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Just came back from an afternoon at the FLMNH vertebrate paleontology warehouse sorting through bone bags from the Montbrook site. Richard Hulbert, Collection Manager, was there as well working on cataloging specimens from the trays of catalogable specimens that I'd separated from the scrappy bones last month. He came over to show me a set of 3 neural bones from the carapace of the Trachemys slider turtle that is ubiquitous at the site. I remember seeing these 3 bones (neurals 3 through 5) that run along the midline of the turtle's upper shell (carapace) when I determined they were associated and fit together. Associated bones are cataloged as a set rather than as individual bones. I recall these bones having rounded markings on them but likely was distracted with something else and didn't take the time to dig out the pits of lithified sand that filled these cavities. Richard took the time to clean out the matrix and it was quite apparent that this was one lucky turtle (depending on your point of view).

 

You can clearly see that an alligator had managed to get this turtle into its mouth and had bit down at least twice leaving two distinct rows of tooth marks along the midline of this turtle's shell. The wounds are slightly healed and the fact that the neurals were found in close proximity within one of the grid squares and were not found digested and part of a gator coprolite means that this lucky turtle survived the attack and continued to live for some time after. Always fun when these little taphonomic clues can be interpreted to tell something of the life story of the individual. :)

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

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Love a fossil that tells a prehistoric story

“If fossils are not "boggling" your mind then you are simply not doing it right” -Ken (digit)

"No fossil is garbage, it´s just not completely preserved” -Franz (FranzBernhard)

"With hammer in hand, the open horizon of time, and dear friends by my side, what can we not accomplish together?" -Kane (Kane)

"We are in a way conquering time, reuniting members of a long lost family" -Quincy (Opabinia Blues)

"I loved reading the trip reports, I loved the sharing, I loved the educational aspect, I loved the humor. It felt like home. It still does" -Mike (Pagurus)

“The best deal I ever got was getting accepted as a member on The Fossil Forum. Not only got an invaluable pool of knowledge, but gained a loving family as well.” -Doren (caldigger)

"it really is nice, to visit the oasis that is TFF" -Tim (fossildude19)

"Life's Good! -Adam (Tidgy's Dad)

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I love these specimens that show traumas that occurred in life. It somehow makes the pieces more......”alive” I guess. Some of them I prefer over the same pieces if they were unscathed. I greatly enjoy imagining what could have caused them and trying to read the clues left.

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That's one heck of an interesting fossil. Thanks for sharing

Looking forward to meeting my fellow Singaporean collectors! Do PM me if you are a Singaporean, or an overseas fossil-collector coming here for a holiday!

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Very cool Ken! Like Randy, I enjoy a fossil that can tell a story. Thanks for sharing! :) 

The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.  -Neil deGrasse Tyson

 

Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy)

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I found something kinda similar in a whale vert that has a number of distinct scratch marks on the surface of the bone that most likely had to do with sharks gnawing on it (perhaps while scavenging in the way many modern sharks go ham on dead whales). Always a fun thing to ponder on.

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Every single fossil you see is a miracle set in stone, and should be treated as such.

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Yup. While hunting in the Peace River we always check chunks of whale or dugong bone for distinctive parallel scrape marks/gouges just in case we have one that shows predation from a megalodon. ;) Lots of bones with post fossilization damage from the river but (as yet) no convincing "meg marks".

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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  • 1 month later...

Lucky the Turtle (as seen above) seems not to be the only turtle to have escaped from the jaws of a gator. The last bone bag I sorted through today had a Trachemys (slider turtle) costal that I had to glue together out of half a dozen pieces. It was quite obvious that this fella had a (non-fatal) run-in with a gator. The hole punched in the carapace had partially healed and if the gator had eaten this turtle we never would have recovered carapace pieces--all we would have found was a coprolite (quite common at the Montbrook site).

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

 

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On 12/24/2020 at 7:54 AM, Tidgy's Dad said:

I loved this, but Tidgy was not happy at all. 

She is still shaking. 

Lucky for her, no gators there :heartylaugh:

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18 hours ago, digit said:

Lucky the Turtle (as seen above) seems not to be the only turtle to have escaped from the jaws of a gator. The last bone bag I sorted through today had a Trachemys (slider turtle) costal that I had to glue together out of half a dozen pieces. It was quite obvious that this fella had a (non-fatal) run-in with a gator. The hole punched in the carapace had partially healed and if the gator had eaten this turtle we never would have recovered carapace pieces--all we would have found was a coprolite (quite common at the Montbrook site).

 

 

1 hour ago, Sjfriend said:

Lucky for her, no gators there :heartylaugh:

Poor Tidgy will have nightmares.:Horrified::SadSmile:

When she was a baby someone cut out one of her scutes with a Stanley knife to make a necklace. Though the wound became infected, I bathed it and kept it clean and she actually grew a new, though slightly twisted replacement over time. I have seen tortoises and turtles heal after horrific incidents such as being chewed by dogs or run over by cars. It's amazing how resilient they are.

Nice fossil, Ken. :).

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160-1.png.60b8b8c07f6fa194511f8b7cfb7cc190.png

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6 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

someone cut out one of her scutes with a Stanley knife to make a necklace

Oh no! Poor tidgy! :(

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1 hour ago, Randyw said:

Oh no! Poor tidy! :(

Tidgy. 

She was tortured by the children too. Tortoises silent screaming is the most awful thing. :( 

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160-1.png.60b8b8c07f6fa194511f8b7cfb7cc190.png

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Hmmm don’t know why it quoted tidy. I’m sure I typed tidgy and it shows tidgy.... oh well. It could have been autocorrect. I think it hates me....

3 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

She was tortured by the children too

The inhumanity of humans to animals (and others) never ceases to amaze me. At least she’s been blessed to have you guys for her forever home now. I believe there’s a special place in heaven (or insert appropriate afterlife) for those who rescue abused animals.

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9 hours ago, Randyw said:

Hmmm don’t know why it quoted tidy. I’m sure I typed tidgy and it shows tidgy.... oh well. It could have been autocorrect. I think it hates me....

Sticky keys. Possibly some forum moderator (who has worked many times as a copy editor) spotted the typo and fixed it up. ;)

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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1 hour ago, digit said:

Sticky keys. Possibly some forum moderator (who has worked many times as a copy editor) spotted the typo and fixed it up. ;)

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

I know I know who it is I just can't seem to place my digit on it :P

“If fossils are not "boggling" your mind then you are simply not doing it right” -Ken (digit)

"No fossil is garbage, it´s just not completely preserved” -Franz (FranzBernhard)

"With hammer in hand, the open horizon of time, and dear friends by my side, what can we not accomplish together?" -Kane (Kane)

"We are in a way conquering time, reuniting members of a long lost family" -Quincy (Opabinia Blues)

"I loved reading the trip reports, I loved the sharing, I loved the educational aspect, I loved the humor. It felt like home. It still does" -Mike (Pagurus)

“The best deal I ever got was getting accepted as a member on The Fossil Forum. Not only got an invaluable pool of knowledge, but gained a loving family as well.” -Doren (caldigger)

"it really is nice, to visit the oasis that is TFF" -Tim (fossildude19)

"Life's Good! -Adam (Tidgy's Dad)

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1 hour ago, Top Trilo said:

I know I know who it is I just can't seem to place my digit on it :P

I dinnae ken, myself. 

Life's Good!

Tortoise Friend.

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png.a47e14d65deb3f8b242019b3a81d8160-1.png.60b8b8c07f6fa194511f8b7cfb7cc190.png

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