What Type Of Animal Bone Is This ?

[Ford]

Hello . Brand new to this forum and wish to know if anyone knows what type of bone this would be ?

I found it today at our gravel pit . We have found bones there before and I was told they were from some sort of elk . The gravel ridge we are mining is the Northwestern shoreline of lake Agassi . The bone was found at the bottom of the pit under approx 25 feet of gravel .

I hope to hear from someone on this ,

I can take more detailed photos later and post .

Thanks.

[calhounensis]

This is a metatarsal (commonly known as a cannon bone) from a large artiodactyl. As you can see one of the distal epiphysis is missing. Given the size it could certainly be from an elk. Post some measurements and some other views of the bone if you can. It could also be from a bison and an exact size might give us a clue as to which it belongs to.

Edited June 11, 2014 by calhounensis

[Ford]

Ok thanks - I will get more photos tomorrow , with a ruler next to the bone .

[calhounensis]

Where are my manners.. Welcome to the forum! Hopefully we can put an ID on this for you tomorrow. If there are any other bones you are curious about, post them in the Fossil ID section and we can clear those up too.

[Ford]

Hello . I was screening rock yesterday and came across this in the screenings. I did find more smaller pieces but left them at the pit . I will clean them up and photograph as well later .

If anyone can tell me what animal this was from I would much appreciate . The territory found is Northwestern shoreline of the ancient Lake Agassiz . Bone was found under 25 feet of sand and gravel .

We have found bones in the past and a scientist say they belonged to the elk family .

I would like my sons to take to school for show and share and would like to do a write up on what it is .

Thanks .

[JohnJ]

Your topics have been merged for continuity regarding the same find, and the topic moved to the Fossil ID forum.

[calhounensis]

I'm fairly certain that your bone is late Pleistocene, however I don't know much about the fauna of your area in this era. I don't have the comparison material to really tell you for certain but this metatarsal isn't as robust as the bison material I have. Therefore I would tentatively ID it as an artiodactyl from the infraorder Ruminantia. Ruminantia holds the families Cervidae (elk) and Bovidae (bison), so they bare a close resemblance.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/quaternary-vertebrate-fossils/ This link might help you with your sons write up, it mentions briefly some of the late Pleistocene mammals from Winnipeg which looks like a six hour drive from you. That was the only mention of Manitoba.

I do hope someone can get you a solid ID for this.

[Ford]

Thank you so much ! I really appreciate the time you have given me since I made my first post. I will use this info for both my sons show and tell , grades 3 and 5 .