A day in the Sunshine

[Shellseeker]

Yesterday,  I returned to a hunting location  that I had not been in a couple years. It is difficult to get to... lack of paved road and miles of kayaking, 

I always have great anticipation, and I did find lots of fossils, lot of bones,  some teeth, but curiously few that I did not recognize.

 

Might be E. eomigrans based on other fauna found here...

 

Found a number of Horse teeth,  uppers and lowers,  too large for tridactyl  and then this slightly damaged one...

I think it is N. eurystyle,  but curious on what others think.

 

Then a Giant Tortoise leg spur or....maybe a claw core...

 

I have this from @Harry Pristis and then a number of turtle claw cores...including one from @PrehistoricFlorida

 

So I'll ask Harry to comment on differences between Tortoise leg Osteoderms versus Tortoise claw cores versus Turtle claw cores...

 

Finally , I will conclude with a rather mundane , small broken fish tail... Is this really in the Billfish or Tuna family as advertised on the net.  This tail is 44 mm in length and about the same size as the few others I have found.  

I guess there were Bonita back in the Pliocene also

[Meganeura]

I found a tortoise claw core recently and it was very straight. No curves to it whatsoever. I know that alligator snapping turtle claw cores are curved. Though perhaps an end toe core might be curved from a tortoise?

[Tidgy's Dad]

Nice.

Tidgy loves the tortoise bits.

[Shellseeker]

4 hours ago, Meganeura said:

I found a tortoise claw core recently and it was very straight. No curves to it whatsoever. I know that alligator snapping turtle claw cores are curved. Though perhaps an end toe core might be curved from a tortoise?

The claw that PrehistoricFlorida sold looks like a claw I found from an alligator snapping turtle.

[Meganeura]

Just now, Shellseeker said:

The claw that PrehistoricFlorida sold looks like a claw I found from an alligator snapping turtle.

Sorry - I phrased that poorly. I meant that tortoise claws may curve at the end, but all the tortoise claws I've seen are straight, including the one I found. Whereas I know that alligator snapping turtle claws DO curve. So I think yours is either alligator snapping turtle (Though it doesn't look it to me), or a strange tortoise spur and not claw.

[hemipristis]

fish hypural is likely bonito, Sarda sarda as you thought

[Shellseeker]

2 hours ago, hemipristis said:

fish hypural is likely bonito, Sarda sarda as you thought

Thank you... got me to this thread... Very rare , here.  3 years since I last found one. All are 4 are about this size....40-60 mm

 

[hemipristis]

10 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

Thank you... got me to this thread... Very rare , here.  3 years since I last found one. All are 4 are about this size....40-60 m

That’s interesting. They are very familiar to me because they’re a common find in the Yorktown Fm in NC.  Might be reflective of the deeper or colder water environment?

 

Do you find any tuna (Thunnus) there in Florida?

Edited December 10, 2022 by hemipristis

[Shellseeker]

27 minutes ago, hemipristis said:

That’s interesting. They are very familiar to me because they’re a common find in the Yorktown Fm in NC.  Might be reflective of the deeper or colder water environment?

 

Do you find any tuna (Thunnus) there in Florida?

Not me, only these smaller ones... I'll try for input from @jcbshark @digit @Sacha @Plantguy@Harry Pristis @Meganeura @PODIGGER.  I'll be curious.  

[Meganeura]

34 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

Not me, only these smaller ones... I'll try for input from @jcbshark @digit @Sacha @Plantguy@Harry Pristis @Meganeura @PODIGGER.  I'll be curious.  

Nothing on my end, though the only fish I've been able to identify have been snook, gar, and tarpon. Fossils, of course.

[digit]

9 hours ago, hemipristis said:

Do you find any tuna (Thunnus) there in Florida?

Not that I'm aware of (but don't take that as conclusive evidence of their absence).

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[hemipristis]

10 hours ago, Meganeura said:

Nothing on my end, though the only fish I've been able to identify have been snook, gar, and tarpon. Fossils, of course.

