ConnieS Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Total newbie here. Can anyone identify the animal this bone used to belong to? I'm not certain it's fossilized, but the bone feels to me as if it has turned to stone. It was found at Ocean Shores, WA. Would appreciate anything anyone can tell me about it. The more details, the more ethralled the grandkids get. Thanks much for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lissa318 Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Interesting! Wish I could help but not too familiar with bones. Would like to say welcome to the forum though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 I think this fascinating item is geologic, not biologic; a concretionary rock worn to a suggestive shape. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConnieS Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 Thanks, lissa318! I've collected many shell fossils from the beach over the years. This was something I'd never seen the likes of before. So glad to have found this forum. Maybe someone will know what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConnieS Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 Hi Auspex, Interesting theory. I've been so sure it was a bone ever since I found it but now I may have to rethink that. Any suggestion as to where I might take it for identification? Don't laugh, but I've been wondering if I should run it by my dog's vet. Thanks for replying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 There is some latent symmetry to it, so having someone see it in-hand would be a good idea. I'd suggest taking it to a museum, though, and have a paleontologist do it, rather than a veterinarian. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConnieS Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 Thanks for that suggestion, Auspex. I'll find a museum. Does one make an appointment for such a thing, I wonder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 I can't make heads or tails out of it, but it reminds me of the bone-filled concretions coming from the Oregon coast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 ...Does one make an appointment for such a thing, I wonder? If for no other reason than to avoid wasting a trip Try contacting the Burke Museum: <LINK> "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 It looks like a nice piece of weathered sandstone to me. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConnieS Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 Thanks for the link, Auspex! I've sent an email asking for an appointment. I'll let you know what they have to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 I can't make heads or tails out of it, but it reminds me of the bone-filled concretions coming from the Oregon coast. That idea is one giving me second thoughts. Member uncoat has experience with them; I'll send him a message. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lissa318 Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 I know with my local museum you can email photos for an ID. If the museum is not close you could try that first to see what feedback you get. You should post your shell collection sometime so we can take a peek.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConnieS Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 (edited) It has the general shape of a small dog pelvis but there's too much bone south of the two holes. If you could see it in person I think you'd agree it's bone. I don't know the proper terminology to use but it's, well, quite bone-like! I'm going to take lissa318's advice and will email the pics before taking it there in person. I'm about 30 miles from the museum so will try that first. (I'll get some pics taken of my shell fossils and will post. I go to the beach to hunt for agates. My fossils are a nice, if always unexpected, bonus!) Edited July 8, 2013 by ConnieS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichW9090 Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 Looks like a skull of some sort in a concretion, but maybe that is the triumph of hope over reality. The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConnieS Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 I like RichW's idea. I just googled skull cross sections from a few different animals and I think this is a possibility. Those could be eye sockets. And a 'snout'. Maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Hold everything folks! I see the top of a cetacean skull there. Bobby! Are you out there? Can you weigh in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConnieS Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 Hi Carl, I just google imaged 'cetacean skull' and I can see why you're thinking that. Strong resembalance! The paleontologist at the Burke Museum is out until the 22nd of this month. I hope to have some answers once she returns. Thanks everyone for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CH4ShotCaller Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Here's a link to the image, nice find. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ucmp.berkeley.edu%2Fmammal%2Fcetacea%2Fcetacean.html&ei=Bc3aUendNOWdiAL39YEI&usg=AFQjCNFBs84iNPeQX6Xa0kRZP2AT5K6IrQ&sig2=nvtl6i3hG1EUHzudg0BgjA&bvm=bv.48705608,d.cGE Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. -Albert Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConnieS Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 Thanks for that pic, CH4ShotCaller. With the exception of the - what are they called, "air holes"? - just to the inside of the eye sockets, that looks like it. Where's Crab Country? Are you near where I found this piece? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CH4ShotCaller Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Thanks for that pic, CH4ShotCaller. With the exception of the - what are they called, "air holes"? - just to the inside of the eye sockets, that looks like it. Where's Crab Country? Are you near where I found this piece? Yep, just around the corner near JBLM. In picture #3, the occidental (can't remember the proper/full term) is easy to see. Plus, I've heard folks finding these, turtles, squalodon teeth'skulls, bones, etc. Lucky find. Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. -Albert Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lissa318 Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Yay! Nice find Connie!!! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConnieS Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 It really was a lucky find. It must have been 20 years ago. I've been beach combing at Ocean Shores for 35+ years and knew the moment I saw it that it was something special. All these years I've thought it was a pelvic bone. I'm much more excited now thinking that it's a skull. I guess I'm a body part-ist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CH4ShotCaller Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 (edited) Also, the color is right for fossils of this area. What few small bone fragments I've found are brown and surrounded by the gray volcanic ash that I find on all concretions and other fossils. That area is a good collecting site and mostly Oligocene. Edited July 8, 2013 by CH4ShotCaller Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. -Albert Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConnieS Posted July 8, 2013 Author Share Posted July 8, 2013 Thanks, Lissa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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