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JulianP

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Hey there,

 

This is my first post so please excuse any newbie blunders.

 

I found this bone or other long thing lying on the beach at Tankerton, Kent, UK part of the London Clay formation this week, 14th July 2020.  The London Clay formation is said to be early/lower eocene.  To me, a layman to palaeontology and Osteology, it seems like a leg bone, perhaps tibia because of it triangular shape at one end?!?!  I was told by a young gentleman on the beach that Mammouth have been found there as well in the past. That is about as far as my knowledge goes. 

 

I appreciate any help I can get.

 

Thanks

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Edited by JulianP
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I'm definitely not a bone expert, but just looking at the size I'm pretty certain that even a juvenile mammoth would have leg bones much larger and more robust than that. It's probably something much more intriguing than mammoth.

 

 

Mark.

 

Fossil hunting is easy -- they don't run away when you shoot at them!

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11 hours ago, Rockwood said:

or a plow horse.

How long does fossilisation take as I think it could be older? I really am a novice do bow down to others expertise on this. 

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11 hours ago, dhiggi said:

Pleistocene bison tibia?

I've looked these guys up and it said they were predominantly in North America. Does anyone know if this bison or similar was in Northern Europe?

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As far as I know Wisent, as well as mammoth, woolly rhino, elk etc were all found in the area. The size and shape of yours made me think bison, but I believe the elk were quite a size too

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12 hours ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

I'm definitely not a bone expert, but just looking at the size I'm pretty certain that even a juvenile mammoth would have leg bones much larger and more robust than that. It's probably something much more intriguing than mammoth.

Actually I have just read there was a pygmy mammoth, mammuthus exilis, that lived in the Channel island only a few hundred miles away from where I found this bone. It's like finding a needle in a haystack which is across time and endlessly big. Interesting and intriguing all the same.

 

Thanks everyone for your comments so far. 

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15 minutes ago, dhiggi said:

As far as I know Wisent, as well as mammoth, woolly rhino, elk etc were all found in the area. The size and shape of yours made me think bison, but I believe the elk were quite a size too

Cool ok, thanks

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It does indeed look like the limb bone of some type of decent sized mammal.
But yeah, too slender to be something like mammoth or rhino.

Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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1 hour ago, JulianP said:

How long does fossilisation take as I think it could be older? I really am a novice do bow down to others expertise on this. 

It could well be older. If it was found on a beach the age becomes less certain than if it were found in situ where the age of the deposits are known though.

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19 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

It could well be older. If it was found on a beach the age becomes less certain than if it were found in situ where the age of the deposits are known though.

The London clay that makes up Tankerton beach is said to be early Eocene epoch. Sharks teeth and i believe belemnites are found on this beach too. This echinoid?! was found by my wife on the same beach. I agree finding it loose on the beach does make the bone less certain of date. Having barnacles on it too i would imagine means it's been sat in the water for a little while at least aswell.

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1 hour ago, JulianP said:

Actually I have just read there was a pygmy mammoth, mammuthus exilis, that lived in the Channel island only a few hundred miles away from where I found this bone

I think you may be getting our Channel Islands mixed up with the ones off California 

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13 minutes ago, dhiggi said:

I think you may be getting our Channel Islands mixed up with the ones off California 

Yes you are absolutely correct I was. Thanks for the correction there.

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