Small marine? mammal bones, Lee Creek Mine, Pliocene

[hemipristis]

I'm going through my vertebrate collection and making sure the labels are correct before I start forgetting everything haha.  I have here two small bones that I found from the Lee Creek Mine in NC.  I collected the white one from the Pliocene Yorktown Fm, a marine fauna.  The brownish one was collected from mine spoil, so it could range from Miocene-Pleistocene.

 

I have them tentatively identified as marine mammal phalanges, but these are somewhat out of my comfort zone.

Thoughts?

I"ve tried to show the two bones from all angles.  If better or additional photos or needed, please let me know

 

Thank you in advance!

 

 

[hemipristis]

no ideas?

[ClearLake]

They definitely look like toe bones to me but I’m not sure about a marine mammal,  it seems that articulating surface, especially on the light colored one, is made for moving and bending. That’s not what I would expect in a marine mammal flipper but I’m not as familiar with them. Maybe there is some other type of marine mammal you were thinking about??

[hemipristis]

4 hours ago, ClearLake said:

They definitely look like toe bones to me but I’m not sure about a marine mammal,  it seems that articulating surface, especially on the light colored one, is made for moving and bending. That’s not what I would expect in a marine mammal flipper but I’m not as familiar with them. Maybe there is some other type of marine mammal you were thinking about??

thank you for your reply.  

 

What you're saying makes sense. I only guessed marine mammal as the sediments are marine in origin

[Al Dente]

The light colored bone looks like a seal phalange- https://www.fossilguy.com/sites/l_creek/lcrk_col_verts.htm

 

 

[ClearLake]

5 hours ago, Al Dente said:

The light colored bone looks like a seal phalange

That indeed does look like it!  Helps to have an expert chime in.  I was thinking more along the lines of what the phalange from dolphin, etc look like as shown on the linked website (bones are blockier, more rigid in their articulation).  I find it interesting that seals have toe bones that look like this, I wonder if their flippers are more dexterous than that of a dolphin, I could imagine that they might be, but I guess I've not watched a seal closely enough.  Come to think of it, they do walk on them and I know they bend, so that is more than a dolphin or whale does which is just to "flap" their flippers.  Learned something new today!  thanks

Edited April 11, 2021 by ClearLake

[Harry Pristis]

For comparison:

 

 

[Boesse]

Not sure about the chocolate brown one, but based on the proximal end, the light gray one is a middle metatarsal of a phocid seal (MT III).

[hemipristis]

On 4/11/2021 at 7:16 PM, Al Dente said:

The light colored bone looks like a seal phalange- https://www.fossilguy.com/sites/l_creek/lcrk_col_verts.htm

 

 

thank you.  I think we have a winner!

[hemipristis]

14 hours ago, Boesse said:

Not sure about the chocolate brown one, but based on the proximal end, the light gray one is a middle metatarsal of a phocid seal (MT III).

thanks!

[hemipristis]

17 hours ago, Harry Pristis said:

For comparison:

 

 

by Jove, I think you nailed it!  Thank you!

 

A pleasant surprise. Not much turtle material from there