Jump to content

Calvert Cliffs Bird Bone


cowsharks

Recommended Posts

I found this fossil bird bone recently while fossil collecting along Calvert Cliffs (Maryland Miocene).  I collected the bone directly from the fossil layer it was in.  I believe it is a Metacarpal bone from the wing region.  Fairly small measuring at approximately 13/16ths of an inch long.  Can't believe the thin section stayed intact while sifting in my screen.

Any ideas as to species would be appreciated.

 

Daryl.

Calvert Cliffs Bird Bone 23Sep2017 Metacarpal.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't know who owned this one only that it is a nice bone!

“...whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.” ~ Charles Darwin

Happy hunting,

Mason

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Excellent find, Daryl.  I can't tell you the type of bird, but the bone is called a carpometacarpus in birds.  It is a pile of fused bones from the wing.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool find, Daryl!

Congratulations. :) 

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, jpc said:

Excellent find, Daryl.  I can't tell you the type of bird, but the bone is called a carpometacarpus in birds.  It is a pile of fused bones from the wing.  

Thanks JP.  I knew there was something wrong with the name I gave it but couldn't figure it out.

 

Daryl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey @cowsharks - I've been in contact with John Nance from CMM, and put him in touch with a good paleornithologist - N. Adam Smith at Clemson. Nice carpometacarpus!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is a really cool find @cowsharks

-Dave

__________________________________________________

Geologists on the whole are inconsistent drivers. When a roadcut presents itself, they tend to lurch and weave. To them, the roadcut is a portal, a fragment of a regional story, a proscenium arch that leads their imaginations into the earth and through the surrounding terrain. - John McPhee

If I'm going to drive safely, I can't do geology. - John McPhee

Check out my Blog for more fossils I've found: http://viewsofthemahantango.blogspot.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Boesse said:

Hey @cowsharks - I've been in contact with John Nance from CMM, and put him in touch with a good paleornithologist - N. Adam Smith at Clemson. Nice carpometacarpus!

Thanks Bobby.  John sent Adam a pic and he replied that "it is likely from a Passerine but it would be difficult to get down to Genus or species."  An initial review of the bird material at the Calvert Marine museum didn't reveal any similar bones, so it might be important to their collection.

 

Thanks for the tag-team effort!

 

Daryl.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...