MarcoSr Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 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. 2 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) 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 2 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) 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 3 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) Mammal teeth continued: Continued in the next reply. Marco Sr. Edited June 18, 2016 by MarcoSr 1 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) Mammal teeth continued: Lots of other bones: Mammal: Frog: Continued in the next reply. Marco Sr. Edited October 14, 2015 by MarcoSr 1 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) 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 2 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 (edited) Additional vertebrae continued: Salamander: Multiple views of a salamander trunk vertebra: Additional vertebrae: Marco Sr. Edited October 14, 2015 by MarcoSr 2 "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Fantastic finds Marco. love all the mammal parts. Tony Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Dente Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Nice finds and photos. I think your fish scales might be pieces from a Diodontid tooth plate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 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, "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 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. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Pocock Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Fascinating thank you for the images such detail in micro fossils often go unnoticed again thanks for sharing Regards Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Very happy to see you back at it. The the reptile and amphibian specimens are awesome! Thank you for your efforts. "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Hi, Pics are marvelous ! Congrats ! Coco ---------------------- OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici Un Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilHunter99 Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Wow, my jaw dropped! Beautiful finds....Do you know whats animals the claws are from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sacha Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 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. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 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. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 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. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 14, 2015 Author Share Posted October 14, 2015 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. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old bones Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 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 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...
MarcoSr Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 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. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcoSr Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 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. "Any day that you can fossil hunt is a great day." My family fossil website Some Of My Shark, Ray, Fish And Other Micros My Extant Shark Jaw Collection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 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. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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