"a Whale Of A Bone" Or... A Bone Of A Whale!

[Sharkbyte]

For some time now I have been working on a project reconstructing a fossil Dolphinn Flipper and just a few days ago I had an opportunity to aquire a very nice COMPLETE and solid Humerus bone from a Whale. This is a river find from North Carolina. I have included a picture of the Whale Humerus with a 3-1/4" long Dolphin Humerus from my Dolphin flipper project to show a size comparison. The Whale Humerus measures 15-1/2" long at the longest point and 9" wide at the ball end. These bones are not very photogenic and I guess most people would say they are a dull or uninteresting fossil to look at but just imagine how nice it will look when I find and aquire the Ulna, Radius and Carpals and Phalanges to go with it. I am about 60% complete on the Dolphin flipper. If anyone has any of the needed bones to complete either the Dolphin or the Whale flipper and would be interested in selling them, please send me a personal message with pictures and prices. Hope everyone enjoys the pictures.

Edited February 2, 2012 by Sharkbyte

[Sharkbyte]

Additional Pictures including a Whale Vertebra. The Whale vert measures about 19" across from tip to tip.

[Sinopaleus]

that's a lovely bone!! :wub:

[32fordboy]

Holy cow. That thing is huge. If you could find all the bones needed, that would make a killer display.

[Sharkbyte]

Holy cow. That thing is huge. If you could find all the bones needed, that would make a killer display.

Thanks,

I'm going to try to find them. Not likely to find any myself but maybe through ebay and purchasing from members on the Forum, we will see how well it goes.

[Sharkbyte]

that's a lovely bone!! :wub:

Thanks. I appreciate it.

[32fordboy]

If I see anything, you'll be the first to know.

[Sharkbyte]

If I see anything, you'll be the first to know.

Thanks. I appreciate that. A good bit of the bones in my Dolphin project have come from Forum members.

Bobby

[sixgill pete]

Bobby that humerus is amazing. I dont think I have ever seen one that size or complete out of a museum. And that whale vert, where did it come from so complete?

[Sharkbyte]

Bobby that humerus is amazing. I dont think I have ever seen one that size or complete out of a museum. And that whale vert, where did it come from so complete?

Thanks Sixgill,

If I ever complete the Whale flipper, it may in fact go to a museum. The only information that came with the vert is the Atlantic coast.

Bobby

[obsessed1]

That is the nicest example of a whale humerus I have seen.

Is there a formula you will use to find the appropriate sizes of the rest of the bones for the rest of the flipper? Or will you just be using a best guesstimate?

[Sharkbyte]

That is the nicest example of a whale humerus I have seen.

Is there a formula you will use to find the appropriate sizes of the rest of the bones for the rest of the flipper? Or will you just be using a best guesstimate?

Thanks obsessed1,

I actually got a laugh out of your question because in the process of working on my Dolphin project, I decided it was going to be easier to buy the bones that I could afford and pick from all of them, the best match. The end result is I now have about 4 or 5 different sized Dolphin Humerus, Ulna and Radius sets, about 40-45 finger bones and I still don't have a finished flipper set yet. I guess it is about 60% or so complete. I'm guessing that as hard as it is to come by the necessary Dolphin bones, the Whale bones are going to be twice as hard to come by so I will aquire any quality bones I run across (that I can afford) and complete the project when I run across the best matches. It's not going to be easy and I am counting on it taking several years considering that the Dolphin flipper has been in progress for about a year now. I'm in no hurry though. I am going to visit some museums though and do the best I can to determine what size bones I need to make a realistic display. Should be some enjoyable research.

Bobby