I’d love to see the tarpon fossils!  I have only 3 vertebra from NC

[Meganeura]

2 minutes ago, hemipristis said:

I’d love to see the tarpon fossils!  I have only 3 vertebra from NC

Well it's a fossil, a scale - and it's the last picture in my initial post here, the white flat thing: 

 

[hemipristis]

2 minutes ago, Meganeura said:

Well it's a fossil, a scale - and it's the last picture in my initial post here, the white flat thing: 

 

I somehow missed that. Thanks

[Meganeura]

Just now, hemipristis said:

I somehow missed that. Thanks

No worries, it was hidden all the way at the bottom and wasn't even slightly the focus, so I get it.

[johnnyvaldez7.jv]

Thanks for posting the picture of the Eremotherium occipital condyle and your find. I hadn't seen that reference picture before. I've really been struggling to find a match for what I've recently found. I think I have an Eremotherium occipital condyle (left). Don't know if I can post here, as it has its own thread, but your thoughts are greatly appreciated. 

[Shellseeker]

This was my 2nd !!!! in 13 years... found in different locations...  How can that be???

Here is the first,  that caused me to find that picture,  like yours a half....a right half I think...

 

 

[johnnyvaldez7.jv]

Man that's incredible! It is for sure a very rare find. I need to see what Eremotherium type we had here...I think mine may be E. laurillardi.  I admire you guys who hunt and dive those gator infested deep dark waters.  I really enjoy watching those Florida fossil river hunts on YouTube.  My river spot is pretty shallow but dang this sand and mud down here in SE Texas covers and uncovers these banks with each rain we get and constantly reconstructs the terrain. I really enjoy your excellent finds. Such a variety.  

[jcbshark]

Nice finds jack. I’ve found a few of those “Bonita tails “ over the years but they do seem relatively rare in our neck of the woods. 

[Shellseeker]

On 12/11/2022 at 11:06 AM, johnnyvaldez7.jv said:

Man that's incredible! It is for sure a very rare find. I need to see what Eremotherium type we had here...I think mine may be E. laurillardi.  I admire you guys who hunt and dive those gator infested deep dark waters.  I really enjoy watching those Florida fossil river hunts on YouTube.  My river spot is pretty shallow but dang this sand and mud down here in SE Texas covers and uncovers these banks with each rain we get and constantly reconstructs the terrain. I really enjoy your excellent finds. Such a variety.  

Johnny,

I do not want you to get the wrong impression of me... like maybe I'm crazy or something like some of these young male Florida fossil hunters who are running on way too much testosterone and venture into dark places like the MYAKKA river gator holes to retrieve Kogiopsis teeth. You do have Darwin awards candidates in Texas also, don't you?

I am properly respectful of large gators.

I only hunt between 8am and 4 pm.

Normally I hunt in shallow , clear water OR go hunting with multiple companions.

I do not swim over or dive into deep dark pools

 

We have the same mud and gravel issues.  I had a rainy season move 6 feet of sand over my prime Megalodon hunting spot.., and I have had foods move move large amounts of sand off the gravel.

 

I also believe you have E. laurillardi but I do not know how to differentiate the Eremotherium sloths.  Good hunting. Jack

[Meganeura]

4 minutes ago, Shellseeker said:

Johnny,

I do not want you to get the wrong impression of me... like maybe I'm crazy or something like some of these young male Florida fossil hunters who are running on way too much testosterone and venture into dark places like the MYAKKA river gator holes to retrieve Kogiopsis teeth. You do have Darwin awards candidates in Texas also, don't you?

I am properly respectful of large gators.

I only hunt between 8am and 4 pm.

Normally I hunt in shallow , clear water OR go hunting with multiple companions.

I do not swim over or dive into deep dark pools

 

We have the same mud and gravel issues.  I had a rainy season move 6 feet of sand over my prime Megalodon hunting spot.., and I have had foods move move large amounts of sand off the gravel.

 

I also believe you have E. laurillardi but I do not know how to differentiate the Eremotherium sloths.  Good hunting. Jack

Hey, not all of us young Florida fossil hunters are Darwin award candidates!