Jump to content

Possible Record Fossil Found


RoyalTartToters

Recommended Posts

Hello, when I was very young I was out on a hike on some our land in alberta. On the hike we descovered a skull which had been washed down a hill by the recent rain falls. The skull was of interest so we decided to take it home. After some reasherch we descovered that it was in fact the skull of a bison antiquus. The skull is complete with only a few missing peices. After reviewing some information on the web it appeared that the largest one found to date had a horn tip to horn tip span of 31 inches , the skull I found has a span of 38 inches. If it is a record size who should I contact? Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you have any photos?

" We're all puppets, I'm just a puppet who can see the strings. "

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry not at the moment as it is at my fathers house, but photos are on there way , I just messaged him to send me some photos

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would be a great hood ornament for my truck. :)

Cole~

Knowledge has three degrees-opinion, science, illumination. The means or instrument of the first is sense; of the second, dialectic; of the third, intuition.

Plotinus 204 or 205 C.E., Egyptian Philosopher

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If it is not registered before the mid 1980's, it can't be sold or removed from the province.

These skulls are found now and again in the eroded banks of seasonal creeks that run through coulees, etc. Yours appears in excellent condition If a B. antiquus. I've come across a couple but 'cruddy' condition.

Where to take it? Depends where you live in the province. Perhaps the area it was found in has a local historic society. These types of recent extinct species sort of balance on the edge of a few areas of interest....zoology, archaeology, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would anyone be able to help me clarify what species this skull it from, it appears to be very old and has a tip to tip span of 38inches , could it be bison antiquus ?

post-13436-0-38520400-1381811385_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes. Even if found long ago still not allowed unless it was registered when legislation was passed on the status of fossils, artifacts, etc. in the province. You can have possession of it but it belongs to the province.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Where was this found? That will help greatly. I want to say it has to be B. antiquus, as I thought B. priscus had a more primitive skull shape and more re-curved horns.

EDIT: never mind on locality...topics were merged apparently.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's pretty big and agree that it's probably Bison antiquus but since it's from Canada it also could be the plains Bison bigger cousin Bison bison athabascae. It's a nice skull and where you found it would help in it's ID.

Mikey

Many times I've wondered how much there is to know.  
led zeppelin

 

MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png IPFOTM.png IPFOTM2.png IPFOTM3.png IPFOTM4.png IPFOTM5.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31" is not the largest for a Bison antiquus. 31" might even be on the small side, when there was more overlap between Bison bison and Bison antiquus. I had a Bison antiquus example that would have spanned 39-41". The horns were ridiculously robust.

The latest prep project was a 29" Bison that could have been labeled as a very large Bison bison or a small Bison antiquus. I labeled it as a late antiquus after talking to some mammal experts and doing a side-by-side comparison to distinguish more primitive traits.

Doubtful your skull is Bison bison athabascae. The horn shape is wrong and it would have been an absolute monster at 38". Record for modern Bison, last I checked was 32" with the sheaths intact.

Still, count me in for Bison antiquus.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Royal, how did you measure the skull? is it a true tip-to-tip measurement, a straight line through the air, or did you measure along the horn core down to the base, then across the flat of the head, then up along the curve of the other horn to the tip?

The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll assume for the moment you made a true tip-to-tip measurement. 38 inches would equal 965 mm.

That being the case, your skull, while definitely on the large side, is not a record. Jerry McDonald reports a range for 77 male skulls of Bison antiquus occidentalis of 626 - 1065 mm.

For 27 B. antiquus antiquus male skulls, he reports a range of 765 - 1067 mm.

The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Hello, when I was very young I was out on a hike on some our land in alberta. On the hike we descovered a skull which had been washed down a hill by the recent rain falls. The skull was of interest so we decided to take it home. After some reasherch we descovered that it was in fact the skull of a bison antiquus. The skull is complete with only a few missing peices. After reviewing some information on the web it appeared that the largest one found to date had a horn tip to horn tip span of 31 inches , the skull I found has a span of 38 inches. If it is a record size who should I contact? Thanks

According to McDonald (1981) for it's morphologic characters it belongs to a Bison antiquus. Ancient bison's measurements falls within the range of Bison priscus, Bison alaskensis and Bison Bison, so simply metric characters will not help you alone.

Will you help me with my research?

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/42677-help-with-an-ongoing-research/

I will help you identify the skull and give you all details as you want.

Thanks.

Have a nice day :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I measured a fossil herd population from Minnesota. The largest male was just 38 inches tip-to-tip, same as yours. Here is the horn-core spread data from the entire series of Bison antiquus antiquus:

Anoka Bison Herd

The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...