Lorne Ledger Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Hello everyone, hope someone can help ID this claw for me to at least genus. This came from Burnet County, TX cave on the river. It is well fossilized and solid, from an older layer in the cave where I have found two turtle species - Apalone and an unidentified leg hole fragment of turtle/tortoise the material is Late Pleistocene. I am figuring this claw probably belongs to my unidentified turtle shell piece but the shell fragment is pretty beat up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 A couple of possibilities: or how about Alligator snapping turtle 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...
digit Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Certainly resembles the Trachemys slider turtle ungual I found just minutes ago picking through some micro-matrix from the Montbrook site. Trachemys are highly abundant in this Florida site so I'm not saying your ungual (claw core) is the same but that it certainly matches my concept of a turtle toe. Others with potentially more experience in the fauna found in the area may have a better clue to the ID. It won't help a positive ID that this one looks a bit worn. Cheers. -Ken 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabRatKing Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 I’m betting on a turtle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earendil Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Yeah, I'd say turtle, but it is almost impossible to determine a genus from a single claw. "Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl; Wrecked is the ship of pearl! And every chambered cell, Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell" -From The Chambered Nautilus by Oliver Wendell Holmes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorne Ledger Posted December 22, 2020 Author Share Posted December 22, 2020 Thank you very much everyone, appreciate the help. Will research Trachemys as a possibility. Think I have a comparative skeleton if I can find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 If any other (more diagnostic) turtle/tortoise bones show up at the site that might be the best clue to the ID of this little turtle toe. Cheers. -Ken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorne Ledger Posted December 22, 2020 Author Share Posted December 22, 2020 I got a match!!!! Trachemys scripta (elegans) Red Eared Pond Slider. I looked through my comparative collection (which was stored deep in my garage) and found I had several species of turtle and tortoise complete skeletons. The claws are a match and it also matches the turtle shell fragment I have from the cave!!!! Thank you so much everyone, really appreciate the help! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 Interesting bag of turtle bones you have there. I see the skull, a jaw, a coracoid, scapula, femur, and some pelvic bones, and verts. Nice to have comparative material. We have numerous modern skeletons to help with identifications of fossil specimens (or portions thereof). Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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