Oli_fossil Posted February 12, 2023 Share Posted February 12, 2023 Hi, I found this bone embedded in a exposed layer in a cliff on the surf coast, in Victoria, australia. It was in a red sedimentary layer just above the 26Mya volcanic basalt layer. Some of the bone can be seen still embedded in the cliff (see center of last photo) Fossils of Miocene marine mammals (primitive whales etc) have been previously found in the surrounding region. Could that be what this is? Cheers, Oli 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Cole Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 It does appear to be a bone fragment. Due to the broken condition, it's hard for me to get more specific than that. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meganeura Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 26 minutes ago, Brandy Cole said: It does appear to be a bone fragment. Due to the broken condition, it's hard for me to get more specific than that. I’d add to this, it’s most likely hard for the vast majority of people to definitively ID, it’s essentially “Chunk-o-Saurus” 1 1 Fossils? I dig it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oli_fossil Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 Thank you @Brandy Cole and @Meganeura - I can post more photos (or ones with a scale) if helpful in a day or so (traveling right now). I wasn't sure if the internal structure would be informative re mammal/reptile/fish etc - apologies, I am a newbie at this! I also found another bone in the same region, but it is covered with sandstone like accretions on most of the outside, with a small amount of the internal structure exposed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Spongy inside, could be a jaw tip... and I think @Boesse spent some time down under. Let's see what he says... The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 He was in NZ, but yeah, he is our resident marine mammal expert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Sounds like you've been poking around in the Jan Juc Marl or similar stratum - if you find anything you suspect might be a skull, please report it to Museum Victoria so they can collect it - my colleague Erich Fitzgerald has been doing fieldwork in the area and in 2006 published the strange early toothed mysticete Janjucetus. Your specimen is a rib fragment from a large cetacean, perhaps a large odontocete or an eomysticetid based on its size. A bit large for a mammalodontid like Janjucetus in my opinion. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oli_fossil Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 Thank you @Boesse and all, that is really informative! Yes I think it may have been in Jan Juc Marl. The other bone I just found amongst stones in a rockpool, and it has accretions of hard sandstone on it, but what looks to be a similar internal texture. I will post that in this thread too when I get a chance to take a photo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oli_fossil Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share Posted February 14, 2023 Here is the other one I mentioned: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Cole Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 I'm not familiar with your area, but the item in your most recent pictures reminds me more of a geologic feature than bone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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