Associated Miocene Odontocete (Dolphin), Skull, Axis, Humerus And More

[shark57]

Was out at one of my favorite Miocene sites back on August 2, when I spotted this protruding from the cliff:

Went back the next day with some proper tools and a friend and discovered this was not an isolated jaw or skull. Have made a total of six trips to the site so far. Here are some more pics of what I have collected and partially prepped. First, a ventral view of the skull. It was upside down and I have not yet turned it over and prepped the other side.

This part of the skull is 11 inches long by 8 inches wide. There are separate pieces of the rostrum that still need cleaning and attaching, including one piece with teeth in it. There are many other bones still in this block. I will continue this in the next post.

[shark57]

Here is a shot from behind the skull, where two vertebrae and part of a third are present. The one which is almost totally exposed I believe to be the axis.

Here is a closeup pic of the front of this block. There are four bones underneath this part, with three of them visible here.

The bone in the center with the ruffled appearance looks like a caudal vertebra with the epiphysis missing. You can also just make out some tooth sockets above this bone. The bone on the left, barely visible, is another vertebra. The bone on the right, with just the end visible, appears to be either a radius, an ulna, or a humerus. I will remove it soon to confirm which it is.

Here is a loose tooth with root broken off that was against the skull.

To get the skull to this point and expose these other bones in this block alone has taken about 35 hours of prep, not including the hours it took to remove carefully form the cliff. More bones in the next post.

Edited March 14, 2014 by shark57

[shark57]

Here is another block which contains at least five complete vertebrae (including the atlas, 2nd from left) and a humerus (on the far right. The humerus, along with some of the vertebrae, is missing the epiphysis indicating this animal was probably not an adult.

Here is another view of the same block from a different angle.

I will post more tomorrow.

Edited March 14, 2014 by shark57

[Boesse]

My suspicion is that it's a eurhinodelphinid - and at that, it would probably be Xiphiacetus. But, there are a couple other possibilities. I'd need to see the top of the skull to be sure. Also, keep an eye peeled for the earbones.

[ohiofossilhunter]

impressive find ! makes me want to collect a miocene site today (mumbles about classes all day and starts typing lab report)

[MarcoSr]

Gary

You are really making nice progress with the prep work. Looking really good. Hopefully the ear bones are in one of the blocks somewhere.

Marco Sr.

[fossilized6s]

Amazing find! I can't wait to see it done!

Are you going to leave it in the matrix or try and completly remove everything and try to rearticulate it?

[shark57]

It's all coming out. The lower jaw and the rostrum are in pieces and need cleaning and hardening so they can be put back together. I have already removed several ribs and reconstructed them (pics going up tonight). But I am taking lots of pictures so I can always see how the bones were in matrix.

[fossilized6s]

Do you have the whole rostrum? Long beaked dolphin?

[shark57]

Do you have the whole rostrum? Long beaked dolphin?

It is one of the long-beaked ones. I have part of the rostrum, which is in several pieces.. If you go back and look at the first pic, you can see the broken end of the rostrum (bone on top with some teeth in it) and the broken end of the fused lower jaws (underneath the rostrum). The ends of these bones probably fell out of the cliff and are long gone.

[powelli1]

Hi Gary Boy it just gets better and better every time you go to the site, I hope you get a lot more of it and I am looking forward in seeing it the next time I get up there. Good luck with it. George

[Auspex]

Wonderful find! Heaven knows you've paid your dues, but still...

<To aspiring local collectors; this sort of find is about impossible without legal access to non-public areas and permission to dig there>

[Roz]

Fantastic find and good shots!

[lissa318]

Nice find!!! Congrats and looking forward to any updates as you prep it out.

[shark57]

More pics. First is the back of the lower jaw bones, still in a block of matrix. They are badly fractured and will take a lot of work to remove, harden, and put back together. I do have connecting pieces that go on the ends and will result in this being one piece when it is done.

Hers is a pic of three of the ribs I have finished.

Edited March 16, 2014 by shark57

[Welsh Wizard]

Wow. Fantastic find. You're doing a great job putting it back together. Well done

Nick

[busyeagle]

I certainly don't envy you this prepping task! It's coming along quite nicely though.

[shark57]

Decided my next step would be to separate the skull from the group of bones behind it. Was working my way through the matrix when something got in the way...

The first ear bone has finally shown up! As you can see, this bulla was just behind and below the occipital condyle on the back of the skull (which is still upside down), The bad news - it broke into 11 pieces when I removed it. Here is a pic with most of it put back together, the remaining fragments also in the pic.

And a pic of the back of the skull cleaned off. I am going to try and flip it over soon.

[fossilized6s]

To bad about the bulla. Could you still piece it back together enough to try for an ID?

Keep up the good work! It's looking great!

[shark57]

To bad about the bulla. Could you still piece it back together enough to try for an ID?

Keep up the good work! It's looking great!

I am still hoping to to put the bulla back together. I may get some assistance in doing that from someone who can recognize where the remaining pieces go by there shape, texture, etc. In the end, this specimen should be fairly easy to identify since I have the skull, lower jaws, teeth, atlas, axis, one humerus, and other various bones. In the meantime here are some more pics. Finally removed the rest of the bones from behind the skull (the earbone in my last post was the first to come out). Ended up with this:

The bone on the upper left still in matrix is a badly broken up cervical vertebra. The are several broken pieces sticking out in various directions, and I believe the loose piece just below it is a neural spine or process that broke off. The epiphysis had separated and now is located just to the left of the main body of the vert. This reconstruction will be a fun little project of its own. The bone in the lower left is a process or spine that goes to another vertebra that is in a different block of dirt. Toward the center is a short little rib that appears to be intact. This must be from the periphery of the rib cage. To the right we have the axis vertebra and below it is most of its epiphisys which had broken apart and separated. Interestingly, one piece of the epiphysis was on to the left of the axis, while the other was off to the right. Neither was in position. I thought they might belong to a different vertebra, but the fit perfectly on the back of the axis which is missing its epiphisys.

One more pic.

Removed this cute little caudal vertebra from underneath the front of the skull. This bone is partially visible in some of the earlier posts. Looks like its from pretty far back in the vertebral column, but it had worked its way all the way up to the front. My next move will be to very carefully flip the skull over to work on the dorsal side.

[Fred]

In the end, this specimen should be fairly easy to identify since I have the skull, lower jaws, teeth, atlas, axis, one humerus, and other various bones.

It will likely be the bulla that is of high value for identification. Very cool that you found it. You'll likely find the other as well.

[jcbshark]

What an AWESOME find, CONGRATS! You are doing a very nice(albeit unenviable lol) job of prepping it as well

[Boesse]

Truth be told, the bulla is not as diagnostic for odontocetes - the facial region of the skull is the most diagnostic part of this specimen. The periotic is of much more importance, and it would be great if one were preserved with this fossil.

[Scylla]

Nice fossil! Great job getting it out.

[shark57]

Nice fossil! Great job getting it out.

Thanks, but it is not all out yet. There are several ribs and vertebrae still left in the cliff - and maybe other bones too. I have been waiting for warmer weather before extracting any more. I covered the site for the winter and have spent most of the last few months doing prep work, which is frustratingly slow.