Bguild Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 (edited) Hi there, My wife and I are currently honeymooning in Hawaii on the south shore of the island on Kauai over in the town Poipu. There’s limestone cliffs there and I read about Holocene aged fossils, such as bird fossils, found a few miles away at the Makauwahi Cave Reserve. I wasn’t fossil hunting, but we were walking along a public beach and there appeared to be a couple of bones eroding out of a peat deposit, near a limestone cliff. I’m not so good with distinguishing more modern fossils such as Holocene or Pleistocene. Any idea if this bone is modern or fossilized? looking at an old post in the Hawaii section, it does somewhat look like the fossil bird bones @Auspex posted from this area. Thanks for taking a look! Edited October 27, 2022 by Bguild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 Please post your pictures directly to the thread. Many here will not click on links for pics. I tried them and they did not work. Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bguild Posted October 27, 2022 Author Share Posted October 27, 2022 (edited) Hmmm weird, they’re showing up for me. Maybe something was off when posting from my phone. @sixgill pete how’s this? 17 minutes ago, sixgill pete said: Please post your pictures directly to the thread. Many here will not click on links for pics. I tried them and they did not work. Edited October 27, 2022 by Bguild 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 Very nice. Looks like bird to me but am no expert. @Auspex 1 Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 It’s definitely a bird leg bone. Without knowing if it came out of a Pleistocene deposit, I’d assume it’s modern. But there is certainly some uncertainty there. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 I think this is a bird tarsometatarsal, but I am not confident about bird bones. 2 1 http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahnmut Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 Sounds like a great honeymoon! I agree with tarsometatarsus. Especially on Hawaii I think even relatively recent bird bones could be of interest, as a lot of endemic species went extinct there in the last 1000 years. Best Regards, J 1 Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 Happy honeymoon! I agree with tarsometatarus and Mahnmut, more modern. Hawaii is a new island, so most of the bones should me modern You can check it (if you like...) with your tongue..., if it sticks its modern, if it does not it could be old or fossil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fin Lover Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 1 hour ago, rocket said: You can check it (if you like...) with your tongue..., if it sticks its modern, if it does not it could be old or fossil Not a test I plan to do, but I thought it was the other way around...that sticking could indicate fossilized bone. Why would modern bone stick but not fossilized? 1 Fin Lover My favorite things about fossil hunting: getting out of my own head, getting into nature and, if I’m lucky, finding some cool souvenirs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahnmut Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 Fossil in that case is meant to mean permineralized, which closes the porous structure, wouldnt apply to a subfossil bone from a peat deposit. Best Regards, J 1 1 2 Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemipristis Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 (edited) Please refer to my posts from a few weeks back bout Hawaiian fossils, though mine were from Oahu Hawaii fossils The distinctions between fossil, proto-fossil, and recent in Hawaii are subtle, and one cannot often tell by preservation alone. Several of the bird bones that I have found, which I plucked out of the formation (and thus know their age), still appear "recent" Based upon your descriptipn: "bones eroding out of a peat deposit, near a limestone cliff", sounds recent, but they could also be reworked. PS. your bone is definitely bird, likely tarsometatarsus, as noted Edited October 27, 2022 by hemipristis 1 1 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' George Santayana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 3 minutes ago, hemipristis said: Please refer to my posts from a few weeks back bout Hawaiian fossils, though mine were from Oahu Hawaii fossils oh, wow, did not see, very interesting, thanks for sharing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 Just an fyi The Evolution of Life on Earth Set the Stage for Evolution in Hawaii Olson S. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2004. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClearLake Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 In looking through B. Miles Gilbert's Avian Osteology it is a left tarsometatarsus and the closest match seems to be a Gull (not surprising given the location), something from the family Laridae. How long is it? In the 60 mm range plus or minus? According to our good friends at Wikipedia, fossils from the family Laridae are known from the mid-Miocene. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted October 28, 2022 Share Posted October 28, 2022 On 10/26/2022 at 9:07 PM, Harry Pristis said: I think this is a bird tarsometatarsal, but I am not confident about bird bones. Harry is correct, but I cannot shed any more light on it, 1 "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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