Woogie 4 Posted July 21, 2020 Hello hello, recently i bought some opal, in amongst the small stones was this. I am wondering if this is a fragment of bone? Maybe a piece of jaw bone? Its from Coober Pedy, which i believe is cretaceous and marine Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jpc 4,125 Posted July 21, 2020 tough to tell from the photos... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darktooth 4,956 Posted July 21, 2020 We really need some close-up pics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Woogie 4 Posted July 24, 2020 Ok, hope these are ok, difficult getting decent close ups. 1st pic, looks like they might be teeth sockets Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Woogie 4 Posted July 24, 2020 Hard to see, but in the last picture you can just about see its hollow and the matrix runs through it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
daves64 751 Posted July 24, 2020 That may be some of the clay/sandstone it's formed in. A lot of the opals have pockets and/or layers of it in them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Woogie 4 Posted July 26, 2020 On 24/07/2020 at 7:12 PM, daves64 said: That may be some of the clay/sandstone it's formed in. A lot of the opals have pockets and/or layers of it in them. Sorry, i am not great at wording things! Im with you though, this came with about 50 other small pieces, most are bits of bi-valve shell i think, some quite interesting looking with holes filled with the matrix, this piece was different though. The holes look like they might be teeth sockets, but the shape of the holes make me think it might not be, especially as it would be marine, i would imagine circular holes? Also it is hollow, like i would imagine a fossil bone to be, dont know if a jaw bone would be hollow though? Or a piece of shell? Spent a while searching google but cant find anything like it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Johannes 284 Posted July 28, 2020 Congrats, this is a piece of a heterodont lower jaw bone of a cretaceous mammal. Rarer than reptile finds in opal. edit: you may contact Michael Archer, who described the oldest mammal finds of Australia: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Archer2 https://www.bees.unsw.edu.au/our-people/michael-archer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Woogie 4 Posted July 28, 2020 7 hours ago, Johannes said: Congrats, this is a piece of a heterodont lower jaw bone of a cretaceous mammal. Rarer than reptile finds in opal. edit: you may contact Michael Archer, who described the oldest mammal finds of Australia: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Archer2 https://www.bees.unsw.edu.au/our-people/michael-archer That is awesome, thank you very much @Johannes I will email Michael Archer to see what he thinks and update Thanks again Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
