North Sulphur Bones ID

[Thomas.Dodson]

Among the fossils I collected at the North Sulphur River this past week there were a couple bones that stood out. One appears to be a decent chunk of rib. I figured there might just be enough for someone more familiar to identify so I decided to post it.

The second bone stands out because of the directions of the bone grain. Hypurals, scapulas, and others have this multi-directional grain so I don't hold out much hope for this one to move beyond chunkosaur. I figured I'd post it anyway on the slight chance someone might have an idea because it's the North Sulphur.

[ThePhysicist]

1 hour ago, Thomas.Dodson said:

The second bone stands out because of the directions of the bone grain. Hypurals, scapulas, and others have this multi-directional grain so I don't hold out much hope for this one to move beyond chunkosaur. I figured I'd post it anyway on the slight chance someone might have an idea because it's the North Sulphur.

 This is turtle plastron. They have the radially-diverging "grain" you noticed, and it's different from the texture on mosasaur bones. Plus, this is a piece that is plate-like, so I'm 99% sure this is from a turtle. Can't say which turtle, though.  

 

^http://oceansofkansas.com/turtles.html

 

1 hour ago, Thomas.Dodson said:

Among the fossils I collected at the North Sulphur River this past week there were a couple bones that stood out. One appears to be a decent chunk of rib. I figured there might just be enough for someone more familiar to identify so I decided to post it.

I think rib is a reasonable guess ... probably marine reptile (very likely mosasaur). The texture doesn't look fishy.

[DPS Ammonite]

4 minutes ago, ThePhysicist said:

Plus, this is a piece that is plate-like, so I'm 99% sure this is from a turtle. Can't say which turtle, though.

Is this from a Cretaceous turtle or a Pleistocene turtle? Dark color tends to make me think that it is Cretaceous but, color vs age can be unreliable.

[ThePhysicist]

14 hours ago, DPS Ammonite said:

Is this from a Cretaceous turtle or a Pleistocene turtle? Dark color tends to make me think that it is Cretaceous but, color vs age can be unreliable.

It definitely is from the Ozan, the preservation is typical, and I don't think it would've been the right environment for sea turtles during the pleistocene.