Osteoderm--glyptodont?

[Brandy Cole]

Found this in South Texas sandy gravel matrix.  Pleistocene era.

 

It's pretty small.  But could this be a glyptodont osteoderm?  It doesn't look like the turtle/tortoise pieces I normally find.  The seams are very pronounced, and the grain on broken places is very fine and not as spongy as the turtle pieces.

 

 

[Rockwood]

My exposure to glyptodonts is limited, but the texture looks more turtle to me.

Glyptodont skeletal bone maybe ?  

[Rockwood]

Just something to chew on. 

[Brandy Cole]

@Rockwood That's a good point about the surface texture.

 

The seams and tissue still look different to me than the material I've found that appears to be turtle plastern portions and turtle scute fragments.  Maybe that's my inexperience talking.

 

It looks like holmesina osteoderms also may have smoother surfaces that are more similar to mine than glyptodont examples are.  

Pic 1 is a close-up of the texture.

Pic 2 is to show the seams on the sides.

Pic 3 is holmesina examples. Looks like some have a raised bump in the middle though that my piece doesn't have.

 

[Rockwood]