Mystery bone

[Mtwombly]

I’m hoping someone can help me out with this ID- it is driving me nuts!! I have looked through all my books twice but I can’t find a match. I was thinking skull or pelvis of some sort but I can’t seem to pinpoint it. Southern gulf coast FL creek 

[Plantguy]

Interesting! I love those wierd looking things. Its strangely irregular but its size and overall triangular form/shape with the narrow tubular canals reminds of some baleen whale ear pieces I have...my guess is part of a petrosal. Bobby can probably tell you for sure/provide the details. 

@Boesse

Awesome find. Regards, Chris  

[Boesse]

This extremely strange lookin thing is surprisingly not a petrosal, but about 2/3 of the squamosal of the dwarf baleen whale Herpetocetus. I can identify the genus because your specimen has this cylindrical hole in it for the posterior process of the petrosal, which is (unusually) exposed on the outside of the skull and also very short and shaped like a cork. Here's the skull of Herpetocetus transatlanticus from the Lee Creek Mine (Smithsonian collections) with your specimen for comparison:

 

[Mtwombly]

On 2/5/2022 at 11:09 AM, Boesse said:

This extremely strange lookin thing is surprisingly not a petrosal, but about 2/3 of the squamosal of the dwarf baleen whale Herpetocetus. I can identify the genus because your specimen has this cylindrical hole in it for the posterior process of the petrosal, which is (unusually) exposed on the outside of the skull and also very short and shaped like a cork. Here's the skull of Herpetocetus transatlanticus from the Lee Creek Mine (Smithsonian collections) with your specimen for comparison:

 

Wow, thank you so much!! That is amazing! I’m finding lots of cetacean fossils at this site, but most of them have been from the sperm whale. It is so interesting to see the differences in the anatomy of Florida’s whale fossils. Thank you so much for your help!