rod Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Found this today while searching a Cretaceous creek site in North MS. Demopolis Formation. Any ideas of what this could possibly be? I did not get a size reference in the scan, but it measures approx 2 inches by 1/4 inch thick. - ROD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Hello Rod - Cool find. Not an expert by any means, but,... it looks turtle-ish or croc-ish to me. Others with more knowledge of the area may weigh in shortly! Thanks for sharing! Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seldom Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Looks turtle Galveston Island 32 miles long 2 miles wide 134 bars 23 liquor stores any questions? Evolution is Chimp Change. Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain! "I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen." Ernest Hemingway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneRanger Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Agree that it's a turtle shell fragment. The pieces you're finding in northern MS are also found in many eastern seaboard states. Even though you're not in New Jersey (no jokes please), you'll find these websites on NJ fossils very helpful in identifying Cretaceous vertebrate pieces: njfossils.net/fish.html; njfossils.net/reptile.html; and, njfossils.net/shark.html. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 more specifically, it sort of looks like soft-shelled turtle shell/bone that underlies their skin. i've never tried to look up what function the "dimples" perform but always sort of assumed that maybe it either helped give a stronger form to thin bone or that it served as a more stable attachment surface for the overlying skin/tissue. it also seems possible, unless you actually found it in the matrix and there hasn't been reworking, that the fragment is more recent than the cretaceous. pleistocene and holocene turtle shells fragments are a frequent find in the beds of many creeks and rivers. i'm not familiar with the environment in that area during the cretaceous, but if it was open marine environment as opposed to near shore or a river, then the fragment would likely be from a later time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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