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Brazos River Pleistocene Bone


GPayton

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Found this big chunk of bone on one of the gravel bars in the Brazos last week while the water was still low enough to walk around. I have a strong suspicion that it's part of the proximal end of a bison metacarpal, as that's the only thing that it seems to resemble in pictures I've compared it to online, but if someone more knowledgable in these things than myself could confirm (or completely disprove me, that's welcome too!) that would be great. 

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image.png

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Thanks Harry! If the bone is that much larger than a bison metacarpal, is it possible it came from a mammoth or mastodon of some sort? Maybe one of the lower leg bones? I have no idea what it is either, but it definitely looks like it's the end of some bone in that general area because of the smooth face on one edge.

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1 hour ago, Wendigo1014 said:

Thanks Harry! If the bone is that much larger than a bison metacarpal, is it possible it came from a mammoth or mastodon of some sort? Maybe one of the lower leg bones? I have no idea what it is either, but it definitely looks like it's the end of some bone in that general area because of the smooth face on one edge.

 

It could be the proximal end of a radius, but not from a horse or a bovid.  Or, it could be something else entirely.  Maybe someone else has a guess.

 

http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page

 

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

---Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

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15 hours ago, Harry Pristis said:

Well, I don't know what it is, but it's certainly not a bison metacarpal.  Here a metacarpal:

 

bovid_metacarpal_greatestproximalwidth.JPG.519ff631980bca8d04cc309f4bb8529d.JPG

 

bison_metacarpal.JPG.846e0362e518a3a7986cc05162e556a7.JPG

 

 

 

Harry,

recently found. color, density, etc seem OK but my gut, based on pristine quality details, is saying not fossil. I have been looking for that knotch in the proximal end of a leg both.  Size is 3.25 x 2.12 inches. Bovid metacarpal?  Do these fuse after approximately a year?

IMG_4859.thumb.JPEG.409a711849f145341bd2cfb9da75a1b3.JPEGIMG_4860.thumb.JPEG.c27091e9c031172871c6cbaabff7a1e4.JPEG

The White Queen  ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast"

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My best guess is that this is the epiphysis from bovid distal radius.  It fuses when the cow reaches adulthood, that is, when it stops growing taller.

  • I found this Informative 1

http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page

 

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

---Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

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Thanks guys! The bone is definitely mineralized, I tried the burn test and it didn't react, and none of the porous areas can be chipped off without tools. If it is one end of a cow radius, what species? I'm unsure if aurochs or the like lived in this part of America during the Pleistocene. 

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