New Jersey Vertebra

[njcreekhunter]

Hey everyone, I found this vert today at ramanessin brook. This site has mostly cretaceous marine fossils but sometimes dinosaur material is found. This vert is very heavy and solid. I'm thinking it's plesiosaur but I'm not 100 percent sure. There is one large hole on the bottom of the vert. One cool thing about this specimen is that there is a bite mark that can be seen in the last picture. I'd love to hear what you all think this is. Thanks!

[Ptychodus04]

I would call it plesiosaur.

[erose]

A little rough around the edges but otherwise a great find!

[izak_]

on the last pic are there bite marks? 

[Rodney]

If you have access to a stereo microscope I would like to take a look at the bite marks (a nice photo) at around 10x. Looks like this sample would fit under a stereo scope rather nicely.

 

Rodney

 

[Chase B.]

Dear all, 

 

the specimen is the vertebra of a "Cimoliasaurus magnus" plesiosaur. 

 

Regards,

 

Chase

[Kurufossils]

Definitely a long necked marine reptile bone @sharktoothboy

[Ropterus]

Nice find! Have only been to Big Brook once. Hoping to try Ramanessin sometime.

[njcreekhunter]

Thanks for the ID help everyone! It's my third plesiosaur vert from NJ and I'm really happy with it.

[njcreekhunter]

@Rodney  Unfortunately I don't have access to a microscope. This is the best picture I was able to get of the bite marks.

[ynot]

On 8/8/2017 at 5:25 PM, sharktoothboy said:

I found this vert today at ramanessin brook.

Being found in a brook type area, the marks may be superficial damage from tumbling. They do look more recent than the surface of the vert.