Mammal Bone?

[PaleoLubbers]

Hi everyone! We found this in northeast Florida. I think it may be a piece of a joint? Its about 3cm long and 2cm wide.  Any ideas on identification would be great!       

[digit]

Welcome to the forum!

 

That over-inflated bone trying to masquerade as a fossilized piece of popcorn is something we call a 'Tilly Bone'. You can search this forum (or the wider internet) for that term and will find lots of information about what are (properly) called hyperostotic bones. This one looks to be a fish vertebrae. Verts and ribs are common bones to be hyperostotic in fishes.

 

Lots of great information (and members) here on the forum. Hope you stick around to learn more.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[PaleoLubbers]

That’s definitely it!  Thanks for the quick ID Ken!  Very cool

[digit]

It's one of those types of fossils that are instantly recognizable (once you've seen enough of them).

 

No clear consensus as to why some fish bones puff up and become so calcified (hyperostotic). Some theories are a reserve of calcium, damage repair (like arthritic joints), or my favorite--that they are some sort of tumorous growth anomaly. Modern fishes still exhibit this and you can see lots of photos on the internet of fish bones showing this inflated shape. Fish verts can still show the articulation ends where they meet the adjoining vertebrae but are puffed up like popcorn kernels around the outside of the centrum. You specimen is a perfect example of what these look like and I'm sure you'd find many images that look remarkably similar to yours.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[RescueMJ]

I was excited to answer that question.  It looks like a gummy bear.  I attached the link to the great article about the Tilly Bone.

 

Page 44.

https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/131459

I am located about 5 miles west of where they dug out Coco Plum Waterway.

Regards,

Mike