Vertebrae of what?

[ilzho]

Hello:

 

I found this at aurora phosphate mine.

 

It looks like a vertebrae body/package.

Have no clue?!

 

[abyssunder]

Excellent find! They could be considered hyperostosed caudal vertebrae of Merluccius bilinearis.

 

excerpt from  R. W. Purdy, V. P. Schneider, S. P. Applegate, J. H. McLellan, R. L. Meyer and B. H. Slaughter. 2001. The Neogene sharks, rays, and bony fishes from Lee Creek Mine, Aurora, North Carolina. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 90:71-202

[ilzho]

Thank you.

I remembered when I found it, there were some people who really liked it and they said others have found some too, but they didn't know at the time what they were.

This was in the early 1980's.

 

[abyssunder]

After 21 years, if they read the document above, they probably know.

Congrats for your find!

[ilzho]

hahaha, thank you.

It's neat to be able to identify this stuff through wonderful people like yourself.

My fossils for that last 25-30 years have been sitting in acrylic drawers waiting for positive id.

Now that I have a few glass display cases, I am pleased to be able to have some properly identified.