Daze Posted March 18, 2023 Share Posted March 18, 2023 (edited) Just purchased this bone fragment that was sold as from an Azhdarchid pterosaur. I know it's not complete and it has a few repairs, but is it possible to tell if it's indeed from a Pterosaur. And if so, what part of the body might it be from? Wing bone? Toe bone? Locality: Kem Kem Beds, Morocco, El Begaa Bone size: 156 x 11 x 7 mm Weight: 14 g Edited March 18, 2023 by Daze 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daze Posted March 22, 2023 Author Share Posted March 22, 2023 Anyone? @Troodon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 Not sure, would have expected something more thin walled, so unsure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msantix Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 Interesting bone for sure! Pterosaur bone wall thickness is varied. It certainly can have a thickened bone wall towards the ends where the bone nears an articulation, but I have to say this doesn't strike me as a clear Pterosaur bone...... It could be a wing phalanx digit IV of a Pterosaur or it might be a rib bone from something else or maybe neither. I have to say it is difficult to know for sure, but it is quite a slender bone and it might still be Pterosaur, but like Troodon I am unsure. Here is an example of what I mean about the bone walls from my collection - This is the same bone with the broken ends (a wing phalanx from an Azhdarchoid)...... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachy-pleuro-whatnot-odon Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 I'd also have expected the walls to have been thinner for pterosaur, from what I've seen. Though I agree with Michael that wall-thickness varies, and yield to his greater knowledge of pterosaur material Might I, as alternative hypothesis, posit this could be a section of a theropod fibula, much like the thinnest section of this unidentified theropod (supposedly raptor) fibula from Dawson County in Montana - although it does seem a bit long for that: 2 1 'There's nothing like millions of years of really frustrating trial and error to give a species moral fibre and, in some cases, backbone' -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daze Posted March 24, 2023 Author Share Posted March 24, 2023 Well, I'm pretty convinced it's a Pterosaur bone now. Unfortunately the bone broke, but good thing is I could see the inside now. The bone is filled with matrix but the bone wall thickness is about 1mm or even less. Unfortunately stupid me didn't take photos of this, I was so startled it broke I immediately glued it back together without thinking about taking photos. Luckily I could repair it almost invisibly and I'm happy to now know it's indeed most probably a Pterosaur bone 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msantix Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 20 hours ago, Daze said: Well, I'm pretty convinced it's a Pterosaur bone now. Unfortunately the bone broke, but good thing is I could see the inside now. The bone is filled with matrix but the bone wall thickness is about 1mm or even less. Unfortunately stupid me didn't take photos of this, I was so startled it broke I immediately glued it back together without thinking about taking photos. Luckily I could repair it almost invisibly and I'm happy to now know it's indeed most probably a Pterosaur bone Yeah if the bone wall thickness is around 1mm, then I'm also quite sure that would confirm it as Pterosaur. Sometimes a broken bone can tell you quite a bit about what it is, but glad to hear you were able to glue it back together. I can't say for sure which bone we are looking at, could be a wing phalanx, or maybe even a radius (all just guesses). Anyway, it is a nice bone 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted March 25, 2023 Share Posted March 25, 2023 22 hours ago, Daze said: The bone is filled with matrix That was my thought. It can't be turtle bone. It must be diagenetic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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