Hambones Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 My wife found this inner ear bone recently. Does anyone know what species of whale? The pit owner had other bones he collected. Other pics show calcite crystals within matrix rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hambones Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Another pic showing calcite crystal formation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustdee Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 Not sure this is an inner ear bone. It doesn't look like the ones I have found in the Carolinas. Could you provide additional photos or explain why you believe this to be an inner ear bone. There could be something I am missing. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 I agree with Rustdee. I cannot see a whale earbone in these images. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hambones Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 The mine owner had lots of other parts of a whale from site which is located due north of lake ochechobee about twenty miles. We find these fossilized clams with calcite replacements their. One look by the mine owner and he told us this was from an extinct meat eater whale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hambones Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Mine owner stated they found parts of another one. What he had in his shed was pretty impressive stuff. Big rib bone sections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 Do a search for "whale ear bones images" or even "sperm whale ear bones images" and you'll see that Rustdee is correct. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagacious Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 Post more photos of the 'whale earbone' please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 I agree with the others. The "inner ear bone" is a matrix with shell fragments, the other one is a large fossil clam, possibly Mercenaria permagna (Conrad, 1838), filled with ‘dogtooth spar’calcite crystals, common for the Fort Drum Crystal Mine. https://www.google.com/search?q=mercenaria+permagna&biw=1360&bih=612&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjGoYuZsuvOAhXDthoKHXwwCUoQ_AUIBigB " Many Mercenaria valves are virtually completely recrystallized calcite; however, someare also chalky and brittle, with no visual evidence of recrystallization. These too, can contain calcite crystals. Whether or not the latter valves are calcite or retain the original polymorphic composition – aragonite – is unknown. It is quite likely that many of the molluscan fossils found within certain stratigraphic horizons in the pit still retain their original aragonitic mineral structure. " - RUCKS’ PIT Okeechobee County, Florida, USA - Gary L. Maddox, Dr. Thomas M. Scott, and Guy H. Means, SOUTHEASTERN GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY GUIDEBOOK NUMBER 45 - http://segs.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/SEGS-Guidebook-45.pdf " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 yep,the expertise here on cetacean otology is amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hambones Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Thanks for the info. I will get a better pic of material. I also checked literature and could not find anything that looked like it. Probabably is matrix but holding it in ones hand gets one thinking that it is something else. I dig here often and have never seen any other matrix like it. And the inclusion of calcite crystals lets me know it is local Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plax Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 this looks like a phosphatized rip up clast or possibly a root rafted erratic. Here in NC we occasionally get big chunks of igneous or metamorphic rocks in our neogene shell beds near the coast. They often have shells attached from the sea they have been transported into. It is easy to see how the rocks have been transported from the piedmont when one can see modern tree roots wrapped around rocks on local spoil islands in the Cape Fear River for instance. This may not have happened often where you are collecting hence the alien look of what you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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