Again Which One Is It, Turtle Or Glyptodon

[Perico]

Not sure how to tell.

[jcbshark]

I've got one of those.I think it is a worn turtle claw core but i'm sure someone will know for sure.

[Sacha]

It is tortoise....I call these foot pads because claw cores are more elongate. These are very common Peace river finds along with the leg spurs.

Glyptodont scutes have the "daisy" on the face.....Giant armadillo are generally glossy with a somewhat thinner boarder.

[Carl]

I'm pretty sure these shouldn't be called "foot pads." That would imply, at least to me, that they come from the bottom of a foot. These are osteoderms and as bone nodules they wouldn't be expected on the bottom of a tortoise's foot. Tortoise limbs ARE covered with osteoderms so as with what are called "leg spurs" these should all be called tortoise limb osteoderms. Nerdery completed...

[Sacha]

Thanks Carl. I never really got the foot pad thing, but hear that ID all the time. So I shall refer to all of these as tortoise osteoderms in the future.

[Carl]

Fantastic! Spread the word! You can see them here in this picture.

[Sacha]

That foto also explains why we find so many of them. Tortoise shell is common enough that I figured the population of tortoises must have been fairly large. If that is the case, it looks like hundreds of osteoderms on each animal, explaining why they are the number 1 fossil found in the Peace (after little shark teeth).

[Carl]

Here's a shot of an Oligocene fossil tortoise from South Dakota in our collections with it's limb osteoderms mostly in place.

Edited November 18, 2013 by Carl

[Perico]

Thanks guys!