Rockchic Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Hi all ! Thanks for Looking :-) Been a quiet observer on fossil forum for quite sometime... but now ready to reach out to the community for some help and advice on some recent finds. So here goes ! This one has some pretty notable characteristics and I thought someone should be able to pick up on them and help with an id. It was found at my friends house on the coastline of HMB. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockchic Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 https://www.flickr.com/photos/elisebaugh/sets/72157649362055224/ here are some larger images if you want a closer look ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 In this image particularly: it looks like a large vertebra centrum. "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...
Coelacanth Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 (edited) There have been a HUGE number of marine mammals and other fossils discovered in half moon bay. Most of them are very strange, with several new species. Congrats on this excellent find. Links below: http://www.isciencetimes.com/articles/6798/20140208/fossil-whale-walrus-half-moon-bay-marine-mammals.htm http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/5918/20140206/bizarre-cast-marine-mammals-revealed-8-year-california-fossil-excavation.htm http://ucmp.berkeley.edu/blog/archives/790 http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Seabird-fossil-found-near-Half-Moon-Bay-2372022.php http://www.hmbreview.com/news/young-scientist-finds-really-old-seabird/article_f9afa534-8191-11e0-b93e-001cc4c03286.html http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2012/01/07/1898625_whale-fossil-brain-san-luis-injuries.html?rh=1 http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/sfbay/FitzFossil.pdf http://www.academia.edu/927538/A_NEW_MARINE_VERTEBRATE_ASSEMBLAGE_FROM_THE_LATE_NEOGENE_PURISIMA_FORMATION_IN_CENTRAL_CALIFORNIA_PART_I_FOSSIL_SHARKS_BONY_FISH_BIRDS_AND_IMPLICATIONS_FOR_THE_AGE_OF_THE_PURISIMA_FORMATION_WEST_OF_THE_SAN_GREGORIO_FAULT Edited April 1, 2015 by Coelacanth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 (edited) Hi Rockchic, I'm a "local" vertebrate paleontologist, and the researcher who did most of the studies that Coelacanth linked to above. What you've got is the eroded core of a marine mammal skull - the long grooves/ridges are the articular surface for the ascending process of the maxilla onto the frontal bone, and based upon their shape it might be a specimen of the dwarf baleen whale Herpetocetus. The structures that Auspex has pointed out looking like a vertebra are probably parts of the vomer and presphenoid. I'll PM you to discuss this further. Nice find! Edited April 1, 2015 by Boesse 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Gee and here i thought it was an enrolled trilobite. Shows how much i know!( Or don't) I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Hoo-eee, now we're talkin'! Thanks, Bobby! "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...
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