J.D. Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 Ok. Found this one in the Potomac River near Westmoreland State Park / Fossil Beach. It has some enamel toward the narrow end and in the hole. Never seen anything like it and would love some ID help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Cole Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 Could you take a picture of an end-on view of the base in your first picture? This is a really interesting find. Wish I could be more help, but the fossils in your area aren't a type I'm well acquainted with. I feel like someone familiar with marine fossils might be able to ID this pretty quickly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 It may be some kind of highly eroded, small mammal skull. 1 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daves64 Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 (edited) Eroded tilly bone possibly? The open end looks sort of "vertebra-ish". Edited October 19, 2022 by daves64 1 2 Accomplishing the impossible means only that the boss will add it to your regular duties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 Any chance it could be an iguana skull ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahnmut Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 1 hour ago, Rockwood said: Any chance it could be an iguana skull ? I dont think so. that round opening looks quite fishy to me. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Caudal-view-skull-of-Iguana-iguana-1-parietal-2-supraoccipital-3-squamosal_fig5_291392301 Best Regards, J 1 1 1 Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 It looks a lot like this fossil shad skull. Image from the NC Fossil Club publication on fish. A painting of this shad skull is on the cover of the publication. 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.D. Posted October 19, 2022 Author Share Posted October 19, 2022 8 hours ago, Brandy Cole said: Could you take a picture of an end-on view of the base in your first picture? This is a really interesting find. Wish I could be more help, but the fossils in your area aren't a type I'm well acquainted with. I feel like someone familiar with marine fossils might be able to ID this pretty quickly. Here are a few more pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.D. Posted October 19, 2022 Author Share Posted October 19, 2022 58 minutes ago, Al Dente said: It looks a lot like this fossil shad skull. Image from the NC Fossil Club publication on fish. A painting of this shad skull is on the cover of the publication. Well that does seem to have many of the same features. Thanks for sharing! I am impressed by the wealth of info folks have here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terminal Stareasaurus Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 Cro-magnon man's light bulb! I agree it's a very eroded shad skull. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 I'm also absolutely seeing a fish skull. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.D. Posted October 19, 2022 Author Share Posted October 19, 2022 Are these fairly common? Should I have known this? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 I thought sea robins had a robust skull. This is ridiculous. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 2 hours ago, J.D. said: Are these fairly common? Should I have known this? No reason to have known this off hand. I think experience over the years will allow you to recognize things more easily as time goes on. 1 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 I would call this more of a brain case than a skull. Thoughts? But, yeah,fish of some sort. Nice find. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 1 hour ago, jpc said: I would call this more of a brain case than a skull. Thoughts? But, yeah,fish of some sort. Nice find. That does make sense. The second photo looks like a brain housing. And that would make it a robust piece of a larger skull. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.D. Posted October 19, 2022 Author Share Posted October 19, 2022 3 hours ago, Rockwood said: That does make sense. The second photo looks like a brain housing. And that would make it a robust piece of a larger skull. Most folks do not refer to the top part of my skull as a “brain housing”. Can anyone guess why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted October 19, 2022 Share Posted October 19, 2022 1 hour ago, J.D. said: Most folks do not refer to the top part of my skull as a “brain housing”. Can anyone guess why? It probable is seldom to come up in conversation ? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.D. Posted October 20, 2022 Author Share Posted October 20, 2022 4 hours ago, Rockwood said: It probable is seldom to come up in conversation ? Haha. Yeah. That’s one reason, but the main reason is that it is missing one key component. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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