mratteberry Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 Hi there! I found this bone last weekend in the Bone Valley Formation in Tampa Florida. It's a massive phosphate deposit that's mined by 'Mosaic'. Any fossils in the deposit won't go through the mining machinery, so the miners pull the chunks out and throw them in a separate bone area - which is just chock full of crazy fossils. These are primarily Miocene fossils (both terrestrial and marine)... but some Pleistocene fossils have been found before. This fossil is the only one of my haul that I just can't identify. Even if we can't figure out what animal it belonged to - I'd be happy to know what kind of bone it is. If it helps - most of the bones I found were dugong. The funky thing about this bone is the 'front' of it has a curve that suggests vertebrae... but the 'back' of the bone is curved in the opposite direction. As if the curves are perpendicular to one another. I think it may be a joint bone. Sorry for all the text - I just want to throw everything I know about this weirdo out there. #1 - What I think is the front of the bone. The bottom part near my thumb is exposed interior - so the bone must have snapped there. The top (towards my fingertips) is exterior bone. #2 - The opposite side. All exterior except for the bottom part where it must have snapped. #3 - Profile of the back of the bone. #4 - Profile of the front of the bone. #5 - Another front profile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TyrannosaurusRex Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 Partial dolphin vertabrae? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mratteberry Posted November 19, 2014 Author Share Posted November 19, 2014 Partial dolphin vertabrae? I thought so too, at first - but the curve on the back is an exterior curve - making it too thin to be a vertebrae. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 If possible, larger images showing more detail would probably help someone give you a better ID. Welcome to the forum btw. "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mratteberry Posted November 19, 2014 Author Share Posted November 19, 2014 If possible, larger images showing more detail would probably help someone give you a better ID. Welcome to the forum btw. Thank you! #1 - Front curve. #2 - Back curve. #3 - Front profile from right side. #4 - Back profile from bottom. #5 - View showing the opposing curves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 Possibly a somewhat worn cuneiform? "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...
mratteberry Posted November 19, 2014 Author Share Posted November 19, 2014 (edited) Possibly a somewhat worn cuneiform? That seems probable! A cuneiform got me thinking about giant ground sloths... maybe it's an ankle bone from a sloth? Or even a mammoth? Thoughts? Edited November 20, 2014 by mratteberry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paleoworld-101 Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 (edited) Nice job with the new pictures. You mentioned there are both Pleistocene and Miocene fossils at this site. Do they differ in appearance, colour, weight i.e any way of telling them apart that could tell you how old yours might be? Unless it is Pleistocene for example, mammoth would be off the list of possible critters it could belong to. Edited November 20, 2014 by Paleoworld-101 "In Africa, one can't help becoming caught up in the spine-chilling excitement of the hunt. Perhaps, it has something to do with a memory of a time gone by, when we were the prey, and our nights were filled with darkness..." -Eternal Enemies: Lions And Hyenas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mratteberry Posted November 20, 2014 Author Share Posted November 20, 2014 Nice job with the new pictures. You mentioned there are both Pleistocene and Miocene fossils at this site. Do they differ in appearance, colour, weight i.e any way of telling them apart that could tell you how old yours might be? Unless it is Pleistocene for example, mammoth would be off the list of possible critters it could belong to. Thanks again The colors are somewhat all over the place with the fossils because the phosphate deposit colors are all over the place. For instance I found a bone-white dolphin vert with a pink interior, and a peer of mine found a nearly identical one in size and shape but his is dark grey. So I think the only age-indicator lies in what animal your fossil belonged to. I found several mastodon teeth so I thought maybe mammoth. Either way - I'm almost positive it's an astragalus bone of something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichW9090 Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 It isn't any astragalus with which I am familiar. Appears more to be a carpal/tarsal of something, but I'm not seeing anything I recognize. The plural of "anecdote" is not "evidence". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mratteberry Posted November 20, 2014 Author Share Posted November 20, 2014 It isn't any astragalus with which I am familiar. Appears more to be a carpal/tarsal of something, but I'm not seeing anything I recognize. Oh, darn. There's just so many similar-looking bones on google. I think if I had a definitive hand-sample to compare to, this would be so much easier! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 Mammoth cuneiform is the best guess (by Auspex) I've heard so far. There is a prominence missing from one side, if it is such a bone. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlar7607 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 We are going to have Dr.Richard C Hulbert who is the vertabrate paleontology collections manager for the florida museum of natural history at our lee county fossil clubs annual fossil show this sat the 6 of dec from 9-4 at the shell factory in North Fort Myers. bring your ID material to him and check out our show. I will be working the silent auction table if you come stop by and say hello. Joe L. Board member Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellseeker Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Here is a 2 inch Sloth Medial Phalanx that has some similarities. I think that your bone is somewhat similar but slightly larger in size. The White Queen ".... in her youth she could believe "six impossible things before breakfast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 We are going to have Dr.Richard C Hulbert who is the vertabrate paleontology collections manager for the florida museum of natural history at our lee county fossil clubs annual fossil show this sat the 6 of dec from 9-4 at the shell factory in North Fort Myers. bring your ID material to him and check out our show. I will be working the silent auction table if you come stop by and say hello. Joe L. Board member Hey Joe, the plan is to make it down to visit you guys--I've convinced the wife to come along as its just a weekend trip and not too many fossils are involved. I think I'm already in trouble. Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Thanks Joe, I'll be there too : ) 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...
jlar7607 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Great look forward to seeing you ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Hey mratteberry, my apologies for not welcoming you to the forum in my earlier post! Mosaic does offer some huge potential but they are there for the phosphate and things can get a little chewed up while they are mining. We were out with the local club to one of their locations in Bowling Green about a month and a half ago. A couple folks found some decent smallish teeth and a few vertebrate teeth pieces and some other odd stuff. My highlites were a couple small horse teeth. They arent really big so you have to look for the small stuff too. Good luck with any future finds! Lots of critters were roaming and swimming out there. Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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