Summerville Vertebrae Id Help?

[StormJunkie]

Hi all. Great forum you have here. Can anyone help me identify what this vertebrae came from? It was found in Summerville, SC so I'm assuming it is from the Oligocene period and came from the Chandler Bridge formation.

[StormJunkie]

One more photo...Thanks in advance for any help!

[calhounensis]

I don't believe this is from the Chandler Bridge fm. It is a small terrestrial mammal vertebra, something that would be found from the Pleistocene or Holocene.

[StormJunkie]

Thanks Cal, appreciate the response!

I am a fossil hobyist only. It's a good way to spend the day with my son. So understand, the science is not my fortay, but I do enjoy learning as I go. So, I assumed it was Oligocene and from the Chandler Bridge formation since I found it right in the middle of the Chandler Bridge area. It was on a creek/ditch bed, so I have no real way to identify what layer it came from even if I knew enough to identify the layer. Interesting that you suspect it is a primarily land mammal since most everything we find in this area was aquatic. Care to share what leads you to think it is a terrestial mammal? That's not something I have found in this area before so that coupled with the fact my son found it would make it that much more special to us.

[Diceros]

I agree with calhounensis that it's the vertebra a Pleistocene or Holocene small terrestrial mammal. It's specifically an anterior thoracic vertebra. Look at the third photo, of the posterior and left lateral sides. Below the vertebral centrum in the photo (and the neural canal, for the spinal cord), there's an articulation for a rib head, so it's thoractic. The long neural spine suggests an anterior thoracic - say, between the shoulder blades. It's smaller (by the way, a ruler would be better than a quarter) than even a small cetacean like a dolphin. Also, the cetacean vertebral centrum is generally circular. It's hard to tell if the epiphysis of this vertebra is fused or just worn - if unfused, it'd be a juvenile, and might have been a larger adult.

[StormJunkie]

Thanks Dice. I will have to change the tags on the post if this indeed turns out to be the case. I've been looking around and can not find a picture of anything that is the same. I will add more pictures later today (with a ruler, sorry about the newbie mistake). The swoop back on the extension is part of what makes it different than what I have seen so far. Also, as you noted, the articulating joint is not round. Again, appreciate the help from any and all who take the time to help me narrow down what it may be!

[StormJunkie]

Here are a couple more pictures. The other items shown in the picture were found in the same area as the verterbrae. Goind by the previous responses, this item seems displaced along the timeline for what we normally find in this area. Any insight as to why or how this happens? If it is indeed a much more recent fossil than the other items.

[StormJunkie]

I'd also be interested in knowing if there is a better way to upload multiple photos to a post, given the 2mb limit per post?

[StormJunkie]

And one more. If you'd like other angles, or close ups of certain features, please let me know. I'm really looking forward to educating my son more about this piece he found.

[Diceros]

I like your yellow ruler! About the five other specimens in the ruler shot, I think all could be from the lt. Oligocene (Chattian) Chandler Bridge Fm. fauna of Summerville, SC, (I don't know snails well, so I'm less sure about that one). On the ruler, left to rt.: could be a Squalodon atlanticus tooth; and a lower tooth of Hemipristis serra missing most of the root.

Below the ruler, left to right: tiger shark lower tooth of Galeocerdo aduncus (AKA G. "contortus"); med-sized bony fish vertebra; and a wentletrap (epitomiid?) snail shell. I know an interesting tidbit about wentletrap shells - they're some of the few snails with calcitic shells, rather than ones made of aragonite. So even if all of the other snail shells in the fauna have dissolved, this one could remain.

[StormJunkie]

Excellent info Dice, thank-you! Now I can spend a little time researching info on each and be able to pass it along to the boy. That will be fun. As for the unkown vertebrae, the closest thing I have been able to find so far is a Red Fox? Any thoughts on this? And how it may have fossilized and ended up in the same place with the other pieces?

[StormJunkie]

<sup>Be forewarned, if you follow the link in this post, the pictures at the end of post are a bit gruesome.

So here is an image of some Red Fox vertebrae. It seems to be a close match. I have had a hard time finding good pictures of thoracic vertebrae from possible candidates. Search includes Bobcat, Jaguar, and Red Fox so far. I'd also entertain any other species local to the area that may have a similar thoracic structure. The two dimples on the front side of the vertebrae may be of use in identifying it, but I haven't found those markings on anything I've seen so far.</sup>

Link to Red Fox - Slightly gruesome pics at end of article.