New Jersey Nodosaur Osteoderm

[njcreekhunter]

Recently I visited paleontologist Ralph Johnson. Ralph gave a tour of the MAPS (Monmouth Amateur Paleontologists Society) collection and shared his extensive knowledge of New Jersey Paleontology. 

I also brought a few of my finds from the late Cretaceous of New Jersey hoping Ralph could identify them. One of which was a piece of bone with an interesting texture and shape. Ralph identified this piece as the second nodosaur osteoderm found in New Jersey. We compared it with a cast of Ralph’s nodosaur scute and it was a match. Here are some photos of this specimen. I'm thrilled to have this piece identified. 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by sharktoothboy

[digit]

Very cool! Any interest in 3D scanning this and making a copy for the museum? Seems this would be a SIS (Scientifically Important Specimen) due to the relative rarity of these in NJ.

 

Always much better to be told that a mystery piece is a dinosaur rarity rather than a worn piece of asphalt.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[historianmichael]

Congratulations on your superb find! Ralph told me about your visit and find- I stopped by the day after you. Did he tell you what happened to the other one? Such a sad story! You might consider donating it to the NJSM given its rarity and the fact that the other one is back in private hands, if not lost.

Edited December 4, 2022 by historianmichael

[njcreekhunter]

22 hours ago, digit said:

Very cool! Any interest in 3D scanning this and making a copy for the museum? Seems this would be a SIS (Scientifically Important Specimen) due to the relative rarity of these in NJ.

 

Always much better to be told that a mystery piece is a dinosaur rarity rather than a worn piece of asphalt.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

Thanks Ken! I'd be happy to have this specimen 3D scanned or casted for a museum. Yeah the ID was a welcome surprise for sure. When I found it I thought it looked like a Nodosaur osteoderm but really didn't expect it to be one given the rarity. 

[njcreekhunter]

23 hours ago, historianmichael said:

Congratulations on your superb find! Ralph told me about your visit and find- I stopped by the day after you. Did he tell you what happened to the other one? Such a sad story! You might consider donating it to the NJSM given its rarity and the fact that the other one is back in private hands, if not lost.

Thanks Michael! Yeah Ralph told me the story about the other one. An amazing find with a sad ending. Good thing that specimen was cast so it can still be used for study. It was really helpful to compare that cast to my specimen. 

[digit]

24 minutes ago, sharktoothboy said:

Yeah the ID was a welcome surprise for sure. When I found it I thought it looked like a Nodosaur osteoderm but really didn't expect it to be one given the rarity. 

 

To quote @jcbshark "Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there!" which became his tag line when one of the large rocks at his feet while he was standing in the river sifting for fossils turned out to be a nice large mammoth or mastodon tooth.

 

Sounds like the first nodosaur osteoderm is not being held at a local museum making this specimen even more scientifically important. If you have contacts at the NJSM who can make a 3D scan of this item that would probably be a good thing to do. I know some folks at the digital imaging lab here at UF if the NJSM lacks the equipment to create such a 3D scan.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[njcreekhunter]

2 hours ago, digit said:

 

To quote @jcbshark "Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there!" which became his tag line when one of the large rocks at his feet while he was standing in the river sifting for fossils turned out to be a nice large mammoth or mastodon tooth.

 

Sounds like the first nodosaur osteoderm is not being held at a local museum making this specimen even more scientifically important. If you have contacts at the NJSM who can make a 3D scan of this item that would probably be a good thing to do. I know some folks at the digital imaging lab here at UF if the NJSM lacks the equipment to create such a 3D scan.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

Thanks Ken! I'll contact the NJSM and find out if they're able to do that. 

[digit]

If not, drop me a PM.

 

 

Cheers,

 

-Ken

[njcreekhunter]

7 hours ago, digit said:

If not, drop me a PM.

 

 

Cheers,

 

-Ken

Will do, thank you!