Big Pliocene Bone

[nchazarra]

Hi to everybody,

Yesterday I was on the field and I found this crushed bone found in spanish Pliocene sediments. Any guesses?

Thanks in advance!

[nchazarra]

Could it be part of the jaw of a cetacean?

Thanks!

[MammothPaleoGuy]

If it's a cetacean, it could be a species of Balaenoptera. The other cetacean I could find was Astadelphis (spelling?), and that looks too small. I'll poke around the literature.

EDIT:

This paper http://www.raco.cat/index.php/GeologicaActa/article/viewFile/140188/191367 has a little good information on the current state of knowledge for whales of the Spanish Pliocene. It seems like they're well known, but not well studied.

Edited April 6, 2013 by MammothPaleoGuy

[RichW9090]

Aside from it being definitely bone, I can't make out anything to even suggest what element or taxon it might be.

[Boesse]

There's nothing there to identify it even to cetacean - however, its size does suggest it could be a small piece of a very large whale. That being said, there's no way to justify any identification... a mysticete is plausible, but in no way ever could this be a delphinid like Astadelphis. Bobby

[nchazarra]

Thanks for all the answers