GPayton Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Found on the Brazos River southwest of Houston, Texas. I originally thought that this was an alligator osteoderm, but it lacks the distinctive boss in the middle of the bone. Looking around on the forum, it seems to match tortoise osteoderms rather well. Can someone confirm? I've found carapace fragments from both hard and softshell turtles before, but never one of these. I didn't even realize tortoises had osteoderms until now. What part of the body do they come from? As you can tell from the pictures, the bone is a decent size, so would this have to be a giant land tortoise or something else. Honestly, I'm pretty out of my depth with this one. Also, if someone could recommend any sort of books I can use to help identify the Pleistocene fossils I find in Texas, that would be appreciated as well - it's starting to seem like the Florida guidebooks on the subject are going to be the closest I can get! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hadrosauridae Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Looks like a croc scute to me. "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...
Shellseeker Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Do you have giant armadillo in Texas fossils? 2 The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPayton Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 Thanks, Shellseeker! After some research it turns out you are absolutely correct - it is a pampathere osteoderm. I didn't realize giant armadillos were native to Texas as well as Florida during the Pleistocene, but it seems those are exactly the two states where the majority of their fossils come from. There's only two species known in Texas, and since I'm hunting in primarily in the Beaumont formation (which is only about as old as the Late Pleistocene) it means this has to belong to the more recent of the two - Helmonsina septentrionalis. Thanks again for the help guys. I love chasing the rabbit holes I get sent on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grandpa Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fZDEmmIu7Kc/T9poLexeiEI/AAAAAAAACag/Z_lS9YgREvE/s1600/anguirus.png 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilus Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 This is a photo of the Holmesina that was found in the Brays Bayou in Houston in 1955. It is displayed in the Houston Museum of Natural Science in Sugar Land TX. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 The details: 1 http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyc Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 Yup! Armadillo for sure. I’ve found a lot at the Brazos 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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