatively whole on the right ( young relatives, fossil club raffles and auctions, schools, kids organizations, etc. ) I have been doing this for 12 years.  There is no lack of requests for teeth.. Average complete teeth go for $25 a pound. Consider what 30-40 pounds is worth.  I try to be net zero on shark teeth by every year end.

 

What is left under the white?  Some more complete and/or interesting bones, broken or small bits that came into my screen. Fossilized wood, sea urchin spines, barracuda teeth, even one broken Meg, some upper Hemipristis, sting ray teeth, deer tine, small camel premolar, broken root dolphin tooth, sawfish rostral teeth, mammoth bits, dolphin bulla, calcified clam, etc  .. normal stuff for the Peace River.

 

I have some items I though worth their own photo: Closeup of the dolphin tooth, may be a ray barb fragment... the back sweeping teeth I did not recall seeing previously, and the reason for this post.  Sacha asked what shark had the upward tip teeth with a rear nutrient groove. For that matter, why do some sharks have outward pointing tips?

 

Finally, with whatever space I have left , I will flash up some of the bones. I may/may not add some to a fossil ID.  Enjoy!!!

 

Bone#2

[SailingAlongToo]

4 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

No, not Sacha from Disney's Peter and the Wolf,  no, not Sacha from Casablanca.....

 

Sacha Baron Cohen???    

[caldigger]

13 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

No, not Sacha from Disney's Peter and the Wolf,  no, not Sacha from Casablanca.....

 

8 minutes ago, SailingAlongToo said:

 

Sacha Baron Cohen???    

It's such a common name, we never really know who you are talking about. 

[Sacha]

It was a fun day Jack. This was what I brought back. Not museum worthy, but better than my luck the last couple months. I've gotta get back into that hole this weekend if this coming rain doesn't raise the level too much.

 

 

[Shellseeker]

@Sacha

Here is a thread with a pdf.  Closer photo on 3rd fossil upper left.

Your fish tilly bone is the largest I have seen of this type.

 

[Sacha]

Thanks Jack. Good to know. Sure does look like a brain case, but I thought it looked a little to short axially.

[Tidgy's Dad]

Nice finds, chaps. 

[Ludwigia]

Two heads are always better than one

[FossilsAnonymous]

Well, I saw a nice old hemi right near the Meg! I would agree with a fragment of Ray barb for your question. It looks like a fish jaw except for the flow of the “teeth” or protrusions.

[hokietech96]

Great finds!

[Ash]

Nice haul. What’s he little jaw in the 3rd pic you posted?

[Shellseeker]

20 minutes ago, Ash said:

Nice haul. What’s he little jaw in the 3rd pic you posted?

Ash,

It is not a jaw.  It is a fragment of a Sting Ray Barb.  I posted it because (for the first time) I noted that my impression previously was that these "teeth" were straight out from the barb... not so obviously slanting backwards... It would seem to beg a question.  Do different r

Stingrays have different barbs?

[Shellseeker]

 

Can this shark tooth be C. Brachyurus ? Are the Copper Shark and the Bronze Whaler shark the same?

 

[Ash]

My bad, I must have missed that reading your post. Ouchy getting stung by one of them, geez! Those barbs are big!

[Shellseeker]

Reload Photos

[JohnJ]

Thanks, Jack!  Those are attached to TFF.  

[JohnJ]

Nice finds, Jack.  @Shellseeker

 

(Hope I've edited the photos into the right spots.   )

[Shellseeker]

24 minutes ago, JohnJ said:

Nice finds, Jack.  @Shellseeker

 

(Hope I've edited the photos into the right spots.   )

Nicely done John,  You have skills and smarts !!!

[JohnJ]

24 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

Nicely done John,  You have skills and smarts !!!

Just lots of practice...

 

[daves64]

Backward slanting teeth on the barb, like a saw. Go in easy.. coming out, probably not so much. Possibly similar to porcupine quills. I'm just guessing here, but it feels right. 

[JohnJ]

7 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

 

 

This looks more like a partial catfish pectoral fin spine.

[Al Dente]

2 hours ago, JohnJ said:

 

This looks more like a partial catfish pectoral fin spine.

That was my first thought. More pics of both sides would help.

[hokietech96]

12 hours ago, Shellseeker said:

 

Can this shark tooth be C. Brachyurus ? Are the Copper Shark and the Bronze Whaler shark the same?

 

It is my understanding from researching that copper shark also goes by name bronze whaler. I believe there should be serrations on the shoulders for it to be a bronze whaler and I don’t see any in the picture. I am think more Lemon shark. I’m still learning, so hopefully you get other feedback. 

[minnbuckeye]

6 hours ago, daves64 said:

Possibly similar to porcupine quills.

From Popular Mechanics. 

the North American porcupine's quills are tipped with microscopic backward-facing barbs that act like grappling hooks and lodge in the skin of a threat, Karp says. Each quill has up to 800 barbs, all of which are located on the first 4 mm of the quill's tip.  

 

Think of it, 800 barbs in 4 mm!!!!! No wonder I had so much problem removing quills from dogs after a porcupine encounter. 

 

[Shellseeker]

10 hours ago, daves64 said:

Backward slanting teeth on the barb, like a saw. Go in easy.. coming out, probably not so much. Possibly similar to porcupine quills. I'm just guessing here, but it feels right. 

 

10 hours ago, JohnJ said:

 

This looks more like a partial catfish pectoral fin spine.

 

7 hours ago, Al Dente said:

That was my first thought. More pics of both sides would help.

 

3 hours ago, minnbuckeye said:

From Popular Mechanics. 

the North American porcupine's quills are tipped with microscopic backward-facing barbs that act like grappling hooks and lodge in the skin of a threat, Karp says. Each quill has up to 800 barbs, all of which are located on the first 4 mm of the quill's tip.  

 

Think of it, 800 barbs in 4 mm!!!!! No wonder I had so much problem removing quills from dogs after a porcupine encounter.

 

 

I have a black lab, Mike ... that is a nasty photo!!! Thanks to all who responded, and apologies for my delay in responding. Did some looking this AM, on differences in Sting Ray barbs.... From the bottom photo, I am thinking that I have a small piece of Eagle Ray Barb, which is unusual in my hunting grounds just based on my lack of recognition... What is very common is that middle one used as jewelry... which might be Cownose Ray. Is it just worn excessively or in reality different from an Eagle Ray Barb? @siteseer@MarcoSr@Northern Sharks@ynot