dianahjerome Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Ive found this & other small fossils at ocean beach in San Francisco. Most look like sand dollars but this one has a foot w/clear metatarsals/phalanges & what looks like 3 vertabral columns or 3 portions of 1. Does anyone know what this is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele 1937 Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Echinide 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixgill pete Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 this appears to be a well worn / broken piece of a sand dollar to me. 2 Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt behind the trailer, my desert Them red clay piles are heaven on earth I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers May 2016 May 2012 Aug 2013, May 2016, Apr 2020 Oct 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdsnl Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Welcome to the forum, I see a sand dollar too 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Nice fossils echinoid fragment. 2 " 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...
Monica Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Hi dianahjerome! I also see a partial echinoid (sea urchin or sand dollar) in your specimen - see your image compared with a diagram that I found on the internet below: red rectangle in the image of your specimen: ambulacrum blue oval in the image of your specimen: interambulacrum Cool find!!! Monica 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 The difference between the two types of echinoids lies in the symmetry/asymmetry . You could have an irregular echinoid, but considering the weathering status I would be not certain on this. 2 " 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...
dianahjerome Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 (edited) Thanks for the clarification about the bottom right pic! ... I was more curious about the foot in the larger top picture & bottom left picture. Anyone have an idea of what the foot belonged to?? Edited January 1, 2017 by dianahjerome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 The body cavity of a sand dollar is mostly void. I think these are the remains of the plates on the ventral side, or perhaps others that have been displaced. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Welcome to the Forum. I agree - it is a sand dollar/echinoid that has been crushed. Sorry, ... no foot bones there - those are plates from an echinoid, either the one on the other side, or a different one. I vote for the crushed one from the other side. Regards, 2 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifbrindacier Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 I agree both are worn and crushed echinoids, no foot bone here. And, besides, welcome here 1 "On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry) "We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes." In memory of Doren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Glad to see parts of these sand dollars are still showing up. I always liked the way the individual plate boundaries were outlined by the darker staining and the contrast between the lighter overall specimen and the darker enclosing matrix. I actually collected pieces of them back in the 1970-80's! Thanks for the post--it brought back some good memories and some windy cold stormy winter memories of hunts when noone should be any where near the beach and eroding cliffs. Be careful! Continued hunting success! Regards, Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boesse Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 It's a large sand dollar - the species is Scutellaster oregonensis. It's more common to find them on the beach than in situ within the cliff there. They erode out of the Plio-Pleistocene Merced Formation. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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