Crann Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Hi, out fossil hunting around yorkshire coast and came across this vertebrae, looks like a Mosasaurus to me but hey... I'm pretty new to this and learning every nature given day, any ideas ? Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crann Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Can't add any pictures due to site not allowing my basic mobile photos to upload, will have to try later after adjusting or something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crann Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Added to nhm forum as no issues, will still try and resize to add to this forum as some informative people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramon Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 5 minutes ago, Crann said: Added to nhm forum as no issues, will still try and resize to add to this forum as some informative people. Yeah, try resize the photos. I'm anxious to see the vertebrae!!! "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...
Crann Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crann Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crann Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crann Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 I believe the Mosasaurus was late cretaceous but this was found on the jurrasic coast, doesn't look like an ichthyosaurus from pictures I've looked at though ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Mosasaurs are indeed strictly Late Cretaceous. This vertebra looks mammalian to me. So it's likely just washed up to the coast from the depths of the North Sea where a lot of Late Pleistocene fauna is found. It seems to be a mammalian dorsal vertebra. Where the ribs would articulate can clearly be seen in the last photo. Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crann Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Wonder what animal it came from then... hmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-fossils Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 1 hour ago, LordTrilobite said: Mosasaurs are indeed strictly Late Cretaceous. This vertebra looks mammalian to me. So it's likely just washed up to the coast from the depths of the North Sea where a lot of Late Pleistocene fauna is found. It seems to be a mammalian dorsal vertebra. Where the ribs would articulate can clearly be seen in the last photo. Hmmm... That would be a good guess, but I don't think that it's true. Attached is a map with the currents in the North Sea. I made a white dot at where Yorkshire is, and approximatively circled in yellow the area that contains the famous Pleistocene mammal bones. Looking at the currents, there would be no easy way for a Pleistocene mammal fossil to arrive at Yorkshire. So I don't think that this is a possibility. Furthermore, in my opinion, the texture of @Crann's fossil doesn't really match the usual texture of North Sea fossils. I really don't know what it could be; let's wait till someone finds the answer. Best regards, Max Max Derème "I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day." - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier Instagram: @world_of_fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crann Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Cheers Max, glad I got into fossils, exciting for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilGuy1024 Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Hello Crann, Definitely not mosasaur since both faces are concave instead of concave/convex. Also, since it looks heavily mineralized I wouldn't think Pleistocene, but this is based off of my experience with Pleistocene material from Florida and Texas. Probably plesiosaur, which being an ancestor of Nessy makes it pretty cool BTW, nice spinous process. Those usually get knocked off once the vert starts getting rolled around. Plesiosaur vert: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crann Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Hey fossilguy appreciate your reply, yea I was surprised how in tact it is, we had severe weather lately so possibly fell from the banks above, it looks very much like the diagram, even the tilt on the vert. Exciting times my friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-fossils Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 24 minutes ago, Crann said: Exciting times my friend. Exciting indeed! The world of paleontology is getting broader and more detailed by the minute! Max Derème "I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day." - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier Instagram: @world_of_fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I still think it's mammal. I thought I recognised the shape but couldn't immediately place it. Then it hit me. It looks almost identical to a cave bear dorsal vertebra I have from Germany. The only real difference is the preservation and the size. It's almost twice as big as the bear vertebra I have. And while it does look pretty heavily mineralised. I have plenty of Late Pleistocene fossils from the North Sea that have almost identical preservation. There's generally two types of preservation you'll find from the depths of the North Sea. The fossils that generally have a dark brown colouration. These are from around the last Ice Age during the Late Pleistocene. The dark black fossils are generally older and are more heavily mineralised. These fossils are come from a different fauna. It was much warmer at that time. There you'll see the ancestors of the woolly mammoth and also other animals from warmer climates like hippos. It's definitly not Mosasaur or Plesiosaur. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-fossils Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 2 minutes ago, LordTrilobite said: I still think it's mammal. I thought I recognised the shape but couldn't immediately place it. Then it hit me. It looks almost identical to a cave bear dorsal vertebra I have from Germany. The only real difference is the preservation and the size. It's almost twice as big as the bear vertebra I have. And while it does look pretty heavily mineralised. I have plenty of Late Pleistocene fossils from the North Sea that have almost identical preservation. There's generally two types of preservation you'll find from the depths of the North Sea. The fossils that generally have a dark brown colouration. These are from around the last Ice Age during the Late Pleistocene. The dark black fossils are generally older and are more heavily mineralised. These fossils are come from a different fauna. It was much warmer at that time. There you'll see the ancestors of the woolly mammoth and also other animals from warmer climates like hippos. It's definitly not Mosasaur or Plesiosaur. Could you show us some pictures? Because I'm having trouble finding something that matches in Google... Also, how would the vert have gotten all the way to Yorkshire? Max Derème "I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day." - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier Instagram: @world_of_fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Not a complete match. But this one is similar to the one I have. Just a lot more complete. Notice the roughly triangular shape of the centrum due to the articulation surfaces for the ribs. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crann Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crann Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 That bear vert doesn't resemble the one we found by the looks ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Yes it's different. But there are also similarities. In the photo I linked the vertebra is much more complete and angled to the right. In your last photo, the vertebra is angled to the left. With the top of the vertebra pointing diagonally upwards to the left. Similar rib articulation surfaces can be seen. The same wide nerve canal can be seen. The centrum shape is indeed a little different. But I'm not saying your vertebra is bear. I'm just saying there are some similarities and that it's from a mammal, not a reptile. 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crann Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 It's all interesting, just want to know what it is, appreciate you guys looking into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max-fossils Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 3 hours ago, LordTrilobite said: Yes it's different. But there are also similarities. In the photo I linked the vertebra is much more complete and angled to the right. In your last photo, the vertebra is angled to the left. With the top of the vertebra pointing diagonally upwards to the left. Similar rib articulation surfaces can be seen. The same wide nerve canal can be seen. The centrum shape is indeed a little different. But I'm not saying your vertebra is bear. I'm just saying there are some similarities and that it's from a mammal, not a reptile. I'll agree that there are some similarities, even though the similarities aren't strong enough to be the same. But sure, let's consider it mammal. But then my question is: how could it have ended up in Yorkshire?! Max Derème "I feel an echo of the lightning each time I find a fossil. [...] That is why I am a hunter: to feel that bolt of lightning every day." - Mary Anning >< Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier Instagram: @world_of_fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Dunno Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crann Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 So we going for Plesiosaur then ? Ha, posted it on nhm forum, see what they come back with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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