Uncle Siphuncle 2,781 Report post Posted September 4, 2007 I found this thing on the TX coast near Rockport in a pit where I was fortunate to grab several hundred Mellita sp. or Encope borealis sand dollars before the site was filled in several months ago. One oddity I picked up was this "tooth" for lack of a better word. There is too much symmetry for it to be just a phosphate nodule, even down to the microscopic pattern of grooves on either side. Any ideas? Is it even a fossil? The sand dollars are Pleistocene, probably Sangamonian. It is either Ingleside or Beaumont formation, roughly 10K-150K years old. Many of the sand dollars have cemented sand and coquina shells on them if this helps nail down the age of the deposit. Any and all opinions are welcome, even if I'm proven to be way off with my initial assessment. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gatorman 42 Report post Posted September 4, 2007 Looks to be a fossil of some sort but i haven't a clue what it could be. Some sort of fish fossil i would guess. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uncle Siphuncle 2,781 Report post Posted September 4, 2007 Maybe it is some sort of tilly bone or earbone from something much smaller than the dolphin and whale material you guys find in FL. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gatorman 42 Report post Posted September 4, 2007 Ah it could be an ear bone, from some sort of dolphin. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harry Pristis 4,135 Report post Posted September 5, 2007 Dan, Dan, Dan . . . Don't you have any easy-to-identify fossils to post?? I think if I had to guess at this one, I'd say boney fish. I keep thinking "rostrum," but I can't find it in a book. If it were a part of a grinding mouthpart, it should have a distinctive surface for that function. It seems too bilaterally symmetrical to be an ear-bone. ----Harry Pristis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uncle Siphuncle 2,781 Report post Posted September 5, 2007 Harry I try not to bore the panel of experts with supefluous, easily identified commodity stuff, hehehe. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MOROPUS 23 Report post Posted October 6, 2007 The last picture looks like a faringeous teeth of somekind of fish Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boesse 1,328 Report post Posted January 28, 2008 I know exactly what it is! Its called "Emmon's Fish Tooth", and its somewhat of a mystery. It was originally thought to be a kind of grinding fish tooth, but now it probably is a sort of bone where the pectoral fin spine in a sea robin articulates. Many of these are known from the Lee Creek Mine. Bobby Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Uncle Siphuncle 2,781 Report post Posted January 28, 2008 Thank you sir! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest N.AL.hunter Report post Posted January 28, 2008 First there was the petrified human brain. Then there was the fossilized bird (AKA Conglomerate) Now there is a fossil embryo of a seal!! Look at that last picture. Looks like a fossil seal to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
