Pterosaur Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Hi everyone! I found this in Montana this summer, and I'm pretty sure it's a triceratops digit. If so, is there a way to tell which it is? Just bored and curious. Also, which side would the vale core have attached to? The bumpy, textured side? It was pretty shattered when I found it, so I pieced it together. The white stuff is pales putty I just haven't painted yet. Thank you! -Lauren "I am a part of all that I have met." - Lord Alfred Tennyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 not sure. the end that your fingers are on in the first photo...is that a broken edge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramon Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Could be some other bone like a shoulder bone. It seems thin. Photo of shoulder bone "Without fossils, no one would have ever dreamed that there were successive epochs in the formation of the earth" - Georges Cuvier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pterosaur Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 12 minutes ago, jpc said: not sure. the end that your fingers are on in the first photo...is that a broken edge? Yes, it is! 1 minute ago, Ramon said: Could be some other bone like a shoulder bone. It seems thin. Photo of shoulder bone Wow that's an interesting thought... It seems pretty solid in my opinion, but then when it comes to dinosaur bones 'thin' doesn't quite mean what it normally would when you're comparing 30 ft long animals... haha "I am a part of all that I have met." - Lord Alfred Tennyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDudeCO Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 shoot us pictures of both ends if you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramon Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Could also be a femur. 1 "Without fossils, no one would have ever dreamed that there were successive epochs in the formation of the earth" - Georges Cuvier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramon Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Look at the part I circled and look at your bone. Could be the lower part of a femur 1 "Without fossils, no one would have ever dreamed that there were successive epochs in the formation of the earth" - Georges Cuvier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pterosaur Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 8 minutes ago, Ramon said: Could also be a femur. I don't know though... it really flares out at both ends and though the end seems to have been knocked off it seems almost complete. What do you think? "I am a part of all that I have met." - Lord Alfred Tennyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramon Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Is it HOLLOW? "Without fossils, no one would have ever dreamed that there were successive epochs in the formation of the earth" - Georges Cuvier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pterosaur Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 3 minutes ago, Ramon said: Is it HOLLOW? No I don't believe so. Sorry that picture was a little misleading. Looks like where the hole stops there is spongey bone. Also looks like spongey bone around the hole. 1 "I am a part of all that I have met." - Lord Alfred Tennyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pterosaur Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 Aren't hollow theropod bones normally pretty smooth inside? "I am a part of all that I have met." - Lord Alfred Tennyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramon Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Yeah, Theropods needed hollow bone to run fast. Their bones are light weight. 1 "Without fossils, no one would have ever dreamed that there were successive epochs in the formation of the earth" - Georges Cuvier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pemphix Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 I don't think that's a digit. It's to "flat" to be a digit and seems not to have the proper habit of a digit at all. Nevertheless, i'm not an expert for dinos so let's wait for experts opinion like for example Troodon.... Best regards, Pemphix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pemphix Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 P.S.: i don't see any hints for a theropod bone here - bones is solid inside - "hole" can be artifact of several processes beginning with the death of the dino ending by digging it out of the matrix... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 @Troodon @Pemphix Just so You know @ + name = A call for that member. Tony 1 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...
Ridgehiker Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Its not a phalange. It can be difficult to identify bone ends without associate material. Two things are diagnostic about the specimen. It is quite robust and the distinct rugose bone end. These are both consistent with ankylosaur material and ankylosaur would be found in the area. Not saying 'it is' ankylosaur. I'm fairly sure its not hadrosaur. Possibly ceratopsian but? Even after decades in the badlands I still have difficulty identifying isolated bone chunks. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 NOw that I have seen the broken end, I say it is not an easy one. And I agree with canadawest... even after years of collecting in the late Cretaceous of out here, it can be tough to ID bone pieces. Here is what it is NOT: Trike toe bone, shoulder blade of anything, theropod long bone. And honestly, I am embarrassingly unfamiliar with ankylosaur bones, having not found one ... yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pterosaur Posted January 12, 2017 Author Share Posted January 12, 2017 11 hours ago, jpc said: NOw that I have seen the broken end, I say it is not an easy one. And I agree with canadawest... even after years of collecting in the late Cretaceous of out here, it can be tough to ID bone pieces. Here is what it is NOT: Trike toe bone, shoulder blade of anything, theropod long bone. And honestly, I am embarrassingly unfamiliar with ankylosaur bones, having not found one ... yet. I would love if this turned out to be ankylosaur. It does have some really weird texture on two sides, but I can't figure out where it would go. "I am a part of all that I have met." - Lord Alfred Tennyson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pemphix Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 @ynot : thank you for the hint ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opisthotriton Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Based on the lateral view and the articular surface (as well as the size), I would say it's half of a metatarsal from an ornithischian (probably hadrosaur or ceratopsian, probably digit IV). But you show two different views of broken ends, one quite thin/flattened and one with the "hollow" spongy interior, and I'm having trouble visualizing the bone in 3D. The thin cross section makes me doubt the metatarsal ID. Take a look at the Edmontosaurus metatarsals in this paper: http://www.palarch.nl/wp-content/Zheng_Farke_Kim_2011_Photographic_Atlas_of_the_Pes_from_a_Hadrosaurine_Hadrosaurid_Dinosaur_PJVP_8_7.pdf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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