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A Very Large Cretaceous Shark Vertebra From The Mount Laurel Formation


njfossilhunter

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My Friend from Texas was once living and working in New Jersey some nearly 13 years ago. While on a fossil hunting trip to Rammanssin brook he spotted something in the wall of the Mount Laurel Formation and seen this shark vertebra partially exposed ,,insitu .. just saying here I am. Well when he showed me this vertebra,,,,My jaw just dropped to the floor,,,,I just couldn't believe such a large shark vert could come out of any N.J. Formation and I remembered being at the M.A.P.S collection and seeing big shark vert's in the collection from N.J. but these where about six in association to each other and was just about this size as well,,,maybe a little bigger.

Well My Best Ever Buddy in the whole Wide World finally gave me his prize find from NJ. and Is now one of my prize N.J. fossils in my collection.

Here is a picture of my new baby....Ain't she beautiful...... :wub:

post-2085-0-95039700-1444414239_thumb.jpg

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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Thats a great vertebra :wub:

Nice

Many greetings from Germany ! Have a great time with many fossils :)

Regards Sebastian

Belo.gif

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Thats a great vertebra :wub:

Nice

Thank you for your kind words....I just love this thing.

Looks great to Me!!

What is the scale?

Tony

Thanks Tony....Its in inches.....The vertebra measures 1 13/16 x 3/4 inches at its widest width. These are hugh for NJ

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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Beautiful vert, gotta love the locality where it was found.

Thanks Troodon....It was found in Ramanessin Brook in Middletown N.J.

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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That is an interesting one. Looks similar to a sawfish centrum.

You think it might be a sawfish vertebra ????? I don't think I ever seen one from NJ

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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There's lots of Ischyrhiza mira material in the Wenonah at Ramanessin, so sawfish is definitely likely in my opinion, if Al Dente's observations are on the right track. It definitely looks a little different to me.

---Wie Wasser schleift den Stein, wir steigen und fallen---

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There's lots of Ischyrhiza mira material in the Wenonah at Ramanessin, so sawfish is definitely likely in my opinion, if Al Dente's observations are on the right track. It definitely looks a little different to me.

Steve do you remember The dam/falls at Ramanessin if so isn't the formation,, a few feet down stream from there at about 3 1/2 to 4 feet above the water line Mount Laurel???

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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How unusual for a shark vertebra to have no (apparent) basidorsal or basiventral insertions for neural or haemal processes. Is this just a trick of the camera lens?

http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page

 

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

---Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

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How unusual for a shark vertebra to have no (apparent) basidorsal or basiventral insertions for neural or haemal processes. Is this just a trick of the camera lens?

That is the reason I believe it is from a sawfish.

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How unusual for a shark vertebra to have no (apparent) basidorsal or basiventral insertions for neural or haemal processes. Is this just a trick of the camera lens?

That is the reason I believe it is from a sawfish.

I don't know anything about sawfish vert's, Al . . . Is it the case that sawfish vert's have no neural or haemal processes? Or, is there some structural arrangement, other than insertion, for these processes?

http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page

 

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

---Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

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Nice vertebra. You should be very proud on your find :yay-smiley-1:

I didn't find it ,,my friend did...But thanks anyway.... :)

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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That is a beaut!

For some strange reason, fish verts always draw my eye.

~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

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Congrats Tony. That vert is a beaut. However, if it turns out that it is a sawfish I wouldn't bother keeping it. If I were you I'd pass it on to one of your other friends. Hint, hint.

Seriously, it's a great addition to your already excellent NJ Cretaceous collection.

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Congrats Tony. That vert is a beaut. However, if it turns out that it is a sawfish I wouldn't bother keeping it. If I were you I'd pass it on to one of your other friends. Hint, hint.

Seriously, it's a great addition to your already excellent NJ Cretaceous collection.

Thanks Jeffrey.....Well I'm thinking it just might be a Ischyrhiza....I have not seen this vert in 12 years and my friend said it was a shark and at that time I would have not known any better since I have not seen a lot of NJ Cretaceous shark vertebra. I'm not disappointed if it is a Ischyrhiza because as of now with my search on the internet,,, they are only known from early Campanian of Alabama were they found a associated vertebral centra...So I might have something very rare here...I'm going to have to call my buddy in Texas and let him know of the bad news...LOL.

