NDfossilhunter44 Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Hello, I found a fossil in the fox hills formation (Upper Cretaceous) around 6 miles east of Timber Lake, SD. I believe it is part of a dinosaur bone, or atleast a large vertebrate and was wondering if there was enough of the sample for a positive ID. The area in which I found it in is known to be a lagoonal deposition environment and I found the fossil in a thick bed of bivalves. Mosasaurs have been found in the formation but I'm not sure that this bone belongs to one of those. I tried to mostly clean it off, but there is still some encrustation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NDfossilhunter44 Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 Here is another view of the bone, my images are too large I guess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NDfossilhunter44 Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 ....and another one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JarrodB Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 It doesn't look Mosasaur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 dinosaur in the Fox Hills would be unusual... But I can't make a mosasur out of it. I can't make a dinosaur either, so without seeing in person, I will say... tough to tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 My impression was that the Fox Hill Formation was primarly marine but did some research in Timber Lake area. I found an excellent paper who's focus is in this area and it's available online as a PDF. PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY YALE UNIVERSITY BULLETIN 27 The Type Fox Hills Formation, Cretaceous (Maestrichtian), South Dakota Part 1. Stratigraphy and Paleoenvironments Bottom line, The Timber Lake Member of the Fox Hill Fm is a lower unit and marine, full of bivalves. However, the Iron Lighting Member an upper unit which overlies it and underlies the Hell Creek Fm does have a record of the following found: Turtle scutes Crocodile bones and teeth Hadrosaur teeth Theropod claws Dinosaur limb bones and vertebrae So it's entirely possible that what you have may be dinosaurian limb bone but like jpc said hard to say from the photos and your size fragment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NDfossilhunter44 Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 Thanks for the replies guys, I should have stated this before but the reason I was out there was because of the paper that Troodon posted. I didn't want to give the specific location out because it was out on private property and permission is needed to enter, but the fauna list that was found at the location is actually on page 128 of the Waage paper. After your guys' comments I was wondering if any hadrosaur enthusiasts had seen this kind of bone structure before? Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troodon Posted January 13, 2016 Share Posted January 13, 2016 Took a look at my hadrosaur bones, and the closest one that might fit the bill is the end of a scapula or tibia. Take a look and see what you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NDfossilhunter44 Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 hmmmm, there are some similarities, closest might be that it's part of a scapula of a different species but there is no way to know for sure. I should have stayed a while longer and kept digging! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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