Calcaneum

[Shellseeker]

For those who are not versed in Calcaneum,  this thread may help.

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/107376-mammal-calcaneum/

 

It was a great day in Florida..  I was out fossil hunting,  and this bone dropped in my sieve. The site I was hunting tends toward Middle Miocene, about 90% marine.  It is rare to find Pleistocene material, but there is always a mixture possibility.

 

Let's figure this one out together.  Look at the fossil below, size is 3.6 x 1.6 inches (91.4 x 40.6 mm), look at the thread above.  Tell me what you think.

[Shellseeker]

Going off the above link,  I decided that my fossil most closely matched one of Harry's great photos ... horse.  Just a question of size and "robustness".

 

Kept on looking and found this photo in Harry's gallery.  Told me that my fossil comes from the right leg and that Miocene Florida horses had some Calcanea that measured 2.54 inches.

 

All fossil hunters like to identify their finds.  With lots of help from Harry's gallery, I am close... This is a horse right side Calcaneum.  But is it Equus, which seem to range over 4 inches, or a pre_equus Hiparion horse which have 2.5 inch Calcanea or something in between? or is it just a yearling Equus. 

I am reasonably certain that it is a fossil, not modern.

[Harry Pristis]

Here are more images to consider:

 

[Shellseeker]

1 hour ago, Harry Pristis said:

Here are more images to consider:

Thanks Harry,

Will look /analyze the many options later..  Say I have many choices. including a couple Richard Hulbert:

Quote

If you have N. aztecus, N. morgani and Rhynchotherium then the age is late Miocene, not middle. It is definitely a horse calcaneum from a relatively large species, much too large to be Nannippus. There are a few larger equids known from Florida during the late Miocene, such as Dinohippus spectans and Protohippus gidleyi. Alternatively, late Pleistocene fossil crop up just about anywhere in the Peace River Basin, so I can’t rule out Equus.

Richard