Pleistocene micros from Merritt Island, Florida

[MarcoSr]

Pleistocene ray, fish, salamander, frog, snake, lizard and mammal specimens from matrix from the Melbourne Bone Bed from the Indian River, Florida. I want to thank John Sacha for supplying the matrix. This matrix was basically shells with fossil specimens. This was an extremely interesting matrix to search because of the large number of mammal and small reptile specimens. It also contained a good amount of amphibian specimens which I haven’t seen before in matrix. There were marine specimens also like fish specimens but the shark teeth were pretty beat and there were only a couple of ray specimens.

Julianna has made extensive posts on Merritt Island micros. This post does contain some additional/different examples of specimens from the matrix.

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/57198-merritt-island-florida-pleistocene-fossils/

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/59507-merritt-island-florida-pleistocene-fossils-part-2/

http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/60385-merritt-island-florida-pleistocene-fossil-photos/

If you mouse over the pictures you will see the file name which has the specimen size and my best effort at identification. If you can identify anything further or you see id errors please contribute to this post.

Below is a gem jar display which shows some of the nicer specimens that I found. Clique the photo to see an enlarged version. The gem jar cups are 1.75 inches in diameter for size reference of the specimens.

This is what is in each gem jar:

1 Lizard and snake vertebrae

2 Lizard and snake vertebrae

3 Interesting specimens that I need to id

4 Lizard jaws, mostly anole

5 Salamander vertebrae

6 Mammal teeth

7 Mammal teeth

8 Amphibian jaws (or don’t look like lizard)

9 Frog specimens

10 Mammal bones

11 Crab claw tips

12 Fish specimens (jaw fragments, teeth, scales, otoliths, and vertebrae)

13 Claws

14 Scales/Diodontid tooth plates

15 Ray tooth and barb

16 Scale/turtle shell fragments

Below are some pictures of some individual specimens

Ray:

I found a single Dasyatis tooth:

Fish:

Otolith:

Drum Tooth:

Fish jaws/plates:

Continued in the next reply.

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

Fish jaws/plates continued:

Pieces from a Diodontid tooth plate edited per comment from Eric:

There were a lot of jaw fragments:

Mammal:

Lizard (Anole):

Continued in the next reply.

Marco Sr.

Edited October 14, 2015 by MarcoSr

[MarcoSr]

Lizard (Anole) continued:

Lizard (Not sure of genus) :

Amphibian:

Lots of Mammal Teeth:

Possum: P1 or P2

The rest I need to id but most are rodent teeth:

Continued in the next reply.

Marco Sr.

Edited June 18, 2016 by MarcoSr

[MarcoSr]

Mammal teeth continued:

Continued in the next reply.

Marco Sr.

Edited June 18, 2016 by MarcoSr

[MarcoSr]

Mammal teeth continued:

Lots of other bones:

Mammal:

Frog:

Continued in the next reply.

Marco Sr.

Edited October 14, 2015 by MarcoSr

[MarcoSr]

Frog continued:

Snake/lizard:

Multiple views of a Colubrid snake vertebra:

Additional vertebrae:

Continued in the next reply.

Marco Sr.

Edited October 14, 2015 by MarcoSr

[MarcoSr]

Additional vertebrae continued:

Salamander:

Multiple views of a salamander trunk vertebra:

Additional vertebrae:

Marco Sr.

Edited October 14, 2015 by MarcoSr

[ynot]

Fantastic finds Marco.

love all the mammal parts.

Tony

[Al Dente]

Nice finds and photos. I think your fish scales might be pieces from a Diodontid tooth plate.

[MarcoSr]

Fantastic finds Marco.

love all the mammal parts.

Tony

Tony

Thank you. There were many more mammal teeth and especially a wide variety of mammal bones that I just didn't have time to photograph.

Marco Sr,

[MarcoSr]

Nice finds and photos. I think your fish scales might be pieces from a Diodontid tooth plate.

Eric

I knew I had seen them before but just couldn't place them.

Marco Sr.

[Mike Pocock]

Fascinating thank you for the images such detail in micro fossils often go unnoticed again thanks for sharing

Regards

Mike

[PFOOLEY]

Very happy to see you back at it.

The the reptile and amphibian specimens are awesome! Thank you for your efforts.

[Coco]

Hi,

Pics are marvelous ! Congrats !

Coco

[FossilHunter99]

Wow, my jaw dropped! Beautiful finds....Do you know whats animals the claws are from?

[Sacha]

Thanks Marco. With this post and Julianna's latest update, Hulbert and company should have a good idea of what to look for in the matrix I sent him. I appreciate your time and effort in the investigation and identification of specimens.

I'm impressed with the content of your gem jars!

[MarcoSr]

Fascinating thank you for the images such detail in micro fossils often go unnoticed again thanks for sharing

Regards

Mike

Hi,

Pics are marvelous ! Congrats !

Coco

Thank you for your comments.

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

Wow, my jaw dropped! Beautiful finds....Do you know whats animals the claws are from?

I only rarely find claws in matrix because I'm normally looking at strictly marine matrix, so I'm not that knowledgeable on the identification of claws. Based upon what I do know, a few look like mammal. Even though I didn't find other bird material, I think a few may be bird.

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

Very happy to see you back at it.

The the reptile and amphibian specimens are awesome! Thank you for your efforts.

Mike

Thank you. I wanted to post some pictures on TFF, along with those that Julianna has posted, to generate some scientific interest in the site.

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

Thanks Marco. With this post and Julianna's latest update, Hulbert and company should have a good idea of what to look for in the matrix I sent him. I appreciate your time and effort in the investigation and identification of specimens.

I'm impressed with the content of your gem jars!

John

I'm still searching the last batch of matrix so the specimens in the gem jars will increase. Thank you again for the matrix. I posted the gem jar display picture to give Hulbert a better idea of what is in the matrix. I found many more specimens but only placed the nicer ones in the gem jars.

Marco Sr.

[old bones]

Marco Sr.,

I agree with John, your gem jar display is impressive. I need to find one of those frog sacral vertebra ... very nice!

Your vertebrae photos are terrific. There are so many different examples in this matrix, and I know they are important for IDs.

(I need to get more photographs made.)

Julianna

[jcbshark]

Wow Marco, what a great variety of species in there! A lot of it is in excellent shape too. Great pics and finds as always

[MarcoSr]

Wow Marco, what a great variety of species in there! A lot of it is in excellent shape too. Great pics and finds as always

Jeff

Thank you. I have found lizard and snake material before, but this is the first time I've found salamander and frog material. That is why I love searching matrix; you never know what you are going to find.

Marco Sr.

[MarcoSr]

Marco Sr.,

I agree with John, your gem jar display is impressive. I need to find one of those frog sacral vertebra ... very nice!

Your vertebrae photos are terrific. There are so many different examples in this matrix, and I know they are important for IDs.

(I need to get more photographs made.)

Julianna

Julianna

It is funny how different batches of matrix from the same spot can contain different specimens. I just found my 3rd sacral vertebra but only my first anguimorph osteoderm. There are definitely lots of different vertebrae worthy of study in this matrix. You really need six pictures of each vertebra. I've already found too many nice vertebrae to take that many pictures. Plus even with the best pictures, it is still much better to look at the specimen directly to properly id it.

Marco Sr.

[JohnJ]

OK, I'm in love with your photography, still.

You've taken an incredible amount to time and effort to image and post these often overlooked finds. Thank you for that. This topic has lasting value for many of us.