big brook finds today help please

[brad hinkelman]

I'm assuming first is a shark vert,  amy help on species or size of shark? and also not sure what the second item is...thanks

[Doctor Mud]

Hi there,

 

definitely a shark vert. What age are these sediments? It can be hard to pin down shark species from verts alone, but likely candidates for a given time period can be suggested.

The second item looks like a shrimp burrow, reminds me of Ophiomorpha.

[erose]

Yes indeed on the shark vert. Good specimen.  The second object is quite interesting. At first it looks like the burrow-fill trace fossil Ophiomorpha, but it isn't.  There are burrows filled with small fecal pellets that appear similar as well, but I am not sure about this being one of those either.  The neat bit is that "worm" tube running down one side. Never seen anything quite like it.  And then again, hopefully not throwing cold water on it, it could be another weird iron nodule/concretion...

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Erich

[brad hinkelman]

7 minutes ago, Doctor Mud said:

Hi there,

 

definitely a shark vert. What age are these sediments? It can be hard to pin down shark species from verts alone, but likely candidates for a given time period can be suggested.

The second item looks like a shrimp burrow, reminds me of Ophiomorpha.

Cretaceous period and wasn't sure if theres a way to id to species......thanks

[brad hinkelman]

8 minutes ago, erose said:

Yes indeed on the shark vert. Good specimen.  The second object is quite interesting. At first it looks like the burrow-fill trace fossil Ophiomorpha, but it isn't.  There are burrows filled with small fecal pellets that appear similar as well, but I am not sure about this being one of those either.  The neat bit is that "worm" tube running down one side. Never seen anything quite like it.  And then again, hopefully not throwing cold water on it, it could be another weird iron nodule/concretion...

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Erich

yea never came across anything like it ..

[erose]

Too many species of shark in those sediments. You can distinguish lamniform sharks from the batoids by shape. The "angel shark" verts are also distinct. Bony fish will be longer than wide.  Beyond that I had always been told, short of finding a set of teeth at the end of an articulated spinal column identification even to genus is at best a SWAG. 

[brad hinkelman]

thanks!

 

[MarcoSr]

The vertebra looks more like a sawfish vertebra to me than a shark vertebra.

 

Marco Sr.

[sixgill pete]

I agree 100% with Marco, sawfish vert.

[brad hinkelman]

17 minutes ago, MarcoSr said:

The vertebra looks more like a sawfish vertebra to me than a shark vertebra.

 

Marco Sr.

awesome....other sawfish teeth was found in area as well

[brad hinkelman]

3 minutes ago, sixgill pete said:

I agree 100% with Marco, sawfish vert.

awesome thanks!

[njfossilhunter]

I also believe the vert is a Saw fish...I posted a picture of mine below and what I think the second fossil is a belemnite that has been extensively borrowed by Cliona cretacica. That long thinke is also some kind of borrow I have found also but I'm not sure exactly what it is.  

 

Here is my Sawfish vert

 

Here is the result of what Cliona cretacica does

[brad hinkelman]

great ....thanks Tony!

[njfossilhunter]

15 minutes ago, brad hinkelman said:

great ....thanks Tony!

 

Your welcome .....Saw fish vert's are not common at all...Rather rare around these parts......Great find.....

[brad hinkelman]

great! I thank you for your time and help!

[Doctor Mud]

10 hours ago, MarcoSr said:

The vertebra looks more like a sawfish vertebra to me than a shark vertebra.

 

Marco Sr.

Good call - didn't even think of that as an option....

[Doctor Mud]

8 hours ago, njfossilhunter said:

I also believe the vert is a Saw fish...I posted a picture of mine below and what I think the second fossil is a belemnite that has been extensively borrowed by Cliona cretacica. That long thinke is also some kind of borrow I have found also but I'm not sure exactly what it is.  

 

Here is my Sawfish vert

 

Here is the result of what Cliona cretacica does

Good point NJfossilhunter, when you zoom in on the elongate specimen, some is crystalline and there are inclusions or more precisely intrusions. Shrimp burrows are nodular. 

[History Hunter02]

The second one kind of looks like iron.  Have you tried putting a magnet over it?  Nice shark vertebra.

[Carl]

I agree with Tony. The second piece looks like a "ghost" of a belemnite guard created by the infilled burrows of Cliona. Pretty rare and special!

[The Jersey Devil]

@njfossilhunter  Hello njfossilhunter, I was just wondering how you distinguish between shark vertebrae and Sawfish vertebrae. These are from the Late Cretaceous sawfish Ischyrhiza mira, right? I appreciate the help.

[Al Dente]

11 hours ago, josephstrizhak said:

@njfossilhunter  Hello njfossilhunter, I was just wondering how you distinguish between shark vertebrae and Sawfish vertebrae. These are from the Late Cretaceous sawfish Ischyrhiza mira, right? I appreciate the help.

 

Shark vertebral centra have paired holes (foramina) along the outer edge. These are where soft cartilage processes once were. Sawfish centra lack these. Sawfish still had the processes, but they weren't attached inside the centrum.