Partial limb(?) bone. Probably from Bakersfield, CA. STH

[MrR]

Greetings all,

As we approach the third anniversary of the loss of Doren "caldigger" Strane (RIP, my friend.), I am looking over some fossil pieces he gave me while standing in the Denny's parking lot at Merle Haggard Blvd in Bakersfield. For some reason this one struck me as looking more land mammal, like an equus of some sort. Or perhaps it is from a marine mammal and I just don't recognize the shape of the bone, which wouldn't be a big surprise.  I do think that it's got a good shot at an ID other than "chunkosaurus", which was the ultimate ID of the fossil I asked about in my first post  here 4-5 years ago.

 

I'm pretty sure that it came from Bakersfield's Temblor formation, as that's where Doren got most of what he had. But I have not seen much, if any, land mammal fossils from there. I do know that Doren once found a little rodent skull that he donated to a university or museum for study. But I'm pretty sure that this bone isn't from a rodent of any type. At least of any type I'd want to run into in the flesh.

 

Any ID ideas are greatly appreciated.

[Mahnmut]

Hi,

thats at least an interesting cross-section with these concave sections, maybe thats a bit diagnostic?

Best Regards,

J

[MrR]

I'm happy to provide images from different angles. A cross section image from the other side would show that it is rather teardrop shaped in profile, FWIW. I'll post an image of that in the hopes that it might help with an ID. Cheers.

 

[MrR]

After doing a bit more research, I'm starting to get a rib vibe from this bone. Maybe from and Allodesmus, as they were quite present in the once water-covered hills of Bakersfield. I saw some rib bones that had a teardrop cross-section like this piece, albeit they were thinner, so a rib of an ancient sea lion might be a possibility. Then again, I'm no expert. I'm just thinking (At least what I call thinking.) out loud. Cheers.