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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Not surprised it came from that area since you mentioned it was found in the bank. I have found some large for NJ, batoid verts in the same area, both in the Wenonah and basal Navesink. 4ft above stream level there would be basal Navesink.

Steve do you remember The dam/falls at Ramanessin if so isn't the formation,, a few feet down stream from there at about 3 1/2 to 4 feet above the water line Mount Laurel???

---Wie Wasser schleift den Stein, wir steigen und fallen---

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I found one at least that large in Big Brook just downstream of Hillsdale Rd. It was in shallow fast water and at I thought I was picking up the bottom of a beer can (I often would try and take at least one bag of trash out each visit.) I was also totally surprised by the size. There is a picture of it somewhere on this forum but I can't remember where. It had a slight oval shape oriented vertically with the center a bit off-center. It wasn't the typical batoid type and someone also suggested it was a sawfish.

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Not surprised it came from that area since you mentioned it was found in the bank. I have found some large for NJ, batoid verts in the same area, both in the Wenonah and basal Navesink. 4ft above stream level there would be basal Navesink.

Well after talking to my friend he explained to me that the vert was found just below the pebbly layer which Ralph explained to me as being Wenonah .

Erose do you have a picture of that vert you mentioned from big brook...if so can you post it.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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Yep thats the contact. I said Wenonah originally because it looked like it still had some Wenonah mica on it. ;)

Well after talking to my friend he explained to me that the vert was found just below the pebbly layer which Ralph explained to me as being Wenonah .

Erose do you have a picture of that vert you mentioned from big brook...if so can you post it.

Thanks everyone for your help.

---Wie Wasser schleift den Stein, wir steigen und fallen---

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Yep thats the contact. I said Wenonah originally because it looked like it still had some Wenonah mica on it. ;)

what is your view on the pebbly layer thats above the wenonah or do you think its part of the wenonah or is it mount laurel or a lag layer of the navesink at this site.

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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The pebbly layer there is of earliest Navesink age, therefore it is basal Navesink formation. Most of the usage of Mt. Laurel in Monmouth County is unsupported by biostratigraphic evidence and throwbacks to the idea of more simple lithologic based formations. Purely lithologic based formations dont make sense anymore with modern understanding of concepts of sequence stratigraphy either.

I consider that area a very important section in the (Wenonah-Mt.Laurel?-Navesink) interval in Monmouth County. It tells a lot of the story. It would take many paragraphs to explain. When I get back to NJ and finally meet up sometime we should talk about it. Unfortunately the basal Navesink can look quite different in other locations as well!

what is your view on the pebbly layer thats above the wenonah or do you think its part of the wenonah or is it mount laurel or a lag layer of the navesink at this site.

---Wie Wasser schleift den Stein, wir steigen und fallen---

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The pebbly layer there is of earliest Navesink age, therefore it is basal Navesink formation. Most of the usage of Mt. Laurel in Monmouth County is unsupported by biostratigraphic evidence and throwbacks to the idea of more simple lithologic based formations. Purely lithologic based formations dont make sense anymore with modern understanding of concepts of sequence stratigraphy either.

I consider that area a very important section in the (Wenonah-Mt.Laurel?-Navesink) interval in Monmouth County. It tells a lot of the story. It would take many paragraphs to explain. When I get back to NJ and finally meet up sometime we should talk about it. Unfortunately the basal Navesink can look quite different in other locations as well!

Thank you very much and will very much looking forward to meeting up with you and talk more about strartigraphy...I was at Ramanessin yesterday and collected about 6 one gallon bags from different locations between Roberts Rd and Crawford Corner For a project i'm working on which includes a lot of strartigraphy ,,well thats just what it is..the project.

Thanks again

Tony
The Brooks Are Like A Box Of Chocolates,,,, You Never Know What You'll Find.

I Told You I Don't Have Alzheimer's.....I Have Sometimers. Some Times I Remember

And Some Times I Forget.... I Mostly Forget.




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