Aurora Fossil Museum Crocodile Pubis?

[fossil_lover_2277]

This past summer I found this bone at the Miocene Pungo River dig pits of the Aurora Fossil Museum. The bone matches the shape of the end of a crocodile pubis from what I have seen online. Crocodile material isn’t common from there, but I know it’s occasionally found. Does this look like a correct ID? The bone doesn’t match anything cetacean that I’m aware of, too thin to be a limb bone or rib head, not the right shape for a phalanges or vertebral process as far as I can tell.

 

[RuMert]

Interesting. Also reminds me of a worn plesiosaur propodial

[fossil_lover_2277]

44 minutes ago, RuMert said:

Interesting. Also reminds me of a worn plesiosaur propodial

Yea too bad it’s not Cretaceous or I’d be jumping for joy rn lol

[Al Dente]

I would guess this is a broken process from a cetacean vertebra.

[pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon]

8 hours ago, RuMert said:

Interesting. Also reminds me of a worn plesiosaur propodial

 

Though I see where you're coming from, this piece would be too overall flat for a plesiosaur propodial, not to mention it thickens at the end that, in a true propodial, would actually be the thinnest one. Much rather, I'd say, it reminds me of a mosasaur phalanx...

 

Actually, I think it'd be rather hard to say what this could be. Sure, there are certain similarities with crocodile pubic bones. However, those would remain flat over the entire surface of the bone, rather than what we see at the preserved end of this one. Cetacean vertebral process therefore sounds more likely to me, although the flare and thickening don't seem to be very common features in modern cetaceans (source - observe E.g. versus the rest):

 

 

May be either @caterpillar or @Boesse would be able to give us some conclusive insights

[caterpillar]

I think it isn't croc. Cetacea is a good choice

[fossil_lover_2277]

9 hours ago, Al Dente said:

I would guess this is a broken process from a cetacean vertebra.

 

6 hours ago, pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon said:

 

Though I see where you're coming from, this piece would be too overall flat for a plesiosaur propodial, not to mention it thickens at the end that, in a true propodial, would actually be the thinnest one. Much rather, I'd say, it reminds me of a mosasaur phalanx...

 

Actually, I think it'd be rather hard to say what this could be. Sure, there are certain similarities with crocodile pubic bones. However, those would remain flat over the entire surface of the bone, rather than what we see at the preserved end of this one. Cetacean vertebral process therefore sounds more likely to me, although the flare and thickening don't seem to be very common features in modern cetaceans (source - observe E.g. versus the rest):

 

 

May be either @caterpillar or @Boesse would be able to give us some conclusive insights

 

5 hours ago, caterpillar said:

I think it isn't croc. Cetacea is a good choice

Thank you all, this clarifies a lot. It appears to be part of a cetacean transverse process then. Definitely would not have guessed that one on my own ha.

[Harry Pristis]

For comparison:

 

[Boesse]

Yup. base of a transverse process of a dolphin lumbar vertebra - the wide end is the base.