(Fossilized) bone? Help with identification, please!

[Helge]

Hi,

 

My father found a weird looking bone, possibly fossilized, while walking on the beach of the German island Norderney.

Date: 11.02.2021

Weight: 500g

Height: 14.5cm

Width: 12.0cm

Opening: 4.0cm

Any idea which species this might be from?

Thanks a lot in advance,

 

Helge

 

 

 

 

[val horn]

The burn test is a way to tell a current bone from a fossil.  If the bone burns and smells like burned hair it is not fossilized.  A fossil does not burn.  There is a part of your bone looks like the head of a femur. Whose femur if it, if it is the head of a femur I don’t know.

 

 

 

[Harry Pristis]

It is a proximal femur from a sub-adult animal.  There are way too many lateral views of this bone fragment and not enough of the diagnostic articular surface.  Here are a couple of possibilities, though these are merely guesses:

 

 

 

 

 

[Shellseeker]

4 hours ago, Harry Pristis said:

It is a proximal femur from a sub-adult animal.  There are way too many lateral views of this bone fragment and not enough of the diagnostic articular surface.  Here are a couple of possibilities, though these are merely guesses:

Harry, I am pleased to see your response to this thread because it may help me identify another bone that I found on January 31st, 2021 and posted in this thread.

As background, for over 4 years of hunting this site, I have never previously found either a Bison or Modern cow tooth or bone.  I have horse cannon bones, and numerous Equus .sp teeth. The site was confirmed Blancan by Richard Hulbert and some of the Equus teeth/bones might be Dinohippus.

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/112547-a-couple-of-bones/&tab=comments#comment-1244137

 

New photos of the 1st bone:

The red line is 76.4 mm and the blue line is 88.9 mm. If this is what it seems, a distal femur, It would seem likely to be Bovid or Equus. Would be glad to add any additional angles that may help in Identification.

 

The pristine (fine lines) nature of the bone might imply modern, but I have found P. garbani jaw just as pristine within 15 feet of this new bone.

There are clues in the sites that make me want to say Equus .sp, but I value your analysis.

 

 

[Helge]

21 hours ago, val horn said:

The burn test is a way to tell a current bone from a fossil.  If the bone burns and smells like burned hair it is not fossilized.  A fossil does not burn.  There is a part of your bone looks like the head of a femur. Whose femur if it, if it is the head of a femur I don’t know.

 

 

 

Does not burn, does not smell. So a true fossil, it seems :-)

Thanks!

H.

[Helge]

21 hours ago, Harry Pristis said:

It is a proximal femur from a sub-adult animal.  There are way too many lateral views of this bone fragment and not enough of the diagnostic articular surface.  Here are a couple of possibilities, though these are merely guesses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harry,

 

Thanks for the input. My dad has provided me with five more pics. Are they good enough to allow a more precise deter,ination of the species in question?

 

Thanks a lot in advance,

 

H.

[val horn]

i am glad that it passed the burn test and is fossilized.  I am confused as to if your fossil is the proximal end of a femur or appears to be the distal end of the bone, Harry Pristis  said one thing and and illustrated the other.

 

I see your piece as a small piece of a much longer bone, therefore to align your fragment for easier identification I would hold the hollow portion as if it extended another 40 cm as a hollow tube and then photograph it.  Where my fingers are on my bone is where I think your fragment ends.  I hope that helps;