Shellseeker Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Went hunting Friday with Miatria and a Peace River expert who has secret spots and land access. I had a pretty good day that started with a broken carnassial and ended with a large mammal medial phalanx. Here is a photo of some of my finds (knowns and unknowns)....I have been searching on the net and think I identified 3 of these but will see what the experts say: Fossil #2 is the broken carnassial split right down the middle. From the bottom of the root to the top of the crown is 40mm. Almost the exact length on the curve for #4. On #3 I am interested in the specific animal rather than the species. Did I mention that with all these goodies and more, Miatria won the day by a country mile? She found some NICE fossils. I offered to help dig out that spot but she was not listening. The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 (edited) 1. Tapir molar 2. Not sure 3. Maybe Eagle Ray crush plate 4. Unknown claw (an exact size and shape may help ID) 5. Lower Raccoon jaw frag 6. Armadillo scute 7. Unknown vert......? Nice haul SS! Edited March 15, 2014 by fossilized6s ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeymig Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 I will give it a shot! 1. Tapir tooth 2. Peccary tooth?? 3. Sting Ray mouth pavement 4. Eagle claw 5. Raccoon Jaw 6. Armadillo scute 7. Deer vert. mikey Many times I've wondered how much there is to know. led zeppelin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 If #4 is 40mm, it pretty much has to be from an eagle; my best guess is digit 3 "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...
calhounensis Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 (edited) #7 is an Equus medial phalanx. Edited March 15, 2014 by calhounensis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 An Eagle talon ! That's a pretty sweet find! I was thinking armadillo claw... ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lissa318 Posted March 15, 2014 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Nice finds!!!! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 (edited) 1. Tapir molar YES 2. Not sure 3. Maybe Eagle Ray crush plate YES -- Is it Eagle Ray versus other rays? 4. Unknown claw (an exact size and shape may help ID) - Thanks Auspex Bald Eagle 5. Lower Raccoon jaw frag YES !!!! 6. Armadillo scute YES, it is an edge scute 7. Unknown vert......? Calhounensis got it as Equus Medial Phalanx!!! Nice haul SS! Fossilized6s & mikey, Thanks to ALL , I had to look on the net to confirm Equus and Raccoon fossils and it was pretty clear that teh claw was not CAT or Bear, but raptor.. It is a little less than 40 mm Auspex -- Still 3rd digit? and now fossil #2, Here is a coyote lower carnassial compared to the piece I found -- This animal is lots bigger than a coyote. and looking at the "basin" as harrypristis used to call it. I believe that this is 50% of a lower Dire Wolf carnassial and I am right pleased with this find! All in all a pretty fine day with friends and the weather was perfect. SS Edited March 16, 2014 by Shellseeker The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squali Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Great variety of some very interesting finds Thanks for posting SS It's hard to remember why you drained the swamp when your surrounded by alligators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Eagle phalanx, yes (can't specify which species). By size and curvature I can speculate that it is phalanx 4 of digit 3. Here's another good example of a Florida Pleistocene Eagle claw: "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...
jcbshark Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Great finds Jack! Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miatria Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 It WAS a good day! I have visitors so I haven't posted yet but I hope to get it done tomorrow. You are welcome to go dig where I was working but I tried my best to scrape it clean. :-) I'll send links tomorrow. Zookeeperfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Always nice to go out with others who have access to "secret honey holes". You got a great range of finds there--enough to make anybody proud. Heading out to the Peace this weekend but to well-traveled areas so not likely to dig into a cache of great finds like that. I'll be taking out some friends who are Peace River virgins and they will be happy with whatever they turn up. I'm happy just to be out sifting on the river. You can win if you don't buy a lottery ticket. It's always a kick in the pants when something novel turns up in the sifting screen but putting in time on the river is always fun regardless of the finds (though the days with good finds are a bit extra special). I still get a vicarious kick out of seeing other people's finds from the Peace. It's confirmation that unusual treasures do exist there (even if I don't find them in my sifting screen). Thanks for sharing (he says green with envy).... -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordpiney Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Nice finds Jack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 I'm happy just to be out sifting on the river. You can win if you don't buy a lottery ticket. It's always a kick in the pants when something novel turns up in the sifting screen but putting in time on the river is always fun regardless of the finds (though the days with good finds are a bit extra special). I think that is right, "honey holes" are fantastic but over a period of 4-5 years, I have only found 5 of them, 4 with the help of good friends. Most of the time, I do not have a honey hole, just digging like a madman, hoping for the lottery to hit. The greater % of my best fossils are found sort of randomly while I was picking up sort of normal worn or broken fossils. I always take the time to look around at what nature has created and marvel at how lucky I am, just to be digging in the river. Here are some of those randomly found best fossils, all within a mile of the heavily searched access points... Overall I think it is a matter of persistence -- 50-100 times a year for 5 plus years and almost anyone is going to have an impressive set of unique fossils..This is the "blind squirrel" theory The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 Nice finds Jack! There is good stuff out there. I found this little beauty yesterday. Note the minimal cusps and the feeding frenzy bite marks... This is a Meg with cusps and I'm finding more lately.. See you on the river one day. SS The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 Mmmmm...honey (holes). "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opisthotriton Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 If you could provide a photo with a straight side view of the eagle claw, we could match up the curvature to the ones measured in this paper, and have a little more evidence for which digit it is. Size alone isn't terribly useful for telling toes because this species of eagle could be larger or smaller than others, and so its claw sizes might be different from other species. The curvature would be the best way of distinguishing digits. Your claw doesn't look very curved, which makes it more likely 3 or 4 rather than 1 or 2, but eagles have annoyingly similar claws on each digit (due to needing to catch and hold fish), which is why a straight side view is necessary to tease out the exact angle. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0007999#pone.0007999.s001 (Supp info table has a small subtable at the bottom of the excel sheet with golden eagle bony ungual measurements) Also, this paper doesn't include eagles, but it does have lots of nice figures of interdigital variation in other raptors. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ahe.12041/full Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 There is good stuff out there. I found this little beauty yesterday. Note the minimal cusps and the feeding frenzy bite marks... This is a Meg with cusps and I'm finding more lately.photoMegCrop.JPG. See you on the river one day. SS Love the Meg, and I always walk around and surface pick before I start digging a new spot. You never know what may be laying there waiting to be found Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Opisthotriton, I am not sure what a "straight side view" means. From tip to base is 23 mm, from tip to top of Hp is 35mm. The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opisthotriton Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 (edited) By straight side view, I mean a direct lateral view - claw laying flat on the table, camera held directly above it, so only the side of the claw is visible. Your photo shows a little bit of the bottom side, and a little bit of the posterior/proximal side. But it will do fine. I did some quick measurements with the method from the paper, and got an outer curvature of 97 degrees. The golden eagle claws (bony core only) measured in the paper had these outer angles (the foot was disarticulated, so they couldn't tell which was digit 1 or 2, but they were sure of 3 and 4): Digit I and II: 106-117 degrees Digit III: 96 degrees Digit IV: 102 degrees So it looks like this fossil eagle claw is in the size range of a modern golden eagle, and has the curvature of a golden eagle digit 3. Auspex was right, as usual! *This does not mean it is specifically a golden eagle, just that it is an eagle of some sort. Edited March 21, 2014 by Opisthotriton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 They are different in the hand... "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...
Miatria Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Shellseeker, I have modeled my "method", such as it is, on you! lol Lots and lots of work, trying to suss out a treasure, and trying to get a "feel" for the gravel. Amazing display of your finds! Zookeeperfossils.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bgoods55 Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Wow! pretty impressive sir. Now that's what you call a good day...awesome finds!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now