Unidentified vertebra

[Angus Stydens]

A friend of mine sent me some photos of a really strange bone, and I believe it is a part of a vertebra. It was found on a dredge island across the river from the Wando shipping terminal in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. I collected at the terminal for a couple of years so I know that the only fossil formations found there are the Ashley formation (late Oligocene marine exposure) and some unknown late Pleistocene formation. The processes on this vertebra (if it is a vertebra) are really strange. The primary mammals from the Ashley formation are cetaceans and dugongs, but this does not look like it belongs to either one. There are also some large fish, like billfish and sawfishes. Does anyone have any idea?

[FossilDAWG]

@Boesse might be able to help.

 

Don

[Angus Stydens]

He is on the same facebook group as the person who found the fossil, so I think he has seen it.  I will ask the person who found it if she has shown it to him yet, though.

[Boesse]

Hey all - @Angus Stydens I did not see this on FB so I am glad I checked here (I've been too busy teaching online since March to stay on top of TFF).

 

These are not marine mammal vertebrae, nor are they fish; I strongly suspect that these are anterior tail vertebrae of a sea turtle, but only from photographs of articulated skeletons, and I can't easily find any good illustrations of confirmed caudal verts of sea turtles. Interesting find!