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Mystery fossil? (Or rock)n


hugolee

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Hi there! I found this specimen on a beach in north Florida (Amelia Island). The curve shape caught my eye, and the black surface changing to dark brown interior reminded me of fossil coloration. Any chance this is a fossilized tusk of some kind? Hopefully the photos are detailed enough. Many thanks!

 

 

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This to me resembles a piece of dugong rib.  It looks very dense, and I think I see the typical rings in cross section.  Let's see what others have to say.

EDIT:  Upon further observation, I think it might be a bit too porous to be dugong rib?...

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It may be that some areas of dugong rib exhibit porous character (all of my chunks are extremely dense and lack obvious pores).  Here is a thread and photo of another members find with similar characteristics to yours.

 

 

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I think dugong I find tons in the Peace river and they look very similarIMG_0661.thumb.JPG.085867ab30b71b1f47c13f4b25b0cdbd.JPGthey come in all sizes the ones above were from walking a creek, I kept a ton more that size from that day 

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looks like dugong to me also

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Had never heard of a dugong! Very cool. Thanks for the quick feedback, everyone. Any sense of how old it might be?

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Hi hugolee!

 

I have no idea as to the age of your fossil, but dugongs are still around today!  They are sometimes called "sea cows" and I think they live in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

 

Nice find!

 

Monica

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6 hours ago, RyanNREMTP said:

In simplest terms Dugongs are the salt water version of Manatees.

 

Manatees are primarily saltwater denizens.  They retreat to freshwater springs in Florida for warmth in the winter.  The do well in either, as long as there is enough forage. 
 

http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page

 

What seest thou else

In the dark backward and abysm of time?

---Shakespeare, The Tempest

 

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Cool find.:)

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"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

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9 hours ago, Monica said:

 I think they live in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Do not know about the indian ocean, but there are none in the pacific.

Most that I know of are in the caribbean and around Florida.

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.

 

 

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The Stellar's sea cow which was extirpated by humans (hunted to extinction) was from the Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia.

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6 hours ago, Peat Burns said:

The Stellar's sea cow which was extirpated by humans (hunted to extinction) was from the Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia.

Whoops, I missed one.:blush:

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.

 

 

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19 minutes ago, ynot said:

Whoops, I missed one.:blush:

Not technically :). .. the Stellar's went extinct prior to 1800 :(

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13 hours ago, ynot said:

Do not know about the indian ocean, but there are none in the pacific.

Most that I know of are in the caribbean and around Florida.

I think I recall that dugongs are found around Australia while manatees are found around Florida - I believe they are different species of the same family...

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1 hour ago, Monica said:

I think I recall that dugongs are found around Australia while manatees are found around Florida - I believe they are different species of the same family...

You are right about the range of the extant dugong.  It looks like manatees are a different family, though (same order).

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2 hours ago, Peat Burns said:

You are right about the range of the extant dugong.  It looks like manatees are a different family, though (same order).

Cool - thanks for looking into it!

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The manatees (lamantin in french) are Sireniae Trichechidae found in Senegal, Carribean, Florida, Central America and Amazonia. Dugongs are Sireniae Dugongidae and live in west Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean.

theme-celtique.png.bbc4d5765974b5daba0607d157eecfed.png.7c09081f292875c94595c562a862958c.png

"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

photo-thumb-12286.jpg.878620deab804c0e4e53f3eab4625b4c.jpg

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